Strange Choice in Buddies?

[four2farm]

So, with Mr Ed here and getting used to us, we left him by himself for the first 24 hours. He was unsettled and there was a lot of back and forth over the fence. Ed was also calling to the other horses across the street and there was not a lot of quiet around here.

So this afternoon we started trying to find him a buddy. Tried Dante ( 3rd in pecking order) Dante just chased him around trying to kick him because Ed sniffed an empty feed bucket, so no good there. Tried Six (2nd in pecking order) who basically flew at him teeth bared, Six got a glancing hoof in the chest. Then Ed ran away, hid in front pasture and paced anxiously back and forth at the gate to get away.

So after bringing him back to the barn paddock, he was still agitated, following us around like a lost puppy. So we grabbed our dressage whips, checked the first aid kits and let Saxon (evil boss pony) who is basically a communist dictator. He guards resources, pushes the other two around mercilessly. Six and Dante are big buddies. He is hateful sometimes to be hateful.

With a worried mind, we let him in with Ed. Saxon pinned his ears, Clearly stated he was boss and Ed did exactly what he was told, no biting, no kicking ensued. They are happy, Eddie is calm and finally acting relaxed. Saxon is fine as dictators always are. Never would of guessed an ultra dominant with an extreme beta with no damage? I have seen pairings like this go horribly wrong…but this time I guess not. Anyone else experience this?

[RedHorses]

Absolutely. Extreme Betas are desperate to find an Alpha they can follow, but the Alpha has to be a horse they can respect. Betas who don’t have an Alpha are a menace as they push the other horses around constantly asserting their dominance with teeth and hooves. With a strong Alpha to follow they can relax and let the Alpha take on the boss hoss duties.

My horses were in with a Beta at one time and the Beta got hold of my horse’s withers. Took patches of skin off each side and I’m guessing knocked my horse down to his knees as the bruising was so bad that it was still tender after the hair grew back.

[four2farm]

@RedHorses

Absolutely. Extreme Betas are desperate to find an Alpha they can follow, but the Alpha has to be a horse they can respect. Betas who don’t have an Alpha are a menace as they push the other horses around constantly asserting their dominance with teeth and hooves. With a strong Alpha to follow they can relax and let the Alpha take on the boss hoss duties.

My horses were in with a Beta at one time and the Beta got hold of my horse’s withers. Took patches of skin off each side and I’m guessing knocked my horse down to his knees as the bruising was so bad that it was still tender after the hair grew back.

Yes, I think this it. Ed does not want to to hurt anyone, he kicked out to defend from an attack. He was so beaten up by the other horses at the other place (eight horse mixed sex group on maybe a half acre) Saxon just came in and very clearly stated he was boss and Ed just accepted and could relax. I wonder if it could also be that Saxon has been odd man out since his sire passed away ( previous alpha), maybe he was looking for a friend since Six and Dante are tight?

In my previous experience though the Alpha will torment an extreme beta…

[RedHorses]

Ed doesn’t sound like a Beta, but something much lower in the hierarchy. I had one like this who somehow ended up as the only gelding in a herd of mares. He was so stressed. After a major incident I asked if he could change to another group and he was put with a few geldings, one of which was quite large and dominant. Within a week it was obvious my horse’s stress level had dropped to a huge extent. Like you said, with the new group he knew where he stood, unlike the mares who loved or hated him depending on where they were in their cycles and he could relax.

My younger horse used to be extremely submissive to the point that he would dodge away if strange horse just looked at him even if it was an interested in saying hello look. It really bothered some horses at one barn we moved to and they started going for him because he wasn’t behaving like a proper horse. He has since learned to behave and is more confident when meeting new horses.

[sascha]

Saxon is my mare in a pony body. “These are the rules!” If the other horses respect her ears and body position, there is peace. Generally the lowest in the pecking order will hang with her because they know she won’t take sh!t from anyone else.

[four2farm]

Yes, he is very submissive. I think he has had little to no herd time as a baby and then got thrown into a mixed herd and had his butt handed to him. Checked on them through the night and they are happy together. In fact he dove into his food this morning and gave me a pissy expression when I checked to see if he was eating. Glad to see it, it was not disrespectful just a “my food” expression.

I am hoping they will bond, then once out, Saxon hopefully will protect him from the other meanies…

[Marla_100]

Glad it’s working out for you. When I boarded I was always amazed at BO’s who were great at mixing up the horses. It’s interesting to watch who gets along with who and it’s not always what we expect.
Years ago I had a tiny chestnut mare- 33" tall- who was the forever dominant horse no matter the size or personality of new horses.
She was always prepared to defend her position and it was funny to watch. But it worked.