New Pony spoiled by field share - help please?

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FirstTimeFoaler

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Hello, I hope you can help me please. 10 days ago I had a new mare come to join my gelding and an elderly (retired) field-share mare, a little Welsh Mountain pony. The field-share has totally fallen in love with my new mare, to the point that she won't be separated from her. She was bonded with my gelding before and called a bit if we went out on a hack, but soon settled. My mare is quite bonded to her already, but not in quite such a strong way. I have some stables in my field but they are not fenced off so the only way I can get them apart is to entice them into separate stables with feed, which neither of them need as they are both on the porky side. My gelding has to go in the middle stable as he is large and it is the biggest one. As soon as they've finished eating, the field share starts hysterically screaming for my mare which unsettles her. I'm trying to groom her and bond with her but the noise coming from along the way is awful. Yesterday we tried to take my mare for an in-hand walk, to show her the area and the field share jumped over the stable door to come with us! However, we did manage to get out of the field and leave her behind. The walk itself wasn't entirely successful as she ran the fence-line calling and calling, even though my gelding was still in the field with her. I've never heard a pony scream so hysterically... it's very upsetting and unsettling.

I've been around horses for years and never seen a bond build so quickly and so strongly. Can you offer any advice please?

Thank you
 
The only advice I can give you is separate them ASAP.
I don't know why some horses form these type of bonds but if I see it in any of mine I nip it in the bud.
I usually turn out in pairs but the pairs are stabled away from each other and I avoid if I can pairs that go to shows together being turned out together.
It does seem to be a mare thing although the most bonded pair I ever had where geldings but they were not hysterical .
 
Thank you. We went back last night and separated them. Unfortunately I can only separate them in that there is a fence between them and not so that they can't actually reach each other. Little pony was NOT a happy bunny and screamed a lot. My two were wound up to start with, had a gallop around but settled down to graze, although they were hanging around the other paddock. My gelding is the dominant one in the field so my new mare is wary of him anyway but they've progressed to ears back and swishing tails rather than lunging at each other with open mouths and back feet!!

This morning my two were at the other end of the field, although when little pony whinnied my mare did trot off back down there for a while. Hopefully I can keep my mare's attention for long enough this afternoon to do something useful with her. Thanks again :)

Horses, eh? Who'd have 'em? :rolleyes:
 
Hi. Section off with electric fencing so that they can't 'touch" over the fence. That's when the bond is reinforced. Even if its a few feet in from the main fence line. It will allow them to see each other but not get too close. Good luck ;)
 
You know, I hate all this separating of bonded horses. I think it is cruel. IME it is difficult to begin with but they do eventually settle. Horses need to be given time. Separating merely causes more stress. The pony mare will be difficult at first but will eventually learn that your mare will come back. Is the poor pony on its own now? If so, she will become worse when she next is able to bond with another horse as she will be anxious she will be separated again.
 
I have a mare that is just the same whenever she moves to a new yard, despite having my other horses, she gets very attached to her new best friends to the point of winding the rest of the herd up and making them not want to leave her and vice versa.
Fortunately, other owners have been very patient because once she settles, she's fine and no longer gets stressy if parted.
So I tend to leave them be, maintain the routine she's used to for basics and wait until she feels secure in the new situation and then I get my mare back to the sweet girl she is.
 
Wagtail said:
You know, I hate all this separating of bonded horses. I think it is cruel. IME it is difficult to begin with but they do eventually settle. Horses need to be given time. Separating merely causes more stress. The pony mare will be difficult at first but will eventually learn that your mare will come back. Is the poor pony on its own now? If so, she will become worse when she next is able to bond with another horse as she will be anxious she will be separated again.
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Ah, didn't see your post Wagtail. Completely agree with you.
 
Wagtail said:
You know, I hate all this separating of bonded horses. I think it is cruel. IME it is difficult to begin with but they do eventually settle. Horses need to be given time. Separating merely causes more stress. The pony mare will be difficult at first but will eventually learn that your mare will come back. Is the poor pony on its own now? If so, she will become worse when she next is able to bond with another horse as she will be anxious she will be separated again.
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have to disagree with you on this one, my mare and gelding bonded, more him than her and when they were in together he would turn himself inside out if i took her away, i would be able to hear him calling constantly from a mile down the road. when i got back he would be drenched in sweat and the field would look like it had been ploughed along the fence line:( i separated them and put gelding with daughters pony for company instead, now i can take mare out and gelding will call while she is still in sight but not wind himself up or plough the field! i think it is much kinder to the gelding this way, he suffered perhaps 2 days of stressing when they were separated at first and now minimal stress rather than the almost blind panic stress he put himself through every time when she went out.
 
Ibblebibble said:
have to disagree with you on this one, my mare and gelding bonded, more him than her and when they were in together he would turn himself inside out if i took her away, i would be able to hear him calling constantly from a mile down the road. when i got back he would be drenched in sweat and the field would look like it had been ploughed along the fence line:( i separated them and put gelding with daughters pony for company instead, now i can take mare out and gelding will call while she is still in sight but not wind himself up or plough the field! i think it is much kinder to the gelding this way, he suffered perhaps 2 days of stressing when they were separated at first and now minimal stress rather than the almost blind panic stress he put himself through every time when she went out.
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Yes, but your gelding has alternative company. The pony the OP is talking about has been separated and is on her own. She will be traumatised and terrified. It's not the same thing as you putting your gelding in with your daughter's pony.
 
Thanks for the answers. Apologies, I need to clarify, the little pony is in HALF a paddock, separated from another mare by electric tape, so she's not totally isolated - and curiously, neither is she interested in the other mare. I don't have issues, personally, with individual paddocks providing they can see and reach other horses. They have all been in there at certain times for different reasons so it is not an area that is alien to her either. And she certainly didn't look "traumatised and terrified" this morning as she ambled around grazing in the sunshine. I hate to anthropomorphize but last night's display looked more like temper than trauma - but who knows what goes on in the equine brain.

I know she has separation issues, I mentioned her previous behaviour in my first post, but I've never seen them on this scale before. It really is an obsession. "Blind panic" is a good expression, certainly seeing her risk herself coming over the stable door!!! Perhaps it's a mare thing. My other horses have been geldings - she got attached, but not at the same intensity. But if so, then why isn't she clamouring to befriend the mare in the other half of the paddock?

But thank you for your comments, everything is taken on board.
 
FirstTimeFoaler said:
Thanks for the answers. Apologies, I need to clarify, the little pony is in HALF a paddock, separated from another mare by electric tape, so she's not totally isolated - and curiously, neither is she interested in the other mare. I don't have issues, personally, with individual paddocks providing they can see and reach other horses. They have all been in there at certain times for different reasons so it is not an area that is alien to her either. And she certainly didn't look "traumatised and terrified" this morning as she ambled around grazing in the sunshine. I hate to anthropomorphize but last night's display looked more like temper than trauma - but who knows what goes on in the equine brain.

I know she has separation issues, I mentioned her previous behaviour in my first post, but I've never seen them on this scale before. It really is an obsession. "Blind panic" is a good expression, certainly seeing her risk herself coming over the stable door!!! Perhaps it's a mare thing. My other horses have been geldings - she got attached, but not at the same intensity. But if so, then why isn't she clamouring to befriend the mare in the other half of the paddock?

But thank you for your comments, everything is taken on board.
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You see, you gave the impression she had been put in the next field all by herself. I agree, individual paddocks are fine so long as they are next to others and can touch over the fence.
 
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