Thoughts on size horses/ponies turned out together ?

[Boris2903]

I was wondering if I could get some opinions on the difference in sizes you would turn your ponies/horses out together with.

Reasoning behind this I am considering moving my daughters pony 12hh gelding to a new livery yard closer to where we live. Since having him at his current yard he has been turned out with ponies of a similar size to him if not smaller.

The new yard would he be in a field with other geldings of varying sizes I am mainly concerned about him settling in and getting bullied by larger ponies. The largest of the. Geldings would be around 14.2 chunky cob type type but he would be the smallest of the group.

I could well be concerned about nothing as he was turned out with a larger pony in his previous home, but just a worry.

Any advice greatly appreciated

 

[JennBags]

Size doesn't seem to matter in the herd pecking order, often it's the smaller ones who are the bullies. What's more important is personality and compatibility, which any good YO will assess and take into consideration when allocating fields.

 

[meleeka]

Size doesn't seem to matter in the herd pecking order, often it's the smaller ones who are the bullies. What's more important is personality and compatibility, which any good YO will assess and take into consideration when allocating fields.

I agree. Little ones are generally very good at keeping themselves safe and can often be the ones with the biggest attitude. My little herd range from a mini Shetland to a 16hh and the one that causes the most bother is 12hh! She’s besties with the head of the herd so gets away with it. When I was on a yard and there was a big mixed herd, my little pony also paired up with the alpha mare which meant nobody bothered her either so I think they are generally smarter than a bigger horse.

 

[Red-1]

I disagree. I had a Shetland as a companion to a 17hh horse. I thought it would be OK as the Shetland was off the moor and able to look after himself, whereas the 17hh horse was a low ranking soft fool.

Nope, one day had to go and intervene was the big horse had the Shetland pinned to the floor by kneeling on him whilst he had an enforced "groom" that did not look all that friendly!

Having said that, if the biggest one is 14.2 in your new yard would not be all that worried, as long as they were introduced properly (over the fence until all silliness was done) and supervised.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Honestly, my (nearly a) tonne of Suffolk gets beaten up by everything around him. Don't worry about the little ones, they are very adept at taking care of themselves. At first a few people were worried about my 'big horse' but they quickly realised he's the one who needs protecting.

Introduce them gradually and you'll be fine.

 

[Nudibranch]

Size difference isn't that great between 12 and 14.2. I assumed you meant shetland vs 16hh plus!
All the smaller ponies I've owned have been bossy and very much kept the bigger horses (almost 18hh in one case) in line. However, I find they do lose some of that attitude with age so I would be wary of putting an elderly pony out with larger animals.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

It's more about personality than size, imo. We used to have a 16.3hh Clydesdale, 2 x 15.2hh and a 12hh Section A. The Clydie and the Welshie were the best of friends andcould often been seen standing together, especially if it was raining. We used to say that at least the Clydie's knees were kept dry.

 

[paddi22]

we've have all sizes from minis and big 16.2 sport horses out together and there's never any trouble. ponies tend to mind themselves better than horses do.

 

[windand rain]

Size doesnt seem to matter the fly in the ointment in our field is an 11.3hh welshie she bullies everyone even shoved the 17 hand warmblood back over his fence after he jumped in from next door

 

[NinjaPony]

Size means nothing! My 11.2hh goes out with my 14.2hh and is definitely the boss. He has been out in a herd with an 18hher who adored him, and protected him when he was being really annoying to everyone else....

 

[HeyMich]

I think it's more about their differing nutritional needs than size/personality differences - I can't put our wee welshy out with the bigger horses (16.3 and 15.2) as he would explode on their grass!

In the winter they are all out together, and he (at only 12.2) is most definitely the boss.

.

 

[PapaverFollis]

There's a reason my 11.2hh companion pony is nicknamed "Little Dragon"... when she first arrived my 16.2hh brick outhouse mare was terrorised! ? It soon settled so The Beast is back in charge between the two but I suspect only because the little one lets her! She literally goes for the throat at a run when one of the bigger ones annoys her. Definitely personality rather than size that counts!

 

[Ownedby4horses]

I've never had any issues with my wee ones (28 inches to 32inches) going out with all sizes of horses. I had my 32inch chap out at one livery yard that ran herd turnout, he hated being out with the two other minis they had and he ended up going out with the herd which was about 25 horses and went up to 17hh's. They're very able to look after themselves and two of me wee ones have actually bullied some bigger horses!

 

[buddylove]

Sh*tland battered 7 shades out of my daughter's 12.2 pony who is an absolute gent. I was awoken in the morning to what sounded like dinosaurs fighting in the paddock.
Sh*tland now gone to friend to be companion for her mare, luckily they are separated by an electric fence, little monster!!
I would imagine if the herd is pretty stable and there is enough space and food for all (lack of grass - enforced as they are fatties caused the arguments in my herd), it should be fine.

 

[Chippers1]

My 14hh is the smallest in our field, which he thinks is great as he hides between the bigger ones when the weather is bad

 

[Orangehorse]

It simply depends on the personalities. Sometimes the smallest will be boss, sometimes they will be bottom of the heap and picked on.
Generally mares are more bossy than geldings although of course with everything, there are exceptions.

 

[Chianti]

I think it depends on the herd dynamics. Mine is 13 hands and is always near the bottom of the pack. I moved him to one yard with a herd of boys all bigger than him and probably going up to 15 3. Turned him out - they had a short trot round and settled and then left him alone. I had to move him a few months later into a herd of about five again all bigger. Turned him out and they were absolute bastards to him and he was petrified. They then carried on putting him in his place for the next year. The first herd was very new as it was a new yard and the second herd had been together for years and weren't that used to new arrivals.

 

[MiniMilton]

I have a mixed herd 9hh to 15.3h and the only injuries that happen are when the two mini's start fighting each other.

It depends completely on the individual horses though. Any bullies in the group and that could change. I had a small one knocked to the ground and winded by an 17h horse. Just one swift kick. I was sure the pony was dead for that minute he lay there not moving.

 

[SEL]

I don't think size is everything in horse pecking orders. The Shire and Ardennes are low down the order at ours whereas they are creep around the 32yo TB and fear the 12h Welsh mare.

 

[Green Bean]

As others have said above, size isn't always an issue. What needs to be worried about is the new kid on the block getting between the dominant and its sidekick - that is where trouble can possibly start

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

I had my 14.3hh Welsh out in a herd of about 15 once all of which were above 16hh bar him, he held his own and settled great!
We also had a MINI Shetland who was the boss of all the cobs & TB's in the field lol!