Can you stop a horse being bossy...

[RuthnMeg]

to the point its actually evil??
Put you in the picture about what iam on about;
My three girls are happy in their field, Meg is boss, Candy tries it on but respects Meg and Juno is the granny peace keeper!
Their neighbours are;
On one side Paddy a lovely chestnut event horse who is as sweet as pie - and Juno loves him!!
On the other side are;
Danny, Pogo, Arty and Bob. All boys and all like the girls.
BUT D,P and A are sweet enough, yet are not allowed to come near the fence as B is hideous. B will chase, kick, bite and be simply evil towards his feild buddys.
Even Meg hates him!! She has been in season lately but won't 'show' to him! He is such a thug and I feel sorry to the others -
SO can humans change the pecking order and demote the top horse off his high spot? He is top horse through being evil and also has no manners on the ground either with humans.
((All the geldings are not mine, - my girls have been in the same field for years))

 

[Natalie_H]

I would be very interested to see any answers to this. I have always resigned myself to the fact that what will be, will be in the field.

It is my horse who reigns supreme in our field, and whilst I do not think him "evil", he does rule with more of a rod of iron than I have ever seen in 28 years of horse ownership. He is a gentleman to handle (although he is not fond of being groomed - sensitive TB skin), and some days he is less bossy than others. I would love for him to chill a bit more in the field, but have always assumed that you have to let them sort themselves out in terms of pecking order?

 

[clairefeekerry1]

hmm, i have a very very bossy mare. she rules her feld with a iron rod and what she says goes. i would tend to say this is her general demeanor with everything and she has always been like this, tho she is getting better with age. she will kick, chase, bite tho less more now as the others wont cross her, or in fact go near her. she is also a bit of rude tube if people are entering the field/trying to get there horses out, however i have encouraged them to stand for no nonsanse, tak lunge whip etc. she (following a few understandable complaints) has now been moved into another field with a couple of mares who dont really leave the field so the problems are less. but i think she always be a bit of a pain in the but really.

 

[Elsbells]

My mare is the same and so she has her own paddock, otherwise it would be amost impossible to fetch in any other horse other than her.
she was though a great boon for a dealer friend of mine, who bought in young ex racers in need of tlc and rehabilitation. My Els ruled over a field full of them with a controlling rod of iron. Fair to say though, none were ever stressed or unhappy, neither were there any kicks, bites or bullying. Even though they came and went frequently they treated her as a god and were a happy and healthy herd living out 24/7.

The trick is to accept their personality and manage, manipulate rather than fail at trying to get control because IMO it can't be done.
Maybe some other posters may know otherwise? It would be intresting to find out.

 

[loz9]

not quite sure if this relates or helps, but i have a very dominant mare towards certain people/horses. Her dominance stems from high testosterone levels, which in theory should make her alfa mare, aggressive etc.
For me to handle she is as sweet as anything, wont try her luck or push it, so i guess im boss over her through lots of groundwork. When my mum handles her there is a mutual respect, but a level of uncertainty over whos boss. When a stranger handles her there isnt a chance in hell, shes boss irrelevant of their behaviour/body language. I think she views them as a new herd member who she can dominate.
In the field she is with another mare & an elderly gelding, but is bottom of the herd. She doesnt mess with the other mare & it only takes a face pull for her to go running. With the gelding it can sometimes require a bit of a nip to get the idea! However, when you try & put a new horse in with her she will try her best to dominate them, usually being quite agressive. This is generally ended by the other 2 coming over & dominating her, resulting in her ending up at the bottom of the herd again & the new horse being above her.
To be honest with my mare the worst thing that you could do would be to keep her alone. She would get very bored (shes very social, mutual grooming, playing) & it is likely that her dominant behaviour would be directed towards me again (we used to have huge issues here!). So in my case the key i have found is to put a very polite (both towards people & other horses) but very dominant horse in with her, that tolerates nothing!

 

[Denise657]

My mare is very bossy and is the leader of the other horses within the field, i find that when i enter i become leader as she listens to me attentively. She also prevents the lower mares from 'challenging' me as if they start behaving agressively she chases them off. ( i groom them and she's fine with that as long as they don't try bite me or anything)
When i'm not in the field though she rules them quite harshly, i think its just how they are though because if the lead horse isn't stern with the others they will end up fighting about who's stronger than the other etc.

 

[Booboos]

I don't know about changing things between horses in the field, but it's a good idea to teach the horses that when you walk in the field you are boss. Mine are never allowed to start any mock-fights or mess around with each other when I am in the field as it's just too dangerous.

 

[fitzaud2]

If you figure it out, please let me know. My sisters horse and my other sisters partners horse live at my dads, I have 5 here, with no grass, and in May, i am still feeding them hay, but i cant bring them home, as they will get so badly bullied, they bleed from the bite marks. Am trying to find grazing at the moment, but isnt it mad that i cant take them home because of those friggin bullies!!!!!