Nasty Mare

[Bellaboo18]

Poor mare. Can you rename the thread; horse in pain, what to have checked first? She's not nasty she's screaming at you there's a problem and you're ignoring her and worse still smacking her for complaining. If the owners won't support you in getting to the bottom of the problem walk away.

 

[ponies4ever]

Its a hard situation to be in as obviously for your safety you should be walking away but equally the fact that they have said 'she's always been like this' suggests that they are not going to do anything to investigate this clear pain response and so she will continue to suffer. My mare sounds similar but not quite as bad. She is well behaved to ride but can be a nightmare on the ground (pisses off, threatens to bite/kick and has actually followed through a couple times (though not at me), pulls faces, etc) though is generally worse when others are handling her. Ive found that she has mild KS and had one very cystic ovary and the other with a tumour and we're currently recovering from both being removed. Everything they do is for a reason and 9/10 times its due to pain IMO!

 

[rjohnson]

Poor mare. Can you rename the thread; horse in pain, what to have checked first? She's not nasty she's screaming at you there's a problem and you're ignoring her and worse still smacking her for complaining. If the owners won't support you in getting to the bottom of the problem walk away.

please don't get nasty, the reason i came on here was to find out what i could to do help her, i'd like to see you put in that situation

 

[AmyMay]

please don't get nasty, the reason i came on here was to find out what i could to do help her, i'd like to see you put in that situation

The majority are saying walk away.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I have had competition mares for many years and the odd one (certainly not many) could be tricky. I suggest that you always go into the stable with a titbit and the headcollar. Let her come to you for the titbit and then talk quietly to her and put the headcollar on. Then tie her up. Never ever lose your temper with her - that will make her worse. It could be that she has been 'got at' at some time of her life and this is default response. Hopefully as she gains trust in you her behaviour will imrpove.

Only you can decide if you can cope with the mare - you certainly do not want to get hurt. However, my most difficult mare was, in competition terms, my best one and the days when she was really difficult were that days that she won!!

That is fine when the horse is your own, you are in a position to build trust and decide for yourself whether the benefit is worth the risk. You can also decide for yourself whether the horse needs to see the vet. OP is not in the same position, in fact with a part loan, any trust that does build up with the mare is likely to be knocked every time the owners deal with the mare, as they obviously aren't interested in the cause of her behaviour.

 

[splashgirl45]

have you tried putting a headcollar on and tying her up outside the stable to groom and tack up? she may just feel trapped in the stable . we had a horse at our yard who was lethal in the stable, you had to put on brave pants, walk straight in and put headcollar on and bring him outside. he was then easy to deal with and we all thought he had been beaten up in the stable previously and was attacking first. mares are usually much more sensitive ,something like that could have happened to her previously. how do the owners deal with her? if they are rough it will make her worse...i feel very sorry for the mare , she needs careful, quiet handling to gain her trust but if you are only part loaning you will find it much harder... just be very careful that you dont get hurt if you are going to keep loaning and good luck..

 

[JFTDWS]

Poor bloody mare. Her owners need to investigate the cause of her issues - because that's not normal, or ok. You need to walk away - you have neither the experience, nor the support of the owners, you would need to deal with this situation.

And, frankly, I don't like the attitude towards her - she's not "nasty", horses aren't capable of malevolence. She is, most likely, in pain - physical or psychological.

 

[Arzada]

please don't get nasty, the reason i came on here was to find out what i could to do help her

You can't. She isn't yours and her owners don't care.

 

[rjohnson]

have you tried putting a headcollar on and tying her up outside the stable to groom and tack up? she may just feel trapped in the stable . we had a horse at our yard who was lethal in the stable, you had to put on brave pants, walk straight in and put headcollar on and bring him outside. he was then easy to deal with and we all thought he had been beaten up in the stable previously and was attacking first. mares are usually much more sensitive ,something like that could have happened to her previously. how do the owners deal with her? if they are rough it will make her worse...i feel very sorry for the mare , she needs careful, quiet handling to gain her trust but if you are only part loaning you will find it much harder... just be very careful that you dont get hurt if you are going to keep loaning and good luck..

i normally do tie her up outside and tack her up as if i tack her up in the stable i can't get out the way if she does try and kick me, in terms of the owners the first few times i rode her they tacked her up for me and everytime she would move to kick them they would give her a smack (which is what they advised me to do), i can't say it something i really enjoy or want to do to her though.

 

[Orangehorse]

The OP has asked for advice. I had a mare once that was great to ride but "difficult" in the stable and I had a lifetime of horses and ponies and I got nervous of her, but I had bought her. She lived out in a field so although I saw her ridden and was vetted I didn't actually see her in a stable!

It took many months and several different approaches and she did improve a lot, but she remains the only horse that has ever kicked me and that was after I owned her for about a year because I bent down to pick up a brush that I had dropped and she lashed out and got me on the thigh, she was also handy with her teeth when rugging up. It was a. she had been ill as a foal and probably got fed up with constant injections and restrictions, b) some of it was confidence issues, i.e. I had to take charge of her and tell her what to do, c) she liked her space and didn't want fuss in the stable I think she must have felt threatened in the confines of the stable. I sold her to someone who knew all about her temperament and she bit and kicked her new owner! But she was great to ride.

OP, I agree with everyone else that although I feel sorry for the mare, you must send her back. What if a kick connected and broke your leg? There are plenty of perfectly nice horses around to loan. You could do lots of investigations and spend much time and money on getting to the bottom of what troubles her or not be able to find the problem.

 

[splashgirl45]

she sounds like a troubled mare and is not being helped by smacking, you are in a no win situation and i think you will be better to walk away as if they are continually smacking her you wont be able to change her attitude. if she was mine she would have had a complete check up and treatment for any problems, then start again with kindness ....such a shame...