Teaching your horse to be good for other people

[Adk_Katie]

My mare, especially when she is in heat, has been getting increasingly more difficult for other people to handle and work around. I have no problems at all with her, but she is bargy and obnoxious when other people are trying to get their horses (her fieldmates) out of the field.

Yesterday she jumped the pasture fence and ran up to the barn while someone was trying to bring other horses in for the night. The other people handling her and the other horses are very experienced around horses but they can't get her to behave.

I have worked so hard to teach her manners etc. and she is great with me but is there anything I can do so she doesn't make enemies with the entire barn??

[bexj]

HAve you had her checked by the vet - if her bad behaviour is connected to her seasons, then you maybe want to get her checked out, just in case there's something nasty going on inside.

Otherwise, can you encourage others to handle her in a similar way to you, and not just in the situations that she causes bother with?

[Giveitago]

I have had problems with my mare with this sort of bargyness but she was never a problem in the fields.

Is it related directly to her best friends or the people? I'm thinking she may be feeling a little emotional/PMTish, could it be she thinks the world's ending when the others go in? Can she come in when the others do?

My mare was fine with me but I got the feeling she thought she would be hurt by other people- grooming girth areas etc where she was sensitive at the time. She certainly doesnt like being fussed over by humans when in season but is a floosy with the geldings. She didnt seem to trust most people and would turn her backside to them in the stable or threaten a kick or bite.

In the UK we have numerous herbal supplements that help with horsey hormone imbalances, never used them myself but if she is becoming dangerous it may be an option worth considering.

[notpoodle]

mine can have tendencies like that :o although, i hasten to add, she is very well behaved/dopey/a good sport in general.

she can be a bit naughty though and has been known to bomb her way down the the stables when other liveries tried to turn their horses out, ahem. she will also be naughty with a friend at the yard and i suspect its a clash of minds there (ie friend is determined and has strong opinions about what ponies should NOT do, and pony also has strong opinions on what ponies SHOULD do)

Julia
x

[Adk_Katie]

Thanks for the replies!

I went to the barn yesterday with the plan of observing the bad behavior before worrying too much more about it. So I went out to the field with the barn owner while she was letting the other horses in and my pony was as good as gold. The barn owner, who has been having the most trouble with her, was very surprised.

Do you think this could be just because I was there watching?

This afternoon I am going to go watch from a hiding place and see what happens.

bexj: I haven't had her checked by the vet since the spring, but this is the first time "in-season bad behavior" has happened. You could always tell when she was because she is a big time floozy, but there were never any problems handling or riding her. If this continues I will certainly have her checked out!

Giveitago: The really strange thing about this whole scenario is that she is usually a very very independant woman. She doesn't really have what I consider a best friend. There are horses she grazes with, but no one that causes her distress when they leave. I think she was just maybe feeling jealous that everyone else was going inside for supper (she LOVES supper!) and that she had to wait.

notpoodle: I am also suspecting a "clash of minds" here or maybe more like a personality conflict. Hopefully (or maybe not) I will get to witness the behavior tonight and will get a better idea of whats going on.

[galadriel]

Do you think this could be just because I was there watching?

Sure.

As a comparison, my mare foaled in late June. The day her baby was born, the vet came out to check her over. I was there, and everything was great. The next day, the vet came back to pull some blood on the baby, just went on out to my barn without telling me she was here--mare was extremely possessive and wouldn't let the vet near. My farmsitter, who my horses all know and like, also couldn't get near the mare & baby--until I came out with her. I wasn't doing anything special, I was just *there*.

If she is getting bad during heat, but is fine with you there, she may be hurting a lot and be frightened as a result. If the others handling her are experienced and know how to cope with a horse who's being obnoxious, but can't get her to behave, it may well be that she is not misbehaving per se. She may simply be really upset/scared.

If she is simply being hormonal and obnoxious, it may be worthwhile for you and the mare to spend some time with whoever does most of the handling and can be there most days (the manager, assistant manager, or whoever it is). If the handler can work on some discipline exercises with you there, then they may be able to reinforce those exercises when you are not there. This could make handling in your absence much easier.

[Adk_Katie]

Thanks galadriel!

I would say that I do 95% of her handling. She is on DIY board so the only time the barn owner handles her is trying to keep her away from the gate when her horses and the full board horses are getting brought back in or if for some reason all the horses have to be brought in. I am sort of thinking that that might be part of the problem too since she hardly ever gets handled by anyone but me.

I will see how it goes this afternoon and go from there.