I would like to move my 6 year old mare to a friend’s farm. The catch is that she will need to share a very large pasture and huge run-in shed with two geldings. The geldings have lived together quietly at this farm for several years. One of the boys is a quiet small QH, the other boy is more lively, a 12 year old TB/Warmblood cross. My mare is typically very submissive, she is currently living with two other mares and has been pretty smart about keeping a safe distance from the dominant mare. Appreciate hearing your thoughts!!!
You won’t know until you try. The geldings may try to “fight” over her. If she’s submissive than they may try to herd her away from each other, trying to keep her for themselves. If one of the geldings doesn’t give two hoots about her than it shouldn’t matter anyway. Or if she decides to be the boss.
Between my mom and I we have three horses. Two geldings and a mare. When I bought my house a few years ago and didn’t have time to ride over the summer I sent my gelding to my parents farm. The two geldings have known each other over 10 years, but the mare was new. We had to keep my gelding separate (sharing a fenceline) for about a week as he was aggressively trying to gain possession of the mare. This sorted it out. The bigger the turnout the easier this is. Multiple feed and water sources will also help.
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I used to have a mare with 4 geldings. I took it very slow, let the mare share a fence line for a couple weeks, then I put the oldest gelding out with her for a week, then rotated the other two geldings out with her during the day for a few hours. Once I did that I put them out together and all was well.
Just do it slowly, let each one have a little time separately with the mare and then do it as a group.
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It will likely be fine. Mares and geldings go out together all the time.
Watch them when she comes into heat. Sometimes geldings find their inner stallion when the mare’s hormones get turned on. I had a pair who were great until the mare came in season. Neither was seriously injured but there had definitely been some mounting behavior and the mare was pretty scratched up.
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I personally don’t like mixed herds.
My arab/pinto gelding would herd the mare away from the other geldings. He even did it when it was just him and the mare in one field and a gelding in the neighboring field. He would keep her away from the half of the field that bordered the gelding field.
We tried him again at another farm with a mare. The mare was dominant so he didn’t herd her but got extremely herd bound to her. It made riding in the ring difficult since he was screaming for her the whole time.
Friend had 1 mare and 1 gelding. When she and a friend would go on group trail rides with these horses the mare would attack horses that got too close to “her” gelding.
I have seen these scenarios many times with mixed herds.
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Depends on the personalities at play. Some herd dynamics do really well with the addition of a mare, others become unsafe and horses get hurt.
You do not know until you try - but if you try, and things become dangerous, it’s best to separate sooner rather than later. I agree with the poster who said to introduce carefully: have them share a fence line for a few weeks, and then, have them spend individual time with the mare before putting them all together.
I find the mares that are their own person, autonomous, and not herd-bound, make good additions into gelding herds in multiples – but the gelding[s] have to also be independent personality-wise as well. Geldings that are herd-bound and/or clingy to their herdmates, might become distraught when the mare leaves, or possessive of her- and start fights with other geldings in the herd.
It helps if the gelding band is well established - IE, they’ve all been turned out with each other for a while. I also think it helps if there are two mares vs only one.
One thing – I would not do mixed herds if any of the horses in the herd had hind shoes.
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I’ve had mixed herds thrice at home and once at a boarding facility my gelding was volunteered to go out with a mare with social issues (since he’d been turned out with mares at my home in the first three herds I mentioned).
Half and half success rate. My experiences are limited but I will share my thoughts.
If any of the geldings were gelded late or ever used for breeding, pass.
If any of the horses are socially awkward or overly weird with other horses, pass.
If the idea of your mare getting mounted bothers you, pass.
When it’s worked out for me, it’s worked out beautifully. When it hasn’t the outcomes have ranged from mild no this won’t work too down right disaster.
I have two geldings and recently added a mare pony to my herd. One of my boys was gelded late and he has been a real jerk about the mare. He is possessive and won’t let the other gelding near her. He’s a real jerk. This is a horse with impeccable manners under saddle”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹. I have ridden him many times around mares in heat and he doesn’t bat an eye. My non dominant gelding gets clingy if I turn him out with the mare, although he is well behaved.
Long story short, I keep my mare in an adjacent pasture to the geldings but don’t turn them out together. I turn my boys out together and occasionally let the non dominant gelding go out with the mare but I would never put all three out for fear that my macho gelding would hurt someone.
Like others have said, it works well depending on the personalities of the horses involved. My mare rules the herd and is currently turned out with two geldings. They co-exist peacefully; I think the fact that she keeps them in line helps. They whinny for her when she leaves, but she ignores them and they give up pretty quickly and start eating hay from the round bale. She doesn’t particularly care when they leave. She gets flirty when she’s in heat but usually picks the gelding over the fence line to flirt with instead of her pasture mates (I don’t think they fully realize that they’re boys lol).
