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Little Fat Pony

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Hi - I must just say this genuinely isn't about me; just incase anyone I know reads this :)

My friend rents a 3 or 4 acre field, and has two field shelters. One has been converted in a stable, and the other is used for storage for hay/straw/rugs etc. The field is seperated into 2 parts, a winter field and a summer field. My friend then uses electric fencing to seperate off smaller paddocks.

There is only one horse in the field, but other horses (stallions) surrounding the field, so the horse does get to interact with other horses, but my friend still wants to get him a companion of his own. So she's been looking at shetlands and welsh section A's but her main concern is that she only has one stable, and her horse will stress if he's inside, and the other companion pony is out - and realistically there isn't enough land to keep both horses out 24/7 - especially due to the recent weather we've got. So my friend has decided to save up, and hopefully get another field shelter and a companion pony in the summer.

Until today, when another friend text her asking if she can keep her 17 hand warmblood on the field. The warmblood has been on loan whilst the friend has been working abroad, but for some reason the loan has broken down. The owner of the warmblood has said that she can live out 24/7 happily and will pay rent, as well as saying that the mare doesn't really need looking after but she'll go to the field once a week to check on her.

My friend (who rents the field) wants to help, but I've told her to think it through seriously. I don't think she should let the warmblood mare on her field, especially not now, when the field is ridiculously muddy. I said its a bad idea because;
- She only has one stable, and not enough land for them both to live out comfortably - unless she spends a fortune on hay
- If the warmbloods owner is only going to go up once or twice a week that puts a lot of responsibility on my friend to check on the mare the other days
- I think having a mare will upset the stallions surrounding the field


I know this has turned into a bit of an essay, so sorry - but my question is what would you do if you were my friend? :)

(My friend has asked me to ask this question, I'm not going behind anyone's back - I've made it clear I don't think it's a good idea, but I'd be interested to hear other peoples thoughts :) )
 
I wouldn't. It isn't set up for two horses; if it's a mud bath already the ground won't cope and will take a lot more recovery time; she's effectively being expected to provide part / full grass livery which is a lot to ask; and I wouldn't plonk a mare in the middle of a bunch of stallions without being very sure of the horses and fencing involved.

Personally I would avoid keeping two horses together full stop because of excessive pair bonding.

From the sound of it, and if she does want one companion, she needs two stables and a companion that can come in at night when hers does.
 
The only way I would do it if the owner of the warmblood paid your friend for full (living out) livery, including a surcharge for reseeding the paddocks in the spring.
But really it is a no...not worth the hassle and I bet the woman wouldn't ever turn up or hand over any cash - anyone who suggests just looking at horse weekly is satisfactory is not much of a reliable owner IMO.
 
Had exactly this with a friend of mine last year as she is too kind hearted for her own good.

Other issues are your friend will be deemed be responsible for this mare as it is on her property, if she needs her rugs changing etc she is going to have to do it if the owner only comes once a week. If there is snow the mare will need hay, who is going to provide and pay for this? If the taps freeze who is going to cart water from home for it?

Not worth the hassle IMO. Both my kind hearted friend and myself each have our own places and each have small companion ponies who are good at their jobs and don't cause any hassle!

If your friend is asking your opinion she is obviously having doubts. If she is worried about this other person falling out with her if she says no she needs to have a think about how bad it will be if she lets the mare come and then they have a fall out over hay / poo picking other.

IMO the easiest thing is to say that the landlord will not allow subletting, I know mine doesn't
 
Too tempting for stallions to break free and her horse could get injured, no, get a field shelter and then a gelding companion when money is available. Could just put a tarp over the hay and tie it down and that would make the other shelter free for a companion.
 
Personally i wouldn't want to risk having a mare in a field that is surrounded by stallions. I am a mare owner, own 2, and i wouldn't like to put my mares in that situation. I think your friend would be better saying no and getting a gelding to keep her own horse company.
 
Not in a million years! In a different situation I wouldn't be excessively worried about having a mare near stallions - my 3 mares shared a stable block and were in the field next to stallions and none of them really gave a monkeys! However, the stallions were well handled boys, my colt didn't know what a mare was and the mares were far too interested in their feed to worry about a load of rowdy lads! Also, the field were extremely well fenced with post and rail plus electric on the top rail, gates were secure and there was LOTS of grass or haylage when that got a bit sparse. My main concerns would be firstly whether these stallions are used to having mares around, and equally is the mare used to stallions? Secondly, how good is the fencing? Even the best fencing can be a death trap if they want to get to each other and I've seen too many good stallions injure themselves trying to get over what seemed like an adequate post and rail fence. Worst case scenario who will be held responsible for fencing and vet bills if they do try to reach each other? Who will be responsible for vet bills and the ensuing foal if they succeed? If the ground is already churned up your friend is also likely to find herself without adequate grazing even for her own pony never mind the mare as well and will be left forking out for additional forage. As someone has already mentioned who will be responsible for putting hay/haylage out, checking waters etc...? If the owner of the mare can only come up once or twice a week your friend is going to be providing a hell of a livery service and at what price? With only one stable the other worry is what happens if the mare becomes injured and needs a box? And who checks on her in this instance, because your friend will be going from a quick check once a day to effectively providing full livery. There's just too many pitfalls to make it worthwhile to be honest.
 
no way, check on her horse once a week, whose going to do all the other days, find a small companion and rig up a pen stable with sheep fencing or hurdles next to the stable for night time, a big horse like that will competely ruin the grazing
 
I wouldnt have a horse that big on land already under pressure

A general point though - one of my ponies comes in at night and one stays out. I allow the one left out access to the part of the field where the stable is and he spends some time stood under the overhang of the stable near the one that is in so they both have company. It works out very well as he wouldnt tolerate being stabled and doesnt need to be
 
I'd say the landlord doesn't allow subletting and get two Shetland geldings if the horse needs/wants companionship apart from the other stallions.

but if it isn't broke don't fix it.
 
Speaking as someone who has been put on like this and actually lost my grazing because of it (long boring story) no.

And in case I wasn't clear enough: NOOOOOOOOO!!!
 
No i wouldn't, especially that the horse is a mare with stallions around, she will go a bit bonkers and start pacing up and down the fence line trashing the field even more, and because she's such a big horse, even one lap around the field in canter will do a lot of damage to already restricted grazing. So no, i really would advise against it.
Get a few sheep hurdles though, make a DIY roof on top, put that next to stable and have a couple of gelding shetlands, they will need restricted grazing to prevent getting too fat, especially in summer so wont be eating huge amounts of grass so will be enough for other horse and they are little enough to not trash the field if they decide to have a canter round :) plus you can get them cheap now too :)
 
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another no, I have two horses, a 16.2 and a 15.2 on 5 acres, reduced to 1 acre for the winter, just as a leg stretch area because our ground is saturated, we walk them out daily to graze our drive verges to limit the damage they do to the field at a walk, never mind hooning about, they have ad lib hay in the barn/stable area and are slowly dropping weight (thank god).
Don't do it, there's only so much abuse land can take
 
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