Is she / why does she get kicked all the time?

[Honey65]

Hi guys. I recently lost my Welsh D mare and am looking for a new horse to love. There is a very sweet suitable horse on the yard - she is a 4 year old IDX. To ride and handle she is super chilled and travels well etc.

But... she is always getting 'kicked'! We turn out in pairs / 3s and in the last 3 months the current owners have had the vet 3 times to sort small injuries to left forearm. Each time she has been with a different, less antagonist mare. The last time she was with my totally gentle low ranking Connie. No one ever sees it happen but it definitely looks like a kick injury.

Should I steer clear of buying a horse like this? Is there something she needs....socializing or something?

 

[Shay]

She's young - she's probably playing. She might do better with more space and a larger herd. If she wants to play and the other horse doesn't sooner or later she is going to get kicked when the other horse tells her to push off and stop bothering them. If she has more options to play with she has a better chance of finding someone who would happily play with her at any given point rather than annoying the sole horse to the point of getting told off. The other alternative (although more common in geldings) is that she isn't being kicked she is actually being bitten. Young geldings play dominance games trying to see who can bite the other's knees. I'm not sure if mares do, but injuries to the forelimbs in a gelding would be more likely to be bites. But the solution is the same. A larger herd and more space. She's only 4. She'll grown out of it.

 

[Gloi]

If she is getting turned out in a pair with different horses she might not be getting a proper chance to settle into a relationship with that horse. My youngster is a pest with a new horse and torments them to play and comes in with minor injuries but once he has been with them for a while things settle down and he never has any marks on him.

 

[Orangehorse]

I had a mare that was always getting kicked, but she kicked too. I found out that she had been ill as a foal and I guess she missed out on a lot of socialising and was suspicious, she also was frightened if a horse came towards her, in a collecting ring for instance, as though she had been knocked into or kicked.
Maybe this horse might be one of the rare ones who is happiest alone.