From: Wendy McCluskey
Hi Jessica:
As always, I am enjoying and continuing to learn from Horse Sense!
I've decided to give my mare a vacation this summer. My husband and I recently bought some property which includes common land and equestrian facilities. I think it would do Cassie a world of good to run around on a half section of land and simply go on trail rides once or twice a week for a month or so. She's been in her own paddock and box stall on cold nights for the past 1 1/2 years. Cassie has always been a little spooky and I think this might help settle her down. (She'll be turning six this year). Pasture turnout seems to have helped a very high strung Arabian which boards at our barn.
My question: there are presently 10 geldings on the common property. Cassie would be the only mare, at least for now. What difficulties might this cause? I know a lot of facilities keep the mares and geldings separate and I've never fully understood why.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks, Wendy
You are right to want Cassie to have as much turnout as possible -- horses are designed to live outdoors and move about freely, day and night. The nervous energy that many horses build up when confined (what old-timers used to call "stall courage") frequently disappears when horses are allowe to live out in a field.
Sharing a field with geldings, however, is another matter. Although there are individual mares and geldings that can share a field, it's generally better to keep them in separate fields. Many people do keep mares and gelding separated, for good reasons.
Some geldings are very aggressive and will attack and injure mares -- this is one excellent reason for keeping them separated!
Another reason is sexual -- many geldings will attempt to mount mares when they come into season, and this is dangerous. Although the geldings may sustain injuries as well, especially if the mare is shod (hind shoes should be removed from ANY turned-out horse, by the way), most of the damage is sustained by the mare. Even if the gelding doesn't manage to penetrate the mare, he can injure her back. And if he is successful, he can cause an infection that will render the mare unbreedable. Sometimes you can avoid the problem by putting the mare elsewhere when she is in season, but that's not always easy to arrange, and sometimes her pasture-mates will notice her condition before you do! Talk to your veterinarian about this; he'll be able to advise you. I know that you want to do what's best for your mare -- you don't want to put Cassie put for a week and then spend the rest of the summer treating injuries and hand-walking her! Your veterinarian may know of a place where mares can be turned out together; or the managers of the common property may wish to subdivide the common land. It's quite likely that this issue will arise again and again, since many people ride mares -- partitioning the common land NOW will make it possible for other mare-owners to turn their horses out too.
Good luck!
Jessica
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