Dominant Horse?

Question

I just added a new horse to our 2 acre pasture. I have two geldings and a mare. The dominant gelding and mare were pasture buddys before and I just added a very docile and passive gelding to the mix. The alpha gelding pushes the passive one from the mare with his ears pinned and charges at him when he tries to eat. I have two acres with a barn with three stalls. I now have the new gelding in a small paddock next to the pasture but want him integrated for more room. Any advice?

Answer 1

Are the paddocks side-by-side? Maybe your alpha-male just needs to adjust to the new addition to the herd. If they can get to know one another over the fence for a week or so, things might change. If not, do you think he would actually hurt your new horse, or was he just agressively chasing him off? If you alpha gelding is just putting on a show to demonstrate 'who's boss', it might be ok to put the new guy back (maybe when you can keep an eye on them for a few hours?)

Don't take my word for it, though: I am more used to dealing with mares! Good luck

Answer 2

Supervise the intro and discipline the aggressive gelding. You will have to do it in stages as leaving them alone might be dangerous for the more submissive gelding. You could also put up a enclosure inside the 2 acre pasture that you can house the submissive gelding in so the others can meet over the fence and yet still provide protection for the other gelding. a week of this and then try the intro again and see how it goes.