Just curious for those of you that have small places say 10-15 acres or smaller.  Do you keep your horses together or separate? 

When we had 50 acres and bout 5-7 head we turned all together and I did hear horror stories bout horse getting caught in barn and kicked to death and so forth.  But we didn't have any trouble (I was a kid) 

Now that I have my own place I have kept my 2 horses separate.  and there has been couple times they gotten together bc of gate not being closed between them.  They get along pretty good.

Im gonna keep separate just curious bout everyone else.  Im always seeing fb videos of horses playing together.

But I've heard so many horrid stories! and I wont ever forget how heartbreaking Jordan Briggs futurity mare getting kicked in the hock and ending her career.  (It was in an interview on RFDTV)

Together. 

Mine have separate run-ins and areas for themselves. But I can turn them out together after feeding. They get along great. But my mare will kick my gelding off his feed.

I have always kept any horses I'm riding separate.  It's safer for them.  I think your set up has a lot to do with it. If you have a barn or lean to they have access to, you need to keep numbers down or completely separate them.  It's when they can get cornered that someone is going to get hurt or forced to choose to go through/over the fence or stay in the trap to get kicked.  If you're pasture is very open, more horses can be put together without someone getting cornered.  Of course if you have someone in the herd that is a real bully or you have a mix of mares and geldings there seems to be more trouble.  I'd keep geldings separate from mares.  

Separate. I try to limit to two together......three is my max.

We usually keep geldings together and mares together. If there are any problem children, they get to be turned out alone separate from the others. 

Just depends on their personally, I have 2 that run together with a mini they get along great and I have a bully and he stays in his own pasture and feed area.. 

For me it would depend on my set up, number of horses and if I had a mix of mares/geldings or not. 

Right now I'm not 6 acres so it's dang near impossible to separate them. I only have 2 older mares and they get along so they get turned out together. We are building new stalls and runs this summer so I can separate them easier during feeding time. Plus, I eventually want to get a third horse and I doubt I would have 3 out together. 

Competition horses and training colts are kept seperate but in close proximity (no touching noses across a fence either!).

Every time I have ever kept them together or with a common fence someone gets hurt.

The riding horses come into the barn and are separate at night. Then I have 2 together in each pasture during the day. Other than the "big pasture" where the babysitter gelding and his clan of 3 are all day every day. 

Together, they're herd animals. A happy horse is a fast horse.....

Yes - I know my horses and who is dominant and who might work with whom. Xena kicks when she sees the food wagon coming. Kicks as in automatically, no matter where she is or who might be close. Then she runs to the nearest fence and tries to kick the horse/s on the other side. I will only put her in with someone more dominant or with a horse I don't mind a few bruises on. 

I have Love in with Demon. Demon is submissive to older horses still and isn't bitey/kicky. She tracked Biscuit (weaner) when I put them together to the point Biscuit went over the fence to escape. Love is dominant to Demon but not mean in any way that I've ever seen. She could probably pasture with anyone except Xena.

Zan usually lives next to a pregnant broodie, unless I need to track cycles on an open mare and then I will light up the electric and listen to the teasing and zaps!

I do the same kind of arranging no matter what crew. The only horse that is happy alone is Zan, the stallion. All my girls want to be with at least one other horse. Mostly I can find an arrangement that works. Now that I don't have a 'no grass' horse I can rearrange with 4 shelters available so that everyone can get under cover and be happy with their pasture mate.

Unless they hate each other, I keep my with each other. Horses are such highly social animals I think it is important for them to be together 

Mine are together. 2 geldings, 1 mare.  

My one gelding has to be on THE Moody mare to calm his hormones, so he doesn't kill gelding #2, when the lil gal is in heat, but as long as he's on that, he's fine. 

The mare could care less about either boy, she'd rather be alone.  The only time anyone gets grumpy is when I ride her.  My old man thinks I'm exclusively his and any other attention to others is a no-no. lol 

Mine are all together.  I have had all types of combinations, but I have 80ish acres.  I have had anywhere from 6 to 12 horses, and only 1 real problem child.  He was jsut annoying to everyone and never let the herds settle in. 

It ususally takes a new horse a week or so to really settle in to the herd. I do seperate out the most dominate horses for the first few days, so they can get aquainted with the place and fences before the bullies get in the mix.

Everyone seems happier this way.

I have mares and geldings all together all the time and they have no trouble with each other. No fighting at all ever! I guess I got lucky! My neighbors geldings fight each other occasionally but nothing bad! I have owned horses for 40 plus years and I find that horses are happier being left to run around and go in and out of the barn whenever they want. They will be out playing and running around in snow or rain storms. They prefer to have a other horses around instead of being alone. 

