Aggressive horse

[Schadeyd]

So I got a new horse 2 months ago and haven’t done much with her due to her being severely underweight. She’s never shown any aggression towards anyone over her food. She’s always a little pushy but never aggressively so. But the other night she was being pushier than usual and when my mother went to chase her out of the grain she turned to run then twisted back and tried to strike her while rearing. I got her away from the grain and took it out and in the pasture she then lunged at me the same way but stayed out of my space. I’ve never dealt with an aggressive horse like this. We chase her out of the grain when she’s pushy and never seen this before. I’m just confused as to why she attacked so aggressively and need some tips on how to stop her from doing this. I’ve got plenty of horse experience just never with aggression past the usual biting.

 

[AmyMay]

Put the food down and walk away. Simples.

 

[MissTyc]

Sounds like she wants to be in the grain and would also like to see if she can move you out of her space.

Groundwork will do wonders to establish clear rules. She's not aggressive, but it sounds like she's learning to be!

 

[meleeka]

I have a mare who was aggressive around food. I solved it my taking all the stress out of the situation. I put her food in the stable and left her to it and now I’m able to be around her when she’s eating and she doesn’t mind. You won’t win if you go into battle with her as she’s a horse and you aren’t.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Put the food down and walk away. Simples.

This.

I'm confused as to why are you removing her from feed after you have given it? You say she was underweight when she came, perhaps she's had to fight for her feed in the past.

Best thing you can do is leave her on her own to eat and don't return or hang around, or go back until she's finished.

 

[HeyMich]

I don't quite know what you mean when you say you 'chase her out of the grain'. Are you talking about a feed shed that she's accidentally getting access to? Or hard feed in a bucket? Or a planted crop in a field?

In my mind, you shouldn't need to chase a horse anywhere. Fix you fencing and leave her to eat in peace.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Having had a horse who had been starved (rescue), I was faced with someone on the yard who thougt they knew better than the YO who had put strict rules in place for feeding him. She thought she knew better and decided he needed manners and walked into the stable, put down the bucket and attempted to make him back up and wait for his feed. He attacked her and broke her collar bone.

You are risking serious injury. Put the feed down and walk away and leave the horse alone. My boy was never aggressive around food once he was back to full weight abd understood that food was plentiful and he no longer had to fight for it.

Please do not chase your horse and leave the horse to eat in peace. You need some experienced help as you are putting yourself and your mother at risk.

 

[Schadeyd]

I guess I should have been more informative here. I’m not “chasing her” out of her grain and taking it away, she is getting her grain. I’m just simply not letting her have it until she stops being pushy. And I should point out she’s in pasture with cows. And I allow her aggression with the cows because of her past and having to fight for it but she’s never been aggressive towards us before.

 

[MissTyc]

Or a planted crop in a field?

Have to admit this was what I was imagining, hence my response earlier on. I was thinking horse turning arse on human trying to drag it out of grain field ...

But on re-reading, I am simply much more confused.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I guess I should have been more informative here. I’m not “chasing her” out of her grain and taking it away, she is getting her grain. I’m just simply not letting her have it until she stops being pushy. And I should point out she’s in pasture with cows. And I allow her aggression with the cows because of her past and having to fight for it but she’s never been aggressive towards us before.

Well I'd be haltering her, bringing her out and then letting her eat in peace. Standing around getting antsy with a feed obsessed horse is asking for even the most good natured horse to get cross and react!

 

[HazuraJane]

I guess I should have been more informative here. I’m not “chasing her” out of her grain and taking it away, she is getting her grain. I’m just simply not letting her have it until she stops being pushy. And I should point out she’s in pasture with cows. And I allow her aggression with the cows because of her past and having to fight for it but she’s never been aggressive towards us before.

Stop it. You're going to get hurt because you insist on making a power play over the horse.

 

[meleeka]

I guess I should have been more informative here. I’m not “chasing her” out of her grain and taking it away, she is getting her grain. I’m just simply not letting her have it until she stops being pushy. And I should point out she’s in pasture with cows. And I allow her aggression with the cows because of her past and having to fight for it but she’s never been aggressive towards us before.

