Horse Herd Hierarchy

When introducing a new horse to your herd, follow a few simple steps to be sure the process goes as smoothly as possible.

Before the new guy arrives, take a few precautions to ready the herd, stable and pasture. A little preparation goes a long way towards a smooth introduction.

When your new horse arrives, walk him around a safe fence line. Watch his interactions with the other horses. If it's possible, turn the new horse out into an adjacent paddock for a few days. Allow them to hang around the fence line, checking each other out.

Move a middle-ranking, nonaggressive horse in with the newcomer so that the two can bond before the mass introduction.

Once they're showing some friendly curiosity, it is probably safe to open the gate and let them mingle in a large enclosure (between one and two acres per horse). Be sure the horse enclosure is safe.

If you have one particularly dominant or aggressive horse, you may want to remove her and let the newcomer bond with the others. Allow them to achieve some level of stability before reintroducing the dominant horse. This sometimes minimizes the dominant horse's inclination to pick on the new guy.

Despite your best preparations, there is bound to be some "issues" between these diverse personalities. Don't leave them unattended. If there is plenty of room to run and your paddock is safety checked, everything should be fine.

Some other tips:

Make introductions during the day. The new horse will be more secure and safe if he can see clearly.

Don't turn the horses out together for the first time if it's rainy or slippery in the paddock. Super hot weather isn't great, either.

Avoid food fights by waiting at least 20 minutes after feeding all the horses to release the new horse. Grazing or resting horses are more relaxed.

As much as possible, keep to your herd's feeding routine.

Keep an eye on everyone for the first couple of weeks. Check for lameness, bites, bruises and lethargy.

Once a stable horse herd hierarchy is established, your horses should settle into their pecking order places. Often, the drama and conflict within a horse herd is harder for people to witness than it is for horses so please don't overreact if your horses are "being mean to each other". Herd hierarchy not always easy to watch, but it's worked for horses for thousands of years!

Return From Horse Herd Hierarchy To Routine Horse Care