When would be the best time to introduce a new mare to the herd? Another barn I boarded at used to do it later in afternoon when all where a bit mellow. What advice can anyone give me. Thanks
I’ve seen some places have the horses share a paddock fence line before integrating them. I was also at a place where they would try them all on grass for a couple hours so then they’d be busy eating while getting to know each other. This worked really well since then there were no issues of new horses getting kicked off a round bale etc.
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Definitely introduce the mare over a good fence first, for at least week if you can. How large is the herd and is it comprised of mares only or are geldings mixed in?
There are people here who know more about introducing a horse to a herd than I do, so hopefully they will speak up. I do know that it can result in injury if not done properly.
Across a fence line is always my preferred method. Or get her buddied up to one of the horses she will be pastured with if that isn’t possible.
I know of one barn that just put them in when a new round bale was added so the others were occupied and it went surprisingly well. They were a quiet group of geldings to start with and she didn’t mix mares & geldings.
I generally take the approach to just turn them out and see what happens. No matter how long a horse shares a fence line when turned out together everything changes. So, making sure everyone has plenty of food well spread out I usually will have the new horse in the barn over night so everyone is at least familiar with the smell and sound of the new horse and then just turn everyone out in the morning. I never expect it to be all rainbows and roses right away, It takes time to sort everything out but they usually do. The only caution I woudl give is don’t leave fly masks on while they meet. I am positive it makes it harder for them to read signals and be comfortable with each other.
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I never thought about that but I wholeheartedly agree! Horses need to see and read eyes. This kind of thing is a huge problem for a lot of dogs whose tails are docked, as tail posture and movement plays a big role in the attitude of a dog, so when other dogs can’t read that…
As for when - time of day - to introduce, that really depends on how the existing herd maneuvers. Around here, this time of year, mine are more annoyed towards the end of the day when they’re tired of dodging deer flies and horse flies, and are much more mellow in the morning. But they’re also out full time, so they might not be so mellow if they were only just turned out.
If you have a large enough pasture, and enough forage for everyone with lots to spare (so lots of grass, or more hay stations than there are horses) then it doesn’t matter much the timing in a day.
Fenceline introductions can be very useful, but like the others have said, that doesn’t always mean the actual same-pasture introduction is a non-issue.
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