Horrible horse s last chance with other horses

luckyoldme

luckyoldme

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My horse is for whatever reason toally useless with other horses.
I love him to bits and although i was ripped off when i bought him he has given me my money s worth of enjoyment.
His first companion was a tb and he tore strips off him. I thought it was a one off . He had another companion but as he got older mine bullied him whenever there was a change in his routine... no matter how insignificant the change seemed. He has stood on his own for over a year with one horse over the fence. I think he was ok on his own... it wasn t ideal but neither was putting him in with other horses.
Two fields away there is a herd of 5 clydesdales... and their owner has allways said my horse wouldn t get away with any nonsense in there. For the last week he has been in with these horses and as yet there are no problems. He seems quite at home there s no nastiness beyond normal herd behaviour..
I am interested to know If anyone else has overcome this particular behavioural problem and if so how?
 
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My mare is a nightmare with other horses and is always the dominant one! Luckily she has never done any damage but she is better in a larger group although is still the dominant obe:)
 
Hi Ali,
I was wondering if the larger group would be the answer... everyone kept saying they would sort him out because they are so big.... i personally don t think the size of them makes any difference Chester seems totally unintindated. However he doesn t look as bolshy as he normally would i suppose time will tell
 
We have had a horse (only 5) come for the winter and try as we might, we just cannot get her to integrate with the other 4.

We have turned her out individually for a fortnight with each one in turn, every one she bullies. She has ridden out with the other four, in turn, all together etc. When we did finally put her out with them all together she practically picked on each one systematically, backed up and lashed out at them :(

These horses are out 24/7 but with open access to a huge, warm and bedded down barn which is where their hay is and at this time of year they seem to spend nearly all their time in there. When we turned out this young horse with them, she would go in the barn and not let any of the others in!

So we had to take her out. She is now in a field on her own, next to the others and they spend a lot of time talking over the gate and she comes into a stable at night. She seems much happier and less stressed with this routine.

She is a real people person, absolutely adores humans, the gentlest and kindest little mare but not with other horses. Funny little thing!

ETA - sorry forgot the point of the post! She is the smallest of all of them! three of the others are huge, one an ID, one a Cleveland Bay etc! Size doesn't seem to matter in this case ;)
 
My daughter's old pony 12.1 (out on loan now) could be a nightmare too with other horses and once bullied a big 16hh cob when on her own with him! However she was at boarding school with my daughter for 3 years and was in a big field with a herd of 10+ horses and was fine! I always think that a herd is better and they sort themselves out!
Remember that in the wild, every herd will have a dominant leader!
 
I know every herd has a dominant leader but i honestly think although my horse can usually ahieve this position he is not confident in it. He really does look so natural and content out there with the big boys... I really hope his works for him. The nice thing is he still comes over to me. I have made a point of taking him away from them a few times so that he will not get stressed when i need to work him again. Every time he has moved he has been a bit of an arse to settle but here he seems truly at home. fingers crossed.
 
one month on and all is well. these are the things i have learnt.
Standing in the middle of a field while five clydesdales and one chester gallop up to see you requires spare knickers.
Kissing a clydesdales nose is like kissing a football.
I ve met another horse which could cost me a lot of money!!!!
 
luckyoldme said:
one month on and all is well. these are the things i have learnt.
Standing in the middle of a field while five clydesdales and one chester gallop up to see you requires spare knickers.
Kissing a clydesdales nose is like kissing a football.
I ve met another horse which could cost me a lot of money!!!!
Click to expand...

Pictures would be good :)
Glad it's going well.
 
luckyoldme said:
I know every herd has a dominant leader but i honestly think although my horse can usually ahieve this position he is not confident in it. He really does look so natural and content out there with the big boys... I really hope his works for him. The nice thing is he still comes over to me. I have made a point of taking him away from them a few times so that he will not get stressed when i need to work him again. Every time he has moved he has been a bit of an arse to settle but here he seems truly at home. fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. A lot of people with bullying horses think that they are the dominant leaders, but in my opinion they are insecure horses. We had a livery with a horse like that, that chased, ripped strips off the other's rugs and bullied. It adored my own mare - she was the only one that wasn't attacked, and when the s*** hit the fan, it was my mare that sorted out problems, with the bully hiding behind. We isolated the horse, it could touch over the fence, but not bully. Unfortunately the owner wasn't happy that we were being mean to her horse and left, never speaking to us again. We have never had to replace a rug in the four years since!

Glad it has all worked out for you. Sounds like he feels secure there.
 
My dad's mare in a nightmare (no pun intended)! She is either in love with her companion, which can cause problems as she is very tarty and does not like to be seperated, and if she's not in love she is quite nasty. If she's with something that stands up to her she will fight, but the companion she had when she was last with me would usually manage to get the upper hand. The other probelm is if you take her out somewhere with her companion (show, fun ride, etc) she's dreadful if seperated (loads of calling and nappng) and she feels the need to 'protect' her friend (whether it's one she fancies or bullies) from other horses and will try to attack them! She is absolutely fine, however, and well behaved if you take her out to comps on her own.

