Tips for teeny tiny introductions

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Polos Mum

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My two boys (17.1hh and 14.2hh) have been at home happy, settled for a good few years. I'm picking up 8hh pony on trial loan for my son next week and looking for tips on introductions for the tiny one! Not sure the usual put in field next door will quite work in this case. Tiny pony has been living on his own in a back garden for a long while, has seen other horses at shows etc but not turned out with them for a few years - as an added dimention.

Suggestions welcome thanks
 
I'd initially lead pony out into adjacent small well fenced paddock, ideally this paddock will have suitable electric fence too.
Yours may well take to their heels & rush about having the vapours at something so small.... (had this happen last year at my yard, when new temp livery came in & saw Tiny Fuzzy)

Let pony graze in hand & monitor what yours do. If all okay, let little one loose in his own paddock.

After a few days, and ONLY if pony is definately going to stay with you, then you can intro properly.

I usually open a gate between them and have a top heavy wooden half round rail across the gateway - this allows for the small person to be able to escape back to 'their' paddock & safety, if something kicks off. For the 1st few days, I would only then allow them to be together when you are there to mediate if necessary.

Good luck, hope it works out, but please dont put them together till you decide you are keeping pony :)
 
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TFF, many thanks I'll have a fiddle about to sort a gate from one field to the next (mine all have gateways onto a central track so you don't have to go in the mud to get in/out)

Would and electric off section of their current field work? my fields are all about the same size at 2 ish acres each and I don't want to explode him going from a small garden to 2 acres !!

He seems ideal for my son, totally unphased on viewing and lead nicely for him to ride (he'll be on the lead rein for a long time as he's only small) so the trail is really to find out how he gets on with the big horses - rather than how he is to handle/ ride.
 
I prefer to have a permanant fence for them to sniff through if possible.
Means yours can lean over, but little one will learn about electric fence & can stay out of biting range (or from being picked up by the mane by a nosey pushy bigger one!)

Even with electric, tiny people WILL 'morph' through..... TF will stay behind any electric as long as it is just inside a perimeter fence, but 90% of the time WILL go through anything sub-divided.... hmmm... 4 live strands will usually keep her back, but thats a pain to do.

How about yours in 1 paddock, then divide up the next paddock with tape, but keeping the boundary together (if you see what I mean?) Small patch beside the others? Little one will then learn about electric & they can still meet safely.
Less then half an acre will be fine (I find a 20 x 40 patch adjacent to others is just right).

If you did this, then there is no lasting disaster looming if tiny one escapes :)
 
To add, on the day you DO want to put them together, then work your 2 bigger ones a bit harder than usual 1st thing in the morning, turn back out & then 'accidentally' open the gate & let little one find his way in with them.

Usually if you take enough 'gas' out of the big ones, it takes any real sting out of confrontations.

I've found it a 'non-event' to intro TF to everyone so far - even with 16.2 HF back last Feb.
 
Oh - looking at what we have, what about the little one in the school 25x40 (with hay and has lots of grass growing round the outside as I've been lazy!!) but it's nicely fenced and the big horses in the field right next door (field goes around 2 sides of school) - field has been rested for a couple of months so lots of distracting fresh grass for the big boys.
Most of the rest of our fields are only hedge/ electric between them - that would definitely be safest for the tiny one
 
Many thanks for getting my brain working on a Sunday!

Rails on school fence are closer than even normal post and 3 rail - our lab has to squish to get through so no escape worries
Pictures to follow next week.
 
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