My Horse starts acting up when she sees one of her pasture mates.

So I lease a QH and we have come really far. I have spent almost a year using natural horsemanship and doing lots of ground work and playing with her. She backs up well and is respectful of my space... except when she sees one of her pasture mates (specifically two certain ones). When the owner of one of her pasture mates bring the horse in, my horse will start using the reactive side of her brain and pace, lift her head high, blow out of her nose, flare her nostrils, and act as if I am not even there getting into my personal space. I have tried back her up and yielding her hind quarters to get her attention back to me, but she still does it.

Any suggestions?

My TB had a similar problem.

If you are familiar with Clinton Anderson's method I would suggest his lunging stage 2 exercise. I would really make the horse hustle and do lots of changes of direction to get her using the thinking side of her brain again and focused back on you. If the horse does this because she wants to be closer to her pasture buddy I would really work her hard near the other horse and let her rest away from him. After a few repetitions she will decide its too much work to be by her buddy and rather stay away from him.

That is what worked for my horse anyway. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I totally agree with SarahK...just what I was going to suggest. And the boring part..LOL...You have to keep doing it over and over again.

What method do you use most often with her? Parelli, Clinton Anderson, etc...

If you use Parelli it would be helpful to know her horsenality.

I have a LBI who would do the same thing with me, I thought he was going right-brained, but really he was just dominating me. I would work on your leadership with your horse. You should be a herd of two, and she shouldn't be concerned with the other horses.

Recommended reading: "Dancing with Horses" by Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling. I love this book and emphasizes leadership a lot as well as using your body language. Also, "Horses Never Lie" by Mark Rashid. I have yet to read this book, it's sitting in front of me right now, but Mark is into passive leadership techniques.

I am not an expert in Natural Horsemanship or Horse training. I am not a master of equitation or winner of many ribbons. However, I do have one small trick which I have used many times before when a horse is feeling like it wants to be with its buddies/pasture and not with me. This was shared to me by a very experienced riding instructor, and I have seen similar theories in various DVDs, Clinics and books also.

This requires your friends horse to stand quietly still while your friend holds it. It also requires a halter and lead on your mare, and possibly a long crop/horsemanship stick/lunging whip/carrot stick etc. You would probably want to start in a safe contained area with alot of room. A round pen would be too small, an arena or flat pasture would work.

First take your horse over towards its buddy. Work it very hard, yielding, lunging/circling, backing, transitions. No breaks, no rest. Make the horse MOVE for about 3 minutes.

Now turn and lead your horse swiftly as far away from its buddy that you can get. Relax. Release all pressure, look away from your horse and allow your horse to stand totally still. If your horses gives a huge sigh and stands on a slack lead beside you, good. Go to A). If your horse immediately tries to return to its friend, then go to B).

A). After your horse has rested for a minute or so, move your friend and pasture buddy then repeat at least 3 times in different places until your horse understands full well that when they are with their friend they have to work, and when they are with just you they get to rest.

B). Do it again. As many times as you have to until your horse is willing to move away from buddy and rest. Then proceed to A).


Once your horse gets it, take them back to the paddock, turn them out and allow them the rest of the day to process these thoughts. Horses learn well with repeatition, so yu may have to repeat this but it is the fastest way I have tried to help a horse get over herd boundedness. However, there are many people on this forum who will also have good ideas, so listen to everyones opinion and try what will work for you.

Agree with iRidePonies. Getting the horse active and working while around their buddy, and then take them away to relax. Works great while riding as well - one rider can still in the middle of the arena, and the other can work circles around the other and then point them away to rest. Soon, your horse will look for the release and go to a part of the arena where it's not working. Seen this in action in many different clinics, works wonders!