New pony...just settling in or could he be a rig?

[Bertolie]

My daughter's new pony arrived a week ago, and because her other horse was still at the yard waiting for his new owner to collect him, new pony was put in a sectioned off area of a friends paddock until other horse was collected and new pony could be with my cob gelding. He immediately introduced himself to my friends mare over the dividing fence, but my friends gelding took exception and saw him off. Friends gelding was acting very 'stallion like' towards new pony which he has never done before.

New pony then decides that its better if he introduces himself to the mare on the other side of the paddock, and has gotten quite attached to her. We decided to introduce new pony to my boy in the stables and they were fine together, however when we decided to turn my gelding out with pony, all hell let loose. New pony ended up cornering my boy, who decided that his only option was to go through the dividing fence. We ended up separating them for a while and then put both horses back in their stables where once again they were fine and nuzzling each other through the bars. Next introduction was even worse, as we divided the section of paddock in two so they could see each other but not get to each other (so we thought). Ended up with new pony jumping the 4' 6" fence, cornering my boy, who ended up trying to jump a boundary fence (stock wire) and ended up with his back leg stuck in it and the rest of him on a very steep bank at the side of the road. He was lucky to escape with only cuts and scrapes.

New pony seems excessively obsessed with the mare in next paddock though doesn't try to jump in with her, just wont let anyone within a mile of her!

Vet was out yesterday, so we decided to see if she thought he could be a rig. She had a feel and no testicles could be found, but she also said she couldn't feel a scar which you normally would after gelding? Apparently it is quite rare to have two undescended testicles but it can happen!

I am aware its only been one week so could this be just normal settling in? Whenever we have introduced new horses to each other in the past we have never had to deal with anything like this.

Or do his actions suggest that he may be a rig or, as vet has suggested, possibly entire but with two undescended testicles? Has anyone heard of a horse that has had two undescended testicles? Blood test has been taken but we wont get the results for a week and we are unsure what to do in the meantime. We dont have another paddock for the new boy to go into that doesn't have a mare/mares on one side or the other.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Orangehorse]

Well if it is a rig/stallion you can send it back as it is clearly unsuitable for a child's pony, even if the vendor didn't know.

Some geldings are very, very jealous of a mare, whether or not they have their bits.

New horses introduced into a herd often do take a while to settle down, and a little pony often likes to throw its weight around.

I can't really offer any advice, other than to keep them separate at the moment until you are clear what the situation is. If all is clear you will probably have to be careful until they all know each other better and each accepts his place.

This is why many livery yards have separate fields for mares and geldings, just in case there is fighting.

 

[pollymouse88]

Just keep an eye on them for the minute. I have never heard of two undescended testicles but know it can happen. We thought we had a false rig for a while he seemed to bring all the mares in to season even though he didn't seem that interested in them. So thats a good thing to have a look at is to whether the mare comes into season.

The only thing that is a concern is that he is super interested in the mare but the rest of it seems to be herd behaviour.

Did you ask the vet about his behaviour?

 

[Bertolie]

Vet seemed to think his behaviour was quite excessive around the mare. My cob is not a dominant horse and will back off, but the new pony doesn't just make him back off he continues hounding him and cornering him. The vet did say that he might have been gelded late in which case he has retained some stallion tendancies and has also suggested giving him regumate as this can help?

This is not a pony for a young child, my daughter is 26! In all other respects he is lovely. The two geldings get on fine in the stables, and we are going to take them out for a short hack at the weekend to see how they get on but we do not anticipate any problems. Its just when this mare is around! We dont know how he would behave with a different mare, whether it is just this one or any mare.

The new pony is not in a mixed herd, we have individual turnout or in pairs and the aim was to keep him with my gelding, but he can see and touch the mare over the dividing fence.

 

[Vanha12]

Could well have been gelded late. They often act like a rig. My daughter's pony is very similar and makes a point of pushing the others around even when they have ceased to show any resistance and jumping all over the mares when they are in season (quite comical, he is 12.2hh and the mares are over 16hh! - God loves a trier!). We thought he was a rig so had him blood tested which showed he definitely wasn't. He is much better these days and has really calmed down with a bit of discipline and now he feels secure. As with all animals they are more aggressive if they feel insecure or threatened. I would imagine his behaviour will improved dramatically once the herd have settled and found their order. If not, try Rig Calm (we found it helped a lot even though he wasn't a rig) and have blood test?

 

[FreddiesGal]

My guess is that he is just settling in. My 6 year old Welsh D was acting very similar to how you are describing, though not aggressive. Upon sight of any horse (mare or gelding), he would immediately raise his head and tail, and almost start doing Piaffe. If he got in contact with another horse, he would squeal and often kick out even if i was leading him. At this point he was out in the field on his own. Even though i thought there may be a possibility he was a rig, i decided to see what his behaviour would be like if kept with another horse, and he did totally change. New horses became less "exciting" for him, and now if i am riding through the yard and we pass another horse he will usually just walk past without doing what i can only describe as his "stallion" trot. I'd see if you can find a suitable companion for your new boy, i think it would help

 

[Bertolie]

My guess is that he is just settling in. My 6 year old Welsh D was acting very similar to how you are describing, though not aggressive. Upon sight of any horse (mare or gelding), he would immediately raise his head and tail, and almost start doing Piaffe. If he got in contact with another horse, he would squeal and often kick out even if i was leading him. At this point he was out in the field on his own. Even though i thought there may be a possibility he was a rig, i decided to see what his behaviour would be like if kept with another horse, and he did totally change. New horses became less "exciting" for him, and now if i am riding through the yard and we pass another horse he will usually just walk past without doing what i can only describe as his "stallion" trot. I'd see if you can find a suitable companion for your new boy, i think it would help

The suitable companion is supposed to be my cob gelding! My boy is very laid back, not interested in mares(!) and very submissive. My daughter texted me earlier to say that she had put them out in separate paddocks and that the new pony was not taking any notice of the mare so hopefully its just the settling in period. We will try putting them together in a different paddock together at the weekend so we can supervise, and we are also going to take them both out for an in-hand walk so that might help the 'bonding' process.

 

[FreddiesGal]

The suitable companion is supposed to be my cob gelding! My boy is very laid back, not interested in mares(!) and very submissive. My daughter texted me earlier to say that she had put them out in separate paddocks and that the new pony was not taking any notice of the mare so hopefully its just the settling in period. We will try putting them together in a different paddock together at the weekend so we can supervise, and we are also going to take them both out for an in-hand walk so that might help the 'bonding' process.

The only thing i'd say about taking them for a walk together is be careful and wear hats. I tried doing a similar thing with my one and another gelding, long story short my own pulled to the other gelding, tried to kick it and ended up catching the other leader in the ribs - thank God he was not hurt!!