Preferred turn out - mixed or seperate?

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pocket

pocket

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For the past 20 years, I have been at yards that have mixed herds. There has never been a problem and all the horses have been happily mixed.

Last year, a few dominant mares came to the yard and have rocked the herd, by 'turning' the geldings, mine being one of them. He has been pinned against the fence by 3 mares all squirting at him! It was vile. In all my years around horses, I have never seen this, they even stop outside his stable and squirt. Geldings have been fighting in order to get a little hareem and mares have been agressive as well.

After much debate, we were able to get the YO to split the fields, but this has caused concern with some as they are worried that the fields will not be rested, not at all worried that their horses may be injured!

If I were to move, I will never go back to a mixed herd and would only consider small group turn out. What do most other yards do?
 
Mine's in a large group of geldings on a livery yard and fortunately they all get on pretty well, don't get the problem of one being left on thier own. if i could choose i would like the group ot be abit smaller though. I definitely wouldn't want individual turnout though now. My lads much happier running with a herd.
 
I think it very much depends on the particular mares and geldings, some get on fine others are very flirty/aggressive etc and so need to be seperated. I don't particularly like individual turnout (although i know it suits some horses) but i think most horses are happier with company.
 
My gelding can go out with mares, but needs to be the only gelding as he will fight other geldings over them.

He is fine t/o with geldings, but will assert his authority as he is the biggest and the most dominant (he still has a 'nut sack')

I prefer sep gelds/mares in nice small herds of 3/4.
 
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I think it very much depends on the particular mares and geldings, some get on fine others are very flirty/aggressive etc and so need to be seperated. I don't particularly like individual turnout (although i know it suits some horses) but i think most horses are happier with company.

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Did you do those lovely paintings?
 
I can't vote, because my "preferred" method of turnout is in pairs. My mare was in with a gelding whilst I had her on livery, and this not only worked well in that they paired up, got on well (they were paired with suitability for eachother in mind) but also I shared chores with the gelding's owner so we each got a lie-in once in a while.
My horse is now in her own field though, at her new home. There are only three horses and while putting all of them in together seems a good idea, the one gelding gets very aggressive and difficult when he's in with mares (even just one). Our other issue is restricting our grazing - my horse gets very little grass, but the other two get far more and it just wouldn't work keeping them together. I HATE keeping my horse seperate but until our grazing can be less restricted and we get a fourth horse, they will stay seperate. I also don't like large mixed herds when the horses are shod - too risky.
 
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I think it very much depends on the particular mares and geldings, some get on fine others are very flirty/aggressive etc and so need to be seperated. I don't particularly like individual turnout (although i know it suits some horses) but i think most horses are happier with company.

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Did you do those lovely paintings?

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I was wondering the same thing, they are fab
 
I prefer seperate. Although my previous horse was turned out in a mixed herd after being kept seperate for years without much bother but he became very attached to one of the mares and was a pain if either one of them were seperated.

On yard is seperate we tried mixed and it caused no end of trouble.
 
what do you class as a large and small herd?
we offer mixed grazing in a larger herd (about 15max) there is normally a few fields open so they can wonder at their leisure and there is plenty of space. however we pretty much do what the liveries want! We have some smaller groups for the 'fatties', one that is hard to catch in the bigger fields etc.
On occassions we have had to seperate one or two over the years as they have 'rocked the boat' but from my experience, mixed seems to work best providing that there is ample space for them all, Seperate grazing from when i was a livery on a yard did not work when the fields were adjoinging - mare jumped in with gelding - was chased until she collapsed!
 
It really depends on the horse. My mare is out on her own and is very happy. My gelding is still a baby so goes out with 1 or 2 other geldings.

My mare was recently out with a gelding who jumped on her back causing her to have a haematoma on her sacroiliac joint. She was out of work for over 2 months and it cost me a fortune in vets bills.
Once my youngster is backed he will go out with my mare if they get on. That way if they injure each other I can only blame myself.
 
did not vote as didn't have a 'it depends'.but if field big enough then a few geldings in with mares is fine offten too many geldings with only a few mares caurses problems. dont like pairs or three as seperation can be an issue about 5-10 in a big field 10acers.
 
We turn out in pairs
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works well for us. My filly will go into a small herd of 2 yearlings and an older mare after she is weaned.
 
I put individual - if I was at a livey yard, I would not be happy with my horses turned out with 'unknown' quantities. So for sake of an easy life I would want my own turnout space (also better if they want poo picking done). Grass has never been an issue, as I have fat horses, so lack of food wouldn't worry me!

At home I have my herd and a pair of competing boys. I carefully mix the herd and make sure the personalities don't clash!
 
