# pasturing mares and geldings together



## ksimons

Why is pasturing mares and geldings frowned upon? I have my 12 year old gelding pastured with 2 mares, one 20 and the other 14. Haven't had any problems at all. Is it a preference or a rule?


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## Iseul

I think it's just preference, especially with the bigger boarding facilities. I guess t could also make mare owner's feel more secure that a gelding (who could possibly not really be a gelding) is in a different field than their mare.

I know the horses at my barn are all mixed in. One field has just a gelding, one field has 3 mares and a gelding, one field has 2 mares, and one is currently open for the cattle coming in this spring. Never had an issue, aside from trying to put the new gelding in with the one that's currently alone..decided electric fencing and gates were worth the trouble to get to the mares. But there's never been an incident just because one is a mare and one is a gelding without a fence between them, so I would call it just preference.
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## hobbyhorse

I have never heard of such a thing against pasturing mares with geldings!? I have 2 mares and 2 geldings that are pastured together. It'll be interesting to see what others post...


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## lubylol

My barn has a gelding's field, mare field, senior field, and the owner's field. 

If the gelding can't make it in with the other geldings from being beat up, we put them in with the mares. There are currently 2 geldings in our mare's field, and there isn't a problem.
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## COWCHICK77

Geldings will get along better with out a mare turned out with them as a general rule....but not always.

All the ranch geldings were turned out together, about 50 head. Then we only had 3 mares for saddle horses and they were kept separate.

When we went to cow camp in the summer we had 20 something geldings and one mare turned out with them... because of lack of fencing. I could tell the difference, they were always kicking the crap out of each other. They got mothered up to that mare pretty fast and didn't want to be away from her. If I wrangled on her, all I would have to do was stand at the top of the hill, she would hollar at them and they would all come running up to the corrals. If I was on a gelding and she was turned out that day, if I didn't get her to latch on to my horse and follow the geldings wouldn't come either. She liked to peel out and take everyone with her. That gets a little old at the end of a day, and you have to chase them around on several hundred acres. There was times I would have to get a rope on her and lead her up to get everyone in.

I had a boss that would say "If you want to ruin a good gelding, turn him out with a mare". I thought that was a little much, but I can tell the difference.


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## lilbit11011

I have one mare and one gelding. They share the same pasture. I have never had a problem with them. My gelding is the "alpha" horse and bosses my mare around...but all in all it works out great. 

Before we had two geldings (one of them the same gelding I have now) and one mare in the same pasture. The mare was the "alpha" and neither of the geldings ever challenged her. 

I have never heard about any reasons not to pasture them together. I would be curious to find out why it is a bad idea.


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## Country Woman

my cousins mare and gelding were always together


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## cmarie

I have 3 mares, a gelding, 2 weanling fillies, and a stallion in the same pasture, please note the stallion and gelding have been together since the stallion was a yearling and have been together for about 11 yrs now. I have no problems, the stallion and gelding are buddies, they play hard but don't hurt each other, one of my mares is alpha she runs the herd, the stallion bows to her. My gelding is a paint and my stallion is an Icelandic, the gelding is 2 hands taller and outweighs the stallion by about 400 lbs. The Icelandic is much stronger than the paint and if there was a real fight the paint would lose. My gelding is no threat to the stallion. My old cowboy neighbor thinks I'm crazy for this arrangement, thinks all stallions should be housed separate and only let out to hand breed. I personally believe a happy stallion is a less dangerous stallion, they are herd animals and need the interaction with the herd. I did have them separated for a short time and it cost me a fortune in panels, my stallion would just destroy them to get back with his buddy. This may be a rare exception, I can ride this gelding with my other stallions without issues, but I couldn't pasture them together.


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## Left Hand Percherons

If you have a situation where you only have a few horses, having a mixed herd is going to be easier to manage and will eliminate having horses by themselves. When you get into larger groups or in a boarding situation, I feel it's safer for both the horses and the handlers to keep them separate. Geldings can be very possesive of "their" mares and mares can be just as bad about their "man". You see alot more aggression, chasing, biting in a mixed herd. I have a herd of 12 geldings and 15 mares and have never had a problem assimilating a new horse into the herd. Never run through the fence, no vet calls, no scrapes other than the normal gelding tussling. If you've ever been challenged by a gelding when you were taking one of his girls away, than you can see the problem. When you're running a boarding operation, you need to feel confident that the owners, no matter their level of experience with horses, can go out and catch their horse with no problems. What if you owned a mare and noticed a gelding mounting her, knocked her to the ground with a death grip on her neck, tore up her back with his shod hoofs to the point you couldn't ride until the wounds healed, maybe penetrating her and giving her who knows what? Would you put up with that? What if the BM witnessed it and did nothing about it? An ounce of prevention.... When you've managed your herds in segregated groups and you've experienced all the benefits, than you get it.


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## Jessabel

I've never found any validity in it. Some people even put their stallions out with geldings, which I think is great. 

But like Left Hand said, big herds tend to have problems. I don't think it's just the gender mix, I think it's too many horses together in a confined space. We had that exact problem at my old barn. All the horses on the property were turned out together. It was a mess - there was constant bickering, the timid horses weren't getting enough to eat, and it was extremely dangerous to go out and catch a horse by yourself. It was stressful and unsafe for the horses as well.


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## COWCHICK77

We haven't had a problem with running a large herd together, if they are all geldings, or all mares. I have noticed when all the geldings were ran together(about 50 head) they would split themselves up into smaller herds.


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## Left Hand Percherons

COWCHICK77 said:


> I had a boss that would say "If you want to ruin a good gelding, turn him out with a mare". I thought that was a little much, but I can tell the difference.


I can bet you this is coming from someone who has made a living working around horses. No b s from his horses.

