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Discussion on Gelding turned mean
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New Member:
Likme
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Posted on Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004 - 10:37 pm:
I have a 11 year old gelding and a 15 year old mare. They have been pasture mates for the past 18 months. I have had the gelding for 21/2 years and the mare for 18 months. They got along until recently. 2 mares and a colt were moved into a pasture close to them. My horses were interested but no trouble. Then one of the mares and the other mare's colt were moved leaving the mother alone. That is when the trouble started. She started running the fence with my gelding. He turned on his pasture mate, chasing her, biting her and has run her into the fence. The last time she jumped the fence to get away from him. I have been keeping them seperate but I can't do that forever. I would guess this is hormonal or a herd thing but is there anyway I am going to be able to get my horses back together. The neighbors mare will not be moving..
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Member:
Dtranch
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 18, 2004 - 7:42 am:
Mary ... I am very interested in responses as well. I was just going to post on my 6yo that I just had gelded about 3 weeks ago. He has previously bred my mares over last 2 years and I guess he knows this is his herd. I can turn out with all my mares with no problem ... but when anywhere near my other geldings, he becomes very aggressive and attacks. Maybe this is just a "time" thing but I am wondering if I will ever be able to get my horses back together as well. Keep us posted ... please.
DT
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Member:
Miamoo
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 18, 2004 - 7:47 am:
I'm not sure I have an answer, but just a comment. I have seen something similar in my pasture. I have a 22 year old gelding that is in charge of my pasture. He gets along with whoever I put him with (always a mare, he is my only gelding) but when I add another mare to the mix he gets all upset. He pushes both the horses around. He does not want them together. He spends his entire day worrying about keeping the two separated. I don't have the same trouble that you are having when there is a fence between them. It may be similar though, he may be trying to keep them separated. If I keep them together things settle to normal in about a week. How long have you been having the trouble?
Ella 
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Member:
Lisamg
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 18, 2004 - 1:10 pm:
I am having a somewhat similar thing going on right now in my herd. I have a 25 year old gelding who is our "herd boss". I have two other geldings and 3 mares (and one donkey...who doesn't seem to apply to the pecking order).
One of the mares was just introduced about a month ago. She had been at our farm but in a seperate pen since she is quite agressive. Once introduced she promptly kicked the snot out of the herd boss but once done follows him around and lets him lead. (he just can't touch her food). The pen she was seperated in now remains open to all the horses.
In the evenings the herd boss gelding likes to pace the fence line in anticipation of being brought in for the evening and fed. The new mare stands by the gate with him. The donkey, which is the herd boss' favorite is also allowed in the main pen with them too. The rest of the horses are kept by the herd boss in the back pen and not allowed out until I bring the herd boss in. If they try to come out the herd boss agressively chases them back in. He did not do this until the new mare was introduced. However, he seems to do this now even if the new mare is in the back pen with the others. It's definitely some kind of "herding stallion" behavior but I'm not so sure what purpose it's supposed to serve.
In any event, Mary I hope things settle down for you as it's hard to settle this problem as it's your neighbors horse causing it. (through no fault of hers though).
I just find horse behavior very interesting.
Let us know how things go.
Lisa
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Member:
Likme
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 18, 2004 - 8:57 pm:
I really appreciate the information. It does help to know that it isn't just my horse. For the past 20 years I have only had mares and they all got along so I wasn't anticipating problems with a gelding. I don't know much history on either of my horses. I had a mare when I bought the gelding. They got along. I had to put her down and the gelding was alone for a few months. When I introduced the new mare they got along but she was acting frequently like she was in heat or kind of studdy. The gelding pretty much ignored it. When all this trouble started she acted like she was in heat but now I am wondering if it was fear response. My vet's guess is that it is a herd thing. He is thinking my mares testosterone may be on the high side and that my gelding sees her as a threat to his new friend in the other pasture. At this time, I have the horse in 2 small seperate paddocks away from the neighbors mare and things are quite. They are fine together if I am around but at this time I don't dare leave them alone together yet. Things are calmer if he has no interaction with the neighbors mare.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Nov 19, 2004 - 5:54 am:
I am afraid this is all pretty normal horse behavior particularly when kept in small groups and we do not have to presume hormonal imbalances to account for it. How big is your pasture Mary, how close is the neighbors horse and which horse have you moved into the paddock?
DrO
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Member:
Likme
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 21, 2004 - 7:41 pm:
Dr. O, Thank you for the interest. My big pasture is 4-5 acres. The neighbor's horse is in a pasture seperated from mine by about 30 feet. I have moved both my horse. They can still see the neighbor's horse but they are 100 yards apart. I have my horses seperated in 3/4 acre paddocks. I will let them together while I clean stalls but my mare is very nervous during this time. If I take either of my horses to the big pasture alone, I then have the seperation anxiety.
My mare has always had me alittle puzzled. 1/3 the time she acts like she is in heat, 1/3 of the time she is acting studdy and the rest of the time she acts normal. Would it do any good to check her hormone levels and what can be done if there is an imbalance?
When trail riding, my gelding is usually friendly to other horses and my mare is not.
This situation just has me scratching my head and wondering if there is any resolution.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Nov 22, 2004 - 8:51 am:
If you and your veterinarian think she truly acts out of the norm then yes she should be checked, for more see Equine Diseases » Reproductive Diseases » Trouble Settling Mares & Stallion Infertility » Granulosa Cell Tumors in Mares.
4 to 5 acres should be plenty of room to get away. Is there a place to go that one horse can be out of sight of the other? I think you need to allow them to work it out and the only for-sure solution I can think of for jumping out is to build higher fences, perhaps just a visual appearance of higher, like a piece of tape fencing? If one becomes excessively aggresive remove the bad actor to a stall or the paddock for time out.
If you wanted to try a pharmaceutical solution you might try the long acting sedatives like reserpine or fluphenazine. but they are not without risk, see Equine Medications and Nutriceuticals » Sedatives & Anesthetics.
DrO
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Monday, Nov 22, 2004 - 11:37 am:
Re jumping fences. Put in an extra tape fence to make it appear "wider". I find this is much better than extra height.
All the best
Imogen
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Member:
Likme
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 25, 2004 - 8:43 pm:
I think I will talk to my vet further and try to figure out if something else is going on. I was going to try to put them together today but as the mare got close to the pasture with the gelding already in it,she was very nervous and clearly did not want to go in. Thank you for the advice, I will let you know if things change.
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