dominant mare causing problems

weesophz

weesophz

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mare at our yard has always been a bit of a pain but more so when she is in season.

i was bringing fox in today and she lunged for him, and in diving out of her way fox nearly crushed me, this is a usual thing for her when people bring their horses in when shes in season. i was meant to be bringing this mare in and 2 others but the mare decided to herd them all away and they were all galloping about like loons, eventually got my friends horses but they were up on their toes. couldnt get near the mare and she put her ears flat back and turned her bum, i dont trust her anyway so didnt want to risk a boot to the chest so someone else is getting her when they bring the last horses in.

putting the problem mare in a separate field isnt an option as when we tried this last year she just spent her days running up and down the fenceline calling and wrecked the field and worked herself up. does anyone have any suggestions as to what else we can do? fed up of going to the field and being terrified for mine and my horses life!
 
yeah but she is difficult to get near, thats why i brought fox in first cos i knew id be trying for ages to get her. she really only catches for her owner who sometimes even has to shake a bucket of feed to get her to catch!
 
Well if she is making it dangerous/difficult for everyone else to manage their own horses she doesn't belong in a mixed turn out field at a yard. Does she have a friend who she and it could be turned out in a seperate field? Failing that I'm afriad I would put her in the other field and let her stress, unless her owner can always come up and get her in before anyone else needs to do their own horses.
 
I don't think she should be separated and 'left to stress' at the end of day she is only doing what instinct tells her and fulfilling her herd role so to speak. Is She dangerous to be lead in with another horse? If you caught fox then walked up to her and caught her would she still go to lunge and be aggressive?

Can you take a whip into the field just to crack at her to keep a safe distance when going to bring in fox? My mare used to be very dominant in the field, ears back, would rear at you, especially at the other horses owner. I just drive her off now, act big and growl and she soon gets the picture.. She hasn't been aggressive in a long long time.
 
Most mares do not fill their roles like this. In a well manged field you would be surprised at who the leader is. More likely this is a false alpha. I have one of those. She has 2 horses over here that keep her in line without violence. But I would never have this one in a group that she could be in control of or it would be exactly like this scenario.

Don't know what you can do as these aren't your horses. Try and stay safe. But in fairness someone will get hurt, horse or human, if she's not moved.

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Most mares do not fill their roles like this. In a well manged field you would be surprised at who the leader is. More likely this is a false alpha. I have one of those. She has 2 horses over here that keep her in line without violence. But I would never have this one in a group that she could be in control of or it would be exactly like this scenario.

Don't know what you can do as these aren't your horses. Try and stay safe. But in fairness someone will get hurt, horse or human, if she's not moved.

Terri
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I agree but I'm just saying in her mind she feels she is doing what she needs to do. My mare is a false alpha, she acts dominant etc.. But is happy to be herded by the dominant alpha male and is also bottom of the pecking order for food. However unlike the mare described here she isn't aggressive towards other horses, only people which has been corrected.

All our horses have always been taught to leave other horses alone when being taken in and out the field and are taught to move away from the gates when asked. Maybe OP you could get together with the owner and try and work on the problem and make the mare more happy about the situation :)
 
Mine are very good coming in too. They have learned that from birth. Abba can be a nightmare but she knows her place. This evening my husband brought them all in as I'm sick. He brought in the first and thought he'd latched the gate securely. Came back out to a wide open gate and the other 3 standing patiently to be brought in. Good girls! And Abba was the second in line. Just standing waiting for the stupid human! LOL!

Terri
 
I have a false alpha, she's fine with people but can be downright dangerous when other horses are involved especially with food. Mine has always been alot happier alone, with her own little space where she can see the others without the 'pressures' of controlling them. Sounds like a tricky situation but I wouldn't advocate taking a whip as that could go quite wrong (mine would probably try and kick your head off although she is very well mannered and will move back if you place a hand on her chest, a whip would make her panic).

Sounds to me like a chat with the mare owner would be the right way forward as, presumably, they know her best.
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Mine are very good coming in too. They have learned that from birth. Abba can be a nightmare but she knows her place. This evening my husband brought them all in as I'm sick. He brought in the first and thought he'd latched the gate securely. Came back out to a wide open gate and the other 3 standing patiently to be brought in. Good girls! And Abba was the second in line. Just standing waiting for the stupid human! LOL!

