New horse on yard

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buggit

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Just a bit of advice needed. A new horse has arrived at our yard a big 16.1 beast. It has waded in and taken charge of all the horse in our field apart from my boys. They went out today to meet him for the first time and he chased them off... not worried about that but then my two were bombing up the field towards me wanting to come in. He carries his tail over his back and is very interested in the mares...Could he be a rig??? Has anyone else experienced this behavior before?
 
Sounds normal - the dynamics have changed. He may never have been with mares before. My gelding prefers mares and he's not a rig. He just finds them less threatening. Why don't you speak to the owner if you're concerned?
 
lol hun not over reacting just looking out for youre 2 - give them time to settle and sort it out - the are horses there maybe squealing kicking and biting but they are doing what is normal and right - i love mixed fields as yep you may have a bit of tusseling( mmmm few scrapes to) but in end they are as natural as can be = happy horses . my mare is tart of field lol willl squirt at any but only chosen few are allowed near lol :)
 
As others have said it is just the herd pecking order adjusting.

I run a small livery yard and am always apprehensive when a new horse arrives as it can be very unsettling for all involved, but they do always settle down, just may take a few weeks.

Keep an eye on your 2 but try not to worry too much and leave them to work out the new hierarchy....
 
Sidney said:
As others have said it is just the herd pecking order adjusting.

I run a small livery yard and am always apprehensive when a new horse arrives as it can be very unsettling for all involved, but they do always settle down, just may take a few weeks.

Keep an eye on your 2 but try not to worry too much and leave them to work out the new hierarchy....
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Totally agree. I too run a small yard and hate it when a new horse arrives, though mainly because my clients get so stressed about it. I have seen so many bites in my many years with horses, and some can look pretty bad, but they are not serious. Kicks on the other hand are a different kettle of fish entirely. I try to persuade liveries to remove hind shoes and this works very well. Any serious kicker has to be removed and I have asked one client to leave because of this. However, this type of horse is rare and most do settle down in the herd and peace returns.

What stresses me the most, is owners who are too precious about their horses and cannot deal with the smallest of bites. Usually, they are the less experienced owners and eventually learn that horses are not always really nice to one another and that the occasional small war wound is just part of being a horse.

It is only if you never change the herds or get any new horses that you will get total harmony.
 
I would put sheets on your horses (if they aren't rugged in lightweights anyway) helps stop kicks breaking the skin if they are just scuffing. Also, try to relax, horses will be horses and only keeping them alone will stop skirmishes and it's not particularly natural to keep horses that way. :)
 
Thank you all for your patient and excellent advice, they are in lightweights already - its so cold and windy. I think just wanted to hear it from someone else.
 
Wagtail said:
Totally agree. I too run a small yard and hate it when a new horse arrives, though mainly because my clients get so stressed about it. I have seen so many bites in my many years with horses, and some can look pretty bad, but they are not serious. Kicks on the other hand are a different kettle of fish entirely. I try to persuade liveries to remove hind shoes and this works very well. Any serious kicker has to be removed and I have asked one client to leave because of this. However, this type of horse is rare and most do settle down in the herd and peace returns.

What stresses me the most, is owners who are too precious about their horses and cannot deal with the smallest of bites. Usually, they are the less experienced owners and eventually learn that horses are not always really nice to one another and that the occasional small war wound is just part of being a horse.

It is only if you never change the herds or get any new horses that you will get total harmony.
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Precious owners are the worst and also those that take it personally if another horse dominates theirs. We had a gelding - he was 15.2hh and another livery's 17.3hh gelding kept perstering our gelding, wanting to play and play fight. He would do this continually daily until our gelding more or less said 'enough' and bit the 17.3hh and held on right on the mane line, dragging this other gelding squealing up the field. Needless to say he left our gelding alone after that, but the owners were mortified, although they had witnessed the constant pestering. They wouldn't talk to us as though we had bitten their horse ourselves - stupid people! These are horses not children, let them do what comes naturally - the only issue I have is if the field size in insufficient for the herd or the herd too big or a rig present.
 
First question is-how long was this horse quarantined for before being allowed out with the herd?
 
buggit said:
Just a bit of advice needed. A new horse has arrived at our yard a big 16.1 beast. It has waded in and taken charge of all the horse in our field apart from my boys. They went out today to meet him for the first time and he chased them off... not worried about that but then my two were bombing up the field towards me wanting to come in. He carries his tail over his back and is very interested in the mares...Could he be a rig??? Has anyone else experienced this behavior before?
Click to expand...

Does your yard usually put strange horses straight out into the herd ? at ours new horses are put out alongside for about a week then put together.

I used to be on a yard where they were just chucked (approx 30 horses) in and know of at least two fatality's
 
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