Individual! But only because my horse is rather evil. He likes his own space and won't share. Individual also prevents horses injuring each other and rugs getting ripped etc. It's simpler. However, I'd hate my pony to be on individual turn out as she lives out and loves company. She has a best mate and they are out as a pair.
 
Chex is out with a mare and a gelding. He's always been in mixed herds and its always been fine unless there's a very dominant mare. I don't like turning out in pairs because he gets soooo clingy, making it near impossible to do things separately. Ideally he'd be out with about 4 other horses, but none that will pick on him
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. He was kept by himself during the day over summer in a piggy paddock, but he was really miserable so its not something I'd choose to do.
 
Sparks is on her own which isn't ideal, but is easier and safer!!! I don't like turning out in pairs as the get too clingy IMO. Small herd would be my preferance (but only if it was 'my herd'), I wouldn't want unknown animals being added.
 
i think mixed are fine
as long as the horse get on and there is a clear leader and plenty of space.
i think if there are constant fights the offending horses need to be removed
my horses have been out in small groups, althoughg if the fields were bigger i wouldnt mind them being in a bigger herd.
 
there are only geldings where I am, they go out in groups of 3 or 4 and the groups only change if there is a major problem or a horse leaves. At my previous yard it was indiv trurnout and whilst it is peace of mind against injuries I just didn't like George being on his own - esp as he couldn't even touch another horse over the fence.
 
I have 6 fields in action right now and they are a very mixed bag of horses. I put horses that get along together well in with each other; I don't care whether they are mares or geldings, it's just which horses like each other best.

One field I have only has geldings in it, mainly because they are big horses whereas most of the other horses are small QHs. This is the "boys field"; always has been known as this even if there are a couple of mares in there from time to time, Lol! At present there are 7 geldings in this field.

Another field has 8 babies and 5 mares. Two of the yearlings in this field are colts, the rest are mares and fillies. The colts are very very well behaved; they are being gelded next month but not because they are bad mannered (they aren't, they are exceptionally well behaved as per usual in a situation like this).

A couple of my fields have just mares in them, not for any reason other than these horses get along well.

Another field has a mixed group.

I rarely have more than 7 or 8 adult horses in any one field but once in a while I will combine 2 herds if there is a lot of grass in one particular field.

I don't put up with any bullying and if this ever happens then I split the culprits up and generally find a more manageable group to put together.

The majority of the horses who live here have lived here for years, and at some point in time most of them have lived in the same field so they all know each other well, and I know which horses get along and which don't.

For a couple of years I had mares, my stallion and a gelding living in a field together. Then when my stallions babies came along I moved the gelding out and left the stallion with his mares and his foals. Worked perfectly; everyone got along beautifully.
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Most of my fields are decent sized though - generally about 10 acres each and then I have some smaller paddocks which I use intermittently.

Works for me and my lot.
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I think the yard I am at has a good system - the part and full liveries are turned out in pairs (except a few that need to be turned out individually) and the pairs are decided in a logical fashion so they all get on.

The grass liveries are split into mares and geldings and turned out in small herds (max 5) so there aren't too many problems when introducing a new horse.
 
All depends on the horses - to date, all of mine mares or geldings have been fine with the opposite sex. I just keep my two together and now have one of each.

Several times a week they are taken away from each other so they don't get too attached and are happy to be parted and even more happier to be back together.

When Chancer was by himself, even though horses were next door, he was very unhappy. Luckily Farra loves to groom him as much as he loves to groom her and they get on very well.
 
I have gone from keepig my mare with 1 other to intrducing her to a small heard i was so worried about her being injured but at this particular yard it was this or nothing and 2 monthes in she is happier than ever 3 gelding and 3 mares it,s strange but gelds go in 1 direction and mares in other but all is well so far ..
 
Voted seperate mares/geldings small herds.

I have found that you can get away with bigger herds of geldings than you seem to be able to with mares before 'injuries' start appearing. The geldings seem to 'play' more with each other - play fighting etc - whilst when the mares kick off they mean business.

But that is just my experience.
 
Mine are in a mixed herd of about 12 on 20 acres with access to two fields. They seem very contented. There are a few mini herds and pairs and there is never any bother. My two year old has been in this herd since she was a yearling and has thrived in the company of a diverse age range of both sexes. She was previously in a field with 3 other youngsters of the same age but she was nervous of older horses. Since being with the mixed herd she is much more settled and confident. We have a field with a pair in and they are very clingy, whinnying and pacing up and down when one leaves. I would much prefer to keep my horses in a mixed herd as long as there is plenty of space of them.
 
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