Growing your horse family is rewarding in so many different ways, but it can be stressful at first. Horse herds are a complex hierarchy that offers security, social status, and safety to its members. When a new horse is introduced to the herd outside of breeding, all of these things have to be redefined internally. Though the horses will do this naturally, there are a few things that you can do to make sure everything goes smoothly. Looking for a horse property in Colorado? Contact one of our horse person realtors today.

Tips On Adding New Horses To Your Herd

Before bringing a new horse into your established herd, make sure you know the current dynamics of the herd. You should know which horses are the alphas and which are more submissive. Put the new horse in a stall next to a beta horse from the herd and introduce them to each other slowly. This way, when you introduce the new horse to the rest of the herd, they’ll already have a buddy to rely on.

Place the new horse in a paddock with his buddy where they can see and perhaps smell the other horses, but without sharing a fence line. Soon you’ll be able to place the new horse with his buddy into the pasture with the other horses. With an established hierarchy in place, alpha horses will not like new horses getting between them and their food. Scheduling the first few full introductions after feeding time will reduce fighting. Alternatively, place widely separated hay piles. Watch over the herd closely during these first full interactions. Unattended meetings could go wrong and you might need to be there as a distraction. If a problem occurs, don’t feel bad about going back to placing the new horse and his buddy in a separate paddock for a while. Horses are social beings just like us and they’ll accept the new horse eventually.