Mares and geldings

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Do you turn your mares and geldings out together, or are they seperated? If they're together, do you have any problems with over-protective geldings ect?
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Thankies
 
Yes, mares and gelding are seperated on the yard due to geldings getting over protective, apart from one gelding who would injure himself jumping gates and scaling 6ft dry stone walls to get to the mares, so we did have to compromise on that one.
 
I have two mares and two geldings - they are all turned out together and there have never been any problems at all. However, they are a static herd and they are all very chilled, laid back horses. Even though the older of the two geldings wasn't cut until he was 6 and has sired foals, he has never shown the slightest bit of interest in the mares, and the mares never even show when they are in season.
 
We generally separte the horses according to age and condition. So horses that need the same amount of grass go out together, skinny ones on lots, fat ones on bare etc.
For the alst couple of months we have had 4 fillies in one field with plenty of grass, there are all young and need it. Last week a broodmare and colt foal was put in with them. Yesterday 2 skinny geldings were put in with them. All with no problems.
Generally I find the mares/geldings thing a bit of a myth. If you put any sex of horse out with each other they will always take a day or so to sort themselves out, they just need enough of a chance to do it.
We have one gelding who will attack other geldings in the field, he is not what you call riggy/abnormal in any way - he is as quiet as a mouse in all other aspects. If you put one mare in the field with them he instantly behaves himself, although he takes no untoward interest in mares whatsoever.
 
Ours are separated and I prefer it that way. Mares and geldings behave differently in fiends and tend to antagonise each other if in together. Geldings tend to play and often cause small nicks and minor injuries while they are having fun, mares tend to be much quieter but if an altercation does occur the injuries tend to be more hiracal issues being resolved and injuries tend to be more serious but much less common.

To put them all in together for me would cause problems. Geldings would bash each other to impress the mares and the mares would end up getting irritated with the fuss and lash out.

Just my opinion but they are much better separated. The only way I would put them all in together is if they were on common land where the field sizes are ridiculously large so they can get away from each other.
 
Ours are out together.

4 geldings and 6 mares, we have never had any problems.
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They have all been with us varying amounts of time too, some over 10years, a few around 5 years, and about 4-5 just in the last year, and we have never had a problem.

Sure we have had the first few days of hi jinks when the new horse finds it place in the herd, but no injuries etc.
 
Ours were together when I first moved on to this yard, and there were problems with geldings fighting over the mares. We also had a high turnover of liveries so there was barely a week without a horse being introduced or leaving the groups, which left them unsettled.
They were separated 2 years ago, and since then there has been a lot less field injuries, and they are all a lot more relaxed and settled.
 
ours are seperate
years ago when they all use to be out together we did have a few over protective lads,one run and smashed in to the side of another gelding whilst we were bringing him in,god there was hell of a thud bit scarey when there both big horses,how he didnt take us out as well is beyond me !!!
 
We have inidividual turn out at our DIY yard (ie we share with friends and they are v small groups). My 12 yr old gelding shares a field with a 7 year old cheshtnut mare and an 8 year old gelding. My gelding and the mare were together first, for about 6 months, then we introduced the new gelding, and to be honest, they're fine. The mare is the boss of the field, and they all do have a play, and Jack has come in with a couple of scrapes/bites, but I'm sure they're just playing as I know Jack does like to.

Prior to this, he had always gone out with other geldings, so I was a bit dubious about putting him out with a mare, but they seem fine,

Hope this helps!
 
We don't mix at my yard unless it is your mare and gelding turned out together. Depends on horse, I know mine is ok with one gelding but if you put a gelding and a mare that is a friend with her she tends to try 'look after' the mare and the poor gelding gets it!
 
All ours are together. About 50 horses in a massive field. We dont tend to have any problems, yes we get the occasional kick and sometimes a few of them may be hard to catch if there is a mare in season. But I prefer them all together as it is more natural for them.
 
no, all in together.
but its actually the mares who are the problem, they fight each other where as the geldings arent as bad tempered, and arent at all protective of the mares
 
My mare is out with my sisters gelding full time. In fact Maggie has always mixed better with geldings than mares. On my old livery yard there were loads of injuries and fallouts with single sexed fields whereas I've always had a happy herd of mixed horses.
 
Reading all these answers it seems as though it's down to the individual animals.

I had my two mares turned out together fine and the two geldings together as well but one of the geldings has really beaten up the other badly (we feared we might lose him) so we now have two gelding and mare pairs. The pony pair just love each other, they're like a little old married couple and choose to share a stable and eat from the same hay pile. We put the little mare in with the beaten up gelding as he needed some company and was very miserable and they are so so happy together!
 
my gelding and one of the other gelding stand for hours playfighting by bighting each others faces, but its obviously play, whereas im forever calling the owner of my mare to tell her shes been in a fight - she must dread hearing from me
 
Mares dont tend to play fight to altercations are usually intentional and much worse. Its why I dont like them mixed because they have different group behaviours.

It would be a major deciding factor before I move to a livery yard. If they were mixed I wouldnt go.
 
my mare and gelding are together but they YO has fenced off a small section and there is another gelding in the field but fenced off if you know what i mean. Took my boy out yesterday and my mare was standing by the fence to other gelding and he was really naughty. When i put my boy back out he ran in between them kicked his bum towards the gelding and started grazing calmly. But he has never been like that with the other gelding in the next field.....
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My mare and gelding are out together in a large mixed group. I prefer mixed sex groups as in my experience groups of mares are often nasty and also seem to overbond.
 
We have 6 geldings (2 are mine) and 1 mare (also mine) in our field. They all get on fine and no kicks ever (touch wood!!). I do find my mare is always coming into season though which I think may be because she's the only girl. The geldings do tend to look after her and protect her. She gets away with murder ! Is there a word for a male harem ?
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All of my herds, except one, are mixed sex. All the horses get on fine here and in one field last year I had the stallion, some mares and a couple of geldings, they got on wonderfully with no problems at all.

The only reason I have the unique herd, which is all geldings, is because of their size and no other reason. They are all the biggest horses I have here so it is easier for feeding and they do cavort around a lot so if I were to put little horses in with them they could end up getting squished, LOL!!

I have always run mixed herds and never had any problems - occasionally there will be a horse who is just a pain when running with any other horse, gelding or mare, and then they are given their very own little paddock.
 
Mixed.

One colt and a mare in one paddock. Two mares, a filly foal and a gelding in another.

I prefer compatible groups and chop and change until I get the mix right, at the moment it's all happy families.

If I had a horse that was a pain in the backside, or obviously happier alone, then individual turnout isn't a hang-up of mine.

When I was on a yard before we had 19-20 horses and in the winter they all grazed together but in the summers, for some reason, all the geldings turned into pseudo stallions and ran the mares ragged trying (and succeeding) to cover them. I have never been anywhere like it for randy geldings, we reckoned it must have been something in the soil.
Mares and gelding were separated because there were so many injuries, and owners really didn't like their little mares being jumped by socking great ISH geldings, what hacked me off greatly was that often the geldings owners just thought it was funny. One of my mares was injured so badly being chased through a fence and around a bog by a gelding that she had to be pts in the end due to tendon injuries.
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ours all have there own paddocks, the mares are complete tarts and when they are in season and brought onto the yard they usually shove there rear ends into the nearest geldings face! the geldings however all seem to prefer each other...
on the previous yard they were split and the geldings used to just chase each other around the field and play fight, the mares when they kicked off were just plain evil!
 
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