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RE: RE: [RC] [RC] Pasture Arrangements with Mares/Geldings - heidiIMO, it is cruel to have more geldings than mares in any pasture or paddock. Geldings may not be able to produce foals, but they don't know that, and they still love sex. Geldings will corner mares, run them down to wear them out, deprive them of water, won't let them graze or eat, pester them to death, and many other ways they torment mares in heat, relentlessly, unless there is a mare that is not in heat that can protect the mare in heat. Mares put out an odor while coming into heat and going out of heat as well as while in heat that drives geldings totally nuts, makes them crazy, so they can't think about anything but getting sex, can't graze, can't do anything but try to get sex. Mares are coming into heat, in heat, and coming out of heat 3/4 of the time; they are not in heat 1/4 of the time. IMO, there should be no less than 2 mares to every gelding so every mare in heat has a mare that is not in heat to guard and protect them from sexual abuse by geldings. Good grief! I've read some amazing things on this subject from time to time, but this one takes the cake. While it is true that SOME geldings will mount mares and try to breed, the vast majority will not. There can sometimes certainly be conflicts with specific individuals, but having a fence that sometimes gets trashed by elk between a group of mares and a group of geldings, it is always the mares who will crawl in with the geldings, never the other way around. And most of the geldings simply ignore them. While I don't encourage running mares with geldings, and the occasional mounting episode by the occasional gelding can lead to the occasional uterine infection, I've yet to see mares in a standing heat that would consider themselves "abused" if mounted and bred, and on those occasions when a nasty mare will run a male away from a breeding situation (stallion or gelding) it is not because they are protecting the mare that would have been bred, it is because they are dominant and simply won't allow mating with a non-dominant mare. Heck, even our 5-year-old who was just gelded last fall couldn't figure out what to do with the hot mares who trooped into the gelding pasture when the elk broke the fence down a few weeks ago. All he could figure out was to run one of the 2-year-old geldings back through the breach and out with the mares... And it is that kind of herd-stirring that makes it not a good idea to run mares and geldings together much of the time--not the rare unwanted sexual activity. I'd be far more concerned that somebody is apt to get kicked and hurt in a mixed social setting than that the mares are going to get raped... Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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