agression in the field

[FestiveFuzz]

Hi guys, id like to let you's all know my girls back to her old self again.

Both myself and my more experianced horse friends did consider pain to begin with which is why it was ruled out although i do appriciate everyones thought and opinions as i have learned a few things!

i did however add a gel pad under her saddle and do find a huge difference in tacking up and riding her now.

So glad to have my mare back to her normal self and thanks once again for all your thought opinions and advice it was greatly appriciated x

So you've basically masked the issue then? Have you thought to have a saddler out to check the saddle?

 

[flirtygerty]

Your mare is telling you something is wrong. She can't speak, can only communicate by actions, and every time you shut her up, she has to think of another way to get the message across. She started off telling you there was a problem with new behaviour when being ridden. When behaviour changes in a horse, there is a reason and it is usually a communication of pain or discomfort.

You "dealt with" the behaviour by telling your mare you would not listen. So since she realised she would be told off or ignored for telling you during riding, she looked for another way to tell you there was a problem. She identified that she could communicate when the signs she was *about to be ridden* happened, by nipping or threatening to nip when being tacked up. Not only did you ignore this, you punished her attempt to communicate. She now views you as both someone whose presence is associated with discomfort (being tacked up and ridden) but also as someone - from her point of view - who attacks her for reasons she doesn't understand.

So now she sees you coming in the field, and makes a preemptive strike to try to get you to go away.

This is a very common pattern. It is nothing to do with "dominance" and everything to do with a lack of understanding of how horses communicate their discomfort and anxiety.

Deal with the thing she has been telling you is the problem from day one, and you can then start to rebuild the bridges in terms of two way communication.

I don't know exactly what the problem is likely to be - it could be digestive discomfort or ulcers, which can sometimes start to show up in ridden work and which are often evident in how the horse responds to being tacked up. It could also be saddle fit, back problems, hoof/joint problems or teeth - worth getting all of these checked out.

In the meantime, be calm, non-confrontational - your mare (from her point of view) is not being aggressive, but is defending herself from what she perceives as a threat to her safety and comfort.

this

 

[PolarSkye]

These are signs of gut/gastric discomfort which may also be shown by resistance when ridden and appearing bad tempered or distracted, after all, we feel grumpy and want to protect ourselves when in discomfort. I do agree with BB, horses are not naturally aggressive to humans and the root is likely to be discomfort which is treated as purely behavioural. Look up gastric ulcers and hindgut acidosis along with other checks.

ps. We can become associated with somethig unpleasant for eg. if a horse has gut pain and when we girth cause discomfort the we can become someone to avoid/keep away from.

I'm with amandap - the very first thing that came to mind reading your post was ulcers/gastric upset. What do you feed her? What are her seasons like/how often does she have them? It could be that the stress of moving home has triggered some gastric upset - or that what she eats is bothering her - or that she's one of those poor mares whose seasons stress them out enough to cause gastric upset (I've known mares to colic when in season).

I am not suggesting that she is colicky - just that if you have had things like back/tack/teeth checked and she is still displaying this behaviour, there may be something wrong internally.

FWIW, my own boy has always been nippy when being girthed up - I have a nice scar on each bicep to prove how much he can dislike being girthed up - so quite early on I took all of the starch and as much of the sugar as possible out of his feed . . . no mixes, lots of straights, plenty of fibre and ad lib forage whenever he is stabled. Kal is the sweetest horse going, but he was trying to tell me something - could be that your mare is doing the same.

Good luck with her.

P

 

[PolarSkye]

Wise words.

P

 

[amandap]

We might want "respect" from horses but we have to earn it rather than try and demand (force) it!