Pony at bottom of pecking order now a bully

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Dancing_Diva

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Has anyone ever experienced a old pony going from being the total under dog in the herd, to a nasty bully who will just walk past another pony in the field squeal/spin run backwards lashing out constantly kicking the other pony, only stopping once the other ponies run off!

The other pony fights back but eventually runs off as the old Shetland just won’t give in despite taking some good kicks herself from the other pony!
 
Yep. I find the more anxious the pony the nastier they are as they go up the pecking order.
I used to have a very calm quiet mare who was the rock of everyone, when she died the mare who was under her ran the legs off everything. She wanted to be boss but was not confident enough to cope, so I had to with another bossier mare and take her away from the geldings.
I would take him out and put him in with something more well matched so he can switch off.
 
There are no other ponies for her to go out with other then my two 13.2 ponies who will hurt her!!

She’s been with the same two Shetland ponies for a year now with me, she also used to live with the same two ponies when they lived at WHW with no problems! She only four months ago started to get nasty like this!
 
No they often don't. My friend had to insist her pony was tested. The vet kept saying the pony didn't have enough symptoms to warrant testing, results came back incredibly high.
 
zaminda said:
No they often don't. My friend had to insist her pony was tested. The vet kept saying the pony didn't have enough symptoms to warrant testing, results came back incredibly high.
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My vet has told me she’s not overly convinced on it being cushings by my description. But, she’s said well do a HTC stimulation test instead of a normal cushings test (this pony was only tested end of May 2017 by a old veterinary practice with a level of 12! However things have changed a lot hence my questioning it) were also testing her globulin levels as a blood test in May showed these was raised mildly but old veterniary practice never said the exact number to myself or ever sent it to my new vets!

I’ve not had to push for anything thankfully.
 
Yes, I've seen this happen several times with horses who become ill. So much so, that if nothing else has changed in the herd, I would take it as a reliable indicator that the horse is not well, even if it looks absolutely fine.
 
ycbm said:
Yes, I've seen this happen several times with horses who become ill. So much so, that if nothing else has changed in the herd, I would take it as a reliable indicator that the horse is not well, even if it looks absolutely fine.
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Thank you, I hope there’s nothing hugely wrong with her! It’s why I’ve got the vet coming as it’s out of character for her with me and her last Home.

She lost majority of her body weight back in May turned out a fractured tooth was the cause, but she also showed raised globulins at same time, however these could have been raised due to the tooth! She’s now fat again (well as far as a old pony is going to be and a healthy weight not over weight!) but I’m not convinced she’s “right”. Just wanted to see if others had experienced the same and what was the cause for them, as this isn’t just herd politics.
 
I've had new ones come in who have things amiss with them and they are not even allowed to look over the stable door or go near the fence as will be hassled, once they have had their teeth done, bit of weight on, wormed, blood count and maybe a tonic they can become like the devil incarnate to the others. Its like they have a personality change for a while but it has never lasted long.

I hope she is just feeling really well and nothing is amiss, I have one who is not quite right at present and I spend 50% milling it over as he spends his time galloping about looking a picture of health, however something is wrong and I always trust my gut instinct
 
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