Colts mounting each other and fighting

[redwhiteblue]

Me and my sister have a fell colt and and sports horse colt who live together, my sister bred the sports horse colt herself and we bought the fell as a companion for weaning and as a showing prospect.

They are now yearlings and best pals but we've noticed that they've started fighting a bit and mounting each other. They are kept nowhere near mares.

We didn't want to geld them for another year or so for various reasons (both very well bred and may turn out to be prospective stallions, my sisters sports horse to retain for her own use and the fell because they aren't all that common and would seem a shame to geld a good example of the breed).

We've bred and bought foals before but they've always been fillies (although we both have experience of handling and riding stallions). We've just never had colts together before, so we're not sure whether to keep them together, or will they continue to fight? I've researched the subject and it seems they should be fine as long as they aren't kept near mares. But as they are fighting and mounting each other already, we're not sure. Is this common in colts of their age? Should we separate them now?

Any advice from breeders and/or stallion owners would be greatly appreciated

[elmere]

It will just be play fighting, all colts do it when ran together, you just have to make sure they are on level ground and one isnt being too rough with the other, since they are of the same age I shouldnt imagine it being a problem.

[gillwales]

there is a simple solution, a visit from the Vet!

[comanchediva]

Our yearling Colts are kept in a pair like yours and they mount each other and generally play in what we would sometimes think is a rough manner but to them is just playing. Our 2 two year olds are exactly the same.

As Elmere says as long as one isn't bullying or being too rough with the other they should be fine together, just keep an eye on them.

[Deleted]

All colts play and play fight when living together as a group - its good for socialising them, if they get to rough and start chasing each other about and being too rough then you need to think about gelding - I have a group of males that all live together and play fight, so long as there are no girls in the immediate area it shouldn't get too bad! pm if you want a chat - I've worked on various studs before starting my own in 1979 - so have quite a bit of stallion experience with different breeds over the years.

[redwhiteblue]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone, and for your kind offer of a chat via PM Jane

They appear quite rough sometimes however it's the fell who's more intense, and as he's so much smaller than the sports horse I don't think we need to worry too much! Lol. I've been keeping a close eye on them and think my sister is over reacting a little, its definitely play and they don't appear to be actually harming each other. Gelding is still an option of course, we just haven't quite made our minds up yet and obviously we've not been able to over summer with the heat.