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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 433
 
Location: The Lone Star State | So my "herd" is growing this year(buying a colt) and next year (my mare is bred) and just wondering now about pasture management. I already have 1 gelding and 2 mares. Should I let the old gelding "raise" the weanling once he is ready and keep the mares together or does it really matter? |
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 Expert
Posts: 2128
| I wouldnt think it would matter unless you have one horse that you fear will beat up on another. Then you may think about separating them, but if they get along no need to worry. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| We kept ours together, 5 geldings and 1 mare and had no problems. Our mare was exceptionally smart though, would hang back to all the boys were in the barn before she would come up to eat. She never let herself get in a situation where she could get hurt. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2674
Location: Silver Lake, MN | I have 1 mare and 1 gelding...so besides just having 2 horses and dealing with the attachment you have the boy/girl thing which makes it even worse. LOL. So my gelding is actually going up for sale, I cannot deal with mixing them and don't have a set up to really do much about it. Too bad cause he is pretty and talented but my mare I've had for 8 years so she stays. |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | We were always able to keep our together also...until my big mare lost her ever loving mind one night apparently. CC was in the midst of the lay off from the fractured patella so we kept her separate from the gelding and the big mare. We had sold our TB mare a few years before so it was usually the gelding and the TB and the big mare all together with no issues.
I go out one morning and see 3 red horses down in the lower field...should only be 1 down there. The other two are in a separate smaller pasture. Anyway, I run out and see one horse it WAY off away from the other two, I figured it was CC and I was praying that she was okay. I get closer and realize the two nearest to me are the two mares, I throw them a flake of hay and am carrying another flake out to the gelding who comes trotting across when he sees me and suddenly the big mare takes off after him and I mean AFTER him, ears pinned, teeth bared. Thankfully other than a big patch of missing hide on his hip no one was hurt, but we did have to separate them. To this day 4 years later the big mare will try to climb the fence to "kill" him if you put them near each other. Its him and only him that she has the issue with. No problem with my dad's old gelding, no problem with the horses next door, just my gelding. I'd love to know what happened that night. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I frequently introduce new horses into my pasture. I have found that the process goes so much easier when mares and geldings are separated. Of course you have exceptions, but in general, I find that the separation helps.
When you keep the same herd for long periods of time, you probably won't notice much difference in keeping them separated versus not. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 621
Location: Arkansas | I have 3 mares and 3 geldings who run together most of the time, but i have noticed there are fewer arguments and mishaps when i keep them separate. So when i have a big run coming up i separate them because i compete on the 3 mares, but the geldings are our trail riding horses. |
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 Ima Fickle Fan
Posts: 3547
Location: Texas | We only have geldings at our house. We will never own a mare until our "lifer" passes away. Pretty sure this horse is proud cut because he gets real studdy and aggressive when mares are around.
The girl next door has a bunch of mares turned out with one gelding. No problems. Neighbor on the other side has one mare turned out with three geldings. Again, no problems.
However, we can't turn our horses out in an adjacent field when either neighbors has their mares turned out. Our gelding has come in injured from trying to get through the fence every time.
I really think it depends on the horses.
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | We always turn the young geldings out with the mares. They get much better manners once the mares tone their attitude down a little. Turning an older gelding out can be a different deal. |
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 Dancing in my Mind
Posts: 3062
Location: Eastern OH but my heart is in WV | Have always kept our mares and geldings together. All different sizes and ages (have never owned anything under 3 though), has never been an issue. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12704
| I have more issues between mares! Whichever mare/s are in with Boy are happy campers. He's a leveling influence on any combination! But some of the mares are really witchy to each other. |
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  Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | I've found it works fine to have them mixed if your herd is always the same group of horses with nobody coming & going much. I currently have my herd split into mares in one pasture & geldings in another (except the old gelding who is happiest with the girls) and boy is it peaceful. There is NO bickering in either pasture! I would definately not keep the mare & foal out with everybody though, to much risk of something going wrong there. |
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | I would put the weanling with the horse who most likely not be bothered by him and slowly integrate with the other 2, putting weanling out into all pastures with heir "buddy" so they get familiar with the fences. Foals will run threw anything and everything if they get chased and especially if they aren't famialr with the fences. Seperating sexes I'd only be concerned about once your colt has dropped and could try to breed (unless he's cut already before you buy) |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | Keep the mares and geldings together, the mares teach the young geldings manners. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| I have 1 gelding and 2 mares. My gelding is very passive, and he's happy to have buddies so he doesn't cause any trouble. The mares aren't mean, they are just dominant. They have their order between the two of them, and the gelding knows he just does what he's told and nobody gets hurt.
I am curious how things would go if I bred my mare, and then once the baby was born, would she become more dominant and bossy to protect the baby. And then depending on what it was, how they'd all get along.
I love the other posters comment. I know quite a few geldings that could use some tonight down from a nice group of mares. LOL! |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
Location: Texas | I had an old gelding, a young butt head gelding, a mare and her colt in the same pasture. Old gelding and mare took turns running off butt head when he would try to be tacky with the colt. I think they hated him as much as I did lol. He just wouldn't leave them alone, constantly pestering them. He would bite the mare and run off before she could nail him, then come back and do it again. If it weren't for butt head we wouldn't have had a problem at all. Still though the mare and old gelding kept him pretty much in check when he needed it. He wasn't really a "problem", just obnoxious. |
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 Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | So far I have 1 mare and 1 gelding in a pasture with a mini donkey, and my other mare in her own pasture with her colt.
Once the colt gets weaned I will put him in with the mare, gelding and donkey. Mare stays by herself. She has a VERY big bubble, and if someone (besides her colt) gets in there she will nail them!!
Unfortunatly she kicked a horse in such a way that the horse had to be put down. This was before I got her, and I tried her in with my old mare, but after she went after her I gave her her own little pasture. She has other horses on the other side of the fence, so she is not totally cut of from them, but just not where she can hurt anyone else....
The incident where the horse needed to be put down happened at the trailer, so I always tie her on the other side of the trailer from the rest.... the witch needs her space.... so she has it.... |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| I have 2 mares and 2 geldings. They all get along fine. I actually have more problems when I leave the 2 geldings together than anything. They like to rough house with each other, but when the mares are there they stay pretty mellow. |
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 The Color Specialist
Posts: 7530
Location: Washington. (The DRY side.) | It depends on the individuals.
I prefer them to be seperate.
BUT, I do run young geldings with my mares (their dams.) in the winter. I will also put colts in with the prego mares. (Colts older than weanling age. And I mean COLTS, not geldings.) If the geldings can be civilixed acting and NOT try to breed the mares, I don't really have a problem with them being together. But I have seen WAY too many that DO attemtp to breed in heat mares to want them to run together all year.
Edited by RacingQH 2015-05-28 1:29 PM
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Location: Midwest | I have 3 mares and 4 geldings. From ages 4 to 27. No problems. |
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Veteran
Posts: 127
Location: Kansas | i only have one gelding i wont put with mares if they have a colt on their side he tried to kill one a couple years ago, luckily i was their otherwise he would have succeeded. so he has his own pasture during foaling season. |
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Keeping mares and geldings together or seperate?