Learn steps to safely and successfully add a new horse to an existing herd

We envision our horses living peacefully in wide open rolling pastures, in herds of happy equids that graze together and groom each other’s withers, just like nature intended.

It’s an idyllic image, and equine behaviorists say it’s a fantastic—and realistic—goal. But in practice, when managing herds of sport and leisure horses, it’s not always possible. Some horses suffer the consequences of unfriendly or hostile herdmates—especially when they’re the new kid on the block.

So how do you safely integrate a new horse into an established herd? To accurately answer that question and bring you helpful, reliable advice, we have gone to worldwide experts who speak to the latest scientific knowledge as well as their own real-world experiences.

‘It So Often Goes Wrong’—Introducing New Horses

The fact is horses—like people—don’t always get along with each other at first, says Paula Hitzler, BSc in animal science, farm manager of the Michigan State University Horse Teaching and Research Center (MSUHTRC), in Lansing.

People often add new horses into a pasture with other horses with little to no supervision, expecting them to be compatible. And that, Hitzler says, is the No. 1 mistake they make. 

Kate Fenner, PhD, of the University of Sydney, in Australia, agrees.

“It so often goes wrong,” Fenner says. “People get a new horse, and they throw him into the paddock with the others, and suddenly he’s all beaten up. What we want to really avoid is throwing them out in the paddock and letting them work it out
themselves because, quite often, they don’t do a great job of that.”

Well-planned transitions are a better solution, says Laura Torres Borda, PhD candidate in the Equine Surgery Unit of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna’s Department of Companion Animals and Horses, in Austria