You are creating a stressful situation by making her wait. Her need for that food, given her past, is greater than her need to be polite. Concentrate on instilling manners when food isn’t around and when she trusts that the food will come every day and not be stressful, she’ll chill out around that too.

 

[Schadeyd]

Having had a horse who had been starved (rescue), I was faced with someone on the yard who thougt they knew better than the YO who had put strict rules in place for feeding him. She thought she knew better and decided he needed manners and walked into the stable, put down the bucket and attempted to make him back up and wait for his feed. He attacked her and broke her collar bone.

You are risking serious injury. Put the feed down and walk away and leave the horse alone. My boy was never aggressive around food once he was back to full weight abd understood that food was plentiful and he no longer had to fight for it.

Please do not chase your horse and leave the horse to eat in peace. You need some experienced help as you are putting yourself and your mother at risk.

No I agree with you on this. I’m just confused as to why all of a sudden she is acting like this. She’s been here for 2 months and the person before me did the same for months before with no aggression.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I bought a mare who had been starved by a previous owner and then bought back by the breeder who fed her up and then sold her to me. She was very proud of her food, even her hay. I was lucky that the livery yard I was on had stables with a walk way behind the looseboxes, where I could stand to watch her eat out of harm's way. She gradually got used to being watched and a few years later would offer me her hay at the beginning of winter. I also got her used to being fed from a bucket over the field wall in summer. We had her field companion as well, so there was no confusion of whether she would be fed at the same time as her friend.

The best thing you can do is leave her to get on with eating whatever you have given her, so that she learns that she can trust you around her food. I would be wary of feeding her grain, though. That can contribute to ulcers, which could also make her aggressive and won't lead to healthy weight gain. She needs a fibre based feed, such as soaked grassnuts with dried grass chaff with added linseed.

 

[AmyMay]

No I agree with you on this. I’m just confused as to why all of a sudden she is acting like this. She’s been here for 2 months and the person before me did the same for months before with no aggression.

Was she in a field of cows then, all queuing up behind her for the food?

 

[Schadeyd]

Stop it. You're going to get hurt because you insist on making a power play over the horse.

I’ve since stopped doing this because I agree with you. Because I do not want to get hurt and I know she’s obviously going to win in a fight I’m not stupid. I’m just wondering why she’s doing it when she’s never done it before. I’m in agreement with you all saying to leave her now. I was just stupidly following what her previous owner was doing.

 

[Schadeyd]

Was she in a field of cows then, all queuing up behind her for the food?

We give multiple piles of feed for the cows so she never has any cows surrounding her. The give her a wide berth when the grain is out.

 

[HeyMich]

I would be wary of feeding her grain, though. That can contribute to ulcers, which could also make her aggressive and won't lead to healthy weight gain. She needs a fibre based feed, such as soaked grassnuts with dried grass chaff with added linseed.

Ulcers were my first thought too (before the 'chasing off the grain' confusion started). Horses who have previously been starved have a very high chance of ulcers, and aggression is a typical ulcer pain response. And echoing PaS, an ulcer-prone horse should not be fed high-sugar cereals and grains.

And I should point out she’s in pasture with cows.

Does she have any other equine company? That alone can cause significant stress and therefore ulcers. Horses need equine company, a calm and secure environment, and time to readjust to the yard. Please don't stress her any more than necessary, and if the behaviour continues, ask the vet to scope and treat for ulcers.

 

[Schadeyd]

Well I'd be haltering her, bringing her out and then letting her eat in peace. Standing around getting antsy with a feed obsessed horse is asking for even the most good natured horse to get cross and react!

I usually don’t halter her but I stand holding her feed bucket in the field while she eats and she’s never had an issue before.

 

[HazuraJane]

I’ve since stopped doing this because I agree with you. Because I do not want to get hurt and I know she’s obviously going to win in a fight I’m not stupid. I’m just wondering why she’s doing it when she’s never done it before. I’m in agreement with you all saying to leave her now. I was just stupidly following what her previous owner was doing.

I learned this from experience. There was a person "working" with my youngster who insisted on my taking young horse off its feed as a show of power. I am embarrassed to this day to think I allowed the person to come within an arena's length of my horse. I do not think you are stupid at all.

