anyone keep 2 horses together???is it a problem???

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I ve now decided to get a miniature shetland to keep Amy company.
Looked at 2 over weekend (very cute) but they were only a year old and not really used to being handled all that much so decided it would be best to get one thats a bit older and more used to kids. ( my 9 year old would like to groom / handle it etc)
Still a bit concerned about having 2 horses together incase they get too clingy with each other. Would buy another so theres 3 but havent got much land and not really sure what to do.
Does anyone else keep just 2 horses together and have you had any problems??
 
ive two ....and wow there great buds. can be a bit of a pain in the neck as they pine for each other when ones goes away. usually settle down after a while...but if your goin away to a show with one its easier to stick the shettie in with your guy - bringing two big irish hunters isnt really an option for me right now :(
 
I just have 2 on my yard. They are great friends but don't mind being separated when 1 goes off to do some work.
 
Yes, and I have decided that the two in question will not be kept together again, as my top (and very expensive) horse has ended up on box rest because of it. They liked each other, but a litle too much, they would play alot and the other horse ended up kicking him in the hock. So no this horse is going to live alone from now on. However some of the other more sensible horses live together without a problem.
 
I keep six horses together and Frits lives on his own but he is a stallion and I am trying to find the right kind of horse to share is paddock:)

Mostly the horses are quite relaxed when one is being taken out of the paddock and worked. I only have trouble with one at the moment she is in foal and I am trying to find the best soloution to getting used to being without Mysty. She is fine if I take her out the paddock and work with her however she gets quite stirred up if I take Mysty out of the paddock even though Mysty is in sight the whole time:rolleyes:
 
I have had problems with two, three seems much easier.

If you have to have just two then I would avoid a mare and gelding, I did this and they bonded too strongly, didn't really want me there! My gelding was pretty dominant but with other geldings he was fine and eventually he was kept in a large mixed herd and that was fine too.

I now have a shetland companion and although he doesn't like to be left in the field he is too little to do much damage and does settle after a few minutes. In my experience I have never had a problem getting one horse to go out alone it is just the one left in the field who hates it!
 
Depends on the horse, I have Kyle and I recently bought Spike (4 year old Hackney) and Spike goes crazy if I seperate them. He has bonded with Kyle too much.
When they graze in seperate paddocks it's not so bad but at times I can't seperate them, then the problems start. Kyle is great so independant but Spike becomes emotionally upset.
I now bring Spike in during the day for hay and to get him used to being away from Kyle for a few hours. He is settling more now which is good.

Spike also had a rough start to life which makes him clingy so that is a strong contribution to how he is.
 
We keep two horses together at the moment. It wasnt untill recently they became very nappy. If we are out on a hack, they like to take it in turns to be in front but apart from that they are getting abit reliant on each other. I think mostly the problem is that they are both dominant males and consider themselves the boss! :D
 
i have two horses and separating them is really hard. generally if i take my mare out the field to work they are both fine, my gelding gets a bit upset but settles quickly. if i do it the other way round my mare really frets and calls which distracts my gelding who would probably be fine if she wasn't calling him. my mare pair bonds very strongly and no other horse will do. i recently had them stabled where they could see but not touch to squeal (or anything like that) 2 horses. took my gelding out and my mare went mad. if i take one to a show (very rare) then they are generally better and my mare settles if left in the field. she'll have a trot round and then settle to graze. she does get very upset if left alone when she knows my gelding is around somewhere though.
If you do get a horse for company make sure both of them are fine when they are separate and that they accept the other horse coming and going. make sure you can get them to do everything separately before you put them together so that it is less of a problem.
it is nice for the horses to have company but it can be very awkward. it often is easier with more horses as when one is removed from the "herd" the remaining horses still have company so don't seem to mind as much, the one you're working with is with you so generally won't mind either.
 
Although our 2 are very clingy, the TB has gone with my daughter to a yard whilst she does her work experience.
The other one is a bit lonely, but we bring a section A in from another field to keep her company.

The most amazing thing I saw the other day was at the yard my daughter is at.

We went to get some water for the TB after the place was shut for the night (she is living in a house on the yard) and called out to me saying that there was a horse loose in the barn.

