help- troubled pony - troubled owner

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wellworn

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Hello
At the beginning of the year I adopted a rescue pony - Tina to be a companion to my mare.

I was told when I took her on that she does nibble at your clothes, however my daughter & I have looked after a few horses and ponies with various issues so we weren't too bothered about this.

Anyway, the pony arrived home & has become great pals with my mare.

However Tina has shown us that she does more than nibble! As we enter the field she will charge up to us, stand up, spin,kick and then pin her ears back and bite,bite,bite.

The biting is her biggest problem so every time she pins back her ears we push her head away. I didn't want to start smacking in case we then had problems of being headshy. This has had some effect & I do think that she is thinking twice before trying to bite us.

However she is still standing up,spinning and kicking. We keep to the same routine every day of bringing in/brushing/check over / hack. Once caught she will walk to the yard and stand quietly, and then hack quietly.

I did not expect a perfect pony from a rescue centre but her problems are plentiful!

What is the best way of dealing with the standing up & kicking. Any tip/thoughts/advice greatly received.

Thank you for reading this, time for a very large glass of wine I think!!!
 
amymay said:
Can you give this horse a job to do?
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OP says they bring in, groom and hack, so presumably the pony is ridden.

This must be some sort of hang up she has about being caught? Only suggestion is to wear your hat when catching her and keep out of the way!

Sorry, I am no help at all ......
 
Amymay, OP has stated the mare is hacked out etc and is fine once caught.

To me, OP, this sounds like a dominance display - you are in "her" field and she doesnt like it... I think its a case of leaving the headcollor on her and using your body pstion to show that you are the boss...strong, calm and consistant handling is the moot point - as Im sure you already are - but perhaps a smack at the right moment might be an idea?

Sorry, cant help much! xx
 
D'you know much about her history?

If I were you I'd be trying to determine whether this is true dominance or fear aggression. You say she's fine once caught and brought in so presumably this is a territory thing, and given she's not pushing you around once caught I'd be inclined to think fear. Either way, I agree with the calm, confident herd leader approach - if it's fear then she should relax with someone in charge and if it's dominance it might take a smack or similar.

What d'you do when she spins and kicks?

ETA: You say you stick to the same routine - have you tried going in/waiting till the fuss has died down/praising when good/leaving or going in/catching/bringing in/turning out without riding etc? Over and over until she realises being in there isn't an issue.
 
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We had a very big TB mare who had been allowed to do as she pleased [owner / breeder said all chestnut mares do this!] I still have the bite mark on my back when she attacked me as I left the stable, as head girl I was expected to deal with this!
The only way we could feed her was to carry the twitch stick in to her stable to keep her "at bay"
We put her out on her own one day, and when I was bringing her in, predictably she charged, all teeth bared, I took my twitch stick and bopped her on the nose, funny she never tried that again!
Next day we put her out with a gelding [unshod behind], who was dominant, she came in looking a bit sorry for herself [ first aid required, and I think she was glad to get back to the safety of her own stable! It was a risky strategy, but otherwise she would have had to live the rest of her life on her own.
She was a lovely ride, and I used to hack her everywhere, she was "my pet", and I remember I came off her once [pheasant involved] and after trotting off for home, she turned and came back when I called her, it was a lovely moment.
Too slow for a racehorse , but I am sure someone got a hellova hunter.
 
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Does she behave the same way if you take your mare out of the field and leave her on her own? Just wondering if she is protecting her territory or "her" mare (and being boss mare of the "herd"). Experimenting with bringing them in and out at different times might give you some ideas about why she's doing this.
My only experience of this was with a 16.2 mare in a field of eight who rapidly became a danger to everyone who tried to fetch a horse from the field and we eventually resorted to taking a lunge whip in to try to keep her at a distance. Nobody could go into the field alone as one person had to catch their horse while another kept her at bay. She was worse if someone was trying to take a mare out than a gelding. Unfortunately, circumstances were such that there was nowhere else we could put her and she had to be moved to another yard.
I'm afraid that is not very helpful but you might have more room to manoeuvre with just the two mares and I wish you the very best of luck in finding the right "button".
 
Look up 'Approach & Retreat' methods like the natural horsemanship trainers use - I won't mention any names as peops all have their pet likes/dislikes about the different bods practicing this!!
The principle is to act as 'boss mare', so when she comes at you aggressively, you need to send her away firmly, use a flappy plastic bag on the end of a stick or something else flappy to encourage her to move out of your space. When she stands still you can approach her gently again, but if she turns aggressive, send her away. You'll need to look up a better description or demo than I have given here but its an effective technique if you know the cues to look for that show when she is willing to consider being more approachable! If it doubt seek professional help, and keep it safe.
 
Make yourself look big, run towards her when she runs at you, a quick oy & stamping your foot towards her & basically making her back away from you. Not just in the field but any other time too. It sounds more like dominance to me.
It could be fear aggression but if that was the case, it would be suprising she responds to you pushing her head away. With real fear aggression, any form of you trying to dominate them usually just makes it worse.
 
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