Mares and Geldings together-Does it work???

[barneyandem]

I was just wondering what your views were on mares and geldings being together in the same field?Are yours seperated or together?Does it work?
My gelding has always been kept with other geldings. He once went out with a group of mares for about a month a few winters ago,but apart from that-every yard ive been to have kept mares and geldngs seperately.
However, the yard im at now keeps them all together. The current herd seemed to cope very well with this, but now my horse has been introduced he seems to have turned in to some kind of stud!He has NEVER shown an interets in mares in the ten years ive had him, and now all of a sudden my VERY laid back cob is charging round the field all day and refusing to be caught/leave the herd. I just wondered if this is likely to be a regular occurance (eg when the mares are in season) or if they will settle down. Im really worried i have lost my very chilled out, good natured boy to being some demented leader!
Sorry, would just love to hear other peoples views!

 

[crackerjack]

Ours are all in together and cope fine. Mind you cracker is only little but the big ones cope ok....can be a bit funny when mares are in season, so hopefully he will settle down.

 

[Skhosu]

all ours have always been together. Have all se ttled down well, although has worked best when only one mare out, and lots of geldings!
Ours work grand! More cuts this week with 2 geldings out on thei rown because mare has mud fever!

 

[Seahorse]

My gelding was in with the mares when he was a baby, well, up until he was a 3yr old anyway. He was then put in with the geldings and he was fine. He is now in a field with 1 mare and he's fine with her too.

 

[sojeph]

I have 3 mares and 2 geldings out together 24/7. All get on famously however one gelding is quite possessive of his mares if theres a stranger about!!! and one mare is exttremely tarty with strange men, so I guess it depends on the nature of the mare or gelding really.

 

[Tia]

Yes all my mares and all my geldings have spent time together living in the same fields. Can't be doing with all that nonsense of segregation. My lot all get on well together.

 

[Weezy]

I never even KNEW people had a thing about segregation until I came on this forum

 

[Tia]

I think it must be an English thing as I never knew about it till I moved down to the South of England.

 

[kerrylou123]

i have 2 geldings and my mare together, joined by another mare, and they're all jolly. They have paird up boy girl!

 

[Weezy]

Possibly! In Spain we just worked out who's day off it was and who was going out and chucked them out, never EVER considered the sex!

 

[MillionDollar]

All of mine are together and are completely fine, all out 24/7!

 

[barneyandem]

Oh thank you every one!Its really put my mind at rest!I have never been at a yard where they are all together and i was worried that barney wasnt coping very well!He is normally so chilled out he's horizontal but the last few days he is acting like somone has given him drugs-eyes on stalks, sweating, pacing up and down, whinneying (ive never heard him 'speak' in 10 years!)etc!
I had no idea that so many people kept mares and geldings together- feel so much better now!
At least i know that he isnt a mute now!lol!

 

[4whitesocks]

I reckon it depends on the horse.....16 yo retired wb in my old yard had to be parted from his 4yo coloured cob mare companion recently (after a year of sharing) cos he got extremely excited.......(let's just say we all thought he was gay but apparently not!!)

My boy has to be turned out with sedate older mares (mainly cos he sets the rest of the boys mad and gets them all to come a play with him & they were all coming in from turnout knackered!!!!) The mare he's with now just flattens her ears and continues eating when he says' lets play'.....

 

[loopylis]

mine have been mixed in the past and been ok but recently went on a large yard where they were mixed and my mare didnt get accepted by some and they nearly killed her injury after injury in a week so we left and now they are seperate they are settled and getting on great i would rather have them seperate as can be a pain when the mares keep coming into season all the time and causes friction in the heard

 

[Kezza]

Perhaps he is behaving like this due to the move rather than maresint eh field? Lots of horses take time to settle in a new herd, regardless of whether it is mixed. Did you put him in a field adjacent tot he herd for a week or so first? I have a mare and 2 geldings and it took around 3 months for them to all settle together properly, they are all now the best of friends. Good luck. x

 

[sorona]

y lot used to share at my last yard and shared for a few months at my new one as i had 1 mare and 2 geldings at the time. The mare, although a little pony, was definetly in charge though and would boss the other 2 around but they all knew their place in the herd. I now have 5 boys, age 2 to 9 and they all get on fantasticlly but i think that it is important for youngsters, whether fillies or colts, to have a mare around as they tend to teach manners where as with my boys, it is all about, play, play, play!!

 

[barneyandem]

Yes for the first month, he was in a field next to them with another gelding,i wasnt too worried about him settling in as everytime we have moved he has settled very quickly and never even raced around the field, acting like he had been there for years. He was exactly the same when we moved to our current yard and has been fine, which makes me think it is moving into the new herd that has upset him as opposed to being at a new yard, as we have been here for a while already.

 

[Kezza]

I know it's hard to bear with it as the field will be churned up and you risk them getting injured but I'm sure he will settle down with time. Now that ours have settled they are not affected by her coming into season either so all is good. Is there any way he can spend some time in the seperate paddock with a mare or 2 to see if that helps settle him before putting him back with the herd if you're really worried?

 

[barneyandem]

Well today will be his third day with them, so i thought i would see how it goes to the weekend, and hopefully he will calm down by then, and then take things from there. Im glad to hear that yours are settled now!Thanks for your help!
x

 

[Kezza]

I have to say I put many posts on here saying how worried I was, I was at the end of my tether as I thought they'd never settle and get on. People kept telling me to seperate them but I didn't and I'm glad I didn't as no harm came to any of them and they are all pals now. I was also told 2 geldings and a mare would never get on but they do!

 

[Bex7]

I don't think it is an issue but it depends on the horse.

Bert always gets into bother if there are mare in the field so now I only put him with geldings. He is turned out with one other at the moment and they get on fine.

 

[hussar]

My two boys are in with two mares - they've always run with mares and get on fine. The only trouble spot is that one of the mares when in season is the type that squeals and throws her front legs out but the boys have learned to stand at the side of her when sniffing noses!

 

[Happytohack]

Have two geldings and two mares all out together very happily.

 

[allijudd]

we run mares and geldings together here a si dont believe in segregation..however we are careful to monitor them to check taht they fit into the herd situation and will move as appropriate so we actually run 4 diffrent herds here.......

 

[Super_Kat]

On the student yard that I'm on at college there are 22 horses, 3 are going out seperatly in their own field and the rest (7 mares, the rest geldings) all got turfed out together for the first time this morning in a massive field and there was no squealing, kicking etc, they were all fine

 

[BenjaminBunny]

I think it does work...

a mare I loaned was out with other mares/geldings and they all got on well - although they had a "naughty boys field" for those that were more aggressive (i stopped loaning this horse about a year ago)

Although at my current yard keeps them seperate - but again this seems to work - but the boys field is notorious for going mental now and then - i think having mares in with geldings helps keep them calmer in most instances

 

[Niamhy]

Yep we have 6 horses all out together, 3 mares, 3 geldings!! All get on very well!

 

[Kelly1982]

My horses have always been in mixed herds and i have never had any problems.

 

[threeponies]

Ours have always been a mixed herd, although it is predominantly geldings at the moment. Never had any bother, most of the mare owners also have a gelding so going to two seperate fields is just too much bother.

 

[JessPickle]

At our yard all the fields are mixed (well apart from mine and my sisters field we both have geldings) the main herd though there is about 10-12 horses about 5 mares the rest geldings