Mares and geldings together?

Rooji

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 April 2009
Messages
60
Location
East Anglia
Visit site
Hi guys - need some opnions please.
I am looking for a pony companion for my gelding as we are soon to be moving house to Suffolk and have space to have him at home. At the moment he is in livery where mares and geldings are separated. We only have one mare on the yard and when she is in season all the boys act up, prat about and are awkward to hack out, nappy etc. My gelding gets attached to his friends and calls and can be occasionally nappy.
Ideally I want my son to be able to learn to ride on it as well - finding a safe broken in small pony that is not suffering from any health issues is proving to be tricky as I only have a small budget and we are moving next month ! I am going to see a local Sec A today who sounds perfect but is a mare. If she is perfect in every other way should I go for it or is it just going to cause me more problems????

Bannoffee pie to any that get this far !
 
I have never had any problems with mares and geldings together. If you like the pony maybe you should see if you can have her on a trial to see if they get on.
 
I have two mares and two gelding all in together. I tried to keep them separate but one of the geldings keeps jumping fences so I decided they should all go together. They seem to have paired up one mare and one gelding together - like couples lol.

I have found from past experience though with my two mares that every time I moved them they got closer together even after initially hating each other.

In my opinion it wont be a problem and if I were you I would start right from the beginning take one out a time - even just outside the gate - brush him / her and then put them back. I did that this time and the two mares have been less clingy.

good luck with the move.
 
Thanks - that is what I thought. My lad does jump fences anyway though - his fence at the mo is a little over 4 foot and still hops out when he feels like it but I suppose at 17 hh it doesnt seem too big. I am sure he will love having a new girlfriend and it might even keep him in the field !!!!!!
 
MardyMare - love the foursome idea, lol!

I think it can work, I know plenty of people who do it. If he's going to get a bit clingy and nappy, and you nip that in the bud, I think you'll be ok.

I can't do it, my lad will cover mares (have had him rig tested, he's fine, I just think he was entire until shortly before I got him (4yo) and he knows what women and sex are!!) and also is a FIEND when you try and take him away from his current gf and she talks to another boy. The mild mannered janitor turns into a crazed beast who is quite happy to stand on his hind legs to get away from me, and jump/bust through any fencing that separates him from the girly. As nearly a ton of Suffolk x this is not funny. So, no girlies for him. But he is an odd case!

Just go and see the mare, she may not be what you want anyway. But do update us I love hearing about horse shopping stories! xx
 
aw bless they will be the new little and large!! I too keep 2 mares and 2 geldings together no problems, and the two mares are mum and daughter too (not baby, daughter is 13 years old lol!!). They've just formed their own ittle herd. I think to just be aware of usual seperation prblems that might occur whether they're opposite sex or the same!!!
 
I have my mare and a gelding together, just the two of them and they get along fine- my mare is dominant and bosses him around though even though hes twice her size! but they are always grooming and calling to each other
 
My mare and gelding are best buddies and are turned out on their own and I do not have any trouble seperating them when riding etc although it did take a few months before they put up with each other, they didn't click to start with as both quite different but also didn't have any injuries
 
Yes it would be little and large as both are dapple grey :rolleyes:
Just stressing about the move now as sooooooo much to organise.
If anyone knows anyone who does fencing in suffolk let me know - BSE area
Thanks :)
 
I actually think fences tend to cause more problems than the mares and geldings mixing. A few geldings are too boistuious and a few mares are to tarty but I think in general they mix fine. I have found geldings are more likely to stress at a mare over the fence than a mare in the field. At our yard we have an oldies field (mares and geldings mixed) a bully field (mares and geldings mixed) and a thug field (all geldings with too much energy and time on their hands!)
 
The little Sec A my daughter used to ride is kept with a 16.2TB. They are like an old married couple, he does get a little stressy if she goes out before he does (despite a mare and a gelding next door), but if he goes out he doesn't care where she is if the field's empty when he gets back. She couldn't care less about him and his comings and goings so long as there's some grass to eat. When she gets back sometimes he does charge over and give her a playful nip (he's mid 20s!), as if to say 'Oi! where have you been?!' but other than that they're best mates really - he lets her eat his hay.
 
I mix my mares and geldings and haven't had a problem, I did have a problem with one younger mare 'protecting' an older mare so had to separate them and the younger mare hasn't been aggressive since..?

If their your own horses you should be fine, especially if its just 2 horses/ponies! If I had mine on livery I'd rather they were separate tho :)
 
I've never had a problem with my horses ebing in mixed fields.
My mare I have now is in with both, shes very marish and apart from the flirting etc! she is fine in there, I find shes better there than in a field full or girlies!
 
Well after all that she wasnt right for me :( Although listed as quiet on the roads and good in traffic she shied at every car I walked her past and seemed a bit nervy - sigh - so my search continues......
 
Top