Scary "big horse got in with the minis story"..

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targetsmom

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I know many people keep their minis and big horses together and maybe this will give you something to think about..

I keep the big horse (Target) separate from the minis, usually separated by round pen panels. But sometimes I put him in a pasture that has only the shorter green "hog" panels (sound familiar?). Well, tonight I had him in the far pasture and the mares & foals on this side of the green panels while it was a bit cooler. Friends dropped in at supper time so the horse's dinner was a few minutes late - and I mean no more than 10 minutes!! While I was seeing the friends off, I heard one say "the big horse is in with the little horses". Sure enough, there he was; I FLEW through the fence but by the time I got there he was VICIOUSLY ATTACKING one of the mares!!!! The other mare and the 2 foals had manged to get out of the way and it was only my body that kept him away from them and let the poor mare go by.

I still need to check the mare over more carefully, but at least she moves OK. My thought is that I need to find a new home for Target... I don't think I can ever trust him again even on the other side of the fence from the minis. He could easily have killed the foals - it seems a miracle that he didn't.

What would you do??
 
You might try a strand of electric fence above the panels....
 
Im so sorry this happend to you as I can tell from your post how scary it was! I would be sure not to put pasture them that close together or unfortunately sell the big horse. I would wait though as its never good to make decisions you may regret when your stressed.

Wish I could give ya a hug! Glad your mares are okay
 
I am one of those who would not EVER have a 'big' in with the minis. I had a mini be let out while I was gone from the premises one day(it was a WINDY day; there were TWO gates that the little one had to get through to get out, and they'd have hit me in the back had I left them open that AM after feeding/clean-up)...admittedly,the mini was a stallion; HE crossed the pasture and apparently 'crawled through'a fence of 4 strands of barbless wire, approached or very possibly, challenged, my 'big', a mild-mannered Paint gelding who was turned out for a few hours grazing on my 'other' 5 acres next door. When I returned, I saw the stallion and the 'big' gelding, each grazing quietly and some distance apart, on the other 5 acres...when I went and haltered the little stallion to take him back to his pen, he wouldn't put one hind leg down. His hind leg was broken; the 'tip' of the bone that constitutes the hock was snapped off! HAD to be a kick from the 'big' horse! After surgery and a month or so at the vet's, he did survive, but was never sound again. It does NOT have to be a vicious attack for a mini to be seriously hurt, due to the extreme difference in size and power of a 'big' vs a mini; the 'big' can only be mildly annoyed, and still do serious damage to one so much smaller and lighter-weight!They may seem to get along just fine...until they DON'T.

I'd say you have two options---if you still have a use for, or a deep attachment to, the big horse, then you need higher, sturdier fencing ALWAYS separating him from the minis. If not, then yes, I'd consider parting with the 'big'. It'd be worth it for the peace of mind, IMO.

Hope the mare checks out OK in every way; you must be very relieved that you were able to get there when you did!

Good luck, whatever you decide,

Margo
 
I have been out checking on the mare and she has 2 nasty bites along her backbone and quite a bit of rumpled hair, but seems otherwise OK. I treated the bites, which the flies had already discovered.

I am not sure we can electrify the fence. We have a solar charger and tape, but we can't seem to find a place to put the charger! There are either wires or pipes where we would need to put the grounding poles. And of course it needs to be in the sun. I am really surprised that he got the panels separated where he did because of how difficult they are for ME to open. I jam them together pretty good and at a 90 degree angle. But that was where the opening is.

I have suggested a few times that we should find a home for Target where someone would ride him (I don't anymore) and give him more attention. I am going to start pushing a bit stronger for that.
 
My retired old QH Sonny has been separated from ALL big horses all his life and had to be treated as a stallion early on. He is a monster around any and all other horses no matter what the size, larger or smaller and he would go as far as kill another horse if turned in with him. Would never hurt a human, but another horse, yes. I have loved him all his life with a passion and a bond that can never be broken, therefore I have always provided for his erratic special needs. He will also go as far as reaching over his field fencing and grab another horse over the top of it, so hot wire prevents that. This is not Target's fault, its just the kind of guy he is. Its in his nature somewhere. Make Target a secure permanent fence from field fence and top it with hot wire.
 
