Need advice: pasture bully

[MissEllie]

We purchased a 12YO recently gelded mini a few months ago. The horses are separated at night but during the day he shares a pasture with a very laid-back 17-hand thoroughbred gelding. At first he copied everything the big guy did. He never rolled & scratched but now he does it every time the TB does. He refused coastal hay until he saw the TB eating it. Anyway, now the mini has become the boss in a bad way. They can't share the pasture because the mini won't let the TB anywhere near the water and finds reasons to bite him chronically. I know horses bite, but the vet was taken aback at the 30+ new and healing bite wounds all over this huge TB. I started rotating pasture time but the mini got very depressed being away from the TB and moped around like Eeyore. We added a Chincoteague pony mare to the mix last week. The mini leaves her alone but his relationship with the TB hasn't changed. I don't want our mini isolated and depressed but it's not fair to our very polite gentleman TB to be terrorized by this little guy. The mini is good with people. He tolerates adults and is very kind to children.

 

[MiniNHF]

Are the wounds bad?

When I introduced my 25+ Appendix QH to my mini, I would always find bite marks or hoof scrapes on my biggers horses head and neck area and apparently my new mini was just rough housing with him to get him to play and/or pay attention to him. (the barn owner watched the one day). He wasnt doing it to be vicous or anything but just being a young stallion. My older guy would get tired of it and give the little one a good bite just to tell him "hey knock it off" but it would take a lot before he would do that.

One thing I would watch is that is your big guy starts losing weight or his health declines from maybe stress of the situation, lack of water or food from the little one keeping him from it. If they becomes the case they would need to be seperated.

I hope this helps in some way

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Muzzle. Then he can't bite.

 

[bevann]

I have a bully mare.She is tolerable to people but a bully with all horses.I finally had enough and she is in a field by herself.Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.I do like the idea of a muzzle, but IMO he will still bully with body language and the pinned back ears.Hope you find a solution

 

[amysue]

Is there a possibility of penning off a section of the field for the mini in with the tb so he can be with the buddy but not bully him? Maybe a portable corral or a few plastic posts and some electric tape? Out of curiosity, do you know how long ago he was gelded? Sounds to me like he has a problem with other males. If he was recently gelded, it csn take some time for the stallion behavior to go away. If he leaves your pony mare alone, can he be pastured with her and the tb could be left alone? Sorry they're not getting along. Perhaps if you seperate them and give him time for his hormones to adjust they may someday get along.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I would never, ever mix small and large. The Mini may be bullying the TB now but when the TB retaliates he will kill the mini. Simple as that. It is never a good mix and is always a disaster waiting to happen. Use hotwire and give them separate paddocks.

 

[MissEllie]

I have been thinking about hot-wiring off a portion of the pasture because being completely separated is depressing him. He went from prancing around like a peacock to looking like Eeyore. Poor little dude. He was probably gelded 4 to 5 months ago so I was wondering if he still had hormones in him.

 

[MissEllie]

And thank you all for the advice. One of the bite wounds was very bad on the TB's neck waddle. You could get two fingers in one hole, under the skin and out the other.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I think full size horses and minis can co exist just fine if they have the right personality. But in this situation, no way, no how would I let these two back together.

 

[Danielleee]

This seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Just because hes the bully now does not mean the big guy will always tolerate it. And even if they were playing and not fighting one playful kick could kill your mini. I wouldnt ever keep my minis with big horses. Too scared. Too many things could go wrong. I know people do do it with no problems but I am not willing to take the risk. And in this situation since they already don't get along I'd just section a small part so they can still be next to each other and have each other as company but with the safety of fencing in between them! Good luck!

 

[Miniv]

Your TB WILL eventually say, "enough is enough"....just a matter of time.

I agree with setting up a separate space where they can see each other.