[xtmiia]

I have two previous posts about my mate and now i really need help with her

i’ve had her vet checked and they said she was completely fine and nothing to be concerned about which is great, and that she might just be abit stubborn.

tonight i’ve been and seen her and lead her round doing some basic groundwork which she was good. but j tied her to the fence as i normally do to groom her and she was moving her body towards the fence do i tried to push it back straight hut gently pressing on her side and she attempted to kick me, luckily i moved out the way in time but she did ever so slightly catch me but not bad. i did give her a small smack on her side as i was not going to be tolerating getting kicked. i then carried on grooming her as normal and she turned round to bite me a lot so i just untied her headcollar and let her loose as i just accepted she was maybe in a bad mood so i thought i’d just leave her alone , she then proceeded to rest up at me and running at me and stomping and her feet along the ground. i had to jump over barbed wire to get away from her as if i went to the gate she would’ve chased me and i was scared she would trample over me. she’s never done anything like this before and it has really scared me at how fast she changed.
Can someone please help me to know why she’s doing this?

some information about her if it helps:
- she’s 16
-she’s a cob
- mare
-she’s never been separated from her daughter (her daughters arounf 6-8 years old im pretty sure)
- i’m up with her everyday for at least an hour

 

[Aprilswissmiss]

Intentional kicks, bites, lunging, etc is NEVER allowed and it seems she thinks it certainly is. I would highly recommend that you bring out a trainer to show you how to teach her that humans have non-negotiable boundaries because trying to learn this yourself with a proven dangerous horse is a great way to get hurt. She figured out she could get away with this behavior once, then also learned that if she does it repeatedly she gets let loose to do whatever she wants, and you've failed to set any boundaries or expectations - that's why she's doing this. A small smack on her side is nothing more than a fly bite to her and is not enough to set boundaries with a horse like this.

 

[Ringo-Slater]

I would have wacked her good for that behavior it is UNACCEPTABLE. I would have gone after her with a hard smack after she kicked. ( unless she was spooked which doesn’t seem to be the case.) Then if she tried to bite me I would have walked her neck hard.( if you wack If she chases me I would have screened after her and assuming I was holding something (like a lead or grooming supplies ) I would have hit her with it or through it at her. This aggressive behavior will only get worse if you don’t address it and eventually you won’t be lucky enough to not get hurt. If feel you can not handle her I would get a trainer asap. ( It is not a bad thing to not be able to handle a behavior and I don’t won’t it to sound that way). I’m glad you weren’t hurt let us know how this problem progresses.

 

[waresbear]

You need training on how to handle horses, before this mare gets worse.

 

[xtmiia]

I would have wacked her good for that behavior it is UNACCEPTABLE. I would have gone after her with a hard smack after she kicked. ( unless she was spooked which doesn’t seem to be the case.) Then if she tried to bite me I would have walked her neck hard.( if you wack If she chases me I would have screened after her and assuming I was holding something (like a lead or grooming supplies ) I would have hit her with it or through it at her. This aggressive behavior will only get worse if you don’t address it and eventually you won’t be lucky enough to not get hurt. If feel you can not handle her I would get a trainer asap. ( It is not a bad thing to not be able to handle a behavior and I don’t won’t it to sound that way). I’m glad you weren’t hurt let us know how this problem progresses.

i was so fuming lol , i did give her a good whack with the whip , i know many people have mixed feelings or opinions on whips but i did give her a good whack and she stayed away after , did really scare me though because she is normally well behaved when grooming

 

[AliceCT]

You are too timid. The horse clearly doesn't respect you. You need to be very firm with her if she intentionally does anything to hurt you. Note, this is the only time to use this much force, but she needs to know that it is unacceptable. My gelding can be pushy with humans, and bit me in the butt once when I was picking his hooves. I hit him with the rope and made him back up and circle until you could clearly tell he thought "Woah, chill lady. It was just a joke." I didn't hurt him but he never did it again.

When a horse runs at you like she did she is trying to show that she is the high horse by getting you to move your feet. TBH I've had two mares do that to me and I've always stood still because if they wanted to hurt me they could certainly chase me down and do so. Both veered off and became a lot more respectful after that, lol. You sound like a kid so probably don't do that. But I think you need a trainer to specifically show you how to gain her respect.

 

[Milton'sMama]

I'm picking up that you're not a very experienced horse person. You really need to get some help from someone with experience. It's impossible for people online to give you the help you really need with your mare. Correcting her behavior is going to require precise timing and the confidence to know what type of correction and how severe of a correction to make. I have a feeling from your post that you're not the person to do this. At least not yet. You need to find someone who can show you what to do. And not to be dramatic, but your life is at stake. She's a big animal and she's learning that she can kick, bite, and chase you. That's so dangerous.