Hi Mary,

I'm SO, SO sorry this happened and I know firsthand how scary it can be - even if there are no injuries, when you look out there and see them together it's terrifying. I'm glad it's no worse than it is.

But please allow yourself the time to calm your nerves and think thoroughly through the situation. As Marty said, it's noone's fault - not yours, not Target's. And if Target needs a different home, then so it will be. Just don't make any rash decisions. Yes, it could have been much worse, but it wasn't and now it's over. You can secure him differently in the interim.

You will know the right thing to do. Hugs to you!
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Marty - you are so right about Target. he could never be turned out with other big horses either. One barn owner did turn him out with her Arabian stallion and Target attacked HIM and gave him permanent scars. The barn owner never did that again! And you are right, Target is a sweetheart around people and he has been fine for 6 years on the other side of the round pen fencing from the minis. Tonight I think he was afraid that he was missing dinner; he could not see the barn from where he was but could hear people's voices.
 
OMG, how scary! I am glad your mare is doing ok. Glad that you were there on time.

like the other are saying please take your time to make a desicion with target!

Big {{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} to you!
 
That had to be so scary! Our 23y/o Arabian gelding is the "low man" when in a field of large horses, but he will literally stretch as far as he can over our fencing and snap at the minis! Its extremely odd considering he wont touch a large horse, but the minis no issue...I guess he thinks they're too small to fight back haha. We ALWAYS have the "big" and "small" horses seperated, and we've never had Maroq (the Arab) actually bite the minis, only act like he would.

One time our neighbor's pony (a shetland) broke out (they weren't home) and we kept him in a little pasture until we knew he they were home and could fix the opening he got out of. Well, Maroq reached over the fence and started GROOMING him, so sweetly. Then 20min later when we tried catching the little booger to take him back to his owners and Maroq started VICIOUSLY trying to attack him over the fence...like he knew we were angry at the little brat of pony now and he no longer had to treat him like a welcome guest. Kind of funny in a way, but never will he be trusted with the minis xD
 
Sooo lucky they saw him and you got there in time.

A good friend of mine's mini stallion recently went through his fence and got in the fence with two of her riding geldings. One of the geldings got away from him, but the bigger one couldn't. The mini even had him down to his knees a couple of times, and the last time, when he got back up, he swung around and with just one kick...broke the mini'sneck, killing him instantly.

The main reason I got rid of my last Appaloosa was because she absolutely HATED the minis...she would even try to get over an eight foot wall to get to them...couldn't trust her at all...weird how some horses are.
 
I have minis and big horses (a 17.3 hand TB and a TB/Percheron cross). I would never, ever, ever put them all in together. When I got my first mini, I actually tried (thinking -- oh how cute). I was lucky to rescue Ollie before he was trampled to death and learned my lesson.

I do think you can keep both minis and bigs; you just have to have very, very secure fencing. I added minis to the equation after putting up big horse fencing - five-rail pipe corral in the paddocks, and a five-foot, four-rail wooden fence surrounding the whole property, as well as the horse field. When I added the minis, I put three-foot no-climb wire on every section of pipe corral that separated the minis from the big horses. I keep every gate between minis and big horses double-padlocked so no one can accidentally open those gates (there are plenty of exits on the external portions of both fields; I'm talking about the gates between big and little guys).

I agree with others - don't make any decisions while you're emotional. If you decide to find a new home for Target because he needs more riding or a job to do, that's one thing. But don't rehome him because of the minis until you've thoroughly explored how to have more secure fencing.

I'm so sorry you went through this, however, and I'm glad your mare is ok.
 
I have a 14.2h. 30 year old morgan gelding that I pasture 5 AMHR/ASPC mares and geldings with him. He is very gentle with them all. One of the mares lets him rest his head on her back, when they are all in the lean too getting out of the heat.

 

 

I glad your mare didn't get hurt any more than that.
 
I think though there isn't any hard and fast rule about keeping the big and small horses separate. My friend keeps her mini stallion out with her mustang geldings and they play-rough too. No harm has come to the little guy except some mane hairs-his and the big guys. He also goes out with the big mares, and has been known to try to breed them. Picture a chihuahua and a great dane, he gets pretty ingenious about it though, asking them to lie down of back up to a log. But no large horses have come up in foal-yet.

I guess it boils down to knowing your horses, sometimes even with big horses you have personality clashes.
 

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