She out on loan ATM and I have heard that the loaner now turns her out alone 'cause she's too much of a PITA if allowed company.
 
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What's with these slightly neurotic, poorly socialized horses? Mine is a terror in this respect. She likes chasing other horses into corners and then double barreling them. However, she can be turned out with one other, provided it is extremely submissive and never even so much thinks of challenging her dominance. If it does, it gets the double barreling. And if she's turned out with two or more horses, she claims one as "hers" and keeps the other(s) away. At most yards she is kept on individual turnout, since other owners understandably don't want to even risk it. I've had her for twelve years and she has shown no signs of changing.

On the other hand, if you're a person, she is sweet, well-mannered, and gentle, and people (yard owners) never believe she has this nasty, crabbit side until they see it for themselves. It's a shame. I think in many respects she'd be happier if she had normal equine social skills, and it's a hassle as I've had to move barns a lot due to university, jobs, etc. and finding barns that suit her neurotic needs isn't easy.

My pet theory is that many domestic horses who display such poor social skills with their own species don't spend enough time in herds as babies and/or are weaned too early but not placed with older horses who can show them the ropes and kick their butts if need be. My horse was obviously *capable* of learning manners and respect from a young age, as the humans who were handling her must have instilled this in her with regards to them, but she must not have been around horses who could do the same.
 
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Caol Ila said:
What's with these slightly neurotic, poorly socialized horses? My pet theory is that many domestic horses who display such poor social skills with their own species don't spend enough time in herds as babies and/or are weaned too early but not placed with older horses who can show them the ropes and kick their butts if need be. My horse was obviously *capable* of learning manners and respect from a young age, as the humans who were handling her must have instilled this in her with regards to them, but she must not have been around horses who could do the same.
Click to expand...

You are dead right. My dad has owned his mare from birth (he bought a very poor, in foal TB 'cause he felt sorry for her and thought his wife would like a foal after having been unable to get her own mare in foal, but she ended up turning her nose up at her :rolleyes: ), so I know her full history. When she was weaned she was turned out with my dad's grey gelding. I don't remember him being horrid to her, but she has hated greys and coloured horses ever since (all her BF's have been dark coloured). Dad put the mother of his mare on loan to a friend and sold the grey 'cause he and his wife split up. She took her horses elsewhere and the filly was left alone for a period. She then went to my uncle's as there were one or two companions there.

Eventually, Dad and his wife got back together and their horse were reunited. His mare always respected my stepmother's old mare, but she and SM's younger mare constantly fought over second place, they even had a big bust up one day when out hacking!

However, she is good with people and adores my dad, despite the fact that he has passed on her care to others (including me) for most of her life!

So yes, in her case I think the lack of a herd as a youngster has definitely affected her social skills!

Sorry for the essay! :o
 
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Yeah, that explains it. :-)

My horse was bought by her previous owner from the breeder as a two-year old. I know that between the ages of two and seven, the mare was not turned out in a herd since the owner had small, one-horse-only turnout paddocks on her property. Not an uncommon situation in the US (where we are from), as single-turnout is more the norm there than here. I haven't a clue how the breeder brought up their youngsters but I've always wondered if this had something to do with. Two is still very much in their formative years.
 
Im just reviving this thread for anyone else who has a horse like mine!
its been eight months now and i can t believe my horse is so settled and almost normal!
The gentleman who owns the clydesdales is old school and after slinking in and looking guilty.. expecting to find other horses bitten or cowering in the corner it has finally sunk in that the ginger one is a reformed character. I go to see him and every time i go im met by a friendly face who insists that my horse is no bother!!!!! It is a miracle.
This year my business has really took off and i have been working round the clock to keep up with demand. I have nt had time to ride or do anything else but on the odd occasion i have managed to throw the saddle on he has been a dream.
Once or twice he has tried it on ..but clydesdales have pretty big feet to show him, and he seems to keep a distance evan though he is still very much the boss.
Its just so fantastic to see him with other horses.. i really did think he was going to have to stand on his own for the rest of his life!
 
Glad to hear its worked, it must be those soup plate feet he's wary of :)

Have to say in our herd of 5, its the smallest who's the boss, but he generally runs a fair ship, although gets his big buddy to do a lot of the dirty work :rolleyes:
 
thanks stencil face..
Its much worse when you don t own your own land. Ive had my horse over three years and it s just great to go somewhere and not dread the reception you are going to get when you get there!
 
my gelding is dominant and will chase off other horses in the field if he wants to graze there (is great when getting him in as no other horses crowd round the gate near him, so I don`t ever worry about being in the middle of flying hooves! :)) he does love socializing with other horses though and I would would not be happy to keep him on his own... had a Shetland put out with him and YO was panicking and I said "he will be fine" (shetland could definatly hold his own! :D)
and after about 30 mins of my horse with his eyeballs popping out and an expession saying something like "what the hell is this??? :eek:" and the little Shetland running around under my horses legs with tail up and nostrils flaring (doing his best attempt at an Arab impression) (which was surprisingly good) they soon turned out to be the best of friends (even sharing food) and I felt very guilty when the little thing was sold and my horse had a major strop! :s
 
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