 

[Schadeyd]

“

Ulcers were my first thought too (before the 'chasing off the grain' confusion started). Horses who have previously been starved have a very high chance of ulcers, and aggression is a typical ulcer pain response. And echoing PaS, an ulcer-prone horse should not be fed high-sugar cereals and grains.



Does she have any other equine company? That alone can cause significant stress and therefore ulcers. Horses need equine company, a calm and secure environment, and time to readjust to the yard. Please don't stress her any more than necessary, and if the behaviour continues, ask the vet to scope and treat for ulcers.

“Chasing” isn’t the right term that I wanted to use so I’m sorry about that. I just usually walk to a certain spot in the field and she follows behind I just don’t let her get in my space and she always complies with it. She isn’t in pasture with a horse but there is one on the other side of the fence and they frequently groom each other over it.

 

[Schadeyd]

She’s got free access to a high quality hay all day and has no problems with anything/anyone being around it and moving her out of the way to get to it either. She lets the calves go under her while they’re all around the hay bale. And I stand holding her bucket when she eats and she’s never had a problem with it before. Should I halter her and bring her out of the fence to eat while I hold the bucket? Or should I just drop the bucket and get the hell out? I’ll be having a vet out to check her for ulcers because this is completely against her whole personality.

 

[AmyMay]

Just put the bucket on the floor, and step away.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Is she eating any of the cattle feed?- please stop that immediately. That will be extremely high sugar and cereal, risking laminitis and ulcers, to say nothing of skin problems and anxiety. A local dog-walker was walking through the cow field next door and using the creep feed to distract the horses that were in with the cows (who couldn't get to the creep feed). She then threw that last bits over the wall into our horses' field. One of ours got particularly stressed by the high sugar/starch content. She really does need to be in a field with equine company, not the cows. The horses that used to live with next door's cows have been moved away because it wasn't working.

 

[Schadeyd]

Is she eating any of the cattle feed?- please stop that immediately.

she’s not touching their feed at all. They usually make quick work of eating it all up and not leaving a trace. But even when I tried to see if she wanted any she turned her nose up at it. She sniffs at the piles on the ground and just walks away from it which I found odd. She’s only by herself with the cows right now cause I loaned my cow horse out to someone who needed help. She’s been without him for 2 weeks. Could she be acting out cause he’s not there?

 

[ester]

It seems to me that you have taught her that she has to agress by moving her off her feed for being 'pushy'. Which is why she is doing it now but hadn't before. It seems like she just reached her limit of tolerance and requirement to communicate even more clearly.

 

[Schadeyd]

It seems to me that you have taught her that she has to agress by moving her off her feed for being 'pushy'. Which is why she is doing it now but hadn't before. It seems like she just reached her limit of tolerance and requirement to communicate even more clearly.

I worded my post wrong so I apologize for that. I’m not necessarily pushing her away from the feed. I’m just not letting her have it till a specific place in the pasture. 9/10 times she’ll wait for me in that specific place come feeding time. Even 30 mins before feeding time she waits in this spot. When I said chase I mean that I just simply walk and don’t let her in my space if she isn’t already in her spot waiting for her grain. She’s usually quite patient and waits for me to dump the cow grain then walk to her with her bucket.

 

[ester]

No I understood what you are doing, what you are doing is having that effect, if you think of it from a horse's point of view.

 

[Schadeyd]

No I understood what you are doing, what you are doing is having that effect, if you think of it from a horse's point of view.

Okay, but why is she so patient about it if it irritated her before now? Like this morning she was waiting in her spot as usual and happy to see me and looked extremely confused when I put the bucket on the ground for her instead of holding it like I usually do. So what you’re saying is if she’s not waiting at her spot I should just put her bucket down where she already is? Or should I not feed her at her spot at all anymore even if she’s waiting there? There hasn’t been a time when she’s been with me that she needs to fight for her food or doesn’t get it. Sorry if I sound dumb I’m just trying to fix what I’m doing wrong for her.

 

[ycbm]

She’s been without him for 2 weeks. Could she be acting out cause he’s not there?

Yes. Look at the timing. Insecurity (he's disappeared, the lion ate him, am I next?) can completely change a horse's behaviour.