Horse in field next door

[bz88]

Ok so here is an issue. My pony and two others are on the field together getting along really well(long story short, they been moved out of big herd group due to gate hoggers and bullying by big horses) lovely little herd of three cobs who are very laid back and placid. Mothers dreams all three of them. All three are kid’s ponies(my daughters and other lady daughters)

To get to our field we need to walk them passing several fields with other horses in it, they in their fields we just walk along fence line to get to ours. For past month maybe more we’ve been having a bit of the issue with one herd that bordering with our field and has big horses in it and one of them just can’t stand anything that is smaller than him(he’s been moved several times from several fields due to badly bullying and injuring smaller horses and ponies). We have to walk past their field and every time he sees us walking our ponies he goes bonkers trying to barge the gate, fences (he will literally push his chest against the fence or gate and you can see fences bowing out), running up to fence, rearing, neighing and snoring other two that are with him on the field joining the party acting like stallions leaving our ponies who are very placid in state of panic, pretty dangerous if you ask me when you walk a pony that starting dancing on back legs and trying to break free from you holding him or pulling you with him.

Today was particularly bad morning, I really thought they going to jump out of the field to the alleyway as I was walking my pony to his field. I was really scared to the point I had unclipped lead rope and smacked my pony in the bum sending him to his field( it’s straight down the alleyway so that’s the only way he could go but I was praying for him not to turn around)

I only done this because lady that owns two other ponies was on the field already with hers and hers two we’re getting very distressed so she had to unclip them too as she was fearing the risk of being dragged so ponies started galloping around then headed towards the gate that was open so I thought I’d better send mine to the field quick and run after him and shut the gate keeping all three in the field. Lady was safe and gave me a hand signal to release my pony. I was closer to the gate than two other ponies but I wouldn’t get there fast enough holding my pony who was bunny hopping and spinning so I felt I had to do this. After that when all three were locked in the field I literally got to my car and cried that’s how distressing it was and it’s getting worse and worse every day. Other lady was in pretty bad state too.

This been happening for while now. Every time one pony comes closer to the fence the other horse comes charging trying to jump the fence and bite them again, acting like stallion. They sharing water and big one will come charging every time one of the ponies comes to drink or even heading towards water leaving us putting buckets away from the fence.

We will be speaking to yo asking if perhaps we could switch the fields with big horses so they are at the end field and then we don’t need to walk past them. The thing is all three ponies belong to kids(my daughter and other lady daughters) and we don’t feel comfortable sending our kids to get their own ponies to or from the field in fact kids aren’t allowed by us parents and we always have to be present. Sad but not important thing is they can forget about joy bareback ride to the field. I doubt taking to yo will get us anywhere because he’s “sort out among yourself” type of yo but is there anything else anyone can suggest we could do? I doubt owners of big horses will be willing to switch the fields as ours is bit smaller and they will have to walk that extra minute to get to it. Has anyone been in similar situation and double row fencing worked?

How about duty of care from yard owner if it’s not safe to get your pony in or out of the field?

Advice always appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[Auslander]

Sounds like a horse that would benefit from a well electrified fence!
I'm not recommending that you do the following, as it isn't your horse, but anything here that tries to push through gates/fences, gets snotty with me at feedtime, or launches over the fence gets both barrels from my trusty water pistol.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Sorry but I would move yards if there was no other option.

Can you take a schooling whip or water pistol when you turn your pony out. Maybe a quick squirt in the face would send this nasty horse off.
This is a distressing way of turnout your pony out, sorry but I would go to the entertainer or b&q or such and get a water pistol. This would be my first step. I got a quit kick for my boy and it stopped him kicking the door , a quick squirt at the instant time would make it think twice.

 

[bz88]

Sorry but I would move yards if there was no other option.

Can you take a schooling whip or water pistol when you turn your pony out. Maybe a quick squirt in the face would send this nasty horse off.
This is a distressing way of turnout your pony out, sorry but I would go to the entertainer or b&q or such and get a water pistol. This would be my first step. I got a quit kick for my boy and it stopped him kicking the door , a quick squirt at the instant time would make it think twice.

We are on the waiting list to yard nearby. We want to stay in area because we are hacking distance to local arena hire but move is on the cards. Will try water pistol. Great idea! Thank you

 

[SDMabel]

Failing the YO doing nothing about it ( which would defo be a reason to move if it was me ! ) could you speak to the owner of the horse thats instigating this behaviour ? perhaps they could put up an electric fence to keep their horse from causing injury to both itself and others !

It's supposed to be enjoyable owning a horse/pony , we pay too much money to be in tears and frightened !!

Sounds awful, hopefully the YO will be reasonable and step up .

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Auslander has already said it.

