Oh Spice!

[podkinpie]

Last night we had a fright with our pony Spice going down with colic (see horse health section).
Luckily with the foresight of my daughter we got the vet in and he diagnosed sporadic colic, jabbed her and touch wood she seems OK.
Tonight we had yet another incident.
We put our two (14.2,13.2) and the the third pony(12.2) which arrived a month ago(not ours) in their stalls(three stall stable) and about 10 mins later there was a horrible screech, and the little pony had tied to nip Spice and she had gone berserk, bucking and lashing out and hitting her legs and feet against the wall between them.
We are not sure if there is any damage .She seemed OK.
I don't think she could have broken anything.I don't know how hard it is to tell(as you probably gather I am new to this).Emily thinks she might be lame- ! She often kicks doors and walls with her front legs when she gets frustrated.
Emily was worried about leaving them next to each other so I moved the little ones water and hay to the other side of its stall.
The other thing is non of them seem to like each other .
Although they graze together its a real pecking order and its the first time I have seen Spice be nasty to another horse(although its the first time I have seen her with a smaller pony and she is usually the one picked upon).
Our bigger one is much the same to Spice and luckily the little one is quite gutsy - but goodness knows what goes on in the stables-hopefully they all just go to sleep!
Do you think its safe to leave them next to each other?
Also in peoples experience can horses grow to like each other?
Are there any bonding techniques for horses?
Is three a bad combination?

[podkinpie]

Oh well,obviously not an interesting enough thread.
Has been a couple of worrying nights though.
If she has any swellings on legs tomorrow is it time to call the vet again or would we just keep an eye on things
Grateful for any advise.thanks

[mellymoo]

Do they all have to come in at night? My boy's herd would be an all out scrum if they were all in at the same time! Perhaps put the biggest horse in the middle?

[podkinpie]

Thanks for reply Melly Moo.
Spice was out all last winter.We moved her when we bought Honey ,who we felt needed the routine of stabling and there was just the two of them.She actually adapted to stable life really well as had had bad times with previous owners in stables.Although our two are definately not a match made in heaven the arrival of this little one seems to have upset the balance even more with none of them getting on.The big one in the middle would probably have a go at both of them.Unfortunately its the smallest stall in the middle too!
Hopefully they will settle down and not too much damage done.

[Louise C]

I think we often see the worst of things when we are there - might not be the case with yours, but Flynn and his friend Toby will do most damage to each other bickering over feeds etc when I am there - if you go away and leave them for a few mins then go back without them noticing they are all fine and no harm done. But mine live out which makes a difference, obviously a lot more space to get away from each other.

Horses are for the most part peaceable creatures, their survival depends on the herd environment.

[jill]

Most horses will not do damage to each other from choice, but they obviously feel over restricted and the need to defend their food, whilst the "victims" can't get out of the way, which is what they would have been doing in the field. Is there any way you can give them a bit more space? Actually, it probably seems a lot more scarey than it is - they can make an awful lot of noise over nothing. Is there any actual damage (other than bruising and hurt feelings - oh and the stress to you?) because if not, they may well be just establishing themselves, albeit very noisily. Provided you aren't tempted to scream at them and make matters worse, all that may be needed is to quietly keep an eye on them for a few nights, until they settle down.