My mare pins her ears back for no reason

[Holly]

Sometimes, after I'v ridden my mare if it's particuarly cold, instead of cooling her off by walking her round I tend to walk her round and cool her in hand to try and get some heat back into my toes! I'v noticed a few times but especially today, when I'm leading her she will follow me whether I hold onto the reins or not. She has always nudged me from behind ever since she was very young. Not aggressively just playfully as she is quite still quite young now but she has started pinning her ears back. They are not flat against her head as though to show great aggression just faced backwards and moved downward. When I stop and face her or give her my attention she immediately faces them towards me and she's back to normal. I don't think it's that she dislikes me or is aggressive towards me as through everything else she is perfect, I was just wondering why this was? It happens saddle on, saddle off and whether I hold the reins or not, Thankyou

 

[Em 1]

Hi and welcome to NR

I think it's quite difficult to say what exactly your mare is doing without seeing it. Do you have someone who could video/photograph you? I think I'd look at her eyes and other body language like her head position, tension in her jaw etc as this could show you whether she is irritated, relaxed etc. Are there any other horses or animals around (or any machinery for example) that could be distracting and/or annoying her? Maybe you could try varying where you walk with her (both in your physical location and where you walk in relation to her i.e. in front of her, at her head, by her shoulder) and see if this makes any difference.

I don't know much about youngsters so I'm not sure if the nudging is an attempt at dominance or just playfulness. There are people on here who are much more experienced and I'm sure one of them will be able to help you out

The horse in your profile picture is gorgeous btw- is that her?

 

[Jessey]

From what you describe it sounds like bored/tired ears (a little more backwards facing than neutral), where she just isn't paying you much attention until you pay her some. I agree with Em though looking at the whole horses body language will tell you lots more.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

The young mare in our field often follows anyone who is there. If she puts her ears back it's usually a rather aggressive game. But I agree with the others, it's hard to say just from a description of ear position what your mare means.

 

[Skib]

She has always nudged me from behind ever since she was very young.

Whatever her mood, this isnt something I would be happy with. The first thing any trainer does at a clinic or demo is to teach a horse being led not to come into the space of the person leading it, or whom it is following. Not saying it is right, just the way I was taught and having been taught that, I do the same. Safety thing.

 

[popularfurball]

It may just be she is listening to things behind? It's difficult to tell from your description.

It could be back, tack, tiredness or pain related - or simply her expressing herself and trying to play things by her rules.

 

[Holly]

Hi and welcome to NR

I think it's quite difficult to say what exactly your mare is doing without seeing it. Do you have someone who could video/photograph you? I think I'd look at her eyes and other body language like her head position, tension in her jaw etc as this could show you whether she is irritated, relaxed etc. Are there any other horses or animals around (or any machinery for example) that could be distracting and/or annoying her? Maybe you could try varying where you walk with her (both in your physical location and where you walk in relation to her i.e. in front of her, at her head, by her shoulder) and see if this makes any difference.

I don't know much about youngsters so I'm not sure if the nudging is an attempt at dominance or just playfulness. There are people on here who are much more experienced and I'm sure one of them will be able to help you out

The horse in your profile picture is gorgeous btw- is that her?

Thankyou, I will try changing where I physically walk in relation to her and see how it goes. Yes that's her, thankyou

 

[Bodshi]

Whatever her mood, this isnt something I would be happy with. The first thing any trainer does at a clinic or demo is to teach a horse being led not to come into the space of the person leading it, or whom it is following. Not saying it is right, just the way I was taught and having been taught that, I do the same. Safety thing.

It was the first thing my RI taught me with Raf - she noticed he kept nudging me as I was standing and holding him while talking to her. I thought it was cute, but she said it was important that he could stay in his own space and not encroach on mine. It was easy to teach him - possibly because he had already been taught in his previous home and I had just allowed him to get into bad habits - all I had to do was move him backwards when he came too close, without moving my own feet. I had to do the same walking round, then trotting. He still follows nicely but he keeps a space between us. Just as well at endurance events when trotting up for the vet, because he has a rather 'extravagant' trot when he's excited and I wouldn't like to get tangled up in his legs!

Your mare looks lovely btw!

 

[Holly]

It was the first thing my RI taught me with Raf - she noticed he kept nudging me as I was standing and holding him while talking to her. I thought it was cute, but she said it was important that he could stay in his own space and not encroach on mine. It was easy to teach him - possibly because he had already been taught in his previous home and I had just allowed him to get into bad habits - all I had to do was move him backwards when he came too close, without moving my own feet. I had to do the same walking round, then trotting. He still follows nicely but he keeps a space between us. Just as well at endurance events when trotting up for the vet, because he has a rather 'extravagant' trot when he's excited and I wouldn't like to get tangled up in his legs!

Your mare looks lovely btw!

Thankyou, I'll definitely start getting her to go back into her own space rather than mine as if she gets any bigger I think it might not be so playful for me and aw Thankyou yours does too!