The only other thing I'd add is groundwork for your ponies. They need to learn to pay attention even when something terrifying is happening.

I sometimes fetch in my friends big horses and we have to walk past a very aggressive mare who comes running up to the fence line and turns her bum and kicks out as we walk past. My friends horses are so utterly drilled that the most they will do is look but know that they have to stay with me.

Have to confess, I did laugh when the mare ended up kicking the electric fence after kicking dust at me and the horses a few mins earlier.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I appreciate this is potentially quite stressful for you (and horses are supposed to be fun not tear inducing) but have I read it right that there is a fence between the horses in the field and the horses you are leading?

If there is, I'd be working more on installing confidence and manners in your horses to not react to the horses as the fencing will mean they can't get to you as they would in one field. If you need extra support with this, there are lots of trainers or ground work specialists that can help you and your horse.

I'd expect a child's pony to pass a field of other excitable horses out hacking so would expect the same turning in or out - or for them to be taught to be, anyway.

If you are worried about controlling yours, especially if they have been let go to then gallop about, I'd be using a rope halter or a bridle for more control. Perhaps a hard hat would help your confidence too.

If you think if the other horses are still dangerous, can you video the behaviour when you try to bring your horses in and out so you have something to objectively show the YO and the owner of the horse's but if they are the other side of the fence I'm not sure what more the YO or owner could do other than perhaps an extra bit of electric fencing?

I have to be honest, if someone had taken a water pistol to my horse when it was the other side of a fence, I'd be absolutely fuming.

 

[CMcC]

I had a similar situation when I went to a camp. My pony was stabled in an American barn with a narrow corridor and stables either side. I had to walk my pony past two very large horses who reached out to bite him the first time we walked past. I got hold of a lunge whip and flicked it at them when I walked past either with or with out my pony. I did not touch them at all, just let them know reaching out of their stable and being bad mannered was not allowed.
I did this twice and one of them didn’t bother us again. The other one took a bit longer to get the message. Eventually when they heard me coming they would stick their heads out ready to bite, saw it was me and just went back to eating their hay.

 

[Ossy2]

I think some of the comments saying just move yards is a little extreme given, if I read it right, there is a clear fenced off part to walk your horses safely to your field without going through the field of other horses. I’m not sure my choice would have been to unclip my horse and smack it on the bum to run, but then I wasn’t the one in the situation so I’ll reserve judgement.

Yes if your worried the horse might come through inadequate fencing then yes have the conversation with YO, some electric fencing would help give you a level of confidence but that’s not then going to stop the horses running up and down the fence line. You can not control everything other horses do but you try make this as safe a situation for your self as possible. The fact they have fenced off walkways to fields is more than some places have. It also highlights issues around DIY yards where horses are all in different routines to a point and some horses just don’t cope with that. I think this horse owner and YO could try to work something out to try get the horse into a little less of a stressful situation for it to be in, but given they have moved the horse before and have been trying to find the best place to field this horse is a positive.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I think some of the comments saying just move yards is a little extreme given, if I read it right there is a clear fenced off part to work your horses safely to your field without going through the field of other horses.

Yes, ditto. I had to read it twice in case I'd mis-read the bit about the fencing.

Edited: as decided second paragraph re: hacking wasn't completely relevant.

 

[Ossy2]

I have to be honest, if someone had taken a water pistol to my horse when it was the other side of a fence, I'd be absolutely fuming.

Yes me too!

 

[bz88]

Thank you. I appreciate all comments and suggestions however, my pony has great manners and most of the time he is focused and stays with me so I don’t think he needs more ground work on that that he’s already getting, he’s great hacking past fields where other horses are playing around.
Yes there’s a fence between fields and alleyway that leads to our field but alleyway is quite narrow and can’t be made wider due to hedges and fence that is post and metal type of crate(not sure how you call that I’m not English sorry)
Regarding moving, we are looking to move not only to this issue but others too like I have mentioned yo is “sort out among yourself” type of person and don’t want to know or be involved plus we want more facilities(we are on waiting list to other yard).
Thinking about it whip, crop or water gun won’t solve the problem and can cause more issues among owners(I’d hate if someone came at my pony with crop)
So the only way is to speak to yo and make him act on it as well as owners of other horses.
Child pony is still a pony so I wouldn’t expect him not to get distressed when all that commotion is going on feet away from him. Honestly those other horses were acting like dogs(when you walk behind somebodys garden and dogs are going mental baking jumping at the fence type of behaviour? In all honesty he was pretty good considering circumstances I’d expect him to be worse. Our pony is pretty bombproof but today occurrence was the worse one I’ve seen other horses doing.