Together, I have 3 mares and a gelding together. For me (living in MN) it is way easier to maintain. One tank heater, one roundbale. Less room for error that way. I think horses get injured by anything, I suppose it lessens one factor but I think they're happier together. Luckily all of mine are pretty decent. They are stupid at feeding time but everyone knows their place and are on a good routine which helps.

I board, and my 5yo gelding is out with 2 mares, and they all get along great. They are all really low key and easy!

We have 8 horses seperated into 3 different pastures. The key is separating the pasture into horses with personalitys that mesh well together. There has been some trail and error on who gets along with who but now that we have it figured out we have zero issues. I have two that absolutely cannot be alone and will pace themselves to death and give themselves ulcers just from the stress of seperation. We have mares and geldings mixed together. I have seen just as many horses get hurt that were separated as I have ones pastured together. Good friends of mine keep about 15 horses in stalls with nice pipe runs with horse fencing in between the pipe and have had several horses hurt themselves trying to kick and fight their neighbor. It's amazing how some will continually kick the pipe even though they know it's going to hurt. They have dealt with swollen bruised legs, broken ones and even one horses killed himself from hitting his head on the pipe fencing. Horses will always find a way to hurt themselves.

Right now, we have a 20 acre pasture and a large dry lot with a lean to. My husband's 3 horses are in the lot & lean-to, but they come in to individual stalls to eat. He has a mare and 2 geldings and yes, they push each other around at times, but no one is mean enough to get anyone hurt.

My 2 and the one client horse are out in the pasture together and I tie everyone up to eat, then turn them loose together the rest of the time. We didn't put the client horse out with everyone at once....he was across the fence for a couple days, then turned out with my nicer gelding, then kicked out in the big pasture with the one who tries to be a bully. It turns out the client horse is pushing my two around at times, but mostly they co-exist peacefully. No one has ever tried to kick anyone and therefore they get to be turned out together.

We are buying a place with 25 acres, an arena, and a barn w/3 stalls already set up, and will have to do some figuring on how we want to set things up there. My main goal is for my horses to have access to a shelter besides trees! I'm sure hubby will want a stall for each of his horses and I'd like separate eating spots for at least 3 others in case my little horse comes back home from his youth rodeo summer job, we buy another one, or when we have another client horse in.

I feel like horses are herd animals and they need friends to be really happy. Granted, I've never had one so mean that it couldn't have a friend and at one time, we had 5 turned out together on a pasture. Feeding time got a little western if the wimp was in the wrong spot but with wide open spaces, I was able to make it work.

   Mine are all turned out together (2 mares, 1 gelding). They come into their own seperate stalls to eat in the morning and evening. I whole heartedly believe horses do better with maximized turnout, with other horses. They are herd animals and are happier, thus healthier in that type of setting. 

   Of course if you have one that is a trouble maker, that changes things a bit. But mine do very well this way.

As long as they get along I will turn them out together. I do currently have my mare separated as she is close to foaling and my one gelding does not get along with her AT ALL. She is lower on the pecking order though. 

My 3 get turned out together in the pasture during the day .. put up in separate stalls in the evening and at feed time. I keep them out of the barn during the day... doors closed so they cant get in. I've had a situation where the dominant horse has cornered the low man inside the stall and beat him up pretty bad. 

We only have 2 acres right now, and we have 6 horses turned out together in a 1 acre dry lot. They have their herd hierarchy worked out and get along fine. I have a 2 others I can turn out with them as well; one's getting a training tune up right now so I have her in a pen of her own while I'm working with her, and the other is pulling trail horse duty at my mom's house. So altogether we have 6 geldings and 2 mares that can cohabitate a fairly small area.

You have to make sure it's an open space with no small corners for subordinate horses to get trapped in. Mangers need to be spaced well apart, with a couple more than the number of horses (I have 8 mangers for the 6 horses turned out together right now). The water trough needs to be in an open area, not a corner, and preferably on the opposite side of the pen from the feed. 2 water troughs is even better, then a dominant horse can't guard and control the only water source.

There are some horses that just don't socialize well. They are too aggressive and spend 24/7 harrassing the others, or they are too submissive and get beat up or starved out. Or they might be older or hard keepers and need time to eat alone. But I like to keep them in groups if personalities and paddock layout allows it.

When/if you try to introduce them to herd living, it helps if you do it in buddy pairs. So take a couple that get along and turn them together for a few weeks, until they really buddy up to each other. Then introduce them to another pair, and so on. That helps keep any one horse from getting singled out and picked on.

I turn all mine out together... I had 4 on 10 acres, now 7 on 26... mares and geldings...