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 Veteran
Posts: 114
| Do you turn your good horses out with other horses? |
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 MEOW!
Posts: 4477
 
Location: High heels in the air... | nope... |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Yes. |
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Miracle in the Making
Posts: 4013
| horses are herd animals yes i turned them out together, they are like people they need to be social |
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 Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
 
Location: Minnesota | Mine all go out together and all come in together. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 926
| I think we have to define 'good horse'. For me, my good horse is maybe a 2D caliber, and I do all this for fun. Don't have a lot of money in him and he goes out with others. However, if I had a Louie, or a Stingray..., they would not go out with other horses |
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Mrs. Txdad
Posts: 14084
Location: the fantasy txdad married | Not a chance. |
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 Lady Di
Posts: 21556
Location: Oklahoma | I turn mine out together, even when the one in my avatar was alive. I think being turned out keeps them sane. He ruled the roost, as does my best horse now, so I don't worry about them getting hurt....they might hurt the others, though. lol |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | Mine are all separated. Not that any of them are good, but we've always kept them separate. They still manage to hurt themselves though. |
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | livexlovexrodeo - 2014-06-08 11:47 AM Mine are all separated. Not that any of them are good, but we've always kept them separate. They still manage to hurt themselves though.
I always had more injuries from playing and fighting over the fence than I've had with them out together. One of my mares needed surgery when she was 2 because she kicked a fence post on the pen where I had put the new gelding. |
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8552
Location: sunny california | my good horse is a little turd. and my other horse is an older alpha mare with a big kick and lightening quick with it so no way I would let them together |
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I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | Three 4 Luck - 2014-06-08 10:27 AM
livexlovexrodeo - 2014-06-08 11:47 AM Mine are all separated. Not that any of them are good, but we've always kept them separate. They still manage to hurt themselves though.
I always had more injuries from playing and fighting over the fence than I've had with them out together. One of my mares needed surgery when she was 2 because she kicked a fence post on the pen where I had put the new gelding.
Ours are only separated by electric fence and that's never been a problem, but I've had two overstride out in the field while running, and bruise to the point they were lame for at least a month...mine rarely play or act silly but every now and then someone gets a wild hair and it makes me cringe. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2258
| Most of the ones we are riding are kept in separate pens but get turned out with a buddy or two a few days a week. My futurity horse who is 4 only has 2 horses I put her with because everytime I try someone else she gets kicked or ran over. She is under the impression that all horses love her and doesn't believe in personal space !! I turned my other 5yr old a few days ago alone in a small pasture and he hit a metal post broke the welds on the panel attached and ran 3 pipe rails into him about 5 inches so even alone they find a way. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1035
Location: TN | Our good horses are turned out together, but our best ones are the alligators of the bunch and rule the roost. Every once in a while someone will have a scratch or sore spot from a kick or bite, but it's pretty rare. My horse is so social he would be miserable if he couldn't run with his herd. |
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Expert
Posts: 1561
| vjls - 2014-06-08 10:54 AM
horses are herd animals yes i turned them out together, they are like people they need to be social
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 Expert
Posts: 1440
Location: Texas | I let mine out together. He is not a superstar in anyone else's eyes than mine but he is a 1d/2d horse. they normally all get along with the occasional exception of small squabble. Most of the time they run and play and to me horses need that in order to keep them happy. |
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Veteran
Posts: 114
| OK so the next question is, what kind of steps, if any, can be taken to help everyone get along? |
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Expert
Posts: 1586
Location: west of East Texas | The good, the bad, and the ugly are all turned out together. They are stalled separately to eat then turned back out. I have one mare that is cold-blooded mean, aggressive, and down right evil right around the barn but is fine grazing all day. I have one mare that always has hair missing off her backside but she doesn't seem to care and completely stressed out if I try to separate her. There is one definite queen and one definite peon and 6 others somewhere in a revolving circle in the middle. |
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Regular
Posts: 84
| all mine are turned out together... they come in stalls to eat and go back out together... once a colt turns one then they are turned out with the herd also..... I have 6... |
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| It depends on the size of the area where horses are turned out. A few horses in a small area is asking for trouble. Horses in a larger area usually leave each other alone. |
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | Right now I'm hauling 3 and all 3 are turned out together. |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | We have 7 horses-all geldings- and less than 2 acres turnout area. They each have their own stall in the barn and one group goes out at night, the other during the day. My gelding (who is one of the good ones) goes out with the 2 other "most valuable" guys at night. They are all someone dominant and will try to bully any from the other group, but are friendly towards each other. The other group are less dominant and kinda have one "leader", but none of them are bullies. We don't have the space to separate them if we wanted to, and I don't like keeping them cooped up in stalls. Now, I'll be moving in with my fiance soon and taking my one horse with me and he will then be separate from my fiances horses. Only because his fence isn't the best so I'll be putting up hotwire for T-Bo to live in until we replace the falling down, loose barbed wire and t-posts. |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| rbarnes90 - 2014-06-08 9:26 PM
OK so the next question is, what kind of steps, if any, can be taken to help everyone get along?
