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Discussion on Better to add another horse or not? | |
Author | Message |
Member: chase99 |
Posted on Monday, Jul 23, 2012 - 11:03 pm: Hi Everyone,I have the horse that was discussed in the "unruly and nipping 18month old" article. He is now two, and coming along pretty well with the ground work. He has considerably more respect, but can act punkish at times, though settles down when I make that a harder choice. My question is whether it would be better to introduce another horse now, or for us people be his main herd until he is more mature/fully trained? We are looking at a 9 y/o mare who seems to be calm and respectful. I hear some say that she could help teach him manners and be a benefit, others say he may lose attachment to us with another horse around. Currently he has a goat for a companion, he seems happy and loves to see us coming! Please share your thoughts and experiences on this question! |
Member: stek |
Posted on Tuesday, Jul 24, 2012 - 2:44 pm: My opinion is that it's not fair to the horse to keep them as an 'only horse' only because you don't want them to become more attached to the other horse than to you. Horses are herd animals and are happiest with other horses. Even if you spend an hour a day every day with him that still leaves 23 hours a day for him to be without you. A goat for a companion is nice, but I bet if you asked your horse he'd rather have another horse around.That said a two horse herd is one of the hardest things to manage, especially for a young horse as they are likely to buddy up and become herd bound, and then you have that to deal with along with the regular training issues. But if you're putting serious training time in then it should be something you can easily work through. My own gelding was an only horse for a while (tried a goat and it didn't take - he wanted to be with the people, not the goat). But now that he is part of a herd he is MUCH happier in general and I don't have to sweat it if I don't have time to work with him more than a couple days a week. |
Member: chase99 |
Posted on Tuesday, Jul 24, 2012 - 7:53 pm: Hi Shannon,I don't like the idea of him being an only horse, I agree that he will be much happier with another horse and like you said I will be able to skip a day or two in handling him if he has a friend (and not feel guilty). I guess I wondered if it might be to my advantage to wait until further along in his training? Did you get your boy with just one other horse, or several? And do you have any advice on the topic of dealing with the herd-bound issue? |
Member: stek |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 25, 2012 - 11:04 am: When my gelding was an only horse, we added one mare to our 'herd' first. She became very dependent on him, he was a little less so on her. But then she is a higher strung, more opinionated gal in general. Now they both live in a herd of 7 and are pretty well adjusted.I think the biggest thing to prevent herd-boundedness is to continue to work and handle the horses separately and out of sight of each other. An ounce of prevention and all that =) |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Wednesday, Jul 25, 2012 - 7:31 pm: Hello Connie,When you ask what is better, I wonder what you mean: "better in what way?". If your horse appears happy and healthy with his goat companion and your training is progressing well, I don't see a need to add a new horse in the hopes he may teach him manners. Putting in another horse will most certainly create new psychological dynamics between you and your horse. As to whether they may be helpful or harmful to the current balance would be hard to predict. DrO |