Let’s Discuss: Your horse’s social life
Some folks prefer that their horses get turned out solo; others allow their horses to roam with multiple pasture mates. How many horses does your horse get turned out with, if any?
- Send an email to wylie, the author of this post at wylie@horsenation.com
My gelding is out with about 23 other geldings in a large 50 acre pasture. He lives out 24/7. Helps keep his cribbing to a minimum and all day access to forage has covered his OTTB ribs very nicely!
zero. Everyone ELSE gets a paddock buddy, but my gelding can’t get along with any of the other horses. He obeys the mares, but then he gets confused when they go into season and bites them. As for the geldings…my boy considers himself to be the Number One Man and about half of the other geldings disagree and they wind up in constant fights that don’t end until the owner of the other horse gets tired of putting up with the injuries (my boy collects his fair share, but I don’t show him, so I’m not worried about keeping his coat in immaculate condition). And the rest, that agree that my guy is Number One Man? He won’t let them near the hay. Even though the BO puts out several piles per paddock, my big bad boy will zip around from pile to pile, just to make sure the other horse doesn’t take any. He’s such a bully.
My horses are out on pasture with a buddy or two. However, if someone starts getting to buddy-sour and won’t ride out alone then they get put in “time-out” in the dry lot solo until that kind of behavior ends. It’s amazing how quickly they figure out that if they don’t pitch a fit when leaving their friends that they get to hang in the pasture.
There are seven horses where I keep mine. They usually get turned out in two groups of 3/4. The groups cycle horses and everyone on the place gets along great!
I turned my cutter out with a bunch of the school’s big huntseat mares and one little reining friend…the barn assistants requested that I remove her as she would “cut” on the big mares to defend her reining friend and it was upsetting them. Now she is on half-day turnout with one friend and they get along nicely.
My gelding is convinced he is still a colt, and actually annoys any other horse he’s out with. Annoys to the point where he gets rightfully beat up because he tries to play 24/7. He’s out by himself now and he seems to be just fine on his lonesome.
my gelding is turned out 24/7 with 3 other geldings.
he spent enough if his 17 years alone in a small stall.
My 3 mares are turned out all day, and in their stalls with access to paddocks at night. Two donkeys share the turnout, and have their own stall/paddock. The older mares are buddy-sour: they listen to me well for arena riding, but I’m still working on relaxing them on the trail. I ride alone, which means solo trail rides, too, but their buddy-sourness is just an opportunity to work on our connection. My young Lusitano is much better on the trail, and she is the bravest of the three with anything.
My mare is turned out 24/7 in a 50+ acre pasture with about 20 other mares, give or take a few. I know this must sound like it a hoarder situation but it’s so not! I board her on a 1000 acre working cattle ranch!