(I wasn't sure which forum section to put this in, so my apologies if it belongs elsewhere.)
I recently began working at a farm feeding and bringing in the horses twice a week in exchange for a weekly lesson. There are 14 horses and 2 ponies. Two of the horses are pregnant mares in their own pasture... this brings me to my question...
One of the mares is clearly dominant and comes to the gate first. She is a bit feisty when I bring her in to their barn, but no more than the geldings are when they are hungry. The second mare is the problem. She stays back until I've taken the first mare, then she rushes to the gate. She lets me clip a lead on her, but she starts dancing around right away. Once she is through the gate, she is pulling and tossing her head and trying to run me over. It's very frightening. She doesn't even seem like she wants to run back to the barn; just away from me. Several times on our way across the pasture, I have to stop and make her run in circles around me a bit in hopes of keeping a little control. It's a fight all the way to the barn.
At this point I should tell you that the barn manager/trainer was a little surprised when I told her how the mare was acting and she has said that she will be out there tomorrow when I feed again to see what she can do to help and make sure I'm not in a dangerous situation. I should also tell you that my only contact with this mare is at feeding time. I'm just wondering if anyone might have some insight for me...
Could any of you give me any advice on how to better handle this mare? Is she behaving this way because she is preggo (she's due in May)? Or is she just trying to assert her dominance over me? She is a freight train and I have no hope of using any muscle to pull her back. What can I do?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.
I recently began working at a farm feeding and bringing in the horses twice a week in exchange for a weekly lesson. There are 14 horses and 2 ponies. Two of the horses are pregnant mares in their own pasture... this brings me to my question...
One of the mares is clearly dominant and comes to the gate first. She is a bit feisty when I bring her in to their barn, but no more than the geldings are when they are hungry. The second mare is the problem. She stays back until I've taken the first mare, then she rushes to the gate. She lets me clip a lead on her, but she starts dancing around right away. Once she is through the gate, she is pulling and tossing her head and trying to run me over. It's very frightening. She doesn't even seem like she wants to run back to the barn; just away from me. Several times on our way across the pasture, I have to stop and make her run in circles around me a bit in hopes of keeping a little control. It's a fight all the way to the barn.
At this point I should tell you that the barn manager/trainer was a little surprised when I told her how the mare was acting and she has said that she will be out there tomorrow when I feed again to see what she can do to help and make sure I'm not in a dangerous situation. I should also tell you that my only contact with this mare is at feeding time. I'm just wondering if anyone might have some insight for me...
Could any of you give me any advice on how to better handle this mare? Is she behaving this way because she is preggo (she's due in May)? Or is she just trying to assert her dominance over me? She is a freight train and I have no hope of using any muscle to pull her back. What can I do?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.