Introducing stallions

[Eagle]

Some of you may have read that just over a month ago one of my foals that I had sold as a weanling came home as a 3 year old in a terrible condition, well he is now worm and mite free and in much better shape.

When he first arrived my stallion was out for the kill but after seeing him in the barn every night and being out in the field close but not close enough to touch he has really settled down. For a week now I have been letting them touch noses and tonight I let the youngster out of his stable (by mistake) and he went straight over to Eagle in HIS stable with HIS dinner in it, so I thought OMG

but no, he was fine and they even enjoyed it. If Eagle wasn't happy about him going near his stable he would have flipped out.


My Question is:

I was thinking of trying them with about 30 minutes playtime in the field together as soon as we have a warm enough day so that I can take Fancy's rug off, Eagle is out with another son (2 year old this spring) so can I put Fancy out with them both or should I just do one at a time?

If they all play nicely I will extend their playtime slowly.

Thanks for any advice

Renee

 

[AnnaC]

Renee it might work, then again it might not!! Watching the video (very helpful by the way) closely, your two remind me of two of mine.

A couple of years ago during the winter months we ran our Falabella (very sweet and easy going) with our black mini boy - Ansel (Falabella) was 8 and PT was 4 at the time. It worked really well, but PT was just the same as Fancy - an annoying upstart. LOL!! And he spent most of his time prodding and nibbling poor Ansel, jumping on him, grabbing his legs, in fact anything to make Ansel play with him. Sometimes Ansel would give in and they would have a friendly race around, sometimes Ansel would say no and deliver a swift half kick, which only seemed to put PT off for an hour or so.

Because they never actually argued we left them together for a couple of months, but we now regret it as we feel that it was too much to ask of Ansel's good nature in expecting him to put up with the continual harrassment! I'm sure Ansel heaved a huge sigh of relief when we took PT away LOL!! Since then Ansel usually spends his winter out with the weaned boys, yearlings and two year olds and PT is alone when he goes out (like my other boys). But this winter, three years down the line, they are actually stabled next to each other and can talk over the partition wall. They did enjoy their meet and greet, but PT is still inclined to want to nibble and nip at Ansel's nose, this time, at least, Ansel can simply move away across his stable when he wants.

I see PT in your Fancy and if Eagle doesn't put his foot down and establish some ground rules from the start, I can see him being pestered somewhat! But I also think it would be a good thing to try Fancy with Dipinto (sorry sp? and is it him you are talking about?) to see how they get on before trying with Eagle.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Eagle]

That is what I am hoping Diane.

Anna I was only thinking of the most 2 hours a day to give Fancy some idea that he is a horse (poor guy) and also I am hoping Eagle will kick his butt into shape ( matter of speach of course) Boot camp is going well but he is still

an annoying upstart (lol) and will nip from behind.

I am worried he will bully Dipinto if they are alone as he is a real wimp and still "foal sucks" when any horse other than Eagle comes upto him. I think Eagle might protect him!

Thanks

 

[rabbitsfizz]

If the two year old is submissive I would take him out of the mix and turn the two older horses out together- they will need far more than half an hour- if you are going to do this you need to have a couple of people to help you separate them if you have to (armed with brooms) and once they have settled (and I am pretty sure they will) you need to leave them for the rest of the morning or afternoon so they can get acquainted and start laying down ground rules. You may not be able to get the younger horse out with the two older ones- it depends on how much ground they have.

On three acres mine can squabble safely and if Carlos loses it (and he does now and then) the told off two year old (always the kids!) can go and stand in the naughty corner for a bit until Carlos is ready to let him back in the herd. If this were a smaller area there would not be room to do this. However good friend they become, and mine are pretty pally at the moment, Carlos will not tolerate the others beyond April at the most, and last year he was very cross when I made him wait til the end of May- I had to take the other boys away long before then!

 

[Eagle]

Thanks Jane, I think I will leave them as they are for now as the youngest one gets on just fine with dad and they enjoy each others company. I don't want to upset these 2 just to make the new arrival happy. I will separate them this spring if needed but I don't intend to cover any mares this year so I might just move the girls further away and see if the 2 boys can stay together. As for the 3 year old "upstart" he will just have to stay alone for now. The owners haven't signed him over to me yet but once they do he will get the snip as he is way to obnoxious for my liking

I have another question

How long do foals/youngsters "foal chew" sorry I don't know what it is called?

The young colt will be 2 in spring and whenever he touches noses with anyone other than his dad he is really submissive and chews, he lowers his head and back right down and is really timid. Is this normal for a 2 year old colt with all his bits?

Thanks

Renee