Stallion in next field

[WindyWitch]

Ive just found out there's a stallion just been put in the field next to mine. I have my mare in at nights, but I am still concerned. I don't have the option to move fields as I own my field and he's in a rented field. I have spoken to the field owner and he says there isn't s problem !! I'm not a happy bunny at the moment.

 

[Fiona]

What is the fencing like in between?

Fiona

 

[TheMule]

You just need toensure the fence line is adequately double fenced. It's not ideal, mine have been living next to a colt and it's a pain when they're in season as they will stand by the fenceline begging for some action! But so long ss they can't touch, it's fine

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

You just need toensure the fence line is adequately double fenced. It's not ideal, mine have been living next to a colt and it's a pain when they're in season as they will stand by the fenceline begging for some action! But so long ss they can't touch, it's fine

Never under estimate a determined colt!

OP make sure there is more than enough good fencing and distance between them. As annoying as it is unless you know the stallion and it's attitude then you can't guarantee they will leave each other alone. Stallions can graze quite happily in fields next to mares and respect the fences. Others pay no heed to fences when they know what they want!

 

[TheMule]

Never under estimate a determined colt!

OP make sure there is more than enough good fencing and distance between them. As annoying as it is unless you know the stallion and it's attitude then you can't guarantee they will leave each other alone. Stallions can graze quite happily in fields next to mares and respect the fences. Others pay no heed to fences when they know what they want!

And a determined slutty mare! Hence why mine are triple fenced- two stock fences, a hedge in between (unfortuantely with a couple of gaps) and then electric

 

[paddi22]

check your fencing! we had a neighbouring colt get in and impregnate 2 mares in a very short period during the day! i'd be absolutely paranoid if i was you unless the fencing was 100%

 

[Pearlsasinger]

It is not actually your responsibility to fence the stallion out, OP, it is his owner's responsibility to fence him in. A numpty neighbour bought a colt and didn't even seem to consider that he needed to be fenced in. There were other horses all around. After a while the colt, who was kept on his own, jumped into the next field, where an elderly gelding was grazing peacefully and chased him round and round, because our mares were alongside. Fortunately this happened when all the owners were at home and the gelding was rescued by a bit of nifty gate shutting between the geldings 2 fields. The colt was castrated shortly afterwards because the gelding's owner was very cross. Fortunately the gelding didn't suffer too many ill-effects but of course, all the vet bills were paid by the colt's owner.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

Someone put a stallion in the field next to mine many yaers ago which was fenced his side then a river and fenced our side, he was also running with about 15 mares but still broke through both fences and came across the river. I would definitely be complaining strongly about the situation.

 

[ycbm]

It is not actually your responsibility to fence the stallion out, OP, it is his owner's responsibility to fence him in.

This is true, of course, but you can't force the neighbour to do anything about the fencing until after it's escaped and proven that it isn't adequately fenced in, and that may be too late.

Short of taking my neighbours to court, I can do nothing about keeping their sheep off my land except repair the boundary myself, at my expense.

 

[Hallo2012]

you cant complain before anything happens-its his right to have a colt if he so wishes, its not illegal, or even an inconvenience IF the fencing is adequate.

we have no neighbouring horses only sheep,so my chap is fine as he is (5'6 post and rail with another 2 foot of electric on top-i cable tied short electric fence posts to the uprights then ran electric tape along them to increase the height) BUT if we ever did get horsey neighbours i would buy heras panels and then fence with electric inside them on the 160cm posts along the boundary fence.............expensive yes but my choice to have him so my cost to bear to keep him safe.

i would just do what YOU have to do to make sure YOUR horses are safe and if he does the same then fab you will have zero worries and if he doesnt then at least you have made YOUR horses safe.

one of my clients have 4 stallions and 1 mare of their own and 3 in neighboring field and use the heras panels to keep things safe, works really well, they have never had an escapee!

 

[meleeka]

I'd be cross that you weren't notified in advance. I arrived at my field one day to find a stallion in the next field running with a mare. I moved my mare to the furthest point I could with electric and reinforced the adjoining fence with electric. He managed to break a few rails of the fence before he went and luckily my tarty mare wasn't in season. She can be very persuasive when she is.

 

[Hallo2012]

I'd be cross that you weren't notified in advance. I arrived at my field one day to find a stallion in the next field running with a mare. I moved my mare to the furthest point I could with electric and reinforced the adjoining fence with electric. He managed to break a few rails of the fence before he went and luckily my tarty mare wasn't in season. She can be very persuasive when she is.

that is true-i think the owners of entires do owe it to neighbours to make them aware.

 

[paddi22]

yes, my neighbour with the colt was very apologetic. He paid for them to be scanned and injected to end the pregnancies. And removed the colt immediately to a different field. I had only had my gelding in the field for ages, so he was unaware i'd switched mares in.

