Middle child syndrome in horses? Please help.....

nikicb

nikicb

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Sorry if this sounds daft, but I just wanted to run this by someone who knows more about herd behaviour as it's giving me a headache trying to sort it out .....

I've recently got a new horse in addition to the two ponies I've kept together at home for almost two years. The two ponies have always got on fine, but whilst they like each other to be there, they don't tend to mutually groom each other so are not overly attached. All three are geldings.

I've been turning the new horse out in an adjacent paddock and everything has been fine for the past few weeks. I'd really like to get to the point where I can put them all together as I have fairly limited grazing and also I think it's nicer for them to be together. I tried putting the new horse and the 13.2 in together for a while (couple of hours) the other day and that was disastrous and the 13.2 was bullied and chased quite badly by the new horse so I separated them. So for a couple of days we went back to how it was before.

Unfortunately though, I have the two ponies on very short grass and the new horse on the longer grass. The problem with this is that the new horse needs to drop weight, whereas the 13.2 could probably do with a little more which he can get through other means, but if the grass is there I may as well let him have it. I can't switch them completely as the Sec A would balloon on the longer grass.

So, Thursday and yesterday I put the new horse out with the Sec A in the well grazed paddock and the 13.2 on his own in the paddock with longer grass for a few hours then swapped them round later as I didn't want the 13.2 having too much in one go as he has had lami with previous owners.

Well done if you're still with me!!

The only trouble is that the 13.2 is really not happy that the new horse has gone into his paddock and keeps walking round sniffing and snorting and has become quite clingy with me and looks sad and not himself - not so much physically, just the way he's acting. I think I'm just going to have to have the new horse separate and divide his paddock.

I'm sure I am worrying over nothing and it is totally normal and my little herd needs to re-establish it's pecking order now that the new horse has arrived. But I can't help feeling sorry for my 13.2 who really does seem to be upset by the whole thing. The Sec A couldn't care less - he just likes to have a friend and doesn't worry who it is!

Sorry it was so long - do tell me if I just need to stop worrying and let them sort it out by themselves. :)
 
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We have always tend to just put all ours out together and to let them sort it out amongst themselves. My mum did once separate our two ponies who decided to have a mammoth battle which was getting out of hand (and resulted in a switch in the hierarchy) but they have been fine together since then. Of our 4, the older pony is the bottom of the pile and he does now go into a separate paddock at night, just because he can't keep up with the hijinks of the others so well now. In the day they are all out together with no problems and then being separate at night just gives him a chance to rest.

Provided you could keep an eye on them for a while, I admit I would be tempted to try all of your three together to let them work out where they all stand. I've always found it can be hard to watch at first if one horse is getting chased away but it always seems to work out and then everyone appears to feel better for knowing their place.

Of course, if it's apparent that one will get seriously hurt then I would obviously reconsider.
 
Thanks HollyWoozle. I know I should really just man up and stick them all in together, but the paddocks aren't enormous and my 13.2 did appear genuinely frightened even though it was really a fairly normal bit of scrapping. He is a bit of a drama queen though as he is part Arab! He was turned out in a group with his previous owners and was at the bottom of the pile. I think he really has felt put out of his place as for the last 20 months he has been top horse, albeit to one fairly submissive sec A. The horse has shoes on as well which is why I wince when legs start flying everywhere.

On the other hand I guess I could just leave the ponies together and the horse separate. Maybe I'm just overthinking the whole situation. :confused:
 
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My daughter has not long had her new pony (about 6 weeks) and the intention was to keep him with my 19 yo cob gelding. New pony is riggish and aggressive to my boy when there are mares around, so after several skirmishes and a couple of vets bills we have taken the decision to keep the separate. They share the same paddock but separated by double electric fencing. It just wasn't worth the risk to persevere putting them together.
 
Thank you both for your replies.

The more I think about it, the more I think it might not work having them all together. The 13.2 is a funny chap - totally non spooky about hacking and most things but very anxious about some things especially where food is involved. I try to have him in the stable as little as possible while I'm on the yard as he box walks (doesn't when there's noone around - I can see him from inside the house, or if he's got some hay) and will also windsuck sometimes when he's waiting for food. He's not aggressive to me when he's got food - no problem going in the stable, but he does tend to want the same blade of grass that the other pony is eating. And on the odd occasion I have put hay in the field I have to put 4 or 5 piles otherwise they scrap.

Yet if no food is involved he is no problem - only recently I picked up Irishbabygirl and her horse, who he'd never met before, in my box when he was already on board and they got on really well. It makes me wonder about his past. I know he had lami at one point, whether or not he was then starved I don't know, but something strange has happened. He's 19 and has probably been through quite a few homes given he's the sort of height that kids grow out of quite quickly.

Today we went back to the old routine of ponies in together and horse separate. He was a different pony bringing him in tonight. Far more chilled. He almost looked tucked up yesterday.

I'm glad I started this thread as it's certainly helped me get things straighter in my mind. Apologies if it's just a long ramble for everyone else. :o:)
 
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