If you have the ability to separate during feeding time, I would do so if you're having issues. Thats all the advice I really have though  |
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | We have always turned ours out together. Not that I have any NFR caliber horses or anything.... hahahaha |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | I would, and do turn out my only horse with others.
He may be a solid 3d-er, but to me he's priceless.
As long as they have enough room, and none of the horses are aggressive, I feel they are better off mentally to be able to go out, graze, be social.... in other words, be a horse. |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | We have 5 (4 geldings, one mare) and they're usually turned out together, though right now two of them are several miles away at my brother's house grazing his pasture.
Our 5 have a definite pecking order - Joker, Chance, Cliff, Streak and then Diamond (though the last two aren't mean to anyone) - and they eat in that order. Chance and Cliff are the meanest two but Joker has seniority and somewhat keeps them in line. If I haul Cliff, Chance and Streak, I pen Streak separate at Matt's because the C's are too mean to him in that small pen. None of ours would be happy alone, even the ones at the bottom of the pecking order. |
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | our rodeo horses are all together and brought in to the barn for morning and night feeding (easier to catch the buggers then to..lol)
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 Ms. Marine
Posts: 4627
Location: Texas | Yes. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | Yes! Horses are social and I couldn't imagine living a life where you couldn't run and play with a buddy. I would prefer smaller groups, like four horses, that get along rather than one huge group. Now if my good horse was getting totally beat up, i'd pull out the bully and let the good horse get in with the herd. I strongly believe in having a good herd chemistry and if my good horse needs me to buy him a pasture ornament that he gets along with so he can have a friend in another pasture then so be it. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | None of our horses are turned out absolutely alone, but they aren't all out together in one pasture.
My mare Bunny would throw a fit if she were alone, so I turn her out with my sister's mare Hope and they get alone great.
My sister's mare Flit gets turned out with our 3YO and 4YO fillies. They get along well.
Bunny does NOT go out with our 4YO. The 4YO went after her one time and that was the end of that.
And then we have the two broodies and their babies and they go in their own pasture.
All of our horses are pretty much attached to at least one other horse, so turning anyone out alone would probably end up with an injury. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I only turn mine out in pairs, not groups. It just always seems like one horse gets protective over another horse and then wants to beat up anything else that gets near it. This allows them to be social, keeps them safe, and I can change out the pairs to keep them from getting buddy sour.
I always lock up into stalls during feeding time. Those people that don't have stalls, you can still tie them up. Leaving several horses loose while they eat is asking for an injury.
If you can't turn out into pairs for whatever reason I know quite a few people that only turn geldings out with geldings and mares out with mares. They swear it helps keep the squabbling down, but I don't know. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 667
| All of mine are turned out together. Mares and geldings. They establish their pecking order. I do stand around when they eat to make sure there is no fighting but for the most part they are good. A horse is going to hurt themselves no matter what if they want to. In with other horses or alone.. They just really must like us taking them to the vet and paying those high dollar bills!!!!!! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 684
Location: Oklahoma | My three are turned out with about 12 other horses. There is one hateful nag in the group. It took my three and four year old, who'd only been pastured with a group of four or five before, to smarten up and give her a wide berth. Other than the ocasional bite mark from not getting out of her way fast enough, they do okay. I seperate them to feed though. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Yes. Mine is usually turned out with 1-2 other horses. Not more than that though. |
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Pig-Bear Dog Lover
| If I have say a mare that I know is a kicker I would not chance turning my geldings out, no. "Good" or not I don't want anything hurt. If you have a horse you know kicks why would you take the chance, its not a matter of IF but when. I have a mare that kicked everything I had and she went down the road. nice horse, but not worth it. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | I will turn out during the day with other horses but don't feed them together. That's when most of the fight related injuries occur. Avoiding those, they can hurt themselves in the pasture alone or in a group and are happier in the group so . . . |
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Regular
Posts: 75
| Horses are turned out in electric tape "pens" (just small pasture areas) but if we get two that get along at the trailer really well together we will turn them out in the larger pasture together. Never feed them or hay them together and they are never left out in the heat of the day. |
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Good horses and group turnout.