 

[TGM]

We've quite regularly had colts and stallions put in the field adjoining ours with no problems at all. The neighbour's field is fenced with strong post and rail reinforced with electric, and there is hedging our side. However I did take the precaution of putting electric fencing down our side as well, as our mare is the flirty, tarty sort!

 

[Nasicus]

I'd be proactive, and run some strong, well installed electric fencing a fair distance away from the fence line. Tall posts with several lines of tape, attached to a good, strong energizer. Might even run two rows of fencing in parallel to each other.

That way, if anything happens, you can prove you've taken appropriate precautions to keep your mare away from the stallion, and he hasn't done the same to keep his stallion away from your mare, well, the onus is on him to pay up if it gets in and causes damage/pregnancy.


I'd be a little peeved if a stallion turned up in the field next to my mares without warning. With warning, I'd still be inwardly peeved, but I'd take above precautions, or even have time to put something more permanent in place. He probably doesn't even see a problem with it, after all, it's not his horse that would end up pregnant.

 

[Hallo2012]

I'd be proactive, and run some strong, well installed electric fencing a fair distance away from the fence line. Tall posts with several lines of tape, attached to a good, strong energizer. Might even run two rows of fencing in parallel to each other.

That way, if anything happens, you can prove you've taken appropriate precautions to keep your mare away from the stallion, and he hasn't done the same to keep his stallion away from your mare, well, the onus is on him to pay up if it gets in and causes damage/pregnancy.


I'd be a little peeved if a stallion turned up in the field next to my mares without warning. With warning, I'd still be inwardly peeved, but I'd take above precautions, or even have time to put something more permanent in place. He probably doesn't even see a problem with it, after all, it's not his horse that would end up pregnant.

no but it might well be his horse that ends up kicked/broken leg etc? mares can be total cows when they want to................not all stallion owners dont give a damn myself and all those i know with stallions go to the ends of the earth to ensure safety of everyones horses and would be mortified if there was an issue.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

This is true, of course, but you can't force the neighbour to do anything about the fencing until after it's escaped and proven that it isn't adequately fenced in, and that may be too late.

Short of taking my neighbours to court, I can do nothing about keeping their sheep off my land except repair the boundary myself, at my expense.

Actually, you can report wandering sheep to your local council.

OP could speak to landowner/stallion owner and suggest that the fencing needs tobe improved if the stallion is not to be injured, either by going over the fence, or by the mare in the adjoining field. Many mares do not take kindly to being approached in a rude manner.

 

[Hallo2012]

actually what worked with sheep was to mention to the farmer that the horse feed in the field contained antibiotics not licensed for sheep (true) and that made him improve the fence asap as they would not have been fit for consumption im guessing?

 

[taraj]

I find its not always the stallions its the mares that are the problem! Looking at it from the other side of the fence! I have a little stallion out in my field, quiet happy, owner of field next door (who knows the pony is entire and has plenty of other further away fields) puts a bunch of brood mares in the field next to pony. My fields are all fenced with post and rail and x fence with electric on the top, stallion also has electric fence running a few feet from my outside fence. The mares will not stop kicking out my rails/squealing and neighing at him, luckily he is very good and respects the fencing and in no way encourages the mares but I am concerned the mares may get in with him?

 

[Hallo2012]

I find its not always the stallions its the mares that are the problem! Looking at it from the other side of the fence! I have a little stallion out in my field, quiet happy, owner of field next door (who knows the pony is entire and has plenty of other further away fields) puts a bunch of brood mares in the field next to pony. My fields are all fenced with post and rail and x fence with electric on the top, stallion also has electric fence running a few feet from my outside fence. The mares will not stop kicking out my rails/squealing and neighing at him, luckily he is very good and respects the fencing and in no way encourages the mares but I am concerned the mares may get in with him?

can you run another line of really strong electric on the inside in case they knock a rail off?

edit-just seen you have already.....make sure it has 3 strands and is really strong, should keep them out until the break in is noticed.

 

[Nasicus]

no but it might well be his horse that ends up kicked/broken leg etc? mares can be total cows when they want to................not all stallion owners dont give a damn myself and all those i know with stallions go to the ends of the earth to ensure safety of everyones horses and would be mortified if there was an issue.

That's just horses in general though, they kick each other, it's what they do. It's a reasonable expectation/risk that if you put horses together, there's a chance one might mangle the other.

And I did just refer to this owner, not stallion owners in general. I have no problems with stallions so long as the owners respect that they are stallions and take steps to accommodate them correctly. Dumping it in a field next to a mare with (from the sounds of it) inadequate fencing/precautions taken is irresponsible and disrespectful not just to to the mare owner but the stallion itself.

 

[catroo]

Dumping it in a field next to a mare with (from the sounds of it) inadequate fencing/precautions taken is irresponsible and disrespectful not just to to the mare owner but the stallion itself.

A stallion has been turned out in a field which happens to be next to the OPs mare, nowhere does it suggest 'dumped' nor that the fencing on the stallions side is in anyway inadequate.

