Mixed turnout - geldings and mares

HollyB66

HollyB66

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Hi, wondered if any of you have any experiences good or bad of mixed turn out.

TIA Holly B
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I don't like it personally but then I've always had horses who don't seem to get on with it. Current horse gets too clingy to mares and can get quite aggressive when you try to take them away so he's best kept with other geldings. The mare I had previously was a randy old so and so
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and was best kept in single sex TO because otherwise she wouldn't leave the poor boys along (and the same for the horse prior to that...he wasn't cut til he was 4 and ran with mares before that, so he'd just try to mount the girls).

However, my YO turns her boys out with a mare and it suits them all perfectly.
 
Yeah, at the yard I keep my gelding and mare, there is a grass livery field (except Wings, who is stabled but still get's turned out there), which has 2 mares, the rest geldings, and 2 sheep
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They are fine together; Wings is the lead gelding, so he is always surrounded by my mare and the other, and there is the odd fight when another gelding is put in the field, but Wings normally sets everything right, and then it calms down again.

Because he's in at night, when he's brought it things change a little, but it's normally just that two of the geldings go off with the mares, and the others don't mind. All in all, it is definately a more relaxed field that those with just mares/geldings
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mine are in a mixed herds, 2 groups of 1 gelding & 2 mares. Seem much happier this way & have found my mares seasons are less 'crazed' this way. Did have a minor issue of my 30+yr old gelding mounting my 3yr old last year tho! No damage done, but guess in some situations it could result in injuries.
 
Always done it.

Bean was out with 1 gelding and another mare for 2 years.... then at current yard they swap around all the time. Never causes any issues. Tend to go into same sex herds in summer, and pairs in winter. But then there are only 3 mares on the yard, and 9 geldings, so we would have rather uneven herds!!

Never caused any problems. If any of them don't get on they aren't put together. Simple really
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I have had good and bad experience.

We kept our own herd on our own land years ago, a stallion, mares and a couple of young geldings, they all lived very happily. The stallion was a sweetheart on the ground, just a bit more lively to ride. Anyway, this worked beautifully in all the years we kept them.

However, a year or so ago I was at a small place that was mixed, my mare was attacked on various occasions by a solid 17hh WB, she is only 14.2hh. He really went for her so I hated this and I would be wary of mixing again. It depends on the horses in that herd as to whether it will work, its as simple as that in my view, not all can be mixed.
 
we have 5 mares and 2 geldings in our herd - they get on fine. The boys play together for a while, then the younger mare and gelding play together. The mares tend to bicker a little bit, but not too bad at all.
 
My mare has been with 5 boys this winter. They all love her and she picks a different favourite each day. lol. She has them wrapped round her little hoof. I think she finds the girls boring. I prefer her to be in mixed groups if possible.
 
I have my mare out with my two geldings they all get along fine. Maisy can boss the boys around a little bit but nothing serius enough to be worrid about.
 
My current yard is single sex groups only but at my old yard it was mixed groups and she was quite happy. Had more kick/ field injuries since she's only in with other mares as they are more hormonal, having geldings in with them balances it out.
 
Have always had mixed turnout out with no problems. However I now have one gelding who was fine until he turned 4 (he is now 9) and then he became very possessive of the mares he was out with so he is now out with one gelding and the others are in a mixed group.

Ours is a private yard with very little, if any change in the horses so we are not having to introduce new horses to established groups.
 
my mares been out with two other mares and a gelding this winter and theres definately more arguements between the mares! the 3yr old mare has taken to mounting the other mares though which isn't great.
in another field we have one mare, two geldings and a donkey and again no real issues with them being together.
 
We have mixed groups and caused no problem ! 12 mares and three geldings all out in the same field, same sex groups are unnatural and in my experiance seem to cause more problems and hassle.
 
Always had mixed turnout never had a problem.

Years ago was on a yard with same sex turnout and my poor mare got battered by another mare
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Captain hates mares so probably just as well he is only turned out with the boys. But YO has a mixed herd with no probs.
Fany runs with a gelding and mares, when they are out.

Only thing I would say is it is down to the horse rather than their sex.
 
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Only thing I would say is it is down to the horse rather than their sex.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you all for your comments, it seems to me that as FDC says it is down to the individuals.

Holly B
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hi,i always had a mare and gelding living together for 3 years and never had any problems,but i sold the gelding and moved my mare and all horses are turned out together,no problems still.
 
My mare had her hock broekn with a kick when I tried 2 mares and a gelding out together, they had all been able to speak over the fence for two weeks first.
So I haven't risked it since, but if my foalie is a boy I guess we'll be back there again.
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Always had mixed turnout and never any problems.

The only issues I've ever come across in the field have always been gateway related and you could say bad manners, for example person used to always just open the gate and let her horse (T) squeeze through and run loose into the yard. Someone else went to get their horse (C) in first one night and T rushed at the gate and then kicked the sh*t out of C breaking his leg. But they never had issues in the field it was purely an 'I always come in first'.
 
I have a mixed answer. I put my gelding out with my mare the other day and he humped her. She gave him an almighty kick in the face for it. I now keep them separated. However, he is absolutely fine with any other mare. He goes out at night with 2 other geldings and 3 mares. They all get on fine.
 
Mine have been in a mixed herd for 10 years now and I have never had a problem. However the herd is very stable, and there has only been 1 change in the last 5 years which was the addition of one (very low ranking) mare who I had previously kept at a separate yard before I found my own place to rent. I appreciate that I am fortunate that I can make my own decision on the herd because I don't have anyone to answer to, being in charge of my own place.

I think it was Coffee Bean who put it in the simplest and best way above: "If any of them don't get on they aren't put together ". So, IMHO whether they are mares or geldings has got little to do with it - I believe it's much more to do with each horse's like and dislike for another, and their respective "rank".

As as for injuries caused within a herd - well, horses will be horses, I hate to say it, but these things happen, whether the herd is single or mixed sex. A mare could and would kick another mare or a gelding, if she wanted/had reason to - and vice versa.

And injuries, although they can happen at any time, are far more likely to happen in a herd which is constantly being changed, with new horses being introduced and "fighting" for their place in the herd hierarchy, (typical livery yard scenario) than in a herd which remains unchanged for a long period of time, whether or not they're single or mixed sex.
 
My gelding is now in a field with a mare (just the 2 of them) having always been in separated herds before and have had no problems at all *touch wood*.

To be fair, both have very placid natures.
 
Most of the yards I have been on have been mixed. The two that were kept separtely, there was no end of problems caused by this. I wouldn't move my horses on to a yard unless they were mixed.
 
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