New horse into existing herd of 3

[FabioandFreddy]

Due to having to semi retire my horse we will soon be looking for another for me. We currently have my gelding, my husbands gelding and an old shetland mare. Ordinarily i prefer geldings but not ruling out a mare if a nice one came along that i liked. But worried about what would be best for the herd dynamics? Currently the 2 geldings buddy up, if they're not grazing then they stand in the same spot together, poor little shetland may as well be in another field as they don't include her in their 'gang'!! Husbands horse is top of the hierarchy, followed by my boy with shetland mare at the bottom. Would it make much difference what sex the 4th horse was? Know will be hierarchy determination for a couple of weeks anyway but if a mare would make that worse then i would rule it out.
Any opinions gratefully received!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Due to having to semi retire my horse we will soon be looking for another for me. We currently have my gelding, my husbands gelding and an old shetland mare. Ordinarily i prefer geldings but not ruling out a mare if a nice one came along that i liked. But worried about what would be best for the herd dynamics? Currently the 2 geldings buddy up, if they're not grazing then they stand in the same spot together, poor little shetland may as well be in another field as they don't include her in their 'gang'!! Husbands horse is top of the hierarchy, followed by my boy with shetland mare at the bottom. Would it make much difference what sex the 4th horse was? Know will be hierarchy determination for a couple of weeks anyway but if a mare would make that worse then i would rule it out.
Any opinions gratefully received!

I would segregate the new horse for a minimum of a week making sure he can touch noses etc with the gang. Any squeals lashing out etc will be done with the safety of a fence line. It is better to break a fence than a leg. When turning out after this period try putting the new horse in with Shetland and leave a few days then add the next horse and lastly your husbands horse. This way they are saying hello with only one horse to worry about.

I will never put a new horse straight into an existing herd, without a split introduction in place.

 

[Fiona]

I've had small mixed herds (1 mare/2 geldings and then 1 gelding/2 mares) in the past, and maybe I'm lucky, but we've never had a problem.

Mind you - I'm def getting wussier with age, as when we got my son's pony gelding, I took the decision to keep him separately. Both for diet reasons, and because I couldn't bear the thought of tiny little him getting kicked by one of my mares...

Fiona

 

[applecart14]

I would segregate the new horse for a minimum of a week making sure he can touch noses etc with the gang. Any squeals lashing out etc will be done with the safety of a fence line. It is better to break a fence than a leg. When turning out after this period try putting the new horse in with Shetland and leave a few days then add the next horse and lastly your husbands horse. This way they are saying hello with only one horse to worry about.

I will never put a new horse straight into an existing herd, without a split introduction in place.

Agree with the above. You do need to separate them first so they can touch but not kick. Ideally hack them out together a couple of times so they form a bit of a bond before you introduce them together for the first time.

 

[FabioandFreddy]

Sorry, should have put that will keep separate initially! Always have done this but its always been introducing to my boy and the shetland as they are the 2 that have always been there (hubby has changed horses so always his thats the newby to introduce normally).
Its more the dynamics of 3 geldings to 1 mare/equal split, which would be better?

 

[Fiona]

As I said, we've introduced a another gelding into a 1 mare/1 gelding field and it was fine.

Fiona

 

[Auslander]

I'm supposed to have a mixed herd here - 2 geldings and 3 mares. Alf put the kibosh on that plan by being so irresistible to the two younger mares that they come into season if he so much as looks at them, and he is more than happy to oblige with a bit of between the sheets action if they ask nicely. He and his best girl (who he adores, but has no interest in, even when she is in season) live in one field, and the other three are next door. Thankfully, Jim is the gay best friend - and is utterly horrified when the girls try it on with him!

 

[PorkChop]

I don't think it matters whether your new one is a mare or a gelding as such - I only have mares now but have had small mixed herds in the past with no problems.

I generally just let them get on with it once they have met over the stable wall for a day or two.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Well those who just put a horse straight out "and let them get on with it" have not had their mare of a life time had her lower leg kicked and splint bone shattered into 19 pieces and her at risk loosing her life just for the sake of a week or two segregation. Never shown these before Diamonds splint bone which shattered and her stitches which I kept hidden till now.

 

[spookypony]

I agree with the others; when my mare arrived, I put her in an electric-fence mini-paddock in a corner of the main paddock for about a week. TBH, they settled quite quickly, and removing the fence thereafter created no further problems.

I'm often a bit worried by people turning out horses that are shod behind with other horses, because of the kicking danger...in Canada, that was just not done, but I know there are proportionally probably far more shod horses here. And horses do need to be with other horses!

 

[NZJenny]

They tend to find their own buddies I think, much as we would. I had an old mare, her daughter and a gelding and then introduced another mare. The old mare and her daughter used to be a "pair", but when the new mare arrived she buddied up with the old girl, and the daughter and gelding became best buddies and now the old mare has died the new(ish) one is a bit on the outer.

My gelding however is very protective of his girls and keeps an eye on the two he has left very vocally.