There are horses and then there are horses: do mares and geldings mix in the field?

A very close friend of mine needs to move her 18 year old mare from her current deluxe quarters in a state where shoeing costs over $300 per horse, down to yours truly's humble establishment, where it costs less than half that amount. I hope to integrate her easily into the herd, as it were.

Cruz's mum ran with him and the other two geldings for years, and it was never a problem. It made for a balance in numbers and Cruz remained very close - in a filial way  - to his mum until her death when he was six. I think he misses her, as he bonds very fast with mares when we go to shows or clinics, and I think he will be overjoyed to have a mother figure in his life again.

But I'll have to be very careful how I introduce the new horse to the others. I don't want fights to break out over her - been there, done that, with fatal consequences - and will have to be extremely watchful.

If we can make this work, Cruz won't be the odd man out any more. Sometimes the two older horses go off and leave him in a corner of the field by himself, which makes me feel sorry for him and want to cry over the death of his mother all over again.

It won't be for a few weeks, and my friend will arrive with her horse, and stay until the mare has settled. So I have time to come up with a game plan.