PaulaE
New User
I took on a 33 year old mare last year. She has been without equine company for 20 years so I felt it was important to get her a friend.
I chose a gelding of similar size who seemed to be bottom.of the herd in the rescue.
On the first day he arrived, my mare was beside herself with excitement. She was desperate to get to him and even squirted at him. I had them separated by fencing.
Day 2 my new arrival was less settled and was running around a little. He broke through the fencing to be with my mare. Once togerher he settled and she seemed happy to graze with him.
However, since then she has been nervous of him. He moves her around a little. No biting or kicking, just ears back. She seems nervous of him and keeps out of his way when they are coming in for feeding etc but I also see them grazing side by side and they seem to stay reasonably close to each other.
Since he broke through the fencing I find they settle better if they graze unseparated day time and then from around 2pm they go back into their night field where they are separated by electric fencing and settle nicely near to each other to feed and have their hay.
My question is should I be worried that I've chosen the wrong friend for my mare? It's only 2 weeks and she's certainly snoozing less and gracing and eating more hay than she did before he came. However, she is also a little quiet and less cheeky with less gate bashing and knocking wheel barrows over. I appreciate it's probably a big adjustment for her but as she's so elderly it's of paramount importance to me that she's happy.
Thank you for any words of wisdom that might help me.
I chose a gelding of similar size who seemed to be bottom.of the herd in the rescue.
On the first day he arrived, my mare was beside herself with excitement. She was desperate to get to him and even squirted at him. I had them separated by fencing.
Day 2 my new arrival was less settled and was running around a little. He broke through the fencing to be with my mare. Once togerher he settled and she seemed happy to graze with him.
However, since then she has been nervous of him. He moves her around a little. No biting or kicking, just ears back. She seems nervous of him and keeps out of his way when they are coming in for feeding etc but I also see them grazing side by side and they seem to stay reasonably close to each other.
Since he broke through the fencing I find they settle better if they graze unseparated day time and then from around 2pm they go back into their night field where they are separated by electric fencing and settle nicely near to each other to feed and have their hay.
My question is should I be worried that I've chosen the wrong friend for my mare? It's only 2 weeks and she's certainly snoozing less and gracing and eating more hay than she did before he came. However, she is also a little quiet and less cheeky with less gate bashing and knocking wheel barrows over. I appreciate it's probably a big adjustment for her but as she's so elderly it's of paramount importance to me that she's happy.
Thank you for any words of wisdom that might help me.
