Well having one mare and five geldings can cause problems. Actually its not the mares fault but one of my geldings. Harry is a lovely horse but can be very dominant and nasty to other horses.
I had heard that this can happen but had never actually come across it before. I have had horses in many paddocks with mares and geldings but this was an eye opener...and a pain in the butt!
Last year he attacked and yes that is the word i would use, attacked and hounded my youngster Holden. Now my young lad is such a gentle giant and wouldn't hurt a fly, always at the bottom of the pecking order and is Harrys best mate. But on this occasion Harry just turned on him. All horses were together, but in the paddock next to them were my two pony mares. Normally they are a few paddocks away. I wondered if one of the mare was in season. Anyway unfortunately for Harry, my youngster back kicked him in the knee. So vet visit and 12 stitches later ....all was ok. If the kick was just cm's lower he would have smashed his knee...phew!
Then things were calm for many months later ( so maybe not a seasonal mare thing???) even after we had introduced my daughters new mare into the herd. Then in spring I separated the Jock and my daughters mare and put them in the fatty paddock. After a while i combined the herd again. Things were fine for a number of days then, it happened. Mr Jeckle and Hide Harry switched and went after the mare. Boy did he hound her. I finally separated them and both were so wet with sweat it was pouring of their faces, and bodies! They were breathing so hard i thought one of them was going to have a heart attack!
But before i separated them, the mare (who had shoes on) gave Harry a huge back kick right in the throat. It stopped him in his tracks and he backed off. Now I had been keeping an eye on him and he seemed ok.
That was about a month ago and now im feeding out hay and some hard feed. Harry chocked on the hay, tried again next day with very wet hay, same thing. He wasnt good. Then i gave him some hard feed and sure enough he chocked again.
I noticed on all occasions he developed a lump (which i presume was food) half way down his throat, where he got kicked . He also has a little permanent indent there as well. After i massaged his throat the "lump " went and he carried on eating grass as if nothing had happened.
So the vet is coming up to have a looksie. I am hoping its no permanent damage from the kick.
In the meantime the mare will not be grazed with Harry from now on. My youngster is still best buddies with him again. But what a pain having to have 2 herds!
Im really not sure what was going on in Harrys brain but i still feel it has to do with the mares. It has only happened about 3 times in the 6 years I have had him.
