Two horses...one stall?

[Shortpig]

Wow! Right now I feel like the luckiest person on earth. I think it pays to have the horse family I have.

Duckie, Ariel and Jasmine all share a 10 x 16 barn. Buckets on one wall are set up so its feed, water, feed, water, feed, water. They know which bucket is theres when they come into the barn. They eat out of their own buckets once in awhile Duckie will snitch a bite from moms when mom isn't paying attention. No one touches Ariels bucket and they know it. They share a pile of hay shaken loose across the front of the barn. No marks, no kicking no fighting. God forbid one gets left outside or there is a frenzy till that one comes in. I have done this since Duckie was a foal.

Now then Koda shares a 10' x 12' barn with his Dad and same thing there except that the buckets are on opposite sides of the barn and they each get a pile of hay in separate corners. Same thing here no marks no bites no kicking and they are joined at the hip. One stands over the other when sleeping and they take turns. But room for all to lay down at the same time.

But I would never throw a stranger in that mix. The new one would not survive I'm sure of that. Now a new foal will be a family member and totally acceptable. I have no doubts about it. When it is born both Ariel and Jasmine will keep it between them as much as possible they always have.

Whew! How lucky am I.

 

[ljc]

I've had my two minis sharing a 12X12 stall and small field for the last two years with no problems. I got them both as yearlings (from the same breeder, so they knew each other) and they've gotten along fine. I will say that Ollie (bigger by four inches) does get more hay than Trickster because he eats faster but he's not huge and Trickster isn't thin so somehow it works out. I feed them their grain separately and spread their hay feeders as far apart as possible under a huge overhang outside the stall that is matted. In rainy weather, both get their hay in the stall (separate corners) and no problems yet. I think I'm lucky in that Trickster doesn't mind being bossed around - if I had two horses with Ollie's dominant personality, it wouldn't work. The field is large enough they can each get away from the other when solitude is needed. I do have a stall gate I can put up to keep one in the stall and one outside if necessary, however. After reading these comments, I'm really feeling very lucky it worked out as it did!

 

[Katiean]

I have 3 stalls and 4 horses. I have 1 6x8 foot stall and 2 8x8 stalls. My stud has one of the 8x8 stalls and 2 mares share the other 8x8 stall. I bought those feeders that are made out of the 50gal plastic barrel. It has the rack for the hay and plenty of room for grain. I have one feeder tied in one back corner and one tied in the other back corner. One mare is right up there when I am feeding but the other goes right up once I tell her it is ok. By all appearances of these 2 mares, they are both getting what I feed each of them. But then I used to feed the grain in those little black rubber tubs and I would feed them in a small circle and no one bothered the others grain.

 

[alphahorses]

I stall mares, geldings,and young horses together all the time. The size of shared stalls are 8x12 (only for weanlings!), 12x16 (2 adults or 3 babies), and 24x14 (for up to 3 adults or 4 juniors). We have "B" minis, so my general rule of thumb is that you need about 100 square feet per adult horse and less for juniors if they are closed in the stall. Less space is needed for run-in areas. Our horses are almost never closed in their stalls, except during the winter.

Most of the paired horses are stalled together beginning at weaning, but not all. I am very careful about how I select who will be stalled together. I watch how they interact in the pasture and especially in run-ins and only stall "friends" together in a stall that is large enough to accomodate both comfortably. I also stall horses together who receive similar amounts of hay. In the beginning, candidates for "paired" stalling use the stall as a run-in. That way if there is trouble, the less dominant horse has a way to escape and I can determine if they really can get along. There are always horses - even weanlings - that will need their own stalls and I always stall stallions alone. I have also found that mares will pick on geldings, so, expect for babies, I do not mix sexes in stalls.

There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages to stalling together as opposed to splitting stalls (we've done both). A bigger more open stall allows the horses to move around and even roll safely on those rare days when I cannot let them outside. Air can circulate better in the open areas. Stalls cost much less to build. When I have fewer horses, it allows the remaining horses to have a bigger stall, without me having to remove walls. If I have a year when everything doesn't sell, I have room to "squeeze" that extra weanling or two in until they do sell. I have also found that it saves a lot of bedding, as they tend to all go in the same spots along the outside walls.

The disadvantages are the occasional fights (we almost never have them - and have never had an injury), difficulty isolating a horse that is ill or injured or for foaling (I try to always have at least one open stall) and feeding. If the less dominant horse gets more grain - or if the horses are feed different foods/supplements - feeding takes more time asI have to tie them near their own feed buckets and wait for everyone to finish. But I find that standing tied for short periods of time is good training for shows.

I do not recommend it for everyone.. but it has worked for us.

I do have two 8' gates hinged to the center of my 24x14 stall, so if necessary, I can close those gates to split the stall. I think I've used them twice in the past 10 years.

 

[My2Minis]

I have two minis sharing a loafing shed, it is one stall but they are able to come and go as they please into the paddock. They have small fights but also groom each other and I haven't had any big problems. I feed them far apart.

I couldn't close them in one stall, especially at feeding time or they would likely hurt each other.

 

[Blue rose]

Temperament of the individual horses has a lot to do with safely stalling them together. Most of my horses are fine being together but I have one mare that will kick the crap out of anyone who gets near her food. She has her own stall. Also all of my stalls have large paddocks and the horses are turned out almost everyday so they do not get to bored and pick at each other.

 

[beetlin]

Hi,

I have 3 mini fillies in a 12x12 stable only at night, there are fine with that, there is enough room for them to get out each others way if need be and all lay down at the same time. Never have any problems or injuries. I feed them all together but keep an eye to make sure the speedy eater doesnt pinch the others or I just take her out and feed her seperately.

 

[Thinking small]

The inability to separate them at grain time could lead to issues. Since we are a mini only farm, ours share the barn... however, they were from the same breeder and born only days apart so literally grew up together and came home as such. I would say they are a bonded pair they will separate to graze and such and even for eating hay but must be within eye sight of one another or totally freak out.

All that said and done we do separate our barn during grain time so this ensures they each gets their portion and eliminates fighting, i would have to show pictures of our set-up for someone to understand the arrangement, but it works for us. Now of coarse being this is our own property, this isn't complicated to sort out, but at a boarding facility it could be quite complicated. We also have double of everything, two water buckets, 2 hay buckets, even a jolly ball on each side

Our mini barn because of the current decent weather is left fully open(we tie our door back) so they can come in & out as they please throughout the night, however in the frigid winter, when we were battling -25 temps

we did close the barn, but again they are a bonded pair and it would be a horrible mess if they were forced to be separated especially if unable to see & touch one another.

I think each situation is unique though, i don't really feel their is a right or wrong answer, their are so many variables affecting how well this can work.

 

[~Lisa~]

I have out of 8 minis only 2 that I can stall together at a show. I have kept them together over the winter in a stall as well however that stall was a 16x16 run in with a huge attached pen. They had enough room to get out of each others way. They are very different in size 29 inches and 36 inches but both do eat the same amount of feed. I do prefer though to feed them and keep them separate and would not keep them in the same stall (meaning a 12x12 for any length of time)