Terri
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They sound like a lovely bunch. I think horses are always much happier and content when they know exactly what is expected of them :)
 
This is a bit unconventional but it works and I found out completely by accident.:D

I clicker train my pony. When we moved to the place I am at now she is in with an older mare. A False Alpha. And she was bloody dangerous if you went near our pony.

So thought I would try and build some type of relationship using clicker training/targeting.

Turns out she hates the noise.

So one is clicker trained as normal and the other knows that a click means go away.
I don't even have to click now, she moves away from the gate, waits for me to approach her and comes nicely to the shelter for feeding.

Hasn't solved the problem of the relationship between the two ponies, but it does mean humans don't get caught in the fight.
 
sorry internet decided to die so its taken ages to get back on the thread!

she can hardly be led on her own never mind with another horse, shes up on her toes dragging people around, not all the time right enough but i dont like handling her, i wouldnt dare try bring her in along with another horse.

Shes been on hormone balancers before apparently but they made no difference, shes a very unpredictable horse anyway (i know they all can be) one minute shes fine then its like something flicks a switch in her brain, and thats when she isnt in season so you can imagine what its like when she is!

Terri we are relatively sure she was responsible for breaking another horses leg a few years back resulting in him being PTS, we cant prove this but even her owner held up her hands and said it was probably her, so i always worry when shes near my boy, shes a hulking big beast and to be quite honest im scared of her! I honestly dont think theres something right with her, i really admire her owner for sticking with it as i couldnt do it if fox was like that.

Agree with you foxtrot the whip would not end well at all, she hates when you raise your arms to make yourself bigger so i dont think cracking a whip at her would be good! Owner knows of the issues and she just tells us to throw something at her to get her out the way, but i dont really want to do that so thought id seek some other techniques on here :)

Impossiblepony i will suggest the clicker thing :) but would it still be successful if there mare wasnt bothered by the noise unlike yours is?
 
My mare is a bit like this too although only with horses! She is well mannered to bring in. I prefer her just being in a paddock with our other mare who is very submissive and just keeps out of her way. However she has been on her own for last few months as was on box rest for tendon injury so don't want her kicking out. I have just tried to put her in with our pony but she was trying to kick her and gallop around which I don't want due to her injury so is back on her own again. Luckily she has no shoes on now!
 
Hi just a suggestion can you split your turnout into mares & geldings, Or put her in a field with horses on either side so she can at least see or touch noses with them.
 
In that case the owner should perhaps look at training her horse to respect people a bit more. Perhaps she doesn't realise that horses don't just automatically learn not to squash people, they need to be taught with patience and consistancy.

Sorry to hear that she finds it acceptable to put you and your horse in danger. And sorry if that seems a bit harsh but as the owner of a similar sounding mare I have put alot of time and effort into getting her manners up to scratch and couldn't live with myself if she hurt any person or horse. Just my opinion that every owner is responsible for their horse's behaviour.

And breathe....
 
FoxTrotx said:
In that case the owner should perhaps look at training her horse to respect people a bit more. Perhaps she doesn't realise that horses don't just automatically learn not to squash people, they need to be taught with patience and consistancy.

Sorry to hear that she finds it acceptable to put you and your horse in danger. And sorry if that seems a bit harsh but as the owner of a similar sounding mare I have put alot of time and effort into getting her manners up to scratch and couldn't live with myself if she hurt any person or horse. Just my opinion that every owner is responsible for their horse's behaviour.

And breathe....
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Plus, why is the mare's owner expecting other owners to just put up with the high chance of being injured or their horses being injured. Does the yard owner/manager not have any input.

Fortunately I do not share facilities but I do have a dominant mare. She lives alone, in sight and smell of the others, but unable to do any damage.
 
You're going to have to have a talk with yard owner. You won't change the mare in the current situation. This becomes a huge liability. I mean honestly, if this was my mare I'd have her on her own in a livery situation. Why people choose to ignore this is beyond me. Not you OP.

As far as teaching the mare manners, well that ship has sailed and unless she's in a different situation completely it won't matter what you do. Talking about the herd situation. That would have to be dealt with daily by one person. Not possible in a livery situation.

Anyway, best of luck. But there is always the danger of a person and or horse getting hurt. No good.

