Rhi is being nasty

[Miriam]

We have two new horses on the yards Amber which we looked after last year when her owner was away and she went fearlessly lame in the field after what we are unsure was a kick or fall. The vets wrote her off as never been able to be a pasture horse let alone a riding pony. Thankfully the owners did not get her put down and now you would not believe it was the same pony. We also have on our yard her other little pony Whisper who is 20yrs old and suffers laminitis. This means that she is in the paddock which Rhi shares. When I put Rhi in with her she immediately chased Whisper. I put this down to her being new and that Rhi would eventually settle down with her. Apparently on Saturday night the pople who have the bungalow opposite the paddocks could no longer bare to see Whisper being bullied by Rhi and changed her paddock (Rhi had her pinned up in a corner). Not knowing this at the time I tried once agian on the Sunday night to put Rhi in with Whisper. Rhi immediately put her ears back and neck out and then went a full speed toward Whisper. We already have solved this proiblem by bringing Whisper in at night and Rhi is out in either the field or round the corner in a paddock.

Is there anything I can do in the future to avoid this type of behaviour as it just seems out of character for her. All past new horses she has been brill with?


Miriam

[tasha]

Is there any way you could divide the paddock in two with electric fencing? This would allow them to get to know each other a bit without Rhi being able to beat the poor pony up!

[theresamac]

I agree with tasha. Let them look at each other over the safety of a fence. One of my horses bullied another really badly but left to it they soon settled down. I am not suggesting that it is like this with all horses though!!
It's a horrible situation because you feel guilty. As if a child of yours is misbehaving!

[Miriam]

This is what we normally do and obviously Rhi even though she has been a field next to the paddock does not want to know her. We always put new ponies into the paddock before releasing in to the big field. This means that they can greet each other before hand.