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Discussion on Gelding attacking mare
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 - 1:59 pm:
My gelding attacked my mare this past weekend. He chased her and bit her and caused a lot of damage. He acted like he wanted to kill her. They have a fence separating them but I put him in with her for a very short time to tractor his area and do some repair work. They of course aren't together anymore but this behavior was shocking. Is this normal or does he hate her for some reason? He was best buds with my mare I just lost to a guttural pouch disease a month ago..
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 5:47 am:
Whenever horses are first put in together there has to be a reckoning on who it boss. This reckoning can be as little as a nod and a wink or full out war, it depends on the personality of the individuals. With enough room and time fights like this usually resolve but there is risk of injury so to minimize this it is best to be sure no one has any shoes on. Though I cannot prove it, I also think that it helps if your horses look upon you as the boss, they tend to be less aggressive with each other in such a case.
DrO
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 1:49 pm:
Thank you. I am moving these two off my property which is 330 miles away and to a facility 15 minutes away from me for the winter. I am going to retrieve them this Saturday. I intend on reestablishing my pecking order which may have been lost in his mind, I haven't been able to get out there too much this past couple of months. That has to be part of it. I've only just had this mare 6 weeks as well.
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Member:
Liliana
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 4:27 pm:
Hi Patricia
How big is your pasture? The reason I ask is because I have two dominant geldings who in the beginning had a few arguments, also an old mare that hey dislike, it took a couple of months may be but now the elder dominant gelding adopted the old mare as his leader mare and the two "herds" live happy in a 45m2 by 25m" area which is not very big at all, and as long as there is enough food and water to go around there are no fights
Just a thought
Liliana
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 - 6:32 pm:
Well, they were in a pasture about 2 acres. I have 26 acres but keep 8 as pasture land.
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