Sorry for all my questions/ bullying pony

[Groom Mum]

I have three ponies in my field, two of which have been together for around a year. I added another little on two weeks ago and thought this would stop. But the larger of the other two is really horrid to the newest one. If he dares come close he will go after him with his mouth wide open and he takes chunks out of his neck and tried to kick the heck out of him. This in turn has made the little one timid. He wont come close to me, I can't even catch him. I feel so sorry for him. I have given it almost three weeks but am reluctant to leave him in the field for too much longer for fear of him getting really injured.

I don't have the space to put him in a separate field so I'm very reluctantly giving him back to his owner. I feel awful, but I'm thinking of the welfare of this pony, am I doing the right thing?

 

[Makemineacob]

You need to fence of a section of your field, even temporarily and move the new pony into its own area. It's a bad idea to just put a new horse straight into a field with existing horses, introduction over a fence will save bullying, fighting and injuries! We introduce anything new over a two week period, own field and then we put one of the existing herd (a non trouble maker) into the field with the new horse (under supervision) for a couple of hours and then put them back in their own fields, we do this over a few days with each of the horses, leaving any potential trouble maker in the old herd until last. Then once they have all spent time on their own with the new horse in its field, we then put the new horse into the herd. We never even have running around or high jinks as they're all used to the new horse. Always done this for many years and never once had injuries or any significant bullying as a pecking order is swiftly organised. it takes time and others will do it quicker but we've always took our time and all of ours are so settled in their herd and never have an issue.