Is it ok to put a foal in with fulll grown horses?

Question

i am soon to buy a 6 month foal and was wondering if i can put him in with two full grown horses. My second choice would be to put him in with my Minature Donkeys. He is gelded so we wouldn't have to worry about testosterone problems.any thought would be nice.

Answer 1

Gelding a 6 month foal is pretty severe. I would have waited until he was a yearling before making that decision.

He'll be terribly lonely and your adult horses will probably beat him up. He's just barely weaned and will try to nurse anything that resembles an adult horse. AND he's new to the herd - any new horse to an established herd (even if it's just 2 horses) will be subject to the pecking order - and he'll get beat up a lot.

I'd put him in with the miniature donkeys - but watch him closely so he doesn't get too beat up by them as well.

But what really concerns me is the early gelding. Wow.

Answer 2

I would put him in the pen with the donkey, but maybe move them to a pasture beside the horses if that is possible. That way intruding him to the horses is a lot easier because they recognize each other.

I am also worried about him being gelded so early. I'm guessing though you bought him from an auction, and that is why. If you know could you maybe shed some light on this.

Answer 3

I would keep him with your donkeys as the other horses may try to start a pecking order with him.
He is a bit too small to fend for himself.

You could try and put him in with the rest but watch them carefully to see how they all react to him.

To be safe though, I would keep him with the donkeys and only with the other horses if you are there to watch.

Good Luck with your foal!

Answer 4

well my first answer is a yes, however you want to make sure that your horses are not going to rip apart each other. otherwise he should be fine if your horses are not very aggressive, we always had babys out in the pasture with ours we just took the one horse out that always caused the problem.