my bunny boiler mare!!!

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neweventer

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My mare has decided to stalk another horse today!!!

Actually in all fairness it's a little disturbing.
She used to be turnned out with a mare about 3 months ago. They've been seperated since then with no ill effects- or so I thought. This mare was put in a paddock next to mine yesterday for the first time and my horse spent all day yesterday and today pacing up and down the fence whinnying like there is no tomorrow.

She doesn't tolerate other horses/people very well, but she seems to be infatuated with this one horse.

I'm worried that she'll end up doing herself damage by being like this. I've never seen her act this way.

ANy advice????
 
Can you not put the other mare in with your mare. Horses don't forget friends and sounds like your mare want to just say hi. The only other thing would be move your mare to another field so see can't see her friend.
 
Horses do form very close bonds sometimes so you do need to put them out of sight from each other. If you did put them back in together, you could end up having problems when one is taken out leaving one behind..
 
Ahh bless her quite sweet, horses make strong pair bonds so if she was friends with this horse it is only natural she would be happy to see her we have to remember that just the same as us that horses will be happy to see an old friend.

She will settle down but it is only natural in the wild horses would live in herds and have their friends and family groups for a long time it is only by human intervention they are seperated and moved around alot so dont be too hard on her and if she doesnt usually have friends then matbe it is a really special friend so ahh :)again.
 
If my memory serves me well the traditional thinking was that pair bonding was perfectly normal and healthy. New research now shows that pair bonding/strong affiliations are not the norm as horses should be able to live within a heard (albeit with a hierarchy) reasonably peacefully, other than around feed where arguments will break out.
Extreme pair bonding with separation anxiety is caused by problems in hand and/or under saddle according to McGreevy. For example, the 'stop/go' responses may be poorly trained and poorly understood by the horse. Is she hard to stop? Leans on the bit? Hard to perform the half halt? Or, is she not off the leg? These are all symptoms that the horse doesn't/can't perform the basic movements and is confused about the aids/cues. This is because they have not been excecuted correctly. For example, releasing the rein pressure within 3 beats as soon as the horse provides the correct stop/slow response. When this doesn't happen the horse forms abnormal affiliations with other horses as they provide security for a horse that doesn't understand what is required of it when engaging with humans. This would seem to follow as you've stated that your mare doesn't tolerate other horses/people well....this is abnormal considering that they are social animals and rely on the heard for safety and company?
Before I got into training horses using learning theory/behaviourism I had a mare that exhibitied separation anxiety with her 'pair bond'. She also used to scrape the wall with her teeth (sounded horrible!!) when people were around. I re-trained the stop/go/turn/yeild (releasing the pressure the moment she gave the correct response as her main problem was with the 'stop'). Her separation anxiety literally stopped within about 3 weeks and i noticed an immediate reduction as soon as I began the work - it was amazing! It was because she felt clear about what was expected of her in both her in-hand and ridden work and thus the anxiety decreased and went away!
 
TONKS, thankyou for you imput.
Your suggestion has more then a ring of truth to it.
She has been a very difficult horse to train. She came out of racing at 7 and did nothing till I got her, so it's like having a complete baby.
She's very talented but has had great difficulty with half halts.

I think she'll have to be in another field tomorrow as I find it distressing to watch
 
I know it may be difficult to watch her but she needs the horse at the moment to provide her with security - as long as she can't hurt herself. I would suggest going back to basics with her to re-train the stop, etc, and even enlist the help of a professional as it really will cure the problem, in my opinion, as she becomes secure in her work. Good luck!
 
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