My horse?!?!?!?!?

Question

Why don't my mare and gelding get along very well? and why does he try and kick her? And my horse needs a barn name...I am calling her Dream Gal....But her Show name is "Golden Dream Gal' " any ideas? please help and thnx so much....Plus...She comes out of Shots Flying Spark thats her Grandpa if that helps?!?!

Answer 1

I am assuming that you just got this new horse, and their working out a pecking order. there really isn't much you can do, except if it continues to happen then you need to separate them.

The way i introduce a new horse is put them in pastures next to each other or only let them be together while I'm there to watch. some horses are just bossy and will always chase and pin at your other horse, at that point its your decision to separate them or just let them work it out. unless like i said its really dangerous and its way bad to keep them together.

Things should get better, your gelding is prob used to having his own space and he is making sure he is still king of the pasture!

o and maybe you could call your mare: GG or Goldy. but personally i really like dream gal. i just got a new horse and her name is pretty girl.

Answer 2

If you just got your mare, she and the gelding may be working out their dominance issues. They have to settle who is in charge- and it is likely that it will be the mare in the end. I say this because we have a mixed group of mares and geldings on our farm, and without exception, the mares are always dominant. In a normal herd situation in the wild, one mare is always the co-leader of the herd with the dominant stallion. This mare is the one everyone else follows. I think that this may be part of what is happening in your case- your mare sounds like she has a very dominant, forceful personality ( scientists would call this an "alpha" personality) and she is trying to teach the gelding not to mess with her if he wants to live with or around her. Another point to consider is that your mare may be in heat or be just going into heat, and the gelding may have tried to tease or mount her- which is behavior that is likely to get him kicked, unless she is truly in standing heat and very receptive. It is very common for mares to go into heat when a new gelding is brought into an established herd- and also, for the reverse to be true when a new mare is brought to a place where there are geldings. The fact that the geldings are not entire anymore is irrelevant when it comes to the issue of dominance-they will tease and mount mares regardless.  There's not much you can do while the horses sort out their differences- except to be sure that they are not fighting over food or living space- and if they injure each other, separate them. Otherwise, they will just have to learn to live with one another, the way people do. If the gelding is trying to kick the mare, it may be because she is trying to do things like steal his food, or she is trying to get him to play with her ( young fillies do this a lot) and he resents the behavior and is letting her know it. I hope that this helps you understand why these two horses aren't getting along. Eventually they will figure out who is the boss, and the squabbles will end. I don't have any suggestions for names. Good luck.

Answer 3

Dream, Fly, Spark, Goldie.  Or, take her personality into account.  Horses have pecking orders.  This could be the reason your gelding tries to kick your mare, kind of his way of saying "I am the boss".  My old gelding was the boss of our horses, although he did not kick the others, he would lay back his ears and bare his teeth at them.  For a short time we had a little two year old filly, and she took over.

Answer 4

Shalia:

Usually mares are dominant but every rule is made to be broken. Give them separate runs until the wars settle down. I'm strictly one horse per run pen, to avoid fights and feeding issues like who ate who's supplements:) Though we like putting foals together. How are they  at pasture/turnout? do you like hot-wire for dividing spaces? its

Names... she sounds like a summer color,a famous painting or a weather thing.  Like Mirage,Aspen,Amber.. or Dream Gal!

Answer 5

i agree with the first answer, make sure you aren't trying to feed them together as well.  Make sure there are several piles of hay or two salt blocks ect in the pasture so they aren't trying to control one choice item.  It is normal to see some dominance behavior around the water trough ect.  As long as it's not getting too nasty and they are cutting and brusing each other up too badly.  If it's getting really violent you may end up seperating them.  I have seen a few pairs of horses in 20 years that just wouldn't get along no matter what anyone did.  They just didn't care for one another, much like people.

As far as names, Goldie, Dreamer, Flyer, and the all time classic name for a mare "Belle".

Answer 6

Who did you have first?

Is the mare the most recent acquisition?

Horses get jealous, much like children do. We got a gelding back in December, and our mare was quite out of sorts. They have sorted things out somewhat since then. I had to remove him at graining time - it helped her to see her food in the dish and for her to know that there was no way he would be trying for her food. Not a cure for all that troubles their relationship, but they seem to get along much better after several months of testing each others mettle and having no competition from the other at food time!

How about Blondie? Not real original, I know, but it does sound affectionate...   :)