Making a herd of 3- advice needed!!

[bertin12]

Anyone have any success stories of having only 3 horses out together?
Mine has been out with anther gelding for a few years & the owner of the other horse has recently got another:
We tried putting them all in together after letting her two & mine talk over the fence for a few days. However it didn't work and we had to end up taking my horse out.
Now he's out on his own, in the field next to the other two but I'd like him to be able to go out with them.
Any ideas how we can successfully re introduce them?

 

[Honey08]

In what way didn't it work?

 

[bertin12]

They seemed to be ok to start with but then my horse kept making friends new horse move away & didn't Want him too close, new horse kept going back so my horse ended up chasing him round and cornering him/ really going for him (he was biting not kicking).
I think it may have been over the grass, there was a small patch that was apparently 'nicer' which my horse didn't want to share it seems!

 

[L&M]

Our three don't work so well together - we have one who is very dominant and an 'oldie' who is very submissive, so they go well in together. When we put the third in (a 5/6yr old), he tries to come between the other two which usually results in the older one being bullied and the dominant one becoming handy with his feet towards the youngster.

What we do now is have the original pair in together and the younger horse in the field adjacent. They have all happily accepted this, and will chat and groom over the fence, but then wander off to do their own thing. It also works well at feeding time as the younger horse is in heavier work, so can leave out more hay for him without worrying about the other two pinching it.

Hopefully someone else will be of more help!!

 

[bertin12]

The problem is I have to get the other two in to get mine in/ out and I have to take water from the yard to his field as he doesn't have a automatic water trough in his field.
He's not usually a bully in the field but is normally head of the herd, just quiet.

 

[Honey08]

How big is the field? The bigger the better when putting new ones in.

We used to have four. They paired up. When we sold one of the little ponies we ended up with a herd of three. In two years my mare would not be friends with the pony. My gelding would play with him, but my mare always chased him off and would act like she was alone in the field if you took her friend away,even if the pony was with her.

 

[saalsk]

I have tried a 3 ( not my choice ) and it didn't work at all. I have an old guy, and a youngster, who have been together 4 years since the youngster was 6m, and the older guy does keep an eye on him. In a gelding group of 4 or more ( and they have been in a group of 2, 4, and everything up to 12 ) they are fine. But 3 - disaster. Young guy is very easy going, playful but respectful, and I have never seen him put his ears back at another horse. Old guy is not a pushover, but not a bully, up for a game or a scratch, but doesn't want to be pestered.
In a group of 3 with another gelding - everyone got annoyed, irritated, and angry at everyone else - for no obvious reason. No new grazing, no mares, no food issues, no space issues - just that there was 1 more. The new one had been in a larger group with them both before with no issue, so he wasn't a *newcomer*.
3 is a crowd apparently !

 

[bertin12]

Don't know how big the filed is but prob over an acre. They are all smaller than 14.2hh and they had plenty of room, and if the new horse hadnt kept going so close and stayed away a bit to start with I think all could have been ok.

They will all stand in a group by the fence and are happy enough but I don't like him being on his own really and it's not the most practical.
There's another herd of 3 at the yard but that's 2 mares and a gelding.

 

[canteron]

I have 3 and find it works fine in Summer and not so well in Winter ..... are they shod, that ups the anti quite a lot.

When initially introducing them I put horse 1&2 in a field together then 1&3 together and then 2&3 together and then when you put them all together they understand their relationship to each other.

Currently, I have them together all day, but separate them into 2 fields at night so that I can be sure that they all can get some food/sleep, seems to work, would that cut down the work a bit?

 

[bertin12]

None are shod, and they all come in at night anyway.

Is it worth putting friends new horse out with mine to see if they get on?

 

[Spring Feather]

How long did you leave them in together? I've often had small herds of 3; I have two on the go at the moment and I've never had any problems with keeping 3 horses together in paddocks.

 

[texel]

I started with two, then bought a third and kept 3 for a number of years without any issues and a couple of years ago introduced a 4th.

