Herd behavior

Question
I have a 14 year old North American Colonial Spanish Horse that is in a herd after years of being in a private/semi private situation. He is a bully! He bites and kicks and loves to fight other horses. He is not always this way yet can go there! I tried him in a large herd with some big boys that I was told are bigger and bader then him and he injured one pretty badly.... I am thinking a smaller number would work better. He is buddies with at 5 year old gelding and has been in paddocks with him and has never hurt him. In fact he is very protective of him and that could have been some of the problem in the herd. He is back in a paddock now and alone. I will move him to another barn yet need to know what to ask for in care and herd situations... can you help me? Thank you , Colleen

Answer
Hi Colleen,
Heard introductions are tricky.  In the wild, without fences there is plenty of area for horses to get away from eachother.  They all go threw this to one extent or another and that is how they determine pecking order so to speak.  It is just something that your going to have to work around.  If you can do your turn outs with the 5 year old gelding that is he already friends with - go that route - other wise your going to have to slowly find out who he will buddy up with and who he won't so no one elses horses get hurt.  As you know this can be stressful and other owners get angry when there horses get hurt.  Living his life alone would be sad as he obviously is enjoying all of the horse games that he is winning.  Take your time and just be aware.

Jeff