Sudeen aggressive behavoir

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kellyb

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Hi, We have our first pony, a loan pony who we have had for about 3 months now. I have posted about her (Brandy) before and received lots of help so Im hoping maybe someone can help again. Today my daughter and I went to the field to clean up the poo's and to take Brandy a beach ball we bought for her.

Brandy was fine and even seemed happy to see us, running up towards the fence when we arrived. We hope that the ball will help to desensitise her and also give her something to play around with. She seemed a bit nervous of it at first but then nudged it along the ground a few times before getting back to her grazing. I tucked the ball into a distant corner of the field while we went to pick up the poo's.

She ignored us for the rest of time which she has been doing lately, just concentrating on grazing. When it came time for me to go she seemed to be trying to block my way so that I couldnt go over the fence and out of her field. When I tried to go around her she threw her head around very quickly and tried to bite me quite agressively.

Luckily I was pretty quick and she didnt get me. I told her off and stood my ground and she did a "mini" charge at me, ears flat back and really scary and then jumped around quick to give me the bum! I jumped fast out of the way and then she came at me and did the same again! This time I started to feel scared (she is our first dont forget!) and although I tried not to show it, Im sure she knew. I calmly yelled to my little girl to bring me a crop and she did but by the time she got it to me Brandy had walked off and left me alone.

Yesterday my daughter rode her in the field and she was really quite lovely and sweet and as mentioned she seemed perfectly fine when we went into the field.

I have noticed just the last few days that when I go to leave she acts a bit strange like she wants to block my way. When we first got her and the grass was almost non existent we would give her hay when we went over for the late feed but she has a large field now with what I beleive to be plenty enough grass. She seems to be maintaing a healthy weight and a more experienced neighbor says she is getting plenty.

She has not been getting the hay for weeks so you wouldnt think she would suddenly get funny about that would you? I would have thought if she was going to be funny about it it would have been as soon as we stopped giving it to her.

I dont know what could have caused this sudden scary aggressive behavoir...Any ideas?

thank you.
 
I have known horses to be like that because they are hungry, not sure if thats got anything to do with you mare though, is she in season? many mares can get aggressive because of it, when you see her tomorrow try not to be scared because she will sense it.
 
Sorry, just realised i spelled "sudden" wrong in my title! I know this sounds silly but how would I know if she was hungry and not getting enough to eat other than by weight loss, which she does not seem to have? Also, what kind of signs would I see to know if she is in season? I think I read that their bits get swollen but is there anything else that would tell me?
Thank you.
 
Is she turned out by herself?

sounds like you and your daughter are her herd - she's acting as the alpha mare, the one who keeps the herd in order and she's trying to keep you in order, stop you leaving - at least she's accepted you!!
 
spacefaer said:
Is she turned out by herself?

sounds like you and your daughter are her herd - she's acting as the alpha mare, the one who keeps the herd in order and she's trying to keep you in order, stop you leaving - at least she's accepted you!!
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Ditto this, could well be it, most horses would rather have company.
 
kellyb said:
Sorry, just realised i spelled "sudden" wrong in my title! I know this sounds silly but how would I know if she was hungry and not getting enough to eat other than by weight loss, which she does not seem to have? Also, what kind of signs would I see to know if she is in season? I think I read that their bits get swollen but is there anything else that would tell me?
Thank you.
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I don't think you really would know, my lad had plenty of meat on him but acted this way a few times, I did up his feed and it stopped, like someone once said to me, just because they are well covered doesn't mean they don't get hungry.

Not to sure about the season, (I don't own mares lol) but I know they squirt, you might see it running down her legs.
 
she is with a little shetland but the shetland is on restricted grazing so they are in the same field but seperated by an electric fence so that the shetland has only a smallish area. Brandy was def. the dominant girl of the two of them and even though they were visiting each other through the fence at first I have not seen them do this lately, they seem to have gone their seperate ways for awhile.

Well I guess i could look at this positively and see that she has accepted me! I quickly learned to be the head of the herd around her but today it was like she suddenly decided to challenge the pecking order?! it was just so sudden and out of the blue...
 