It all depends on the process and how much space you have. If you have acres of fields then one option is to toss the new guy in with the others and let them sort it out amongst themselves; with space the new guy can run away from intimidation and trouble, but you need alot of space.

As I have limited space I had to use the slow and easy technique which took a month or so. This meant keeping the new horse near the established pair and letting them get to know each other over a fence. Then when they seemed settled I would bring in the new horse to the yard and tie him next to one of the established horses and groom, pick feet out, feed etc.

Over time I was then able to let the established pair into the field where the new horse was kept. After some initial frolics the herd dynamics settled down.

When #4 came along, a mare, she did not get along with the etablished mare at all even after a few weeks, I thought they were ready to be together but no; so although the new mare settled in with the geldings I had to keep the established mare in a field on her own but next to the others and it took another 5 months before the two mares could be placed into the same field and now they are absoultely fine.



Set yourself up for success if you don't have much space you can't go wrong if you take your time, the horses will let you know when they are ready to mix.

 

[BeingKate]

unfortunately not all horses get on. It's like you and your friends having kids, you might be best mates but the kids still fight. in some cases it's not worth the kicks and bites and gallopings about.

 

[Annagain]

Just want to make sure I've got this right. Your horse was out with one other, the when new horse arrived, he went out with your horse's friend and your horse was on his own for a few days before introducing them all in together?

If I've got that right, maybe your horse thinks this new one is going to steal his friend? I'd put new horse on his own next door for about a week and then try again. In the meantime try to ride them out together or bring them in at the same time so they see each other on the yard etc.

 

[oldie48]

I've had three's that have worked fine as long as I have taken my time to introduce them, eg hacked out together, in same field but separated by electric fence, then put in with new horse in turns then finally put together as a three. However, having done all of this with pony new to the yard and feeling it was all going OK, pony turned on my oldie when I took the herd leader in. Clearly there was going to be a battle over the pecking order and new pony had decided he was going to be second in line, not third. Frankly I don't want my old boy to be bullied so pony is no longer in with them. sometimes it just doesn't work.

 

[windand rain]

I have a very small herd of 4 may sound ideal but I have found that occasionally there is one that needs a different regime so often have three together and one on its own Never had a problem swapping them around they are all happy to come and go the only thing with three is that if two want to go out at the same time the third one can get stressed but that can happen no matter how many you have if one is left alone. It does take time to sort out the pecking order but if you are happy that is all it is then time will prevail and they will settle together

 

[HollyWoozle]

I've had 2, 3, 4 or 5 and never had a problem (mares and geldings, all different sizes and ages). Just have to let them sort it out amongst themselves in my experience but maybe I've just been lucky!

 

[PorkChop]

I have three mares, one of which we have only had a few weeks. I did as suggested earlier - I started by turning the new mare in the next field, they had contact overnight over the stable wall as well. I then turned new mare out with oldest mare, and then the two young ones out together and repeated for a few days. Then I turned them all out together after each had been worked so that they were quieter - you do have to grit your teeth a bit, but I think it is certainly worth to keep trying

 

[mandyroberts]

We had 3 for years and there was a struct pecking order but very peaceful. Then the herd leader died and the other 2 were very unhappy because no-one wanted to be in charge. We are now up to 4, with just as strict a hierarchy and everyone is happy. They are all geldings. I think so long as there is only one very dominate horse you are OK but we have a very clear leader and the others fall in line. He was quite aggressive to start with mainly biting but as the others backed down they all settled very quickly. Herd leader won't groom bottom of the pack but will socialise with other two.
When we were at livery a new horse joined the gelding herd, (about 12 boys in 4 acres). He chased this new pony for 10 minutes but it was violent threatening as opposed to making contact. He stopped quite quite suddenly and that was that. The new boy knew who was in charge!