Please get some help from an experienced horse person.

 

[xtmiia]

I'm picking up that you're not a very experienced horse person. You really need to get some help from someone with experience. It's impossible for people online to give you the help you really need with your mare. Correcting her behavior is going to require precise timing and the confidence to know what type of correction and how severe of a correction to make. I have a feeling from your post that you're not the person to do this. At least not yet. You need to find someone who can show you what to do. And not to be dramatic, but your life is at stake. She's a big animal and she's learning that she can kick, bite, and chase you. That's so dangerous.

Please get some help from an experienced horse person.

i am going to get her owner to help sort her out and then i’m going to invest in getting a trainer because i am not very experienced and luckily i wasn’t alone today , but i am going to get a trainer or her owner over to sort her as i don’t really have much fear around horses but this did scare me abit today

 

[newtrailriders]

i am going to get her owner to help sort her out and then i’m going to invest in getting a trainer because i am not very experienced and luckily i wasn’t alone today , but i am going to get a trainer or her owner over to sort her as i don’t really have much fear around horses but this did scare me abit today

Excellent decision. The trainer and her owner need to not only sort her but show you how to be more dominant with her.

There are a lot of ways to show your dominance to a horse without being mean and you probably could have used those methods before, but it's going to take a bit more now. Once a horse accepts your dominance, they're like different horses. You might find her to be quite pleasant in the future if you get this figured out and learn how not to let it happen again.

 

[tinyliny]

I am often hesitant to advise someone to just be more 'dominant' or just to whack harder, etc If the person is not very experienced, they may whack the horse right when they are in a bad position to get kicked even harder. They may actually move INTO the danger zone without thinking, whack and recieve a painful surprise. Also, if they use body language or a whip or a swinging rope to try and be more dominant and don't come off as truly believeable to the horse, they only encourage the horse to one-up her own level of aggression. NEVER enter into a fight with a hrose that you are not certain you can win. Never help teach a horse how truly strong they are, how much power they could have over humans.

The inexperienced horseperson also may have missed all the signs leading up to the incident that said, "Danger! trouble brewing!". Being able to see those, and address THOSE things will often derail a horse from becoming actually aggressive. I mean, a horse that bites you or kicks you when you push on them , like on her side, or swat them, is actually being defensive. A horse that chases you out of a pasture is being aggressive. THAT is scary, for sure.

I hope you get the hands on help you need. I would carry a nice dressage whip with you when you are in the pasture, and if she moves toward you with a threatening face, I would stand my ground if you can, and wave the whip quickly and noisily right where if she proceeds, her tender nose will run into that whip good and hard. That's part of the equation. the other is moving her off of you before she even decides to charge.
An angry mare is a thing to behold!

 

[Horsef]

Yes, get help. This isn’t something that you can learn on your own and it is dangerous.

I have found that it takes time around horses to be able to do this. You could be doing the same physical movements as the trainer but ifyou are truly, within yourself, not feeling confident - the horse will know and it will not work, sometimes dangerously. It took me years to be level headed around correcting a horse and only then did I start getting good results.

Mind you, in this situation anger also worked REALLY well for me - my mare only showed her teeth that one time. She’s never seen me angry before or since but she sure remembered that it is a possibility. I wouldn’t recommend it though.

 

[AliceCT]

I am often hesitant to advise someone to just be more 'dominant' or just to whack harder, etc If the person is not very experienced, they may whack the horse right when they are in a bad position to get kicked even harder.

Agreed 100%. This is why I think it is so important that she find someone who can help her teach the horse to be respectful rather than just trying things herself. I've always been pretty confident around horses, but for the first 8 or so years I had an instructor who worked with me a lot to show me how to use that confidence in a safe and effective way.

 

[stevenson]

You do not own this horse? Are you leasing the horse? I would tell the owner that you are no longer wanting to lease her. A horse that rushed towards you, ears back, and feet stomping is not playing. That is dangerous. You put the horse away because she bit at you , and you just confirmed that horses bad behavior is acceptable. I would not pay for a trainer for someone else horse.

 

[Beling]

Definitely need a trainer. That said---

The worst thing I know is the ineffective reprimand. No response, is better than a show of what I call "insignificance." I've been around horses that have acted weird like that. Rule Number One: stay in a safe place. When leading, I'd wrap a rope around the muzzle, more to give me warning than actually stop anything. For some reason it seemed to dampen the aggression. I was also never without a stick, somewhat longer than a dressage whip, and firm. Whatever you can do to AVOID a confrontation. I would quit the groundwork for now. I think it can annoy some horses.