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I have four senior geldings who are normally very laid back and get along with each other great. We recently moved to a farm where there are mares in the field across the driveway…and my guys have been mixing it up ever since. Lots of kicking (and connecting), constant bickering, etc. Never would have thought it would make such a difference in their personalities, but it did.
The mixed “herds” that I’ve seen work the best were one gelding/one mare or two mares/one gelding. It really just depends on everyone’s personalities.
All you can do is give it a try, but take it very slow and have a plan B if it doesn’t work out.
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I’ve had mixed herds for years. Like others have said, it depends. Every new herd addition or subtraction changes the dynamics. I had a mixed group where I added a gelding. A 26 year old mare absolutely fell in love with him. I have had her for 15 years and she went from quiet to hussy deluxe. He could have cared less. When he was sold, she returned to her normal status. I do stand a stallion who she can easily see; she cared more for this gelding than she ever did for the stallion when she was part of the broodmare herd. At present I have a 1.5 year old filly going through her first heat cycle. She is hanging close to the QH gelding who is indifferent to her. Other mares could care less about this gelding. So it just depends.
I think the issue is more about 3 horses. It’s an “odd man out” number. Better to have 4 or 5 rather than 3 regardless of the gender mix.
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My gelding took a serious beating from another when a mare was moved into their pasture at a boarding stable. Be cautious!
I had one trio (2 geldings 1 mare) where it worked, for many years. Lead gelding was the “benevolent ruler” type-- super mellow and not at all aggressive–but somehow could warn off any other horse with a flick of the ear. In that trio, there was no possessiveness of the mare, either-- it was like the mare was just one of the boys in that herd.
When the 2nd-ranking gelding passed, I added another boy, a geriatric QH retiring from the TR center where I taught. My guy and this new one had been pastured together for a few years in the past and got along well back then, so I thought it should work. I did all the usual gradual introductions, and had enough fencing flexibility to try various turnout arrangements, but no matter what turnout combinations I tried, it was a disaster. Suddenly both 20+ y/o geldings were young stallions–fighting each other over fencelines, mounting the mare constantly, screaming & running the fence if she was with the other one, etc. I had to send the new gelding away or someone was going to get hurt.
Two mares and a gelding worked totally fine–I think that’s an easier combination. But the gelding was that same Benevolent Ruler guy. (He was just such a special horse. Typing this is making me miss him so much.) A more insecure or aggressive gelding might’ve been a different story.
Like others have said, just be sure to have a Plan B because it often doesn’t work out.
I did it once but it was a disaster at first, and I had to separate them all for a while. (Mine was a mare and a gelding pair, and I introduced a new gelding). Eventually I had to put the boys together without the mare until they got along, then I could add her.
I would start by having her near them, but not in with them. When that becomes boring you can try to put them together. For whatever reason I’ve always had more mares and a single gelding except that one time. That works much easier. Mares are happy to share the one boy.
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I’ve had mixed herds for many years and never had any problems. I’ve had 5 geldings and 5 mares in various configurations (never more than 5 at a time). I had 3 geldings with 1 mare and no problems. In that case, the mare was older and in charge, and the geldings were all pretty young and mostly enjoyed goofing around with each other. I currently have 3 mares and 1 gelding, and the gelding just lays low since he’s the lowest in the pecking order.
We have had large mixed herds for years with no issues. There are always two boss mares in our herd and the pecking order after that changes. We have had an occasional issue with older geldings becoming very attached to a lady friend in their senior years–they usually seem to pick a meek mare as their late in life obsession. Other than that, it’s all friendly. Some of the mares pair off, some of the pairs are mixed, and some of the geldings like to minorly rough house with each other (like halter tag), but it’s peaceful. We have had the mixed herds for 50+ years with almost no pasture injuries. We do not allow shoes behind, which helps.
Our BO took in a couple of quiet geldings who were glued to each other. They stuck together all the time, not really interested in working out a spot in the pecking order. About a month later a Haflinger mare named Peaches joined the mares in the adjoining turnout. It wasn’t long before she was making her way through the electric fence. The kids kept taking her back. They hardly were out the gate and Peaches was back with the boys. Turns out they had been together on a farm and had done summer camps together. The rest of the geldings could care less.
I think a large herd in a large space-- no problem. Two geldings with one mare in a limited space is different.
We had a large paddock with two geldings and a mare for years. One of the geldings was in charge of the mare and the other kept his distance basically but both geldings got along great. (the lower gelding was mine) when I retired my gelding and moved him to a new farm I put my new gelding in the same turnout. The dynamics were identical. The two geldings got along great but the other gelding was in charge of the mare. Neither of my guys really cared about that so it was fine. Interestingly, the mare died last summer and the gelding that was previously on top (and who is very old) has slid down the pecking order now that its three geldings. He is now afraid of the new gelding and on par with mine…
^^I just have to say that Peaches is the perfect name for a Haflinger mare.
