Would you just put a new horse into an established herd?

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darkhorse123

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General question - people have different opinions and im interested in your opinions.

Would you turn a new horse straight out into a herd of say 10 horses - mares and geldings?
 
I see it done all the time with little hassle, it's how things have been done on every yard I've been at.
I don't think many yards are able to pop the new one next door to get to know the new herd over the fence.

I'm lucky in that I've 3 that are in the same paddock so if I move they'll have each other making it easier.

I think if you have known problem horses in a herd, it's rather risky. Injuries do happen and sometimes all hell breaks loose, but generally it's all hand bags at dawn stuff and it fizzles out quickly.
 
darkhorse123 said:
General question - people have different opinions and im interested in your opinions.

Would you turn a new horse straight out into a herd of say 10 horses - mares and geldings?
Click to expand...

in the past, new liveries went straight out into a very established herd however this was in a massive field and it meant there was always enough space for the newbie to be left alone and take their time testing the water with each of the ponies. HOWEVER, when i moved my 2 ponies to a new yard i had the dilemma of moving my herd leader cob and runt of the pack pony. they got put in with 1 quiet horse who was out on his own for the 1st couple of weeks to settle and then got moved in with the herd gradually. there was a very clear alpha gelding and mare in the herd so they went out at night with the alpha gelding and a quiet 1 so my cob could have any scuffles and fight for herd leadership with 1 pony at a time...my little 1 just ran and gave in2 any1 so he was fine! once cob had won head position over the gelding he firmly put the alpha mare in place without facing 2 kicking alphas at once!:D
 
Not in with my lot! We had a frieends horse to stay, and it stayed in a pen, with a secondary fence 6ft away from the first on, and our lead gelding was still trying to kill it. 6 weeks later he still didn't like it, the horse didn't stay! Other horses have been accepted into the herd though, after spending time in the pen, then time with one other, generally our chief mare
 
Most places I have been to just put them in and everyone keeps an extra eye. One place had a separation paddock (which was hell for me because he refused to be caught as he was alone)
Neither made much difference, he is also an alpha male.
 
Really depends how big the field is and the horse being turned out. Mine was put straight out with the herd and fitted in nicely pretty much straight away. We have another who fitted in well with the herd but not the people trying to catch their horses so she was taken back out of the field.
 
I have done in the past but only because there was no choice and it was a big field but the last couple of places my two have been on their own anyway and the place before that we did put Nadia in a pen for a week first.
 
Not a chance. Not after it was done at a yard I was at and the mare was kicked and had to be PTS.
I'd take every precaution in the book, to the point now where I'm happiEST when my mare is turned out alone with horses to socialise with over the fence. Or very slowly introduced with one other for a while.
No you can't remove all risk, but you can do your damndest!
 
No usually couple days electric fenced off to meet over and then will decide to add in. Either way there will be a barney or NOT! Agree big field is essential. Good luck.

I had two horses who were not fond of each other but had to live together as soon as I added a third they became the duo against the newbie, inseperable thereafter. It all calmed down though.
 
NO WAY NEVER !!!


Not after my mare was kicked , suffered shattered her splint bone in 19 pieces. doesn't make any difference how big the field is. This field was 50 acres and it still happened .

ALL NEW HORSES must go through a weeks intro in adjacent field before they are mix in the group
 
Another vote for NO WAY!!
My new young boy I've had since christmas is still not with the girls. He is such a dope and they are quite frankly like the Witches of Eastwick, especially around the gateway. Its not worth taking the risk of a broken leg. Let them meet over the fence first for a while.
 
I tried putting my new gelding in with my other gelding, without the mares as he is attached to them, and he tried to kill him, he pinned him down by the neck and wouldn't let go!
It's taken two weeks just to get my gelding to be in the same field, and I havn't put the mares in yet!

Id put a new one in on its own next to them for a few days, then if there is a head of the heard id put them in with the new one on their own for another couple of days before mixing them all.

After seeing my new one being attacked id never just chuck a new one straight in again.
 
I usually take one of the dominant horses out of the group and put them with the newcomer in a different paddock first for a few days or so and when they have bonded put them back in the original group. It works for me, but having said that, mine are usually barefoot which lessens the injury chances.
 
NOPE! Best way iIhave found is to turn the new horse out first on its own. Then turn out the dominant horse from the established herd. Then turnout the rest of the herd.
 
Short answer = if the field were big enough . . . as in enORmous . . . thus giving horse to get away/have his/her own space if needed, then yes.

Long answer = I much prefer to introduce horses slowly over a fence for a while and maybe in with one other of the rest of the herd. I'm lucky that Kali is quite a submissive soul with other horses (almost always at the bottom of the herd pecking order), so his self preservation kicks in and he tends to do whatever is needed to appease the more dominant members of the herd and fit in. However, if I owned a more dominant horse, I'd be wanting to make sure introductions were done more tactfully . . . having witnessed a fellow liveries dominant horse pin another (dominant) horse to the floor when they were put in together (even with a few days side-by-side over a fence), I think these introductions can be tricky and should be handled sensitively.

P
 
I had to move my youngster briefly and the yard wouldn't allow me to pop her next door first (owner was non-horsey and kept repeating that it wasn't scheduled to be used). Having never seen temp electric fencing I was not happy with the yard managers idea of popping her in a patch made of one - I figured she'd run straight through it as the horses were all at the other end of the field - and so turned her straight out after having introduced two horses to her in the yard with absolutely no issue.

She ran straight into another mares nose having misjudged her distance and was instantly mothered. I was very lucky and wouldn't have done it had I not know the horses in the field (lots and the trouble makers in at the time) and the size (huge field).

