New mare & stallion next-door...

[Christmas Crumpet]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster. It probably is!!

New horse has been at home for 2 weeks. There is a Section B (I think) stallion in the field but one away from her. The closest she can be is about 25 yards away. I moved her to another field this morning with her companion and she went absolutely nuts screaming and galloping up and down almost in a blind panic.

I'm just not very sure about what to do about the situation!! I think in the yard next-door the boys are all in the fields by my house/yard and the mares must be in the fields on the other side of their yard.

Clearly this could be quite a problem so how do I approach it?

 

[AmyMay]

Are the fields adequately fenced?

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Yes the fencing is fine.

To be fair to the stallion, this isn't his fault. Its my new tarty mare that is the problem. I am just concerned that she is going to do herself an injury trying to get to him or by galloping flat out up and down the fence line all day.

 

[Fides]

Why is it an issue if they are separated by a field? Is the fencing on their side adequate? Is the fencing on your side adequate?

Can you move your mare to another field so she is out of view of him?

If not, have you approached them and asked if they would mind swapping the mares and stallion over?

 

[PolarSkye]

Why is it an issue if they are separated by a field? Is the fencing on their side adequate? Is the fencing on your side adequate?

"I am just concerned that she is going to do herself an injury trying to get to him or by galloping flat out up and down the fence line"

This is the problem.

P

 

[Fides]

"I am just concerned that she is going to do herself an injury trying to get to him or by galloping flat out up and down the fence line"

This is the problem.

P

I hit send too soon... I'd edited my post to add could the mare be moved out of sight, or if not, could the stallion owner be approached to see if they would mind swapping fields.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I've got nowhere else to turn her out - we only have 2 acres turnout so not an option for me. There is nearly 30 acres of turnout next-door. I have met the girl who is renting the yard and she seems very nice so am sure she would try and help if she can.

Its just a pain in the backside to be honest. We have got the mare a tiny companion so she wouldn't get upset about all the horses being moved about next-door. For example, they will bring theirs in at 4 p.m in the winter in full sight of mine and I don't get home till 6 p.m so can't get mine in until then. I was hoping that the companion would be enough but I'm not sure it will. As I said above, we only have 2 acres turnout (on clay) so I could do without lots of galloping up and down the fence line when its bottomless!! I like to turn out every day if possible and I work full time so I can't just turn out for an hour or two and then pop home and bring them back in.

All quite irritating really - its like all the hassle of a DIY yard but not actually being on it!!

 

[madlady]

If you don't plan on using your mare for breeding and your neighbours need to turn their stallion out then could you speak to your vet about having a mare marble put in - she won't come in season any more after that so shouldn't be a problem for anyone then?

 

[StormyMoments]

Sounds like a recipe for disaster. It probably is!!

New horse has been at home for 2 weeks. There is a Section B (I think) stallion in the field but one away from her. The closest she can be is about 25 yards away. I moved her to another field this morning with her companion and she went absolutely nuts screaming and galloping up and down almost in a blind panic.

I'm just not very sure about what to do about the situation!! I think in the yard next-door the boys are all in the fields by my house/yard and the mares must be in the fields on the other side of their yard.

Clearly this could be quite a problem so how do I approach it?

Have you moved further away or closer to the stallion?

I would speak to the yard manager/owner next door as to whether it is possible to move the stallion. Given that you have said that she seems nice so she may be more than happy to move him further away.

Do be aware that she may say no. If she has specialist fencing to keep the stallion in then it may not be possible to move it away.

You have only moved her today so you may find she settles down. I own a stallion who I keep on a yard full of mares. They tend to get rather excited when in a field near him but settle down when they realize they aren't getting any closer and that he isn't paying them any attention.

If she can't move the stallion or your mare doesn't settle then you might want to stick her on a calmer... do remember she is still in fairly new surroundings so it may just be that shes still not entirely settled.

Providing that the fields are adequately fenced there isn't really much else you can do...

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

We are just trying to get into a routine. She's been home nearly 2 weeks but because she got strung up on the stock netting and skinned her hind legs and lost a shoe, she was left in the paddock furthest away from stallion because I wasn't riding her.

Since she's had the shoe put back on and I've been riding, she has been in the paddock closest to the stallion. Normally I would only have a horse in there overnight and then back in normal paddock during the day. However, the grass needed eating so she was in there for four days and then put back in the normal paddock this morning.

She has been pretty calm up to now so I'm hoping its just a blip!! And the stallion will probably have nothing to do with it. I am just slightly concerned having not been in this situation before and want to avoid any injury and stress if at all possible.

 

[melissa1971]

We have stallions next door separated only by a farm track my mares are terrible flirts so I made sure extra electric fencing up the side and within no time they settled down i would just give it time it's still all new to her

 

[StormyMoments]

Are you sure she is actually acknowledging your other horse? She may not actually really realize he is there so she may be pacing because you have taken her away from the "herd" as such... we have a couple of horses on our yard that none of the others actually acknowledge so despite being out with them they will stress anyway until one of the others come out... just a thought.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Fingers crossed its just going to take a bit of time. Yes she is/has definitely acknowledged little companion pony. I am hoping I put 2 and 2 together and made 5 re: stallion. Hope so. I am not blaming him for any of this!!

I think its a bit hard to adjust from having an old gelding who wasn't remotely concerned about having any company or what he could/couldn't see to a mare who clearly is far more interested in goings on around her!!

 

[Fides]

Mares can be tricky but so worth it.

If you want any advice With how to approach the stallion owner PM me as I have been in the same situation (but reversed).