 

[Sandstone1]

Could a couple of strands of electric fence be put on inside of hedge or fence a couple of feet back to stop the horses getting right up to hedge? just enough to stop them getting right up to fence and being able to intimidate passers by. Not really on to use water pistols etc on someone elses horse in their own field I dont think.

 

[Backtoblack]

Take a lunge whip or water pistol and give the aggressive horse a real hard smack.

 

[GreyDot]

I would try and video the behaviour and first show it to the owner of the big horse and see if you can sort something out between you. If not, speak to the YO and show the footage, mention the duty of care and fear of this escalating into an accident.

 

[Backtoblack]

I appreciate this is potentially quite stressful for you (and horses are supposed to be fun not tear inducing) but have I read it right that there is a fence between the horses in the field and the horses you are leading?

there is, I'd be working more on installing confidence and manners in your horses to not react to the horses as the fencing will mean they can't get to you as they would in one field. If you need extra support with this, there are lots of trainers or ground work specialists that can help you and your horse.

I'd expect a child's pony to pass a field of other excitable horses out hacking so would expect the same turning in or out - or for them to be taught to be, anyway.

If you are worried about controlling yours, especially if they have been let go to then gallop about, I'd be using a rope halter or a bridle for more control. Perhaps a hard hat would help your confidence too.

If you think if the other horses are still dangerous, can you video the behaviour when you try to bring your horses in and out so you have something to objectively show the YO and the owner of the horse's but if they are the other side of the fence I'm not sure what more the YO or owner could do other than perhaps an extra bit of electric fencing?

I have to be honest, if someone had taken a water pistol to my horse when it was the other side of a fence, I'd be absolutely fuming.

This is the most stupid reply I've ever read,the big horse is being very aggressive and needs a hard smack to drive it away, poor pony is being very good going past it, absolutely not the pony owners fault I'd chase the aggressive horse with the lunge whip and give it a good hiding every time it approachesd.

 

[MuddyMonster]

This is the most stupid reply I've ever read,the big horse is being very aggressive and needs a hard smack to drive it away, poor pony is being very good going past it, absolutely not the pony owners fault I'd chase the aggressive horse with the lunge whip and give it a good hiding every time it approachesd.

Respectfully, I disagree but you are absolutely entitled to your opinion

I will say (and this am entirely personal opinion) am rather glad I'm not a fellow livery at your yard if you'd 'give a good hiding' to a horse the other side of the fence.

 

[Sandstone1]

This is the most stupid reply I've ever read,the big horse is being very aggressive and needs a hard smack to drive it away, poor pony is being very good going past it, absolutely not the pony owners fault I'd chase the aggressive horse with the lunge whip and give it a good hiding every time it approachesd.

If someone did that to my horse they would be running from me. You can not abuse other peoples horses! The yard owner simply needs to sort out fences or move fields. You can simply not go round hitting other peoples horses. What would you do if you injured the horse or it injured you.

 

[MagicMelon]

Take a lunge whip or water pistol and give the aggressive horse a real hard smack.

You cannot go around hitting other peoples horses though! Give it a "good hiding"?! I feel so so sorry for your horses if this is the sort of horrific comments you make on a public forum against someone elses animal. I bet you think your horses are beautifully behaved because youve "given them a good hiding". This is the kind of behaviour that makes equestrianism a massive target by animal activists and rightly so. I would go absolutely nuts if anyone ever did something like that with my animals.

OP, Id speak to the YO and explain he may lose 3 liveries because of this horse. Surely they could electric fence off a corner (far away from the fence line) for the horse to stay in? If he does nothing, Id go to the owner and suggest it to them. You certainly wont be winning her over though if you start spraying her horse in the face or smacking it with a lunge whip. Its not up to you to discipline someone elses animal. If nothing works, I guess moving is all you can do.

 

[bz88]

Take a lunge whip or water pistol and give the aggressive horse a real hard smack.

I appreciate the advice, I really do but I don’t think it’s going to solve the problem. You see if I was in opposite situation I’d hate if someone was coming at my horse with whip or water. I try to resolve this in different way for example to see if strip of electrical fence can be put in aggressive horses field so they can’t come close to the fence if they won’t want to swap the field.

 

[Auslander]

This is the most stupid reply I've ever read,the big horse is being very aggressive and needs a hard smack to drive it away, poor pony is being very good going past it, absolutely not the pony owners fault I'd chase the aggressive horse with the lunge whip and give it a good hiding every time it approachesd.

