Considering a Pasture Buddy

[mylilchix]

Our new Shetland pony needs a pasture buddy. Right now he's the only pony at our house. He does get a lot of attention from my 3 girls, and he seems happy at the moment. Would a pasture buddy be a good idea, and if so what kind of buddy?
Thanks, Sonja

 

[michickenwrangler]

Another pony, older horse, donkey would be best. I'm assuming your Shetland is an easy keeper and things will be more convenient if you get another easy keeper. I always see cheap minis and older horses on Craigslist. If you just want it for a pasture buddy, consider adopting an old or special needs horse from a rescue. Some "special needs" mean just no riding or no heavy work. There are a lot of ringbone horses at rescues who are otherwise healthy, just can't be ridden.

 

[mylilchix]

Thank you for the advice. Our pony is a very easy little guy. He was used as a therapy pony before we got him. I've been tentatively thinking about getting a mini donkey. I'd like to get a horse, but we're better set up for smaller livestock at the moment. Would another gelding be a good idea?

 

[goodhors]

Not sure how you use the pony, riding, ornamental, with some children involved or not.
Making a "herd" with additional animal can change the pony's attitude and being your
buddy. He may prefer the company of the other animal to going away any distance and
working for you. They may one or both prance and holler, act totally STUPID at being parted.

If you have a nice acting animal now, I would REALLY think about getting a second one for
company "just because". I have not often seen it result in BETTER behaved animals, once they
are a herd of two.

If you have a couple children, really horsey oriented, then having an animal for each kid
may work out better than sharing. Kids need to have some determination so they can
work thru animal antics with a bit of help, get the animals behaving for pony rides or
grooming. You don't want kid to lose interest with a bad acting animal who is NO FUN
to get out and play with, or get the kid hurt falling off.

I would suggest getting a second pony, same gender as the first. One of each gender, gelding
and mare, often seem to get more defensively attached. He doesn't want to share her or she
gets crabby when you get between gelding and her. Two mares or two geldings, or all geldings if
you continue to add animals. I would go with a pony over a donkey, they are easier to
coax into doing what you want. A donkey is just slower, often drags along instead of keeping
up if kids ride together. Just the nature of donkey species, they want to KNOW what everything
is about, before going forward. Can be a great source of frustration to a child who wants to
do things with another kid on a pony, but gets no cooperation from the donkey.

Do NOT add a stallion or ungelded male donkey to the mix. They are
BREEDING animals and that is their main drive. Entire male animals of ANY AGE,
can get nasty very fast. Much more prone to biting and rearing, that is how they
stay dominant in a breeding setting. Even VERY young males. They don't need mares
around to act like a dominant male, it is just their nature with the hormones in them.

 

[mylilchix]

Thank you! Lil Bit is a very mellow, easy going guy. We got him to help my daughter practice her riding. She is currently in a program called Westernaires, and one of her specialties is riding ponies. Lil Bit is here to get us ready to expand to horses, and to help my daughter with her routines. Lil Bit had been in a pen with 2 gelded ponies before he came to us. I like the idea of a donkey or another pony. I'd also prefer geldings to anything else. From my experience they're easier to deal with. He was docile when we first met him, and didn't mind leaving his buddies so he may be OK with a friend. Even with his buddies there, he let me check hooves and teeth before we decided on him without a problem. I want to make sure we find a good match for him. He may be happier with a constant companion than getting attention a few times a day.