Do you think 2 mares would get along as well as 2 geldings? Or a mare and gelding? What is the key to amity in your herd?

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I have 3 geldings (one of them a donkey) and 1 mare and I keep the donkey and mare together and the two other geldings in a separate pasture. However, I can put them all together without too much trouble if I need to. Typically geldings do well together and gender divided herds work best, but there are many exceptions.

A timid or lower pecking order gelding may do better with mares as the gelding clan might be too rough. Some geldings get very "studdy" with mares in heat, and might mount them, or start fighting to protect 'his' mare, etc. Also I've found some geldings (especially the studdy ones) get more herd-bound when they are out with mares. However, an easy-going gelding (like my two guys) that are not really dominant can do fine with reasonable mares or geldings.

Mares together are generally fine as long as you don't have more than one very dominant personality. All this to say, it is probably more important to know the horse's personality and make decisions on that basis, rather than just their gender.
Hope that helps!
I have presently 3 mares and 3 geldings, and at this point I keep them in segregated groups, but I can mix them if I need to. I have one very dominant, stallion-like gelding, who keeps the peace regardless of who's pastured with him, and he's very solicitous of the mares. He's a kind horse, but will be tough on any horse who doesn't get the program and behave itself. We also have a very dominant mare, who keeps things in line around the mares, and who co-exists well with the dominant gelding. If I put them together I feed LOTS of feed, and always ensure that there's one feeding station more than the number of horses in the pasture. Also, I have large pastures, 5 acres+, so that no one gets cornered easily and they have room to sort themselves out.

I have successfully pastured stallions and geldings together, keeping in mind who's dominant and what the situation is. I had one gelding/stallion combination I didn't think would ever work - they were out to kill each other if they even got close to each other over fences, but I moved them both to a strange place and they bonded immediately with no fighting - a case of "the devil you know!".

Jen's comments above are good ones.
I have two mares and two geldings in my herd. I keep all 4 in open turn out in a 1/2 acre dry lot. They get along just fine. My geldings are the top of the pecking order. They pick their manager to eat first, the mares get second choice. But their is no fighting.
My gelding is out with a mixed group of about 8 others and he is quite a 'studdy' type who does mount the mares and generally thinks he's a stallion. When another (even more dominant) gelding was added, there was quite a drawn out fight for the mares (although it was more tactical battle than all out warfare) and watching the heirarchy change was fascinating! He is now second in command, but sort of buddies with the other guy and still has a couple of mares to call 'his', although they are not the ones he started off with. He often hangs out with the other gelding and they do seem to pick on the lower pecking order geldings. The sensible mares usually keep out of the way and watch from the sidelines.

Because mine is quite dominant it's never a problem to catch him, but in the past my old mare used to be impossible to catch when out with the geldings, as the geldings and more dominant mares would just chase her out of the way every time I went to get her. I very rarely had this problem when there were just mares on their own.

From watching the little herd my horse lives with, it would seem that the issue is primarily one of pecking order and dominance rather than gender per se. A real Alpha mare or gelding will put my horse in his place, but they've got to be really aggressive to do it.
Groups of geldings, or mares get along best if you have boarders, or if you add and take horses from the herd alot, because mares seem to be over agressive with new geldings. However if you have a stable group that generally gets along then most any combination is possible. Age is sometimes a factor in the pecking order too.

I have two mares, two old geldings and a Stallion. Usually the Mares go off into the woods or something by themselves anyway. And The Geldings just sort of stay by the barn, The stallion stays in the barn and babysits his 2 foals. most of our property allows him to go up to the fence and harass trail riders as they ride by so I just keep him in unless I can supervise. But he gets along with the geldings as long as they dont appear to show interest in "his" mares. He's grown up with them so he would never hurt them. They're like his uncles.
I have a large 25 year old Oldenburg in a herd with 3 mares and recently had to put a new large mare in with them.It took the new mare about a week to befriend the gelding's best buddy and probably the same amount of time to position herself equal or slightly above the gelding. She's quite protective of her new buddy, puts up with my large mare, pushes the little 4 year old around (non aggressively) and for the most part respects the gelding and his place in the herd dynamics. All in all...they all get along, will all gather at the one shelter, in which the gelding gets his place inside (which makes me think that he is top dog) as someone else said, I always make sure there is lots to eat which really gives them no reason to fight. They don't barge at the gate and they are all respectful of me when I come out. I always make sure I can move at least the top 2 off of their hay without any problems. As we all know, it's about being just that little bit ahead of the herd leader when you're in the paddock with them, and when it's all done with great respect for each other , then there usually isn't a problem. At least I haven't found that within any of my herds.
My first horse Bobby is 31 years old now, and it does seem that even though my gigantic Perch X mare is Alpha, that he somehow enjoys maybe 2nd in the pecking order. Perhaps based on age because he's very kind to evreyone else in the group. He's also the second largest in the herd at 16.3 with a rather robust body for a TB .
It's interesting isn't it, though, how physical size is not relevant to who is the boss when it comes to horses. My boy is probably the biggest gelding (= not necessarily the tallest but the most solid) in the herd - that is him in the picture - he's no lightweight, but he's bossed by a physically smaller horse. It does makes me laugh when I see little ponies bossing around big horses - my horse used to be out with a miniature shetland who totally ruled the roost. Most of the time he just looked at the little pony in complete disbelief - but he always did as he was told! :-)
It is odd isn't Fiona? I would say age, temperament and gender are the primary determinants. Size seems to make no difference.
I guess it's helpful to us humans in one way because if it was all down to size, there would be no chance for us!
I am not so sure age has been a factor with any of my horses. But mares can give geldings a very hard time, if they have a mind to. My two mares get along wonderfully. They are ages 7 & 8. Both like adventure and people.

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