Ended up moving her home again a couple of months later and popping her straight out with a pony in a smaller field. The pony's companion had been moved out and she had a good temperament.

I am very lucky to have moved a youngster that horses can't seem to get enough of and seems to be able to flit between groups and get on with all horses! However there are several of mine who I would not move straight in and would watch for a while as can be nightmares.

The fields at ours are managed in small amicable groups and any horse moved is watched and pulled straight out if there's any immediate concern.

Pan
 
I think you could if it was one or at a push two horses but not ten...for what electric costs, put new horse on the other side for a week or two. It's just not worth the risk. I also would leave headcollar on in case you need to pull him out PDQ!
 
No! Very slow introductions need to be made, especially where there are clearly dominant horses!

Someone put his mare into our herd and she fractured my NF's leg within minutes. She also did the same to my other horse, hair line that time.

Two new horses in our herd (may have seen thread) have beaten my gelding up badly and I have had to remove him.

Maybe i'd be a little more open to the idea if I hadn't have had such experiences!!
 
I wouldn't. My 'herd' only consists of 3 at the moment but I've got a friends one coming back to mine this weekend so will put it into a seperate field for a few days first so they can meet over the fence. Then I'll put her out with the top dog of my lot for a few days, then to the rest. I definately wouldnt just stick them straight out - I got a new horse years ago and someone accidentally left a gate open so the horse got straight out with my lot (at the time I had a bully of a horse) - the bully of mine went berserk and basically tried to kill it! He managed to corner the new horse to the point the new horse tried and failed to jump the fence, landing in a heap the other side in a tangle. Was dreadful! But let them meet over a fence for a few days and it seems to help a lot IMO.
 
It's not something I'd choose to do no.

Reason is horses in the wild follow a heard over a long period before they are accepted into the group, that is why putting new horse into an established heard will drive the new horse away or at least for a month or so specially if there is some strong characters, even the ones that usually wouldn't say boo to ghost start to display unsual behaviour, I think its quite sad to see a horse being treated like this by a heard when they have also had to put up with moving to a new enviroment as well, so ideally personally I think they should be introduced gradully or in smaller numbers/over the fence etc if you can, but not everyone has the choice at some livery yards etc.
 
In a word, No!

In several, Ideally I would introduce new horse to one member of the herd who can take ownership of him/ her and let them bond in a seperate 'neutral' paddock for a few days, then turn them both out in the empty herd field, intoducing herd members one by one giving enough time for introductions in between. I actually find it is rarely the dominant horse that causes the problems - most commonly it is his / her chief henchman or the wannabe dominant one that throws their weight around to protect their leader...

If you cant do the initiall introduction thing then I really think the safest thing is to turn new horse out in empty field and add the other members one by one (preferably after they have done some work!!)
 
It was always done at my old livery yard however so were several things i now look back at and wonder about!
Personally no i always introduce to one horse first or maybe a very small group of 2 perhaps but no not a herd
Pony legs break too easilly!
 
Never again - I did this when I moved my gelding to the new DIY yard, having been told the other horses were fine. They weren't fine and one of them chased mine up the wall of the field where there was a pile of stones in the corner. The next morning I voiced my concerns and the other liveries attitude was "Well that's just what they do!". Not in my experience it isn't but I am on a yard of people who think they know a lot but in fact don't have the knowledge and experience they think they do. Fortunately the farmer let me put him out with another horse which the same gelding had had a go at as well and he was fine with him.
When I got my NF X youngster I put her in the patcn next to the other mares for two weeks. They were quite nasty to her at first - my other mare being the worst of the lot! But the fence prevented any injuries and when I did put her out with them two weeks later they barely batted an eyelid. This is the way I would choose to do it every time.
 
Nope... We had a totally disastrous injury and I'd try and mitigate that in the future as much as possible...

On our yard, 14 horses in a nice herd (one turnout, american barn type stabling); the new one stays in for a few days with a stable mate to meet n' greet the existing horses as they're coming and going... Then it gets turned out with the herd leader (my muppet of a TB) and a few others who are firm but not badgering and rotate them over a few days so newbie gets used to the field and the TB is able to keep everyone moving together - he rounds them up like a sheep dog :rolleyes:... If all's well and settled then they all go out... It does mean everyone working together for a week or so but there's only five of us on the yard and no one wants any major dramas or injuries...

Our turnout is on the side of a mountain so has plenty of hidey holes but also some very steep, rocky and drop areas... Determined chasing on a horse unused to the geography could be disastrous...
 
Depends on what the horses are like in the herd.

I put my youngster (gelding) out with the established herd straight away and there wasnt any problems, but they were in a field with a good amount of grazing and there were several older horses at the time in there so the herd wasnt that bothered, he came in with a few cuts but nothing serious and they settled within a few days.

In the past however the gelding herd has only been quite small (2-4 horses) so was never an issue with past ponies I had.

However the mares are a diffferent kettle of fish and any new mares now have to be introduced over the fence/ in a seperate field as they are quite dominant!
 
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No, I wouldn't, I think it is asking for trouble and possible injuries. Nine times out of ten, there probably wouldn't be but it's not fair on the new horse to throw them in without proper introduction to the herd.
I have found through NH that horses are very big on etiquette. It is just not polite for another horse to barge into a herd and in putting a new horse into a field with an established herd, you are forcing them to be very rude, and leaving them open to a good hiding. In the wild, a stray horse approaching a strange herd would stay a respectful distance and herd leaders would approach it first. It would have to stay on the outskirts of the herd until invited in by the leaders so please remember - horses have impeccable manners;)
 
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