hannah87
Well-Known Member
Any ideas or suggestions greatly welcomed!
My (tb x Welsh) 16 year old mare Bramble is a complete madam with other horses, and her disgust for most geldings and many mares has grown over the years (I have had her since a 4 year old). I will add here she is perfectly fine with people, in her stable etc and would never so much as pull a face at a person so its not typical moody mare syndrome.
She loves our old gelding and very occasionally strikes up a bond with another horse - usually a mare. We keep her and our old boy at my Mums now but over the last 4 years she has moved around abit with me on livery whilst I was at uni. For example she fell in love with a friends little mare, who is very dominant and they got on really well. I have found other horses become very defensive of Bramble and really fall for her, whereas she is very aloof and not very affectionate. My friends mare would "defend" their field from the horses next door if they so much as looked at Bramble. Another friends gelding got so attached to her from just being stabled next door on a night that he would jump out the field to find her - she acted as though she couldnt give a toss about him. Anyway my point is that she has she seems to have this OTT effect on other horses.
Anyhow, she is a very sharp ride, and on hacks has become increasingly difficult with other horses. She has always been difficult on hacks, and beleive me over 11 years we have tried everything, you just have to get on with it to a certain extent. BUT as she has got older and her distinct lack of tolerance around geldings has grown we are having real trouble with her lashing out/turning herself inside out/getting in a state on a ride with a horse she takes a dislike to. The horse can be being ridden a good distance away and only has to look at her and she flips, swinging her self around and getting into a state, with a look of pure evil on her face. We are not novices by the way, but it is very hard to control her backend when she gets like this.
A friend has recently bought a new horse (gelding!) and we have been trying to introduce them in a way to try and make her more tolerant, as in an ideal world they would be ridden together and travelled togther alot. Rather than hacking we have been schooling them togther so she cannot get close to him but still has to work and concentrate around him. She goes around with a murderous look on her face and swishing her tail, quite comical really but I just know how much of a nightmare she will be out hacking.
Does anyone have any ideas on ways to help her accept him?
My (tb x Welsh) 16 year old mare Bramble is a complete madam with other horses, and her disgust for most geldings and many mares has grown over the years (I have had her since a 4 year old). I will add here she is perfectly fine with people, in her stable etc and would never so much as pull a face at a person so its not typical moody mare syndrome.
She loves our old gelding and very occasionally strikes up a bond with another horse - usually a mare. We keep her and our old boy at my Mums now but over the last 4 years she has moved around abit with me on livery whilst I was at uni. For example she fell in love with a friends little mare, who is very dominant and they got on really well. I have found other horses become very defensive of Bramble and really fall for her, whereas she is very aloof and not very affectionate. My friends mare would "defend" their field from the horses next door if they so much as looked at Bramble. Another friends gelding got so attached to her from just being stabled next door on a night that he would jump out the field to find her - she acted as though she couldnt give a toss about him. Anyway my point is that she has she seems to have this OTT effect on other horses.
Anyhow, she is a very sharp ride, and on hacks has become increasingly difficult with other horses. She has always been difficult on hacks, and beleive me over 11 years we have tried everything, you just have to get on with it to a certain extent. BUT as she has got older and her distinct lack of tolerance around geldings has grown we are having real trouble with her lashing out/turning herself inside out/getting in a state on a ride with a horse she takes a dislike to. The horse can be being ridden a good distance away and only has to look at her and she flips, swinging her self around and getting into a state, with a look of pure evil on her face. We are not novices by the way, but it is very hard to control her backend when she gets like this.
A friend has recently bought a new horse (gelding!) and we have been trying to introduce them in a way to try and make her more tolerant, as in an ideal world they would be ridden together and travelled togther alot. Rather than hacking we have been schooling them togther so she cannot get close to him but still has to work and concentrate around him. She goes around with a murderous look on her face and swishing her tail, quite comical really but I just know how much of a nightmare she will be out hacking.
Does anyone have any ideas on ways to help her accept him?
