Jealous horse - advice?

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Hovis_and_SidsMum

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We've now had Hovis for about three weeks and sidney is showing no signs of getting any better with him. In fact if anything its getting worse.
When we go into the barn in the morning (we're always first) Sidney lunges at Hovis. If we go out of the stables first he bites him. If we let sidney go to the field first he won't let Hovis into the field, won't move from the gate and lunges at him. Its the same fetching them in.
But only when i do it! With anyone else they're ok but sidney is fighting with Hovis over me all the time. Hovis is too dippy to retaliate but its getting silly.
Anyone got any tips? When I'm on my own with either of them they're loving and soppy. Hovis is fine with sidney but doe stick his head over as if to say "I'm here mum". sidney goes nuts if hovis comes near me. I'm at my wits end of what to do and am worried of what they're going to be like riding together. Sidney kicked the last horse I rode out with him on.
frown.gif

Any help appreciated.
 
Titan got very jealous in the summer when I was bringing him and KrashnBurn's horse Peg in.

Titan started to put himself between us and one time lunged at him while I was leading them in. It was a really nasty lunge, ears back, eyes rolling and I swear I heard his teeth snap together!
shocked.gif
Very out of character for Titan. My instinctive reaction was to smack him across the chest with the end of the lead rope to get him back out of mine&Peg's space (while he was still lunging) and shout&growl threats to batter him if he ever did it again. He stopped being really nasty from then on. He wasn't very happy about it but that's tough. As far as I'm concerned I'm the alpha and I dictate to him whom I let in to my space, not him.

He still puts his ears back at anything that's near to me when I go to catch but doesn't carry these threats out like he did that time.
 
I too have a very jealous horse. I am always wary when riding out with his stable mates as although in the field he is submissive when out on hacks he will lunge at the other horses. It is a worry and to be honest I don't know what can be done about it. I will keep an eye on this post for suggestions as I could do with a few myself!
 
No help from me either i'm affraid! My horse is jealous of my ponies. Wont let anyone go near them if he wants a fuss and won't let me them near me, also occassionally has a go at the dog to! I never kicks them mind just warns them, and lunges and sometimes nips. But the ponies do wind him up at times to, they take a running jump at him then run off
grin.gif
not very funny for him though so he just gets him own back! I just try and avoid the situation. I have been asked to take a horse on while it is for sale as the women is really struggling but am not sure about it partly because of my horse being so jealous! That makes me think actually, think i'll post a question!
Hope your situation get better, and three weeks isn't that long it has always taken mine weeks to get used to anyone in nearb fields before you can put them together. Have you looked on parreli? Don't think they know everything but they are into that whole behaviour/body language thing!
 
I'm going to raise a contentious point . . .

When I'm around my horses, I'm the boss. I don't mean I'm nasty to them, or even direct them particularly unless there is a need, I mean I am the highest up the hierarchy so if I'm there I'm the one making decisions about who goes where and whether or not discipline needs to be meted out.

I think a lot of people secretly love it when their horses act like this - they think it means the horse "loves" them best. But what it really is is the horse protecting the owner and determining his/her movements because it considers itself socially superior. Even that doesn't sound SUCH a bad things until one considers a couple of things.

If the horse kick or bite in your vicinity they are FAR more likely to hurt you than each other. A warning tap to another horse can break a person. So there is no margin for error.

Secondly, much of our control over horses (again, ESSENTIAL if everyone is to stay safe, even leaving aside riding goals) is mental and depends on horses seeing us as socially superior. This is not "mean" or "unfair" it is how horses work - someone has to be the boss and if it's not the person it's going to be the horse. This might even work okay if the horse could actually control its environment (which is what it is trying to do in cases like this) but it's simply impossible when we make them live in our world. If we remove horses choices by making them live with other horses etc. then we owe them to make good decisions for them.

I had a gelding (although no one told him - stallions and mares reacted to him as if he was entire) who was absolutely insane about stuff like this. He came from a line of very quirky TB's, known for their aggression, and his early handling hadn't helped. He was sure he was king. He once jumped out of a paddock crossed two others, and jumped into a ring to attack a horse I was riding!! Another time he tempted a young horse I had tied up in the aisle to move towards him and then bit him brutally at a point he could barely reach. He went over doors, through windows - it was unreal. And very dangerous. In the end he was simply kept away from all other horses, especially other ones I rode, and we tried as much as possible to never let him see me work with other horses. It was simply not worth the risk.

Quite frankly, I loved it when I was a kid (it was pretty clear to everyone who was the boss of the operation but we won A LOT so lived with it) in that "Lassie Come Home" way but I realised as the years went by I'd also caused him a lot of stress by not trying to rectify the situation somewhat. And it has made his retirement VERY difficult as he still needs to be kept segregated. I'm not sure if I could ever have sorted out a mutually agreeable situation with another horse like that, but I've certainly been very careful to set the ground rules with other horses.

And it's worked, even with stallions and very dominant mares. I have to keep my guard up and pay attention - as any good leader would - but they respect that we all have to live by my rules, at least as long as I'm around. This is how horses live with each other and it's not unfair to expect it.
 
I don't tit bit as i think it encourages them to bite, and will make most horses defensive around other horses, mine only usually do it at feed time.
 
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