how to introduce horse to new home & horses?

[-> I ? My Horse Dixie! <-]

My friend and I are moving barns to a small family owned barn, we'll be the only boarders.
They have three horses. We will be moving wednesday. My horse is very dominate and is infact ranks 2nd in the herd. I'm afraid of her getting hurt if i just throw her in the pasture, you know?
so how should i go about it?
thank you!

 

[Meh.]

Most of the time, people introduce horses over the fence first. if they have a paddock bordering their herd's paddock, turn out your mare and your friend's horse in that paddock since they know each other already, and they will also be able to meet the 3 new horses over the fence. After they get each others' scents and settle a bit, turn out your horses with theirs and let them establish pecking order.

If they do NOT have another paddock you can use to introduce over the fence, then have them turn out one or two of theirs into the paddock, and then turn out your horse so she can meet her new field mate. Then turn out your friend's horse. After the 3 or 4 of them are ok with each other, turn out the remainder of the barn owner's horses.

This way, it's not 2 new horses coming into the entire home-herd. It should be more peaceful this way.

 

[Azeri]

Do NOT just throw her in with the other horses. Let her meet them first with her on a lead line and over a fence. Let her meet the head horse first, sniffing noses (will probably include some squealing, esp if they're both mares). Then introduce her (in hand with a barrier) to the others on down the pecking order line. It's best then if you can turn them out in an adjacent pasture where they can get to know each other and establish a pecking order without making contact. Once they've settled down and are not particularly interested in each other (one to several days) you can turn her out with the head horse first, then introduce the #2 horse, etc. If she is a dominant type, then she may challenge one of the other horses for their position. It's usually not a problem unless one of the horses actually makes contact biting and kicking with contact. Watch them carefully during this whole process. You don't want one of the horses to get chased into a corner and end up running through a fence or trying to jump out.