What I learned About Horses In Herds

One of our priorities in buying this property was to be able to bring our retired horses “home”. To have my old grand prix horse, Puff, in my backyard was my dream. So we got to work building new pastures. I wanted big open pastures to ensure the horses could live in herds since they’ve spent so much of their lives in stalls, separate from each other. It seems like the simplest, but most significant reward to give these horses the chance to feel like horses again. Big fields with grass and space to roam, friends to hang out with, bite and kick and scratch.

It’s something you’d expect would take a while to relearn, to live and move together, respect the pecking order, groom and care for each other. But it’s somewhere deep in their DNA and I’ve seen our horses integrate quickly and rather effortlessly.

The main take-away: there is always a pecking order.

The top-dog is very obvious. They are the leader. Often a mare (duh). They make the others move. Whether to get to the hay or waterer or simply to move from one end of the pasture to the other.

The middle of the herd can get a little muddy. Generally the peacekeepers fall into this category. Then at the bottom you have the older horses and the pacifists. The ones not as strong in their bodies or that tend to avoid conflict.

You can see them jostling for position as soon as they’re together. The first 10-20 minutes there can be a lot of noise (squealing, whinnying, etc.) and a fair bit of movement (kicking, striking, running around). Then they reach a general consensus and things remains fairly peaceful, unless one gets out of line. The next 3-5 days there are some reminders of who’s in charge. Beyond that everyone is quiet and content.