You can't go around beating other peoples horses up!
I said very clearly in my post that I did not recommend the OP used a water pistol on someone elses horse, before I explained that i have been known to use one to keep myself/horses I am handling safe. These are horses that I am responsible for, I have their owners permission to squirt them if they are being awful, and \i aim for the chest, not the face.
If i caught anyone giving a horse a hiding on my yard, they'd be gone the same day. In this day and age, everyone has access to training techniques that get good results without using violence.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Do you walk between the pony and the 'aggressive' horse? I would, that should give your pony a bit more confidence. I would also try to arrange to walk all the ponies to their field at the same time, so that the big horses aren't getting wound up even before yours gets there.
I'm afraid that if there is a decent fence between the walkway and the big horses' field, your ponies need to learn to ignore what is going on in the field. Of course if there us just an electric fence, I think you are justified in feeling worried an d need to speak to YO

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I wonder if those saying they would be upset/fuming if someone squirted their horse with a water pistol when they're out in their field, actually owns a horse that have factually both bullied + injured several other horses?
I mean I can understand if you get upset if your horse is just a normal horse being a horse, and some idiot goes "Oh my God, your horse came all the way up to the fence when I was leading my horse past, and I had to defend our lives!" Starts squirting water pistols/whipping a whip in your horse's direction (as in the air, not actually hitting the horse with the whip). But that's not the case in this situation.

This horse have already had to have been moved from several fields due to both badly bullying, and injuring not only ponies, without also other large horses he didn't view as big enough. That doesn't sound to me like an ordinary "I'm just going to act stupid on my side of the fence to let you to know I don't like your horse walking by my field" type of horse, without a horse that is seriously trying to get to OP's daughter's pony, to cause damage to it.
If he does break the fence one day, OP risks getting caught in-between, and becoming collateral damage. In theory I think it sounds good that people shouldn't teach other people's pets manners, but in reality, I will do what I can to protect my pet, and myself.
Maybe OP's daughter could film how the horse behaves when OP leads the daughter's pony past "his" field, so OP have proof of how dangerous the situation is.

 

[AmyMay]

Rather than hogging the fence line, can you just not move in to the centre of the field you’re walking through?

 

[Hallo2012]

in the first instance just go and speak to the owner of the problem horse, like an adult, no tears or blame and see what they say-they might be horrified and be 100% willing to fence it further from the walkway.

DO NOT start squirting or hitting other peoples horses.

if the problem horse cannot be moved and it absolutely cannot actually make contact with yours over the fence then you need to work on your own pony-as the owner of two actual stallions i still expect mine to behave whatever is going on next to them etc-i would forgive them prancing and blowing but they are NOT allowed to push me around, barge in to me, pull away etc.

walk between them and the fence line and don't rush, walk at a steady pace and if the pony rushes or pushes stop them, back up, bring the attention back to you then proceed slowly, the odd treat wouldn't go amiss in this particular situation to build confidence.

 

[bz88]

Rather than hogging the fence line, can you just not move in to the centre of the field you’re walking through?

I’m sorry I don’t understand that? I’m walking in alleyway which leads to my field and it’s only way to get to my field.

 

[BallyJ]

I would be happy for someone to wave a whip at my horse to back them away from the fence - If I found out they'd 'given it a good hiding' they'd know about it.

I think the best option is to request to swap fields again if someone asked me this I would be more than happy to make their life safer and hopefully make mine less of a nuisance or I'd be more than happy to fence it back from the walk way - all very reasonable suggestions!

 

[SDMabel]

I dont think it's a pony getting wound up by excitable horses down the side of the walk way - in which case i would defo suggest ground work and leading out in a bridle perhaps to start with.

From the original post this is a horse that's lunging at the fencing (which OP describes as not being very strong) that's not safe. No matter how well mannered and laid back any pony is , if this horse does happen to get out of the fencing that it has no respect for ... what would happen then ?

If the yard owner is unwilling to step in and take precautions to stop this from happening then yes I would move yards.... I dont think that's an over-reaction ... it should be enjoyable to spend time with your horse.

Edited to add - The owner of the horse might not be aware of how it is behaving if they are not there / YO doesn't get involved. A quick polite chat with maybe video evidence and any half decent human being would pop a strange of electric up to stop it getting to the post & rail fencing. It's not fair to go at the horse with a lunge whip etc....

 

[Squeak]

If you do talk to the owner of the horse that's causing the problem, it might be worth mentioning that the horse is risking injury to itself as well and from the sound of it, it finds it very stressful. So it's not just your horses that would benefit from swapping fields but the others too.

 

[bz88]

Spoken to owner of the aggressive horse and she totally ignored me and laughed saying “you know he can’t cope with small ones” next thing is speaking to yo.
I appreciate advice about teaching my pony to cope but I’m sorry I haven’t met or seen a horse that will not react to horses galloping and charging straight at him to very close proximity. More likely aggressive horse need teaching manners and needs ground work whos owner doesn’t do with it. He won’t stand still when tied up for example. My pony will cope with rider on in those circumstances but not walked in hand.