I don't understand the general hysteria the word stallion creates. I keep several and seem to be far better behaved than every single mare on the yard. The stallions get blamed for everything but the root cause is generally other owners acting irresponsibly or not having control of their animals

 

[Nasicus]

A stallion has been turned out in a field which happens to be next to the OPs mare, nowhere does it suggest 'dumped' nor that the fencing on the stallions side is in anyway inadequate.

I don't understand the general hysteria the word stallion creates. I keep several and seem to be far better behaved than every single mare on the yard. The stallions get blamed for everything but the root cause is generally other owners acting irresponsibly or not having control of their animals

You know, as I was typing that out, I thought to myself 'Someone is bound to take umbridge at the word dumped, you're being too descriptive'. And yet I still used it. And yes, I assumed that the fencing was rubbish due to OP's concerns. I know I wouldn't be too fussed so long as the fencing was adequate and in good enogh nick to keep either a Stallion in or a tarty mare out. But yes, that is based on me assuming the fencing is bad, bit of a leap to take, I admit.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You know, as I was typing that out, I thought to myself 'Someone is bound to take umbridge at the word dumped, you're being too descriptive'. And yet I still used it. And yes, I assumed that the fencing was rubbish due to OP's concerns. I know I wouldn't be too fussed so long as the fencing was adequate and in good enogh nick to keep either a Stallion in or a tarty mare out. But yes, that is based on me assuming the fencing is bad, bit of a leap to take, I admit.

I must admit that I assumed that the reason for concern is that the fencing is inadequate. If the fencing is fine, I don't see the problem and no-one can expect to dictate what their neighbours put in their own fields.

 

[ycbm]

Actually, you can report wandering sheep to your local council.

Yes, you can.

But that isn't the way things are done with neighbours you cannot afford to fall out with, when you live surrounded by farms with sheep with clear flock marks.

 

[Orangehorse]

It might be worth writing a polite letter to the owner of the stallion and the field with some of the above points, so you have written proof if unfortunately something happened.

Many stallions are well behaved, others not.

One of the worst I knew was a Shetland which would break through any fence to get at geldings and damage them.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

No, ycbm, I didn't report my neighbour when his tup jumped our wall and we found that we had elderly in-lamb ewes that were never intended to have lambs.
However the farmer knows perfectly well that you could report the wandering sheep, so when I went to talk to my neighbour about it and said that I would be very cross if it happened again, he immediately moved his tups away and sent a drystone waller to mend the wall, which actually is our boundary but was keeping our sheep at home - his land is higher than ours, so the wall is very low at his side. Farmer obviously decided that it was cheaper to have the wall built up, rather than putting sheep wire up along the length of the wall on his side.

Needless to say, the tups haven't been in again. You (One) just have to be firm.

 

[honetpot]

Its seems you are not allowed to use your land as you want. I have dogs, my neighbour brings in sheep, my fencing is good, my dog stays where they are.
I have a stallion, my neighbour puts in a mare in the next field, my fencing is good the stallion stays where it is.
In both situations as long as the fencing is fit for purpose why on earth should I have to put my animals somewhere else. In both situations if the animals were getting out that would be a different matter, but in the countryside neighbours usually sort these things out without getting hot under the collar. My neighbours steer ended up with my mares, newly weaned and must have mistaken them for mum, they could have totalled the fencing and had my mares on the road, but I wouldn't fall out over it.
When did a male being entire or not turn it into a potential welfare case, its usually people putting unsuitable mares in foal that leads to that problem. As someone has said the mares are often more trouble than the stallions, think mean girls with killer heels and hormones, the lads are far less bother.

 

[ycbm]

No, ycbm, I didn't report my neighbour when his tup jumped our wall and we found that we had elderly in-lamb ewes that were never intended to have lambs.
However the farmer knows perfectly well that you could report the wandering sheep, so when I went to talk to my neighbour about it and said that I would be very cross if it happened again, he immediately moved his tups away and sent a drystone waller to mend the wall, which actually is our boundary but was keeping our sheep at home - his land is higher than ours, so the wall is very low at his side. Farmer obviously decided that it was cheaper to have the wall built up, rather than putting sheep wire up along the length of the wall on his side.

Needless to say, the tups haven't been in again. You (One) just have to be firm.

Oh PaS, surely you know me well enough by now that being firm is not a problem for me?

You have neighbours who manage their walls with persuasion. I am happy for you. I, and many other people, have neighbours who don't. They don't do what the planners say. They don't do what the Peak Park say. And they most certainly don't do what I say. After years of persuasion and promises, we leant that he only way to keep their sheep off my land is to fence boundaries which they own.

 

[WindyWitch]

Thanks everyone . It's not post and rail which would be ideal, but there are no gaps and there's a fantastic hedge on either side of stock wire, but with a stallion where there's a will (or Willy!) there's a way 😉. Luckily my mare is more butch than slutty. I'm probably over reacting but it's great to get your feedback as I've never been out in this kind of situation before x