Old/delicate horse-do other horses know?

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PennywithHenry

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I was just wondering, do horses know when others are old/fragile?

This veteran mare who I have with me for a few weeks due to a friends pregnancy complications is allowed to get away with murder with my (quite dominant) mare Vogue.

Though Vogue isn't a bully, she is always top of the pecking order, and refuses to even share a pile of hay etc...

Yet when they have their dinner, out in the field as they don't come in until late being at home, and have breakfast, dinner and supper, the old lady goes and nose dives into Vogues bucket, cringing and expecting fireworks I was shocked to see that Vogue did nothing. Rather than chase her off as she'd do with any other horse, she simply patiently waited for the old mare to lift her head and popped her own in for a mouthful. I got them back with their own buckets and stood watch, but I was shocked by Vogueys reaction, or lack of, to this.

Also I've noticed that when bringing them in Vogue will wait and walk steadily up the field with the old mare rather than racing to me.

We don't have any seperation issues, I can easily take Vogue out for a hack, or bring the old lady in mid day for an extra feed or whatever, by myself, without so much as calling for each other, so I was wondering, do horses 'know' when another is older, or in need of a little TLC or whatever, or have they just bonded well? Though I would have thought if they'd bonded I'd have a slight more reaction to seperating them?

Pointless post really, I was jst curious if anyone else had encountered this before?
 
I have noticed this year Chancer is a lot more careful with Cairo since his eyesight has got very bad and his hind leg does not work as it should.

Last year they were barrel racing and playing like mad with Chancer jumping all over Cairo.

This year, he carefully herds the old chap round the field and gently grooms him and I have not seen him being at all rough.

This may be due to Cairo being stiff and not as agile as he used to be, but I really do think Chancer is aware and being careful with him.
 
I have seen this!! My friend rescued a little chestnut mare (we have sadly since lost her
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) when she arrived she was a rack of ribs. She has quite bad arthiritis (hard life as a games pony). Friends appy mare is quite a bolshy lady and very unsociable with other horses apart from her best friend.

However, appy took to protecting little mare and when it all kicked off in the field from time to time she would stand in front of the little mare & not let anyone near her.

It was very touching to see.
 
I noticed this when I still had my old mare. She was PTS at 37, and for the whole time they were together (10 years), Rana didn't once raise a hoof to her.

They would share feeds, graze closely together, lie down together, everything. I thought Rana was just an easy going mare, until I got my other mare who was also very dominant. I thought they were going to kill each other. Eventually they settled into a tense toleration of each other.

It's only looking back that I realise Rana really did look after Posie, and even protect her when she needed to, particularly once she became very old and frail.
 
Definitely. When we had our two horses in Jo'burg, our old TB would stick with the pony, who had moon blindness, like glue. One morning, my dad watched as the pony emerged from the field shelter (having slept in a bit) and called to the TB, who came cantering up from the bottom of the field. They touched noses and then walked off together, pony's nose resting on the TB's bum. Needless to say, lumps in the throat all round...
The mare is very gentle with old girls in her field too and I've seen her protect one old girl from some more boistrous ones.
 
Yes absolutely, in the same way they know how far they can go with different riders.
 
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