Mare hates her neighbour - what would you do?

[Holly Hocks]

I have a 10 year old TB mare. She's always been a little quirky horse and stressy. She has been stabled next to three geldings with no problems after the initial squealing. Not long ago, one of the other liveries moved her warmblood gelding next to my mare - he's a lovely horse - a real gent. There is a wall between my stable and hers and when she put him in, he put his head over to say hello - no scowling, no noise or messing from him- nothing. My mare went mental - kicking the wall, veins coming up, starting to sweat, tail swishing, kicking the wall - I couldn't get anywhere near her. Eventually I managed to get her headcollar on and get her back to the field. He is also in a field at the back of the one that my mare is in and she won't go anywhere near him - she will actively gallop away from him. None of the other mares have this problem with him and in fact my other mare and he groom over the fence. He is not riggy whatsoever in his behaviour - he is a lovely quiet horse. The farmer even built a full size wooden partition between the stables so she can't even see him now at all.

They have been living out all summer, but Weds night the other horse was in as he was at a show yesterday. I brought mine in as usual in the morning to ride, tied her up outside her stable where she usually just stands and eats her net and as soon as she heard him nicker (quietly as well!) she went mental. Trying to rear, spinning, and I couldnt' tack her up - it took me about 15 minutes to get the saddle on and then when I went to get on her she was really wired up.

I can move her one stable further away and put my little one in the middle stable. She can't see him at all, but I am worried about what is going to happen over winter when they are in more. Do I just put her in and let her get used to him (she will only be able to hear him and smell him, not see him) or do I start looking for another yard? (There are no other stables at this yard and nobody will swap, which to be honest I can't blame them as the stable is a bit dark and out of the way). Has anyone else had this problem? My mare is normally the yard tart - lifting her tail at every boy in town, but this year has hardly had any seasons - due to the weather, I think - very rainy up here with barely any sun since April. I am worried that she will get stressy and become dangerous over winter and I don't know why it just seems to be this one horse that she has problems with, so I don't think it's a hormonal thing. Advice and your experiences please!

 

[Enfys]

I think that you need to try her in the other stable for a start, it sounds as if you, or she, are going to get hurt if this continues. I know that horses, can, and do, just dislike other horses for reasons known only to themselves. From her reaction I would say that she has had a bad experience with a horse that looks like him (although I am quite positive that a horse can tell one from another so I am not sure that is actually a valid excuse)

Has she ever had a foal, or been to stud? Sometimes mares have bad experiences, some stallions are not the most gentlemanly creatures and a bad service history is often a reason to consider irrational behaviour (for that particular mare), for example: mares that habitually kick out at horses coming up behind them.

I don't know anything about calmers I am sure others will offer advice on the possible use of those to see if they have an effect.

You have a very obliging YO too by the sound of things

 

[Holly Hocks]

Thanks Enfys - I will put her in the other stable which is just one further away over winter -there are bars between that one and the one she was in, so she will be able to see my little one who won't react at all to the gelding so I'm hoping it will help to calm her down.

 

[Holly Hocks]

Any other experiences or ideas?

 

[Caol Ila]

Welcome to my world. My horse frequently develops irrational dislikes towards other horses and if she's stabled next to someone she doesn't like, woe betide the walls. It's one of her more distinctive personality traits. She hates her current neighbour but there is a solid wall between her and that horse's stall, so after having a bit of a strop for the first few days that horse was next door to her, she more or less settled and learned to deal with it. If we didn't have a solid partition, she'd be attacking the wall regularly.

The two types of horses she hates the most are alpha mares and dominant bolshy, nosy geldings. The kind she gets on with best with is anything that's afraid of her.