Jealousy? Help!

I am a new horse owner, and my horse, Kiera is approximately seven months old. She was not handled until I bought her, pretty much, but overall she is a good girl and well behaved. We have had our issue with hoof cleaning, but that is getting worked out. The BO says she is dominant with the same age colt that she runs with and doesn't put up with any of his shenanigans.

In any case, I have seen her try to be aggressive to a CAT twice. The first time, the cat jumped up on her stall gate and walked back and forth wanting me to pet it. I started petting it, and Kiera sniffed him...and as the petting continued, she pinned her ears and bit him. Cat jumps down, the end. It was pretty fast, and I was not sure how to react.

Today however was a little more out there. I was grooming her and the cat jumped *into* her stall. I was petting him and trying to decide if I wanted to risk picking up a barn cat and chucking him out when Kiera walked up and sniffed him normally, ears up. The cat moved to get a better place under my hand and SHE TRIED TO STOMP HIM (with one hoof). Luckily the cat moved pretty fast and booked it out of her stall, standing outside next to some hay pretty much shaking.

So, who is in the wrong here, and what should be done?
The cat, for invading her space
-or-
The horse for making a move on another animal?

I think that in either case, this apparent jealousy (or territorialism? I really don't know) could be dangerous...what can I do to get her to stop? I've had my dog around her on a leash (supervised), and even though he decided to try to be a 5 year old 80 plus pound puppy, lowered himself and wagged so hard his butt wiggled, Kiera was ok with his presence, just showed curiousity, ears up, sniffing him and seemingly nonchalant.
But what do I do about the cat??? =( I think it's so weird because there have been several threads about horses loving cats and even grooming them, but my horse wants them GONE.

My horses attacked my old can once when she came to the field. Thank God they missed her when they tried to stomp her! (and by that time I was able to make my run up the hill and landed the lead rope on their butts). I doubt it's something you can change/fix/teach in horse though. My paint hates any invaders to her territory. She may attack right away and doesn't look lovely at all.

Love your horse's name by the way, it's my daughter's cat name. Anyways, you know you can't train the cat to not go in the horse's stall, if it has 1/2 a brain, it wouldn't either. It's her stall, it's her space, in my opinion, if she don't want the cat in there, it's her perogative. She doesn't like cats, however if you are grooming this mare or handling her in anyways, she should not be allowed to do anything towards the cat, because she is under your control. You correct her when she does. Halter off & on her own time, she can do what she wants.

I doubt he's going into her stall again any time soon! At least, as you say, if he has half a brain!!!

Anyway, I will be on the alert next time the cat is in the barn while I'm grooming and prepared. The thing I'm worried about is later, when we're riding, or walking her, I want to make sure she isn't going to try to stomp a cat into the ground. From this perspective, I really hope that it was a territory thing.

And thank you =)

=(

Good if the invader is a marauding dog or coyote.
BAD if it's the neighbor's cat =(

It's instinct. Either ignore it and risk a dead cat, or treat it like an offense and start punishing her for it to train it out.

I have a thought about this but it might be a bad idea....

I have a couple horses that will kill small animals if given the opportunity. I don't worry about it too much; I find it endearing, actually, and hilarious watching my mare stalk the vet's cat while she was waiting her turn, or entice the dog within kicking range (of course I don't actually let her connect when I'm present). But it's not a big deal to keep my pets away from my horses, so it's not a real problem. The only thing that concerns me is the horse that can't differentiate between a cat, a dog, and a small child. Now little kids shouldn't be around horses' feet, anyway, but it's something to keep in mind....

Our OTTB, Beau loves cats....



He does NOT like dogs, however and has tried to stomp the property owner's dogs twice and has kicked the neighbor's ANCIENT black lab once....so he has severe dog issues. He also does not like deer....but tolerates chickens well.

Romeo picked my old barn cat up twice and threw him across the arena... After two times Puddin' figured out to stay away from Romeo haha.