Re: RC: Managing Pastured Horses

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

>Here's where I need suggestions.  I'm opening my 
>farm to a few boarders, who will be mixed with my own horses.
>How do I introduce the new member?  I know enough to seperate a 
>new horse in a smaller paddock near the others until the 
>acclimation point is reached, but what strategy 
>should I use to put them together? 

Here's what we do here.  First of all, we don't put mares and geldings
together.  We have in the past (when we just had our horses and then the
total was about 6 or 7) but found that there's a lot less hassle overall if
we keep them separated.  Besides, when you've got someone else's horse in
your keeping, you want to set things up in the way that will diminish the
possibility of squabbles or injury.

The way our barn is built lends itself to a very social environment.  The
sliding doors to the aisle ways have windows so they can stick their heads
out and see others in the barn.  The back of the stalls (all 12'x16') have
a dutch door that leads out into an attached paddock that is at least
another 12'x16'.  These doors stay open except for horrendous weather,
individual restrictions, or during their quarantine time.  During the
daytime, all of the horses are turned out into pastures...the easy keepers
get one of the diet pens and the rest are split between 4 of about 2 acres
apiece.  Normally we assign 2 or 3 to a pasture area (very occ. 4), and a
maximum of 2 to the smaller diet pen areas.  

Once a week each horse has to stay in for the day.  We do this for two
reasons.  First, if you need to schedule the horse for an appointment with
the vet or farrier (or trainer, or whatever) you can schedule it on your
horse's day in so you don't need to walk out to get them.  Also, and most
importantly, it acclimates a horse to being in a stall for those times when
they are confined for medical purposes, have appointments, just got washed
and are going to a show the next morning, at a show, and so on.  No crazy
horses when they suddenly find themselves locked up...they don't know from
one day to the next if this is their scheduled day in. ;-)  We have only 12
stalls of which 11 are in the barn (the stallion has a separate big stall
and huge pen away from the barn) -- and all of the stalls have mats and
lots of shavings.  The attached paddocks have no grass so food can be
better regulated...and they get an extra meal of hay on their days in.

When a new horse arrives, they are in quarantine for 2 weeks -- during that
time they can have no nose-to-nose contact with any other horse, and all of
the people in and out of the barn know not to pet the horse and then go on
to someone else without washing their hands.  The new horse is kept locked
in the stall at night (dutch doors both shut) and then let out into their
paddock during the daytime after the rest of the horses are out to pasture.  

After their 2 weeks of quarantine, they're assigned to one of the two diet
pens (smaller pastures with not a lot of grass) for a week.  (By this time,
a bit of their newness is gone.)  During that time, they can be on the
other side of the fence from either the mares or the geldings (depending on
their gender and the paddock assignment.)  We watch to see which other
horse comes and hangs out with them on the other side of the fence.  After
one week, that horse is allowed with the new horse to see if they get along
being both on the *same* side of the fence.  If they don't attempt to kill
each other <g>, we can then let them be in the same pasture together.  New
boarders are always amazed when we turn their horses into the pasture
area...everyone sort of walks over, says "hi", the Alpha raises a front
hoof and does an "air paw" with his/her ears back, and then everyone goes
back to grazing. 

The whole process takes 3-4 weeks and we've not had any problems...except
for many years ago, one of the geldings didn't like a particular pony
gelding and never seemed to develop any kind of bond with him.  (Probably
cuz the pony was a little brat and would make the horse chase him and then
cut real tight so the horse (mine) would slip and fall.  The pony
eventually left and the world seemed okay again to poor, tormented Strike.

Sue 

sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.


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