Horse behaviour- herd dominance...

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sue, I hope you can help me. My Friend and I have a half share each in a mare called nancy. She is 14 yrs old, and for the most part well behaved. When I first started riding her, I was very nervous, as I'd had a horse bolt with me, but Nancy looked after me, and now 2 yrs down the road I have my confidence back. The problem is that just lately she has started acting strange, especially when my friend rides her. My friend is very experienced with horses, and rode Nancy a lot when we first got her. Then my friend and another girl bought an x race horse called Noodles, with the intention of shooling him and selling him on. At first my friend did not ride Noodles, that was the job of the other girl, but then she lost interest, and my friend started riding him, as there was no way she was going to let him go at that point. Then the inevitable happened and we obviously fell in love with Noodles and I persuaded my friend to keep him. Now suddenly Nancy seems to be on one with Bridget most of the time, and me if I'm out with Bridget when she's riding Noodles. Then tonight Nancy went for Noodles in the field and my friend said she had never seen such aggression in any horse. She had to let Noodles go to get away, and also she would have been in the middle. Yesterday Noodles was on one coming in, seemed almost frightened, and we thought it was because we were bringing in another horse called sonney, and that it was him he was wary off, now we think it was Nancy. My Question is do you know of any reason why she should suddenly start displaying aggressive behaviour towards Noodles when they have shared a field for 7 months. Her previous owner had her at county level as a show horse, but then when she got another Nancy was kind of left in a field, and not really ridden anymore. I have my own idea of what might be wrong but need to know if I'm on the right track from you, if possible. Sorry it's a little long winded, but I thought you may need some back ground to be able to assist me. Oh we have also had the horse whisperer to Nancy, who, on her first visit said Nancy was depressed and to change what ever we were doing. We always used to hack out so we tried her jumping and she loves it. We know she's not depressed at the moment, as we had the H.Whisperer again and she was a totally different horse. she seemed to start taking in her surroundings etc.

Anyway hope to here from you, and thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Mary-Anne, As you know, horses have a herd order. The introduction to a new horse into the herd usually causes temporary shuffling for dominance. Was Nancy the boss mare?  When did Sonny come along? You may simply be seeing the herd adjust. Now, by horse whisperer, do you mean a natural horsemanship expert trainer, or do you mean a horse psychic? There is a big difference!  Horses do not have human emotions and work out their herd issues on their own, usually without much violence, just threats and posturing. Horses also go through cycles, especially mares during estrus. So they may act one way for weeks and suddenly act differently because they are in heat. Even a gelding around can bring a horse into heat. If Nancy was used to getting ridden on a regular basis and is now not getting as much attention and exercise, she may miss the interaction with her people. If she enjoys jumping and is sound to do so, take her out over some low jumps as often as you can. They look forward to our companionship as we are the ultimate herd leaders. Maybe you could explain this aggression to me a bit better.  Did you change tack (saddles, bits...), that may be causing her any discomfort? If you have a saddle and bit fit to one horse, you should not use it on different ones unless the fit is also perfect. Some saddle trees will mold to a particular horses' back and fit differently if ridden on another horse for some time.  Be sure an expert saddle fitter checks her tack. Please let me know when and if a new horse was put into the herd.  You will be fine with this problem, but give me as much information as possible so that I can help you to the best of my ability.  Please leave me some feedback, nominations if you wish, and keep me posted. The only way we can tell we are doing a good job as volunteers is by your feedback or reposting us. It is much easier to see results in our classes or at the barn. So let me know how it goes with Nancy. Thank you for writing. Regards, Susan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Sue, thank you for your reply. Nancy has always been the boss, and up untill now has not had a problem with Noodles. She has, for along time shared a field with the Pony and also had no problem, and still doesn't. It just seems to be Noodles she's turned nasty with. He is a real sweety and we no has done nothing to upset her. No we havn't changed her tack or anything. We try to alter what she does from one day to next. The horse Sonney I spoke about is another girls horse, and is in the field next to her. He did manage to get in one day about a week ago, and from what I can gather, Nancy and him were fine, but Noodles seemed to end up on his own. When I went to catch him that day he was very nervous and kept walking away. It was a few days after this that Nancy started behaving badly towards Noodles. Ears back, charging at him. She did it twice when my friend who owns noodles was trying to catch him. She had to get out of the way. She then tried it with me. I think she may be jealous of Noodles, why now, I don't know. My friend half owns her, with me, but owns noodles 100%. Nancy does get a lot of attention, but prior to this behaviour, not as much as noodles. She does from me as she is the only horse I own and ride. My friend has to split herself between the 2, and this maybe the problem. Up till she started riding noodles it was always Nancy she rode. Nancy has thrown a few wobblers at my friend lately when she has been riding her, but not with me. The only time she did was when I was out on her and my friend was on Noodles. The Horse whisperer is a psychic who can comunicate with the horses. She was excellent and told us a lot that no way could she have guessed. Thank you for your time, and hopefully with your help we may get to the bottom of Nancy's problem hopefully. Kind regards Mary-Anne


Answer
Hi Mary Anne, Thanks for writing back. I think that there is an adjustment of herd order going on, which happens frequently in boarding barns. Since your friend,(is it Brittany?) that partially owns Nancy, enjoys riding Noodles you can ride Nancy and be consistent in your training techniques. If you have a round pen, take Nancy back to the basics on the ground working on her grown manners until they are perfect, if no round pen is available a lungle iine will be fine.  Everything we teach on the ground transfers into saddle and most horses can use a refresher course now and then. Are you riding in a standard O or D-ring sweet iron mouth snaffle with her?  If not, get one, they are cheap and horses learn well in them.  Any bit with shanks gives direct and indirect messages to the horse, which can be confusing to them unless used by a very experienced rider, who usually uses a double bridle.  Encourage anyone who rides her to use a snaffle and to use gentle, natural horsemanship techniques on her.  Again, leave me feedback, a nomination if you wish. and follow up to let me know how it is going or if you have any more questions. As volunteers, this is the only way we know that I am doing a good job for you. I take time out of my regular classes each evening to do this so that I can help as may people establish good relationship with their pets as possible, so I really do care and would love to hear back on how you are progressing with her as well as any additional questions that you may have. It sound like you will work it out and they will all be fine, but for now it is frustrating for you, so be patient. Thank you for writing to me. Warm Regards, Susan