Livery says our chestnut mare is disrupting the males

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anxious mum

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My daughter's 7-yr old 16.1 chestnut mare (retrained TB ex-racehorse) arrived on Saturday and has sent all the geldings in the livery mad with lust! We noticed something was up when one gelding started kicking at his stable door when she was led out of the horsebox. He got so stressed that the livery owner asked my daughter to put her mare into a field. Unfortunately, our mare is now surrounded by geldings who have all reacted to her arrival by turning into snorting, rearing stallions - even the more geriatric males.

When we went to collect her for a feed yesterday she was definitely displaying signs of being in season. With horses rearing and neighing on either side it has proved impossible to bring her out of the field into the yard for a feed.

The livery owners are not happy about her and have said she is totally the wrong sort of horse to bring to the livery and have hinted that we are irresponsible parents for buying her for our 14-yr old daughter. Our mare really was so calm when we saw her at her owner's yard - surrounded by horses of both sexes.

Has anyone else been through this. Will things settle down? Would be grateful for any advice.
 
It's probably more to do with the arrival of a new horse rather than every gelding being rampant sex maniacs. I would say the only thing that's gone wrong is your to not thinking ahead, and foreseeing the kind of excitement that the introduction of a new horse can bring. Also, of they wanted to keep the yard single sex, why allow you to bring the mare to the yard....
 
Hi, is your mare the only mare on the yard? That won't help the geldings reaction if so, but any new horse often tends to have that reaction within an established yard. All our mares always come into season when a new horse comes onto the yard, whatever sex the new horse is. Sounds like it is a bit soon to say that the horse is totally unsuitable for your environment if she has only arrived within the last few days, think everything just needs to be given time to settle down. However maybe you could look at the set up within the fields, who your mare is out with, proximity of the geldings etc etc. Good luck with her. :)
 
Thanks for this. There are other mares - but many more geldings. The owner suggested that no other horse had caused such a commotion! Unfortunately, he wasn't sympathetic to my request that she might be moved to another field if things don't improve. Just hope that it does settle down.
 
New girl in the class as it were!

I think that they all need time to settle down, hopefully she will be less interesting when she isn't in season, that's just bad timing in your case, nothing to be done about it, not the fault of anyone, just the nature of the beast. There must be other mares on the yard?

I think that 3 days is way too soon for anyone to be making judgements on a horse's nature or suitability for your daughter (and, as a YO myself, I wouldn't dream of saying such a thing unless asked or there was obvious danger - and then I would be very tactful about it) At 14, I had a 16.1 Tb and he was brilliant, but before everyone knew him they all said, publicly, and privately, that he was too much horse for me and what was my Father thinking of!

As for field arrangements, as far as I am concerned there are no rules set in stone, I often have to juggle horses around until I find compatible groups or solutions. I have some geldings that can be grazed next to mares, and others that need a walkway between them and yet others that need an entire field separating them.

I hope she settles down quickly, that your daughter enjoys her :) and that your YO revises her opinion, surely she knew what sort of horse you were getting anyway? If a YO had turned around and said that to me, not only would I be upset, and offended, but I'd be looking for somewhere else to move to as well, and when I found it I would be letting the current YO know, in no uncertain terms, precisely why I felt I compelled to leave. Perhaps the YO isn't suited to coping with certain situations competently and feels somewhat 'over-horsed' when there is a bit of a hiccup in proceedings.

Horses are to enjoy, and if you have to keep them on a yard, then you need to be able to relax in that environment, having a horse in a tense, critical atmosphere soon sucks all the fun out of having a horse at all.
 
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Yes, it is the sort of yard where any kind of 'different behaviour' is frowned upon and they don't like their routines disrupted. Unfortunately, it is also just ten minutes away from our house and we have some great friends there. Thank you for your advice - most reassuring. We will be patient.
 
Our yard had a foal born few months back, and when they allowed it to go out in a field near the school hardly any horse listened to their riders the whole day!!! They still a bit like that now, its pure curiosity hope they settle down when it wears off. My big chestnut gelding is a "ladies man" so to speak, he is a pain when they are in season.
Its not your fault, It will sort itself out I am sure.
 
I think that the yard owner is been a bit stuffy, it's not your fault your girl is a flirt and winding up the boys!! If they open their yard up to "paying guests" then providing the horse is safe and not vicious then they really have to get over it, either that or specify that boys only allowed
 
I sort of regret telling them that she was an ex-racehorse. People make assumptions. Quite honestly, we saw plenty of flighty, nervous horses, male and female who have never been near the racetrack before we found her. She was the calmest of the lot.
 
I was also asked 'what was I thinking' when we bought our mare for my daughter - almost everyone said the mare was too big - 16.1 when we bought her for my 15 year old daughter - now my daughter has shot up by 5 inches and the mare has grown to 17.1. They are a match made for each other (two stroppy teenagers :) :)

When we moved yards I warned them that she was big, but the comment was 'we've seen big ones before' then we took her off the lorry - the first comment was 'S**t she's huge! Mainly because the first time she goes anywhere new she seems to pull herself up to 18 - 19 hands.

Just let them get used to her then probably all the fuss will die down.
 
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