Post by sbutter on Sept 26, 2012 18:47:14 GMT -5
Thanks to all of these kiger discussions and watching what actually occurs in the wild, we have started to mix the horses on our ranch more. I was just thinking how there are certain influences in every industry. With TBs, it is not the norm to mix genders, different ages, etc but we have started to do it with ours and it's been fun to see how it really helps the growth of youngsters.
This experiment started happening last winter. Our yearling fillies were very rambunctious when we had to walk into their pasture to feed. We never really had the problem before, but one filly in particular set the mood for everyone and they wanted to play hard when our arms were loaded with food. We always have a safety first policy and the situation was not safe. As we were bouncing around ideas on what to do, I made the suggestion to add an older mare in that would be a good role model. It wasn't an earth shattering idea, but it was "different" from the norm. The lead filly postured some when the mare was added, but the filly seemed genuinely excited to be second in command. She was practically inseparable from the mare and everyone acted like well-behaved citizens during meal times. All of this change in one day and it was such an easy solution. That "out of the box" experience got us thinking more every time we have to rotate pastures and switch horses around.
The most interesting mix actually includes our 29ish year-old TB stallion. Being a single stallion, he generally always had a pasture to himself. For being such a sweet guy, I always felt bad that he wasn't able to be in a herd. We had put him with other geldings, but with age, he really wants to protect himself by creating distance. The most he ever does is pins his ears and tries to either stand still and be boring or trot off. After seeing how well it worked out with the older mare and fillies, we thought we could try him with the weanlings. It turned out that he was very intimidated by their energy and wanted to just be left alone.
So several months ago we were in a bit of a quandary of where to put him since we wanted him out on grass to eat however much he wanted (keeping weight on him). There was another older mare on our ranch who was preggers and had the exact mindset he had and just wanted to be alone if anyone wanted to run around. We would have never considered putting them together for obvious reasons, but No Points was not interested in mares AT ALL and doubt he could do anything even if he was. So we tried the two together and they got along just fine and 98% of the time, they had some distance between them. We also made sure to feed them far apart, since if anything ever were to occur, it would probably happen over food (being the typical horse).
The next horse that was added to the herd was actually a weanling filly. She was a big girl and we didn't want her to be alone for another month until then next baby was weaned. We weighed their personalities and thought it would be a good match, but we would watch them very carefully. The filly LOVED No Points and just wanted to stand in his presence. He hoped the ear pinning would warn her off, but she slowly would creep closer and then just stand next to him. She even was able to eat out of the same feeder as him after several days. It always brought a smile to my face every time I walked by the pasture and saw the "odd" herd together. The filly loved to stand with her head next to his tail, so he could swish the flies off of her.
The filly had been with them for a while, but she was moved in with the other weanlings once the time had come. She was such a laid back girl, so it was probably a good thing (for a race horse) to move her into a herd where they would actually run around and play. The mare had also moved when the boarder needed to relocate. So now No Points has a pasture with another preggo mare who has some lameness issues, but they get along just fine.
So, thought I'd share some of these interesting experiences
All of them have worked wonderfully. This would have never happened if I hadn't gotten into Kigers 
This experiment started happening last winter. Our yearling fillies were very rambunctious when we had to walk into their pasture to feed. We never really had the problem before, but one filly in particular set the mood for everyone and they wanted to play hard when our arms were loaded with food. We always have a safety first policy and the situation was not safe. As we were bouncing around ideas on what to do, I made the suggestion to add an older mare in that would be a good role model. It wasn't an earth shattering idea, but it was "different" from the norm. The lead filly postured some when the mare was added, but the filly seemed genuinely excited to be second in command. She was practically inseparable from the mare and everyone acted like well-behaved citizens during meal times. All of this change in one day and it was such an easy solution. That "out of the box" experience got us thinking more every time we have to rotate pastures and switch horses around.
The most interesting mix actually includes our 29ish year-old TB stallion. Being a single stallion, he generally always had a pasture to himself. For being such a sweet guy, I always felt bad that he wasn't able to be in a herd. We had put him with other geldings, but with age, he really wants to protect himself by creating distance. The most he ever does is pins his ears and tries to either stand still and be boring or trot off. After seeing how well it worked out with the older mare and fillies, we thought we could try him with the weanlings. It turned out that he was very intimidated by their energy and wanted to just be left alone.
So several months ago we were in a bit of a quandary of where to put him since we wanted him out on grass to eat however much he wanted (keeping weight on him). There was another older mare on our ranch who was preggers and had the exact mindset he had and just wanted to be alone if anyone wanted to run around. We would have never considered putting them together for obvious reasons, but No Points was not interested in mares AT ALL and doubt he could do anything even if he was. So we tried the two together and they got along just fine and 98% of the time, they had some distance between them. We also made sure to feed them far apart, since if anything ever were to occur, it would probably happen over food (being the typical horse).
The next horse that was added to the herd was actually a weanling filly. She was a big girl and we didn't want her to be alone for another month until then next baby was weaned. We weighed their personalities and thought it would be a good match, but we would watch them very carefully. The filly LOVED No Points and just wanted to stand in his presence. He hoped the ear pinning would warn her off, but she slowly would creep closer and then just stand next to him. She even was able to eat out of the same feeder as him after several days. It always brought a smile to my face every time I walked by the pasture and saw the "odd" herd together. The filly loved to stand with her head next to his tail, so he could swish the flies off of her.
The filly had been with them for a while, but she was moved in with the other weanlings once the time had come. She was such a laid back girl, so it was probably a good thing (for a race horse) to move her into a herd where they would actually run around and play. The mare had also moved when the boarder needed to relocate. So now No Points has a pasture with another preggo mare who has some lameness issues, but they get along just fine.
So, thought I'd share some of these interesting experiences
All of them have worked wonderfully. This would have never happened if I hadn't gotten into Kigers 