At 08:48:02 on 02.06.11, Part Arab wrote:
Piper arrived on Saturday afternoon and the two mares met over the fence and were both asleep against it, side by side when I checked at 10pm. Sunday morning I brought Sienna into the house paddock for a bit of a graze and at lunchtime Piper followed us out into the big (5 acre) paddock. At liberty they are never more than two steps apart. It warms my heart to see :) They even poop side by side - which is handy as I collect it for compost. The first few days Piper left me steaming piles of manure near the gate but she seems to follow Sienna's established paddock pattern now. Sienna seems to be showing Piper the ropes so to speak and Piper appears to be very interested in learning them. Anyways... Sienna has been here for 18 or so months and is about to turn 33. Piper has been here 5 days and is about to turn 7. What can I do to ensure that my two girls get the most out of being together? I have already noticed that they move around much more, which is great for conditioning their bare hooves. Also what should I watch out for? I noticed a bit of a ruckus over the feed buckets as I left the paddock tonight. I really don't want my old girl to get hurt... she was previously submissive to the goat. Husband said they will sort it out in their own horsey way. I sure hope so.

At 09:21:08 on 11.06.11, Part Arab wrote:

I can't decide who is number 1 and who is number 2 - it seems to change hourly. Aren't I supposed to catch the dominant horse first?

(Click here for larger view)

At 12:10:20 on 11.06.11, Em28 wrote:
it's so lovely to see them together and great to know they have each other for companionship. Horses will avoid conflict your 2 seem like they get on great. When I feed the horses I ride I tend to tie them to some bailing twine to the fence. But that is only as one of them is aggressive and dominant over his food and will scoff his at record speed to go and get the others! Or you could get one out the field to give her the feed at the gate, if you notice them trying to share, I suppose it depends if Sienna has expensive supplements that you would prefer Piper to not be having too!! It may just mean you staying whilst they eat to supervise they eat their own feeds and get the right amount each. Must be a great sense of satisfaction seeing their friendship develop so quickly.

At 20:02:58 on 11.06.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
I wouldn't worry about catching the dominant one first but catch the one who stresses about being left alone first lol when grenville was recovering in a flat paddock after his op he was in with rocky, a old little pony and if rocky was brought in first grenville would do the wall of death! So we always have to make sure grenville isn't out on his own even for a few minutes or he tears up the ground and takes cunks out of his front legs where he has skidded into fences lol. Also i don't feed grenville from a bucket anywhere near other horses because he is very food possesive and can get quite agressive to other horses when they are near so maybe tie one horse on the other side of the gate to eat so they are close to each other but can't hurt each other while they eat. They look very happy together :)

At 10:58:31 on 22.06.11, Part Arab wrote:
Thanks Guys. Piper has made it absolutely clear that she is the mare in charge and Sienna doesn't seem bothered about it at all. They both do the "neigh of concern" if they lose sight of us when I am doing ground work with Piper or riding Sienna in the paddock and they both walk the fence if I take one out the gate onto the road, which I am doing more and more as Piper's feet improve :) It's like watching an unruly teenager and her long suffering grandmother, kinda sweet.

At 06:18:44 on 23.07.11, Part Arab wrote:
Here's another pic of them together - I can just watch them being horses for hours. I think it is adorable, husband says I am obsessed. I love having 2 horses :)

At 14:53:23 on 25.07.11, Flicka wrote:
I think your husband is right about them sorting things out and I agree with you-I love watching our horses together :)

At 07:28:03 on 17.08.11, Part Arab wrote:
Aw is that Farlow and Willow? I haven't seen my two groom each other yet but they take turns at the scratching log. They also lay down together, almost touching and are always close when left to themselves. Piper had a real seperation issue, and will still have a momentary freakout if left alone (often snapping the lead rope and then standing as if tied) but it is Sienna who hates being out of sight now lol.

At 11:20:20 on 16.09.11, Part Arab wrote:
Oh dear there is only one mare in the paddock now. RIP Piper I hope you enjoyed your time with us as much as we enjoyed you :)