I want to be clear that I run *2* herds. One with 12 geldings and one with 15 mares.


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## Left Hand Percherons

Jessabel said:


> But like Left Hand said, big herds tend to have problems. I don't think it's just the gender mix, I think it's too many horses together in a confined space. We had that exact problem at my old barn. All the horses on the property were turned out together. It was a mess - there was constant bickering, the timid horses weren't getting enough to eat, and it was extremely dangerous to go out and catch a horse by yourself. It was stressful and unsafe for the horses as well.


So my question to you boarders, why do you allow your horses and yourself to be in these types of situtions? What is your solution to such a problem?

I have lost a few potential boarders over the way I split the horses. " But they've always been together...." Not my problem. I need peace in the pature.


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## COWCHICK77

Left Hand Percherons said:


> I can bet you this is coming from someone who has made a living working around horses. No b s from his horses.
> 
> I want to be clear that I run *2* herds. One with 12 geldings and one with 15 mares.


Oh that's a fact!

We run two herds as well, I am not disputing this at all. I am all for running mare and geldings separate, and especially herds with bigger numbers.
However just turning one mare and one gelding together is not that big of a deal...it's still a pain in the ***, sure.


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## ksimons

Thanks for sharing. I've never had any problems myself with gelding and mare, and I to feel that it is a preference. My significant other heard it and was apprehensive just thought I would get other perspectives....


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## Radar Star Stables

i always mix mine  i had a big boss brood mare and when she left my gelding became the big boss brood mare. hes a bit meaner though. i dont put babies in the pasture with him he once put a TB foal through a barbwire fence. he looked like he went through a cheese grater. scalped him and peeled off his chest. VERY BAD and SAD. i told the Mexican that my horse has shown signs of aggression before and it might not be safe to put him on my property and that i was not responsible and he did it anyway.


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## paintluver

I have always mixed mine. At my normal barn I have 3 geldings and 1 mare and at Romeo's barn he is at now there are around 4 geldings and 2 or 3 mares. Just depends on if a person is going to be riding their horse soon then they put them in the pasture with Romeo but if they aren't going to be riding soon they put them in the back field. I have never had problems with mares and geldings together.


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## Koolio

I have two geldings and now two mares. My geldings used to spar continuously so that one or the other was always getting hurt. I think they were fighting over the mare. I have separated the geldings and added another mare, so now I keep them in pairs (mare + gelding) together in separate pastures. The geldings are separated and they both do great with their own mares. I haven't tried to put them back together again for two reasons: First, it is very icy, so I don't want any chasing or running until the paddock ground is more secure . Second, they spar across the fence. One afternoon I found them playing tug of war with a rubber bucket across the electric fence. 

I am hoping to reintegrate the whole herd (of 4) in the spring when there is good footing and grass for all. In the meantime, our current system works well because I have them separated into the "chubby" paddock and the "lean" paddock and can feed accordingly.


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## Faceman

All my horses are pastured together, and when I was breeding, my stallion ran with everyone else. The only problem I have ever had is when I switched stallions, gelded my old one and brought a new one in - they absolutely did not get along and had to be separated by a double fence...


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## mls

Think about it form a BO's perspective - 

Betty boarder whines because her horse is always getting 'beat up'. Never mind he is nagging the heck out of the mares.

We have some geldings that are too studdy. Some mares that are too mareish.

We have a mare herd, gelding herd and a docile herd - which has been mixed.

I had an interview the other day and got the song and dance 'they've always been together'. We separated that in the past and it's typically one of the horses that will call for a couple of days. Then they find new buddies. And owner is actually 'gee, it's really nice to be able to work one without the buddy sour business'.


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## FlyGap

I'm mixed on it and believe (unless it's a HUGE herd on large properties) it can go either way.

I've had as many as 13 horses at once and had all kinds of issues with different horses mixing with different genders.
I've had 1 gelding who didn't act study but he would attack ANY gelding within striking distance. In a field of 6 geldings he ran 5 through the fence, especially if I or a child were near the field. He did MUCH better in with the mares. Eventually we put a 1,500+ Lb. 17hh+ Clyde in that he couldn't push around. That was a GREAT day!

Running a herd of mares also presents problems. The one dominant mare will run the lesser off the best grass, keep the others from the hay, etc. When going out in the pasture I had a dominant 3 year old who would chase much older, much larger mares away from me and I had to catch her up before I could get to the others. Even after much work she would back off, only to go attack mares further in the field. Everything was much better when she was with the geldings. So I believe it just depends on the individual.

Now I only have 3 horses, 1 mare and 2 geldings. The geldings are both VERY passive, the mare prefers 1 over the other, that other 1 is always on her $h!7 list. I have to pen her up when working with one or the other geldings because she will charge or jump a fence trying to get out. She also calls, runs, and acts a fool when either is taken out. The geldings could care less.
So I think it just depends on the horse and the size of the facility.


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## GhostwindAppaloosa

really depends on the horses. I have one gelding here that is a D bag no matter who you put him with.. face biting nipping kicking etc. He is EVEN WORSE with mares. So we have found two other geldings who dont take his crap that he can be turned out with....

as stated before with boarders horses we dont do gelding/mare mixes during breeding season for various reasons.


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## DancingWithSunny

We have a mare and a gelding, and pasture them with 2 geldings belonging to friends, they get along great.


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## Walkamile

I only have two horses, a mare and a gelding, so they are together without any issues. I have no difficulty taking one from the other to go riding , and leaving the other back at the barn, in the paddock.

Where I bought my horses , they ran a large herd , mix or mares and geldings in a very large pasture (actually a couple pastures that got alternated). T, my mare, was the "boss" mare and there was a gelding that was her second in command. Never had any issues removing T from the herd. 

Interesting to see how others handle things though.


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