Agressive horse, dont know what to do

[Koa_my_brat]

Hello, I've been around horses for a while, but I'm still relatively young and still learning. I had just joined my county's Pont Club and I'm excited for my first meet! But my horse, Koa, can be very agressive towards other horses. She was fine about a month or so after we had her with other horses, although she did get into fights and we had to isolate her. But lately it's been pretty bad, shes kicked a person that I was riding with on a trail, shell bite, and it's getting to worry me. One time, another horse scooby just passed by her in the pasture (one of the few times we let her out with the other horses, and there were only about 2 others in this pasture) and she went all out attack on him, but he ran away and she stopped. I want to feel safe while riding her at my pony club meets, how do I get her to stop? And why is she so agressive?

 

[Barton Bounty]

Territorial. Attention? Who knows, thats why i dont share a paddock.. my boy is terrible for possessiveness... especially if im around, its like... thats my mum!! Get away! He wont do anything just put his ears back. In the field he chases anything away thats near him, he just likes his own space... he hacks out well with others but doesnt like them getting too close. This is a successful ex racer lol and i very much doubt he was always like this. Probably since all the one on one he gets with me.

 

[splashgirl45]

first thing i would do is get her checked out by a vet, if she has pain somewhere that could be the cause of her behaviour, they cant tell us what is wrong so we have to find out by checking everything...

 

[Koa_my_brat]

Thank you, that is an option I'll consider

Territorial. Attention? Who knows, thats why i dont share a paddock.. my boy is terrible for possessiveness... especially if im around, its like... thats my mum!! Get away! He wont do anything just put his ears back. In the field he chases anything away thats near him, he just likes his own space... he hacks out well with others but doesnt like them getting too close. This is a successful ex racer lol and i very much doubt he was always like this. Probably since all the one on one he gets with me.

 

[Koa_my_brat]

first thing i would do is get her checked out by a vet, if she has pain somewhere that could be the cause of her behaviour, they cant tell us what is wrong so we have to find out by checking everything...

I personally dont think it's because of any pain, it's been going on for a while, and its JUST while shes with other horses. But I'll keep a closer eye on her and see

 

[HazuraJane]

There's always the 'red ribbon on the tail' option to let others know your horse kicks. Having a comprehensive conversation with your vet is a good call.

 

[JillA]

I personally dont think it's because of any pain, it's been going on for a while, and its JUST while shes with other horses. But I'll keep a closer eye on her and see

That's a classic presenting symptom of ovarian cysts. Get a vet to check her out. YOU could in the meantime try her on chasteberry, a herb that helps with hormonal problems, to see if it makes any difference. That would be a way of diagnosing

 

[vhf]

Can you tell if her behaviour ties in with her seasons? The "moody mare" reputation quite often ties in with their hormones; remember that a mare is an "entire" animal like a stallion, so is more affected by this, and of course, that means how she sees other horses, and how they see her. It can also be a good indicator if all is not well in that area too.

 

[LaurenBay]

My mare went from fine with others to super aggressive. She would kick, lunge and try to bite them and was just a nightmare to deal with. It turns out she was hurting and the vet explained that Horses that are in pain will feel vulnerable around other Horses and that she was attacking them because she didn't want them in her space as the vulnerability made her fearful. Once she had treatment she became really good with other Horses again.

 

[splashgirl45]

I personally dont think it's because of any pain, it's been going on for a while, and its JUST while shes with other horses. But I'll keep a closer eye on her and see

if you are not a vet you cant tell if she is in pain. any animal who feels vulnerable can show aggression to others as the rule of the wild usually means that an ill animal is killed by the rest or picked off by a predator...so she could be feeling fearful because she doesnt feel right...

 

[Koa_my_brat]

There's always the 'red ribbon on the tail' option to let others know your horse kicks. Having a comprehensive conversation with your vet is a good call.

Ok, thanks, I forgot about that. If it's not because shes hurting and is just moody, I'll use that

 

[Koa_my_brat]

if you are not a vet you cant tell if she is in pain. any animal who feels vulnerable can show aggression to others as the rule of the wild usually means that an ill animal is killed by the rest or picked off by a predator...so she could be feeling fearful because she doesnt feel right...

I'll talk with my parents and we'll see about getting her checked out. The only reason I think that shes not in pain is the fact that shes perfectly friendly and fine around people

 

[Koa_my_brat]

Can you tell if her behaviour ties in with her seasons? The "moody mare" reputation quite often ties in with their hormones; remember that a mare is an "entire" animal like a stallion, so is more affected by this, and of course, that means how she sees other horses, and how they see her. It can also be a good indicator if all is not well in that area too.

Thank you, I'll think this one over and try to figure out exactly when this behavior started happening

 

[Koa_my_brat]

That's a classic presenting symptom of ovarian cysts. Get a vet to check her out. YOU could in the meantime try her on chasteberry, a herb that helps with hormonal problems, to see if it makes any difference. That would be a way of diagnosing

Ok, thank you so much! I'll look to see if I can find it in stores

 

[JillA]

Ok, thank you so much! I'll look to see if I can find it in stores

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Equestrian/3153/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=chasteberry

 

[redapple]

Everyone above has given good advice. Just wanted to ad that if in the meantime if you are taking her out alongside putting a red ribbon in her tail its your responsibility to keep her away from others at meets. You need to make sure she's never in aiming distance of another horse, its no joke if she kicks and breaks a riders leg!

This does get annoying I know as it means you have to keep moving her if others come to close or stay at the back on hacks but it's got to be done until you can figure out whats going on.