Arab Muzzled

Question
Hi, iam 34yrs old

  I have pretty good horse experince

  I board so to fix it they muzzled him

  he always out in a very very large pasture

I Have a 5 yr old Arab !   Well all was good till about a month ago when some new horses came. hes in a herd o8 or 9 horses.He is not real agressive( he doesnt kick ) !  he pins ears and chases them  and the more they trot around he loves it. sometimes hes just pesty and trots after them with his ears up and the new ones run from him.  he is not the top horse in the field. he will chase the others when its time to come in. the top horses do that too and even might kick also!

well they dont want my horse being so pesty that the new ones dont have any peice so they muzzled him. I dont think it solves the problem!  they have two big round feeders.

I think its normal horse behavior?  i dont want the muzzle on him and feel that it could make matters worse.  what else can i do to keep the owner happy?

He isn't new to the herd but this is a new behavior. this has been ongoing for a month. I need to do something. they are insisting on a muzzle. new horses came into the picture.

Also just recently a horse got injured on the back foot and they blamed him . noone saw anything but they assume my horse stepped on this horses foot.  guess my horse has taken the bad rap. They owners said a month is long enuff.

I need to have options to give the owner or a muzzle it is or a new place to board. They got mad i took off the muzzle!

I guess the owners are trying to keep peace with the owner of the injured horse so i guess it seems like a punishment.

Also the owners said a muzzle will humble him.  saying that the horses wont run from him if he cant bite and they feel they had success at doing this before. I am appalled !  I do Like this place and he has been here a few years without a problem but if i cant find a solution without a muzzle i dont know what to do.
he moves them around the feeder to asert himself. he also aserts himself when its time to come in by making the horses below him wait in line way back and if they dont he chases them back quite a way to make his point. aslo my horse liked to chase the cows they had in the field. he liked to cutt them. they dont have cows now so when the new ones run he gets excited and loves it that they run from him. its like a game.  they are saying its disrupting them eating and new ones are being made to run around too much.

I am not mad at my horse iam just having a hard time convincing people that it isnt that abnormal what hes doing. I really dont want the muzzle! he had it on for a few days. i took it off after i thought we agreed he wasnt that bad in the huge huge field and the owner admitted there was enfuff room for the other horses to get away. PS. the herd switches to a small pasture at nite. they say he is much more agressive at the gate in the small pasture.  So now they have seperated him by himself at nite. Aslo she put the muzzle back on him in the day. they still run from him. me rolls eyes.   i guess maye i should move?  See there is this female first time horse person down at this barn who Complains to the owner that my horse chases her horse. her horse os bottom of totum pole. nothing i can do. Can a muzzle make him more aggresive?"  

Answer
Hi Tara

Arabs are higly inquisitive by nature..I learnt this the hard way, as my mare used to regularly escape from her stable, and let all her friends out!  

A muzzle is not the solution here...that will make him resentful, and he won't be able to reinforce his herd position if he can't nip a subordinate horse who's getting above themselves.

I would be inclined to sit down with the others who are calling your boy, and tell them straight that he's just sorting out his place in the herd, and will settle eventually.  As to the aggression in the smaller pasture, are the other owners taking feed to catch their horsesor giving them extra feed?  If so, this can cause extra aggresion, and it is wise to avoid this.

An Arab is not a humble horse, and the muzzle may just break his spirit, and that is the last thing you want to do in this case.  

Tell them to let horses be horses, and live as nature intended, in a herd with a strict hierarchy, or the better solution would be to move your boy to a new barn!  

Hope this helps. and I hope your boy settles soon.

Emma xx