Integrating My New Gelding into the Herd

Fascinated as I am with herd dynamics, I knew I would want to watch when I put my new Fell Pony gelding in with my herd of mares. My new gelding is known to them already because he is my former stallion Kinniside Asi. I castrated him because he wasn’t happy in his life as a stallion; he’s a completely different and happier pony now. I have heard people complain that castrated stallions are not good companions for mares in their new life as a gelding, so I wanted to see if Asi would be that type or different.

Kinniside Asi, my new gelding, looking at the camera, and three mares learning to get along at feeding time.

Because Asi is heavier built than my mares, I knew I had to use great care when putting him with them, especially since he knew them previously as mating objects not companions. While I considered integrating the mares with him one at a time, I decided on a different strategy. I put three mature mares who are tightly bonded to each other with him all together for part of a day to see what would happen. It ended up being a better strategy than I had imagined!

I was taught early in my pony life that it is always best to introduce new herd mates over food, and it is an approach that I have always found useful. Accordingly, I began the experiment when the ponies were all eager for hay. I tied Asi to the fence in his large paddock and spread hay there. I then brought the three mares into the paddock, tying each of them to the fence until we were all present. Then I untied the mares in reverse dominance order (I don’t want a dominant mare pushing around a lesser one while it’s tied up). Finally, I untied Asi. As expected, they all went to eating.

It didn’t take long, though, before curiosity overtook hunger pangs, and the dynamics that followed were as fascinating as I anticipated. The best part was they were also full of surprises. I was pleased that Asi was respectful. I was also pleased that the mares worked together to put him in his place as I had hoped. I was surprised, though, which mare was the most effective in moving Asi around: the youngest and smallest who was also well-pregnant. It was truly impressive to watch her pin her ears, walk with authority in his direction with her neck outstretched and have him back up as fast as he was able. I had watched my first Fell Pony mare, Sleddale Rose Beauty, do similar things around stallions, and I had used her capabilities to my advantage whenever I had a new young stallion that needed putting in his place. I smiled and said to myself, “I’ve found my new Beauty!”

Another mare’s strategy was not as authoritative and seemed less effective to me. She would touch noses with him then turn around and kick out at him, usually missing. I’ve learned over the years that they know when they will miss and they know when they will make contact and they choose accordingly. I didn’t feel Asi took this sort of encounter nearly as seriously as the other where he was backing up in complete deference to the mare. Instead he was just keeping out of range.

I had to cut that first introduction of gelding and mares short after forty-five minutes. A biting fly had come out that makes some of my mares lose their minds, so I returned them to their own paddock where they could find peace and refuge. After frost, though, I repeated the integration several more times for several hours at a time until it was clear that that herd of four had reached a peaceful state. One mare chose to hang with the stallion, and the other two mares hung together. At feeding time Asi was low pony in the herd. Time for the next step: putting them together on the hill!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2022

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.