RE: [RC] Pasture Arrangements with Mares/Geldings - Rae Callaway
Hmm, my herd is 5 mares and 6 geldings.?
Other than keeping the stallion and the old guy separate, the rest of the herd
has been mixed and matched between two pens since the youngest filly got old
enough to take care of herself.? My pens aren’t huge.? The large one is
maybe ¾ an acre and the smaller one, about a ½ an acre.? I change the mix-up
every so often, too.? They get used to other personalities, other locations and
most important – CHANGE.? I’ve got two that I never changed pens on
when they were growing up and now they get very stressed if they get moved.?
Definitely learned my lesson on that one.?
Rae
Tall C Arabians - Central
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Equus Wolf Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
10:59 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Pasture Arrangements
with Mares/Geldings
>>>>So, my question is:
What do you do about mixing geldings and mares?
thanks
Keith<<<<<
When I was younger, I had my horse at a farm where mares and geldings
were kept together. I never saw it as a problem *if* the horses were a
good match in personalities. However, my mare hooked up with a gelding
and it would take us hours to catch them (never had catching problems until
that.) The gelding was moved to another pasture and problem solved
immediately. I also remember another mixed pasture that frequently had
injured horses from kicks/bites because the geldings didn't "get the
drift" when the mares were in heat and got too close (even if it was
innocent.)
Since then, I have been at stables that keep mares and geldings
separated. Herd dynamics just seem to work better. It prevents the
mare/gelding forgot he was a gelding issue. We also keep the pastures
rotated in such a way that the mares and geldings never share a fence
line. No broken fences yet. And that's a first of anywhere I've
been.
I think it just depends on the types of horses you have (personality
wise). Both of my mares would be find with geldings that knew they were
geldings. I know mares that would tear a gelding up if he even thought of
entering her "space" *laugh*
Sounds almost like a playground at school!
Jennifer
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