Terri
 
ImmyS,

Yes they are a lovely bunch. 3 in the group of 4 were bred and raised by us which is much easier. We start as we mean to go on. Also it's us that makes sure it all stays in harmony. If I had to move this group to be in with another group order might break down! It's easy to look like a genius when you can manage things totally on your own!

They have their moments though! Some days it's like they just came off the range and have been wild all their lives. They are forgiven though as shennanigans stop at the gate or they can stay out. They know that to be true!

Terri
 
It isn't your responsibility OP but unless this mare eats absolutely nothing except hay/lage, I would be looking at the diet. IIWY, I'd refuse to handle this horse and wouldn't want my horse out with her. If I were the YO, I'd insist that the mare had its back shoes removed for everyones safety and find a paddock where it can be on its own until the feed issues are sorted.
 
we dont have the option of split turnout unfortunately, its just your basic winter turnout field and summer turnout field andthe fattys paddock. always been that way!

her owner is very open to trying things, remember she did agree to putting the mare in a separate paddock previously but it didnt work out. please dont think shes irresponsible its just she never really sees how bad it is as shes the one that turns the horses out every morning and everyone else takes turns to bring the mare in.

she is only fed on hi-fi and a tiny amount of sugar beet, would that be causing her to act like something possessed?
 
No that feed probably won't cause issues. The only thing you can do is like her owner does and that's shake a bucket, get her first, and hope it works. But food makes all of them loopy. Really yard owner should be responsible then for dealing with said mare. These mares aren't easy. As you can see by all of us that have them. But we manage them in a safe and responsible way so horses and people don't get hurt.

Sorry if I did jump to the wrong conclusion. Sometimes on here you get the impression that the owner really doesn't get how serious it can be. So I apologise.

Terri
 
Out of curiosity what is the YOs view on this? It cant be good for business if this horse is putting other liveries & their horses at risk & has/hasnt been the result of an unfortunate accident in the past.
 
pipwat said:
Out of curiosity what is the YOs view on this? It cant be good for business if this horse is putting other liveries & their horses at risk & has/hasnt been the result of an unfortunate accident in the past.
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hes not very horsey, it was his late wife that dealt with all the horsey things, he just tends to fix all the broken things and he has his sheep and cattle to deal with. he usually just leaves us to sort it amongst ourselves as long as we run it by him.
 
weesophz said:
sorry internet decided to die so its taken ages to get back on the thread!

she can hardly be led on her own never mind with another horse, shes up on her toes dragging people around, not all the time right enough but i dont like handling her, i wouldnt dare try bring her in along with another horse.

Shes been on hormone balancers before apparently but they made no difference, shes a very unpredictable horse anyway (i know they all can be) one minute shes fine then its like something flicks a switch in her brain, and thats when she isnt in season so you can imagine what its like when she is!

Terri we are relatively sure she was responsible for breaking another horses leg a few years back resulting in him being PTS, we cant prove this but even her owner held up her hands and said it was probably her, so i always worry when shes near my boy, shes a hulking big beast and to be quite honest im scared of her! I honestly dont think theres something right with her, i really admire her owner for sticking with it as i couldnt do it if fox was like that.

Agree with you foxtrot the whip would not end well at all, she hates when you raise your arms to make yourself bigger so i dont think cracking a whip at her would be good! Owner knows of the issues and she just tells us to throw something at her to get her out the way, but i dont really want to do that so thought id seek some other techniques on here :)

Impossiblepony i will suggest the clicker thing :) but would it still be successful if there mare wasnt bothered by the noise unlike yours is?
Click to expand...

I haven't read all the replies so sorry if this has already been said. The owner sounds very irresponsible tbh, she should be sorting this out and not expecting anyone to have to deal with this mare until she has sorted something out. The mare sounds like she is allowed to get away with behaving badly (in fact she sounds downright dangerous). I would not be putting my horse in a field with her if I had to risk running THAT gauntlet getting it out of the field. I really hope you manage to find an answer, clicker training could be the way forward.
 
We run ours off mains and after 1zap they dont go near again. We tape a bit off to introduce new horses so they dont just get fired out into a new herd
 
our newbies go in the fatty paddock themselves first then get put out. only problem with fencing the mare off is that the horses are free to roam between winter and summer grazing so i imagine she would get stressed if they were in a different field from her. i feel sorry for her owner tbh, she has tried a lot with the mare but i dont think shes wired right, as a foal she tried to climb a tree and fell and as a result she has no top front teeth!
 
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