My horse was recently moved into a herd of horses because his companion was ill and had to be stabled for 3 months and my horse couldn't handle stopping on his own. Well anyway from being with just one horse he had to get used to a big herd where one gelding kept picking on him and run him ragged biting and kicking him which was awful to see. To cut a long story short that horse moved off and we had a new mare come on and my gelding has been evil to her chasing her round and biting her! He was being bullied and now he his the bully and I don't know what to do with him. He has never shown aggresive behaviour like this and especially to a mare!! Any advice please
My horse aggressive towards another horse
- Thread starter charlie25
- Start date
dear oh dear i don't know why he would do that? although when i got my gelding George at his old home he was somewhat bullied by another gelding and when i moved my old mare in with him he was bullied by her too and now when i moved my stud in with him he bullied him for a bit until my colt learned to respect him and now that they have arranged a pecking order they are generally even tempered but occasionally George has to reteach dusty whos boss
I'm looking through for 'stop biting' threads as I don't want my cob's nibbles to get worse but I came accross this thread.
The same happened to me. My SB came from a herd in which he was well down on the pecking order. Now having come to us, he appears to be herding and chasing down my cob, who retaliates by biting (up to where he can reach). I need to stop the fight/bite reaction in the cob before it becomes a problem for me.
I split them up and much to my amazement, sweetness and light himself aka the cob was the more stressed! The SB is just grazing and taking a well deserved break form babysitting it seems.
The 2 year old cob is becoming more nippy. I need to break the cycle. Any advise?
The same happened to me. My SB came from a herd in which he was well down on the pecking order. Now having come to us, he appears to be herding and chasing down my cob, who retaliates by biting (up to where he can reach). I need to stop the fight/bite reaction in the cob before it becomes a problem for me.
I split them up and much to my amazement, sweetness and light himself aka the cob was the more stressed! The SB is just grazing and taking a well deserved break form babysitting it seems.
The 2 year old cob is becoming more nippy. I need to break the cycle. Any advise?
My arab mare used to be owned by a woman who had 5 horses. To save time she used to feed them all their meals in the field, so there used to be plenty of squabbles over dinner. When she came to me 7 years ago, she was the grumpiest, snappiest horse I have ever known. Most people know a horse that MIGHT kick if you get too close, few people know one that will definitely kick if another horse so much as looks at it! Ironically, she was generally okay when out in the field - it was when she was being ridden, led or tied up near other horses that problems started. It seemed to me that she had a problem with situations in which she might become trapped. However, there was one horse, a young arab gelding, that she used to hate with a passion. One time, his owner turned him out and she literally chased him back out of the field!
There was no real way of dealing with this issue tbh. The yard owner began doing separate grazing for mares and geldings (not because of my horse) so she didn't have to see the gelding anymore, and I was always just very cautious with her around other horses. Anyway, a year ago I moved to a much smaller yard where the grazing is mixed, all the horses are fed at the same time in the winter by the yard owner and are also brought in and turned out by her. Well, my horse changed within several months. She would still kick sometimes if other horses got too close out hacking, but generally she was much more relaxed and better with other horses - I even started riding side by side with other people. I assumed it was because she knew them all quite well - in the summer there would only be 5 of them sharing half a hillside. Now, she is out on loan at another small yard and she seems to be equally relaxed.
So, I'm not sure how to help other than ask whether there are any external factors that could be contributing to your horse's behaviour. I think, having been in an environment where she had to fight for her food, my mare felt threatened by the presence of so many other horses all the time, and is therefore suited to a smaller, 'safer' herd.
There was no real way of dealing with this issue tbh. The yard owner began doing separate grazing for mares and geldings (not because of my horse) so she didn't have to see the gelding anymore, and I was always just very cautious with her around other horses. Anyway, a year ago I moved to a much smaller yard where the grazing is mixed, all the horses are fed at the same time in the winter by the yard owner and are also brought in and turned out by her. Well, my horse changed within several months. She would still kick sometimes if other horses got too close out hacking, but generally she was much more relaxed and better with other horses - I even started riding side by side with other people. I assumed it was because she knew them all quite well - in the summer there would only be 5 of them sharing half a hillside. Now, she is out on loan at another small yard and she seems to be equally relaxed.
So, I'm not sure how to help other than ask whether there are any external factors that could be contributing to your horse's behaviour. I think, having been in an environment where she had to fight for her food, my mare felt threatened by the presence of so many other horses all the time, and is therefore suited to a smaller, 'safer' herd.
I had some lovely rides on my SB when he first came to me but the last time I tried to get on him, he was having none of it. I think it was a combination of jealousy, flies, an inexperienced OH hanging on for his life and not wanting to leave his mate. I have asked an experienced lady to come to us for the day to go through some confidence building with OH and she may be able to help us with behaviour problems too. I hope anyway.
I'm watching the two of them out the window now and they're happy as pigs in the proverbial. Separated and happy.
I'm watching the two of them out the window now and they're happy as pigs in the proverbial. Separated and happy.
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