We went to see, and there were 2 horses (mare and Gelding) in the same box stood side by side. This box was just big enough for one to lie down in, and the door was wide open.
Apparently, the mare has figured out how to open the stable doors, opened her own and then opened the other so she could join it. They could have gone anywhere on the yard, but chose to go into a small box together . It must be love :D
 
Hi I used to own a miniture shetland, he lived with my 16.2 ID cross. They shared a field and a large stable (both in together). I had no problems taking them out separately but the shetland turned into a right escape artist, they are sods for getting out of fields apparently you need really secure post and rail fencing or stock fencing.

He ended up getting out 2 - 3 times a day that's when I decided I had to sell him as the field was rented and nothing would keep him in, he would go through electric or chew the energiser wires, he even smashed through post and rail, it was a bit rotten though. With them being so small they can get out most places.
 
My shetland is in a post and rail field with stock fencing at the bottom - that keeps him in. However, the fat cob opens the field gate by relentlessly pushing it - especially when on restricted grazing! He also leans so hard on the top rails to get the grass in the next field that these break regularly too. He will be in an electric fence corral soon!
 
Thanks for all your replies, i can see how it might cause a few issues having just 2. Some people make me feel really guilty have my horse on her own, but maybe she would be more stressed if she had a companion that she had to seperated from at different times? Seems like i cant win!!
Have to mull this one over a bit longer i think!:rolleyes:
 
I keep two together, wouldn't like to have just one on its own, I know its not a choice for everybody, but I think one may be a bit lonely? Anyway, our two do get a bit antsy if seperated but thats only to be expected at the mo, as they've not long been moved house - when they settle properly I imagine things will get better. What I do is try and gradually increase seperation time - eventually I'm hoping it won't be a problem! Guess I could always buy another pone.......hehehe (hope OH doesn't read this)......
 
My horse shares a field with just one other.

Its quite irritating that every time I take mine out, the other one continually shouts and runs up and down, while I'm gone.
However, I would rather have one field buddy for my boy, than none. I think horses need friends...

If you do get another, make sure its good on its own!
 
I kept my mares together, Flo, my older one (15) thinks my oher one Jess(4/5) is her foal!!

Think it does depend on the horses. Flo is still very clingy to jess but jess not so much now i have a third. It never worried them though, they were still clingy even when they were in a whole herd!!!
 
This thread has just answered the very question we are toying with, At present our youngster is kept with three others, but as the situation is liable to change at some point I was thinking of introducing a new field partner. If we do have to seperate from the others we would like him to have company, I dont ride so am looking either for a small pony Shetland/Sec A, but having read the above I am having second thoughts about something so small. I was considering a pony that I could exercise from the ground, but are Shetlands as good at escapolgy as has been mentioned.
 
I have a mini shetland as a companion for my horse. When he first arrived [Jan this year] I also had a little welsh pony so there were 3 of them, but the old welshie was PTS in April and I was worried incase Thomas [shetland] would create at being left when I rode my horse, but he doesnt seem to be at all bothered. The most he does is whinny as we leave and again on our return. My horse doesnt mind being taken away from him but does tend to panic a bit if I leave him and take the shetland away. Now the summer is here Thomas is in a smaller paddock within the big field so they can see each other but are not together and Ive found this small seperation works better as my horse now doesnt mind the shetland being taken away and isnt so clingy.
 
two horses

So glad you posted this thread as this is the exact dilemma I am going thruogh just now. I have one mare on her own and everyone tells me she needs a companion and is very insecure on her own and that is why she is so badly behaved.

But I am also concerned that getting another pony will lead to 'over bonding' and my mare will not leave the field without her 'pal'.

for the meantime I think I am going to continue with keeping the mare on her own hoping that she will bond with me :) rather than another horse! Maybe that's selfish, but I want the horse to focus and have few distractions for the time being.
 
I think it's a question of trying to find a companion horse or pony that's not too "clingy"; I know that there are a couple of horses that would latch onto my horse and not leave him alone, but at the moment, he's turned out with others that he grooms and runs about with from time to time, but he's quite willing to leave them. Before this he was out with 2 others, one was very clingy and went nuts if anything was taken out the field, which caused my horse to behave in a similarly nutty way!
 
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