Expert: Stallynrydr - 3/31/2009

Question
i have 3 horses and i just got a 2 year old gelding i already have 2 geldings and 1 mare 1 of my geldings loves him my mare dosent care but my other gelding who is 23 chases him and he also ran hm over my fence and got my new horses foot stuck in the fence what should i do

Answer
You need to keep them separate for a little while but near to each other so they can decide who will be the boss over the fence without hurting each other. It is normal for the aged horse to make a stand with any new horse that enters the dynamic. If they do not set the rules immediately then they stand to lose their "ranking" in the herd.
An aged horse could be chased from it's feed and picked on constantly by the youngster if it does not put the fear of God into the youngster right away. Your mare and the other gelding are already low ranking in the existing herd so they do not feel it is necessary to beat down the new horse right away. You can be sure that eventually a pecking order will have to be established and things will return to normal.
If you keep the new guy in a different pen for a few more days at least, he will have time to heal from his injury and hopefully he will know to stay clear of the "herd boss" in the future. Any time horses are kept in a common enclosure instead of individual paddocks, you run the risk of someone getting hurt. All horses will squabble and bite or kick at the others from time to time.
Good luck with your new horse, if you can not keep them apart then be sure you feed them in completely different areas of the paddock. at least one pile of hay for each horse so nobody has to fight for their food.