Worrying behaviour, wwyd?

MrsNorris

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New mare plus pony have joined my older cob on diy livery, they seemed to settle ok, but 3 times now over the last 2 weeks the mare has, out of nowhere, squealed, reversed at speed into my old boy and double barrelled him. This is only what I’ve seen of course, she could be doing it repeatedly, I don’t know.
This last time, I was getting him through the gate when it happened, she had followed us from half way across the field, and whilst I was doing the gate, she attacked. We were lucky to get away without getting hurt or worse, it was quite frightening.
My horse is doing nothing to initiate theses attacks as far as I can see, the other two attacks happened as the 3 of them appeared to just be grazing quietly. Both times, I was approaching mine to catch him, but still 100 yards or more away, he hadn’t even looked up as yet, just minding his own busines.
She’s a big young mare and has back shoes on, I’m worried that she could really hurt him, he’s older and not fast or agile enough to get away. She has no respect for electric fencing so separating them like that is not an option.
Does the squealing first mean anything? Is it a hormonal thing maybe? Her pony companion is also a mare. My horse is not showing any interest in either of them, and has been kept his whole life in mixed herds of all sizes without issue. Any ideas on why she’s behaving this way and what I can do to resolve the situation?
 

Clodagh

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I would find a way to seperate ASAP. Saying it is not possible could cost your horse his life. I lost my best ever horse of a lifetime to a field kick so I now take no chances. If they must be together take her shoes off until they have settled down.
 

PapaverFollis

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I do think some mares are not suitable to mix with geldings... one of mine is that way out. When we first got her she seemingly randomly went for the gelding that she was in a field with a few times. We separated them pretty sharpish. And I would avoid putting her in a mixed herd again. She lives happily with mares.
 
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We had a welsh a who we were looking after for a friend do this, multiple times, to our old shetland and my new forest (Stupid pony would literally canter up the field specifically for the point of trying to boot him and it just wasn't fair at his age) She ended up separated from shetland, with a very strong electric fence between them, when my alpha mare arrived, who then spent the next six months teaching her some manners as it turned out welsh a in question had lived in, 24/7, for about 2 yrs so had no equine social skills whatsoever. Not sure if this could apply to your mare or not...?
 
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YorksG

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We have four mares, who have to be kept in two pairs. We have had four horses for years, always kept as a herd of four, but these four just do not get on as a group. Two of them have been here for years and were fine with the two who were with them previously (sadly those two died) The two youngsters are best pals, but the young Cob and the older Draught mare fight, unrelentingly. The young cob also got a bit ansty with the older Appy when she chummed up with the younger Appy. We made the decision that they just can't be kept together and so we have two pairs of mares, rather than a herd of four. It makes grass management more difficult, but is better than injured horses .
 

claret09

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agree
I do think some mares are not suitable to mix with geldings... one of mine is that way out. When we first got her she seemingly randomly went for the gelding that she was in a field with a few times. We separated them pretty sharpish. And I would avoid putting her in a mixed herd again. She lives happily with mares.
 

nikicb

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My old mare was like this. She always felt the need to rule all the other horses when she was out with others. At one point she actually used not only evade being caught, she also rounded up all the other horses in the field and wouldn't let them be caught either. After a few years of trying different scenarios, she ended up on individual turn out and her, and everyone else's stress levels diminished. She would never have dreamed of doing anything to any other horse when ridden, tied up etc., but when out, with others, she clearly felt she had to take control of the lot of them. I'd think about separating her if I were you.
 

MrsNorris

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Thanks all, the mare and pony belong to another livery, there’s only the 3 horses there so my only other option really is to put mine in a separate field on his own which I really don’t want to do if I can avoid it :( . She has been ok today as far as I know, no problems bringing mine in or out, and I have the day off tomorrow and plan to spend it sitting in the field watching them. Have now spoken to the owner of the other 2, she hasn’t seen any incidents, and the mare has turned out with geldings before without problems, so I’ll watch for a few hours tomorrow and then decide. Maybe it’s related to the fact that she knows I’ll be taking him away when she sees me coming? They looked quite happy today so fingers crossed..
 

irishdraft

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I have a pony mare who has lived here for 4 years I tried for 18 months to get her settled with an older cob mare but to no avail she randomly just went for the cob usually getting her in a corner squealing running backwards & double barrelling. The cob left but this summer I tried her with my retired mare who she dosent like out of sight did exactly the same thing my poor mare went down with lymphangitis because of the trauma & kicking she got. So the pony is on its own for life now !
 

AmyMay

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Any horse with back shoes on that double barrels my horse once, would not be with my horse again.

I agree. OP you need to speak to the YO about this. I would absolutely remove your old boy immediately. Better a little bit lonely than a little bit injured (or worse).
 

DabDab

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I had a very aggressive mare some years ago who, particularly when partnered with her partner in crime, was vicious and nasty to other in the herd, and very random with it. She was never shod, but she got separated anyway. Her and her partner in crime (owned by someone else), were quite happy when it was just the two of them.

But it sounds like it could just be when you're around....I have two now who can tend toward behaviour of that type, and both have recieved a belt with the headcollar for sending hooves flying with me in the middle, and fortunately once was all it took for them to just engage the stop and think button ever since. Hard to say without knowing your horses and field setup, but might be worth having a think if there is a way you can manage the situation of getting your cob in to try to prevent the silliness occurring....?
 

Orangehorse

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I had a mare that would do this in the field to humans. I could be quietly poo picking and she would come up to me and back up and threaten to kick and would sometimes kick out. I think she was being protective of the other horse in the field.
I tried yelling at her, clapping my hands, etc. etc. in the end I threw a rubber feed bowl to hit her hindquarters as she started backing up. Three times I had to do this, but afterwards she never threatened me in the field again.

Agree with the others though, they really need to be separate, even if the separation is an electric fence so they can see, but can't get within kicking distance.
 

Pearlsasinger

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You do need to be careful with electric fencing, they can kick each other through it. There really needs to be two fences with a strip of 'no-man's land' between them.
 

dizzyneddy

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Like the others have said separate your boy from your mare asap. It’s an accident waiting to happen on my last yard a girl moved her welsh cob and at first everything went ok then out of the blue afew weeks late her mare kicked mine for no reason my mare was minding her own business grazing.

She ended up having to have two years off and ended her competitive career. It was just one of those things and the girl was beside herself horses are horses but sometimes the only solution is to keep certain horses apart. Hope your horses settle and that you get thing sorted. Horses who’d have them!
 

MrsNorris

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Thanks all for your input, have spent the last few days observing (thank goodness for the lovely weather!) and so far I haven’t seen a recurrence. She does move him around a bit, and he is quick to respond now, so I’m hoping it was just a case of him being a bit resistant at first and the mare feeling that she had to assert herself.
He has no marks on his rugs or any other signs of trauma, and she no longer follows him everywhere when I get there.
The only thing that’s persisting is when I put him back in the field after a ride, she charges over and moves him around for a few minutes before settling back to grazing. No kicking or biting that I’ve seen, just ears back and snake head. I’m hoping this means they have sorted out their differences and can stay together, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on them for the next few weeks.
 

Antw23uk

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I would SKIN my horses alive if they played up like that when I was around them and/ or handling them. No question, no if's or but's they would get a damn good hiding if they put me in danger! How dare she act like this when you are in the field or handling the gelding, that is not acceptable on any level!
 
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