can horses get bullied?

CobSunshine

CobSunshine

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There are two herds at my field. My horse 14.2 likes to hang around with all the small ponies usually. The other herd usually stays across the valley stream. But recently started crossing a lot more. So much so for the first time i found my horse mixed in with them over the weekend.

It got me thinking could he be getting bullied by these big thuggish cobs and is seeing them as the alpha as opposed to me? hence his inherent must return to the herd attitude all weekend.

Do horses get bullied?
 
They definitely can get bullied. I moved my 16.3 hh mare from the herd she was in for several years because a new mare came in and teamed up with the alpha mare and despite my mare being the largest in the field she ended up at the bottom of the pecking order and started being bullied away from the water trough by the two of them. I was also having to mend daily tears at the back of her Boett rug from this.

She has moved into another herd consisting of my other, elderly, mare and my friend's two ponies and is much happier (although she still isn't top of the pecking order - one of the ponies is!).
 
Yep.:mad:

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I am constantly juggling groups of horses to get the right mix. Bit of a pain on a Boarding yard but I can't stand to see horses being chased and damaged - especially when they aren't mine.

Herd dynamics, well that's fine, a bit of ear pinning, leg swinging and "Oi, mind your manners, get back in line" kind of thing is normal, it's the "I will kill you if I catch you" attitude that I don't put up with. Geldings are the bane of my life, hate them, nothing but trouble, I have three in separate paddocks because they hate each other. Waste of space.
 
My old horse ( RIP Desi) was bullied.....2 horses targeted him and cornered him, they actually worked together to do it.....it was like a dog attack.
He kept coming in with chunks taken out of his back end and rugs shredded.

He was moved into a different group ( he was on a livery yard at the time) and all was fine.
 
Yes they can be bullied and many often are.

I am very lucky with my 3 as they all get on very well and have a very established pecking order. The little one would have a horrible life if the other 2 were not so nice to him. When he went on loan to be a companion I had to go and get him within 2 hours as he was being very badly beaten up. They settled ok then wham other horse pitched in and he has always been bit of a wimp and never fights back unless its play fighting with his mates.

Its so important to get the right dynamics within a herd so that all can settle into their routine.

Fatso would be a real problem if he were bigger than the old boy but thankfully size has helped the old boy stay on top!
 
Vixen Van Debz said:
Is it bullying, or is it just a natural part of being low down/bottom of the herd hierarchy? I don't know - perhaps people equate them to being the same thing?
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Swings and roundabouts I think.

There is herd politics and there occasionally appears to be downright nastiness, some horses just don't get along for whatever reasons.

I have a little Paint gelding here who went over a fence at another gelding (twice his size) It wasn't down to overcrowding in that case as they were in 2 acre paddocks alone. He is, however, madly attached to an even bigger gelding who only has to pin his ears for B to meekly move on to the next pile of hay.

I am sure that in part (but not exclusively) it may be due to lack of space, feral horses have all the space they need to escape to a safe distance. In a pasture once a horse has been chased to a corner where else is there for him to go? Over/through the fence in desperation?

Bullying, to me, is when the bullies then proceed to attack a cornered horse and continue doing so at every opportunity. That is when we should step in and do something about the situation, removing the victim, or the culprit, temporarily or permanently, whichever works best.
 
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Yup, I turned my foal out with the yearlings yesterday and after a bit of rough and tumble, with one in particular, they seemed to settle. He was found this morning cowering on the wrong side of the fence, as far away as he could get, in a bit of a state :( Hes been out with other youngsters, as well as my mare and never had an issue. It must have been pretty extreme for him to jump out as hes such a level headed, friendly, easy to get along with, little chap :(

I wont put him out with them again, which is a shame as I personally feel he needs other babies to play with and he was bought as he should have fitted in really well with the current herd. Its also a massive PITA if he cant go in with them. I suspect this is going to involve the purchase of yet another horse, which was something I didnt want to do! But I dont want such a genuine little horse being forced to jump out and get in that state :(
 
very helpful replies thanks all :)

So could bullying take place to the extent the horse isn't being himself around me - anxious/spooky?

Its only occured since the large cob herb crossed the stream at the bottom of the valley.

Would an alpha in a herd bully another horse to stay within that herd away from his friends to assert its dominance?
 
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