She just doesn't want you to leave the field hun. When you tried to go round her, that's exactly what a lower ranking horse would do. It lights up a horse language sign on your head that says "Push Me Around". You need to very firmly nip it in the bud right now. For now, for safety's sake in the field, always take a crop (or football rattle or 2 saucepan lids or one of those party blower things) and if she is in any way disrespectful, let her have it immediately. Aim to startle her rather than start a battle. Lead mares make lower ranking horses move: away from food, away from the best grass, away from their friends, away from the trough, away from the gate. Once you can remind your ned that YOU can make HER move, she'll begin to see you in a different light. You must always, always be 100% consistent, ie if you send her away for something one day then let her do it the next, she won't understand the rules so her behaviour could get worse. You could back these new field rules up with half an hour's ground work every day. Get her to move back when you ask, or sideways or come forwards. Start with "loud" easy instructions eg a firm and uncomfortable poke in the chest to go "back", but after a while just lifting your finger an inch to gently point at her chest will make her respectfully move back. Horses like to have leaders. They like to know that someone else is in charge of keeping them safe. (Bossy mares can need persuading of this!). If you can show your horse that YOU are the one in charge, she'll be putty in your hands but you MUST be consistent x
 
thanks so much for that kind and helpful reply. I have done the backing up thing in the past but havent done it for quite awhile. You are right when saying bossy mares needs some "persuasion" because she doesnt do it easily. I always try to be the boss and if in the right mood, she seems very happy to let me but every now and again she is not. I will do more ground work and see if I can remind her!
 
spacefaer said:
Is she turned out by herself?

sounds like you and your daughter are her herd - she's acting as the alpha mare, the one who keeps the herd in order and she's trying to keep you in order, stop you leaving - at least she's accepted you!!
Click to expand...

I agree with this. When you were putting hay in the field for her she was concentrating on eating that as you left the field. Now she has nothing to distract her. The safest way to deal with this is to catch her up, walk to the gate with her and then let her go, after your little girl has gone out of the gate. IMO all horses need company in the field, preferably equine.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I agree with this. When you were putting hay in the field for her she was concentrating on eating that as you left the field. Now she has nothing to distract her. The safest way to deal with this is to catch her up, walk to the gate with her and then let her go, after your little girl has gone out of the gate. IMO all horses need company in the field, preferably equine.
Click to expand...

With regards to "company" in the field, do you mean that you think Brandy is not happy with the fact that the shetland (sasha) has been seperated by the electric strip? They are next to each other, just the strip runs between them now so that Sasha doesnt get the grass (she has had laminitis). Normally they are together and Brandy is very bossy (and kind of mean) to Sasha but when the grass came in and Brandy needed more than Sasha could have, they were seperated.
 
kellyb said:
With regards to "company" in the field, do you mean that you think Brandy is not happy with the fact that the shetland (sasha) has been seperated by the electric strip? They are next to each other, just the strip runs between them now so that Sasha doesnt get the grass (she has had laminitis). Normally they are together and Brandy is very bossy (and kind of mean) to Sasha but when the grass came in and Brandy needed more than Sasha could have, they were seperated.
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Yes, she no longer has somebody available to be her herd. They cannot touch over the electric fence, so in effect are in 2 separate fields.
We used to have a TBxWelsh mare who was at the bottom of her herd (all owned by us) but she would try to boss us around. She would often try to block the way out of her stable or try to stop us leaving the field. We kept her for 20 years and we often had to remind her of her manners. Groundwork is a good idea but can take some time to establish. In the meantime, especially as your child is involved, I would always lead her to the gate and then let her go. This establishes your role as 'lead horse' and keeps everybody safe.
 
ok, I understand what you are saying. It is kind of like a dog, where you should enter a doorway first so that they dont think they are number 1 in the group. And catching her before we leave the field and letting daughter go through first is kind of the same thing. I never actually thought that the tape seperating the two of them could make brandy feel as though she lost her herd. Interesting. Thanks so much!
 
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