What to do with Ben this winter...

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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Last year from November until about March, Ben lived out overnight with just one other horse. All the other horses were kept in.

This year, sadly Bens companion will no longer be with us, so I need to decide if I should still leave him out. The options are:

1. To leave him out alone in the boys field where he will have company with his normal herd during the day. I might try this, he doesn't seem overly bothered when I have turned him out alone before and as long as he has food he tends to just eat and eat and eat.

2. Turn him out with a mare. There is one mare on the yard (who is for loan so might not stay) who lives out 24/7. She is a very dominant mare and the fear is that Ben might get hurt by her.

3. Turn Ben and the mare out in fields next to each other separated by tape. The disadvantage is that Ben is a fence wrecker and if she has more hay than he does, he will break the fence down and they will be in together anyway.

4. Bring him in overnight. He will then get turnout from 8am until 2pm everyday. I don't want to do this really, he has always lived out and I like him to be a horse.

What would you do?
 
I think if it were me I'd try option 3 first and see how it goes, if he does trash the fence you may find they are fine together anyway and if not then you can reconsider.
 
Buy a companion :bounce:

But I realise that isn't a very sensible opition so yes option 3
 
You know how dominant the mate it but I would try them out together, whilst she may be dominant, Ben doesn't sound like a fighter so would listen to commands. Horses are pretty robust and it's only if they fought tooth and nail or were endlessly bullied that I would split them. They all need to sort out pecking order but with only two out it tends to be much simpler than in a group. Just make sure you put them together during daylight first off so thy can see fences etc easily
 
I would try Ben and the mare out together. I'd maybe put them in fields side-by-side to start with so they get to know each other over the fence and then put them out for a bit together in daylight and just see how they get on. You'll probably find that the mare will put him in his place quickly and that will be the end of it.
 
I would probably try Ben and the mare in fields next to each other and see how they get on over the fence and go from there.

Magic is now in a field with 2 colts and a stallion that he has known over the fence for about a month and when they all got put in a field together yesterday morning he put them in their place and let them know that he was in charge (one has got a bit of a sore nose poor thing) and they are all fine together now
 
Unless Ben is the dominant one in the geldings herd I wouldn't be too worried about the mare. She will put him in his place and that will be about it.

Agree with the idea of putting them together in daylight initially to let them sort it out when they can see fences.
 
I would try 2 or 3 :happy:

My mare is very dominant towards the boys (all three of them!) they just know to get out of her way! :giggle: My 10h Dartmoor usually gets the brunt of her moodiness, but luckily he is quick and can dart out of the way :giggle:

Honestly I think they will be fine :smile:
 
Ben isn't dominant, but he isn't a door mat either. He is happy to be guided by other horses, but will stand up for himself as well.

The problem with moving him with his mare is that he won't be in the big boys field any longer and he loves his daytime friends in there. In theory he could be moved daily so he stays with the mare overnight but the boys during the day, but often Ben doesn't like to be caught and it is very hit and miss if he will let the yard staff get near him to move him.

I am more inclined to see how he goes on his own. He can see other horses from his field, and at the moment this mare is only across the drive from him so if they were standing in the right places they could see each other.

It is so hard to know what to do for the best. I think that I will try him out on his own to start with, and if he is stressed then try him with the mare. I really wish that other owners would turn their horses out overnight. We have no limits at all on turnout, but out of 21 horses, only 5 live out in summer, and only 2 in winter.
 
I would go for option 3. If he gets on ok with the mare, obviously you don't know that yet, but if he does he won't care which set of company he has as long as he has some.

You say you want him out being a horse which is exactly how I am, but to me that means they shouldn't be on their own for long periods of time on a regular basis.

2pm til 8am is a massive amount of time to be alone and I wouldn't be comfortable with knowing my horse was alone for that long.

Being a horse means having company from an equine friend as well as being able to be turned out. Seeing a horse from over the drive is not the same as being able to touch each other, being able to huddle together and use each other as wind breaks, grooming each other, taking it in turns to watch over each other while the other one sleeps etc. It's all part of their natural life.

She would put him in his place and there may be a couple of war wounds if he stands up for himself but with it being just the two of them that would subside much quicker than in a group.

I would separate them with tape first during the day and then once they've had a sniff of each other and settled down to eating and not paying each other much attention don't take all the fence down, but perhaps open up one end of it so they can go through of their own accord.

I never make a thing of turning a horse out with a new herd, I open up the bottom end of the tape when it's time to integrate a new horse into the herd and allow them to filter through of their own accord so it's natural and there isn't a fuss made.

With ben and the mare I would imagine unless she takes a great dislike over the fence you'd be able to do so within a day or so.

With a herd and one new horse unless they all instantly ignore the new horse I leave it until they are all eating happily without paying any attention to each other can take anything from a day usually up to around a week in my experience for the majority of cases. There have been some that have taken a little longer but he majority of cases squabbles have been sorted over the fence within a week.
 
If he is fine left on his own and settled in his current herd then I would give option 1 a try - if its not working you can always consider other options - in my experience unless particulary stressy if left they soon adjust to routine.
 
If he can still see others across the fence he might well be ok. Kev had to be on isolation for a month, he could see others for the most of it and although you could tell he would have rather been in with the others he wasn't stressy. On the other hand when I bought him he was the only one getting left out overnight with no other horses nearby and I would always find him sleeping in the morning....obviously nackered after stressing all night.

No harm in giving it a go and see how you get on.
 
Thanks everyone. He wouldn't be on his own in the field from 2pm until 8am because he will either be bought in at 2pm for me to turn out at 9pm, or there will be a couple of horses who are left out in the field until 9pm anyway.

If he was in a stable he would be on his own anyway, so I don't really see how the field is that much different. I think that I am going to try him on his own and see how he goes. I predict I am going to be spending lots of time in his field in the dark spying on him to check he isn't stressing!
 
Tbh my friends horse is out solo overnight pretty often without horses in view, he has always been totally fine and doesn't wait to come in. This is a cob who hadn't been handled at all until he was 3 and from birth had been in a large herd of 30 horses...and yet he has always been fine turned out solo. Def no harm in trying, will anyone be able to check on him though to make sure he adjusting ok?
 
Mary Poppins said:
Thanks everyone. He wouldn't be on his own in the field from 2pm until 8am because he will either be bought in at 2pm for me to turn out at 9pm, or there will be a couple of horses who are left out in the field until 9pm anyway.

If he was in a stable he would be on his own anyway, so I don't really see how the field is that much different. I think that I am going to try him on his own and see how he goes. I predict I am going to be spending lots of time in his field in the dark spying on him to check he isn't stressing!
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Not so bad if he's not out from 2pm alone.

It's one of the reasons mine aren't in because I just don't see it fair on them or natural to have them in unless there's a health reason for it. Mine are all much happier out, but I have them in a herd so they can interact like a normal herd whereas a lot of people have their horses in individual paddocks.

It's personal preference, I can't stand the idea of individual paddocks, again unless for health or anti social reasons.

Just the idea of a herd animal on its own for long periods of time on a regular basis doesn't sit right with me.

Hence being on a private yard that I hade control of lol!
 
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