 

[MochaDun]

I'm in a paddock of 3 geldings at the yard I'm on and it works fine, different heights and different ages. They have a pecking order and two are more bonded than the other but I think horses naturally pair up a bit and touch wood we've had no problems at all. Having been at a yard with 12 geldings out together in too little space in the winter with no grass and mine down the bottom of the pecking order when bring in time was horrendous on bad days if not actually dangerous at times, this is an absolute joy. Like others said it probably depends more on individual temperaments. Our 3 are all quite quick thinkers and I think a lot of common sense amongst them (strange thing to say about horses I appreciate!) and two of them are non-confrontational overall I'd say though stand up for themselves if they have to.

 

[bertin12]

Thanks for all the advice/ experiences everyone.
After the initial 'incident' we seperated them and they haven't been back together since. They're in the same field but seperated by electric fencing. I've seen them all standing together a couple of times.
All 3 are stabled in a row and have all been in together etc so def used to each others company.

I think after reading everyone's advice it sounds like putting my horse and friends new horse out together then add her other horse once they're ok.

 

[mandyroberts]

MochaDun - your comment about bringing in a horse with low pecking order brings back memories. My horses were herd leader and bottom ranking when I had them at livery. In the winter I had to bring in both to get my bottom ranking horse out the field without being mobbed. Herd leader could be led to the gate and other horses stood back and touched their forelocks to him!
It is a pleasure to have a herd of 4 - the only minor problem is my new herd leader can be bolshy if I try to bring another one in but with only 4 and 3 who are submissive its really not a problem.

 

[Dunpony]

I have a horse that has attacked others. I found that keeping him on his own, with the others across the fence, for an extended period enabled me to get them all together. When they attack they can really do damage. Don't rush them, but it can be done. He is now out in a herd of 3.

 

[Dubsie]

I do think it depends on the horses as to whether they'll get on! We had 2 geldings at home for 4 years, the older smaller one was the boss but always let the other think he was top apart from the crucial feed time/time to be caught etc when the little one totally bossed the other about, but only just at the very last critical moment. We then went to see a 'gelding' that was actually a mare and bought her. Kept them apart across the fence for weeks, but every time we introduced them even with a new section of grass field, no 2 pony kept trying to assert himself over the mare and the mare felt SHE was No 2 out of the 3. If it was just the oldie boss and the mare together the mare just let him boss her about, whereas the other 2 together there was a constant bickering. In the end after 4 or 5 months we gave up. (there were other issues including a HUGE housing estate being built opposite the constant noise was totally worrying her. She's now on a livery yard and off the scene! )

 

[JJS]

My two boys rotate between being just the two of them in the field and having a third herd member, and they don't tend to have any issues. They've been out with a herd of five geldings, T, S, R, K and C. My two, T and S, have also been out in a three with R and a three with K. They're now out in a three with a mare and still no issues. T likes to be in charge, but as long as whoever he's with respects that, putting three together has never been a problem.

 

[Annagain]

MochaDun - your comment about bringing in a horse with low pecking order brings back memories. My horses were herd leader and bottom ranking when I had them at livery. In the winter I had to bring in both to get my bottom ranking horse out the field without being mobbed. Herd leader could be led to the gate and other horses stood back and touched their forelocks to him!
It is a pleasure to have a herd of 4 - the only minor problem is my new herd leader can be bolshy if I try to bring another one in but with only 4 and 3 who are submissive its really not a problem.

It's funny, my boy is bottom of the pecking order, but is still everybody's friend. All the horses in his herd just step out of his way when it comes to bringing him in. I think he poses so little threat to them they just let him get on with it. The only one who's nasty to him is my share horse but he struggles a lot more with his place in the herd. He's petrified of the top two horses above him and vile to the other 3 beneath him. It's like he thinks that to maintain his number 3 position, he's got to strike the same fear into the horses beneath him as the two above strike in him. Both massive overractions considering the same 2 just casually get out of A's way and reguarly groom and play with him, while poor old M is always on the fringes.