Re: Gender Bias or By Ass (was Re: Grumble)

Fran Bragg wrote:

I've come to much the same conclusion. I had always had mixed herds in the past, but found that with a small group it's better to separate them. For some reason it seems the smaller the group, the more antagonistic the alpha wanna-be's seem to be. With my past herd of 23, I had few injuries and everyone seemed to get along fine after only a few days.

John Hasler wrote:

> Large mixed herds work better than small ones, in general. Rate Rate of
> turnover also matters.

I agree with both Fran and John.

My herd is small and changes periodically. I can't run the entire group together even if I was so inclined due to the pasture setups.

The buddies tend to be fiercely so and adding in can be very difficult on the newcomer, even in a same gender situation, but generally more so if its mixed. I've tried all different configurations because my super wimpy gelding prefers mares, but still gets his ass handed to him.

Also, as previously mentioned, I have to take my boarders concerns into consideration.
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Ruth B
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