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  Discussion on Biting me in the herd!
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 2, 2002 - 5:23 pm:

We've got a small herd, a stallion, three mares, two with foals, and one three year old mare that is the problem. We raised her until she was two, when she went to our nephews and a trainer.

We walk in the herd every day, handle all the horses with our hands, give voice and hand commands which they are all very good with. Petey, this mare, was always good until she went to the trainer, which we have always used before with good results. When she came back, she began striking and rearing, so we brought her back to our herd, thinking she would calm down. It was also time for her to be bred.

She has seemed very good, allowing us to walk in the herd, feed, etc., with no signs of aggression, so I thought she had been mistreated at the trainer and had calmed down now that she was back with the herd. I started to relax with her.

We trim our horses hooves in the pasture as they stand. Today, she was trying to push in on Randy as he was trimming the stallions hooves, so I pushed her off with hands and voice. She was well away, two or three lengths before I turned my back, but she ran up and bit me in the butt, hard! I know, it will teach me to carry a crop and not turn my back EVER. I hate this because I've never had to worry about any of our horses before.

I read all the posts and info on aggression, and they all talk about specific one on one behaviors, or in a small space, not how to act in the herd in a pasture.

I realize she's establishing dominance over me (your article was very good, Doc), and she didn't get away with it. I ran at her and yelled (no crop, like a dummy-never needed one before), and as I fed treats, I pushed her away and didn't let her rejoin the herd to let her know I was boss. I kept pushing her away until I left the herd.

I do most of my early training of the foals in the field in the herd and don't want to lose that opportunity. Has anyone else had this problem? Her mother is alpha mare, by the way, she isn't.

Any recommendations on what to do to stay safe and stop this behavior? Has anyone had a mare try to keep people away from the stallion? It seemed to me that she wanted me away from the stallion and Randy, who is her best bud in the world. I'm also not discounting hormonal problems, but I don't think this is it since she does this at odd times, and unpredictably, not like other mares I've seen with the problem.

Thanks,
Annie

Posted on Monday, Jun 3, 2002 - 6:42 am:

Hello Annie,
One of our members wrote in recently that they have had good luck retraining horses which are displaying pasture aggression toward people by bringing them in and lunging them hard periodically or whenever they display such behavior.

Posted on Monday, Jun 3, 2002 - 1:59 pm:

In a "safety first" vein - I wouldn't hand feed treats while in the herd environment or trim a horse while in the herd, either.

You are right to carry a bat at all times, now.

Even if your mare wasn't asserting herself, the "herd mind" of a group of horses can kick in quickly and result in the human being harmed.

Personally, I prefer to be able to take a horse away from the herd and work with them one on one (round pen "join up" type stuff) ... it helps reduce their herd-boundedness and refocuses their attention on the human. Also, returning to the herd is a powerful reward.

You may believe your mare is not the alpha, but she could have designs on improving her "herd order." This can be very fluid/dynamic depending on the specific situation. She also may have thought there were goodies being dispensed that she was not getting.

I think proper round penning is very useful - not just for exercise, but for establishing the human as a fair leader in terms the horse can understand.

Cheers.
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