Q: I recently bought a 15-year-old mare. She seemed so sweet but when I brought her home, she became a completely different horse. At feeding time, she rears and kicks or turns her back end toward me and threatens to kick. If you try to take her away from food, she does the same thing. Sometimes she does it when she’s being longed. She gets along with other horses and she’s great under saddle, but I need to know how to stop her behavior from getting worse.
A: Sometimes when we’re horse shopping we’re so focused on how a horse performs under saddle that we forget to check its manners on the ground and around the stable. That’s why, in an ideal situation, I always urge buyers to negotiate for an overnight trial before handing over the purchase price. That way, you can observe the horse during feeding time and really get a feel for its general temperament once it’s away from its home environment.
What you own is an alpha (boss) mare who is territorial about her food. She’s also attempting to assert her dominance over you by her displays on the longe line. As you’ve already figured out, her behavior is not only dangerous, but it will typically continue to get worse until you set some strict limits. Although we hear this term a lot in the horse world, it’s quite true: You need to explain to your new mare that you are the herd leader.
The problem with that concept, however, is that it requires a great deal of skill, timing and previous experience dealing with aggressive horses to be safe, humane and successful. You need to know how to read a horse’s body language so you can tell when it’s time to step up and exert your authority and when it’s time to get out of the way of a possible bite, kick or strike. So I urge you to consult with a local professional in your area. It needn’t be a show horse trainer. Look for a community instructor associated with the 4H or Pony Club or a natural horsemanship advocate with perhaps a working cowboy background. They will work with your horse and also teach you how to apply the same techniques.
Primarily what your mare needs is structured groundwork. Right now she is dictating when, and under which circumstances, she will allow you to invade her space. With a knowledgeable handler she’ll learn to yield to you. They should use a combination of voice commands, authoritative body language and a carriage whip (similar to a longe line but with a shorter lash) to convey their commands. Please don’t worry about the use of a whip. It’s nothing more than an instructional aid. It hardly compares to the teeth and hooves your mare is using to keep you in line. And although your teenaged mare has probably developed this bad behavior over many years, she can still be taught to envision you as the new alpha mare. Once she sees you in that role you’ll have a much safer, and much more enjoyable, relationship.
— Cindy Hale
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Good advise, get some friends to help out. That mare has alot more experience at being boss, and may not be willing to give up her crown so willingly.
Thanks for this article. My Appaloosa mare is starting to behave the same way. I guess I need to set some limits on her behavior.
The information provided in the answer was explained well and offered varied resources and understnding. Having experienced this behaviour in horses of my own the use of well constructed natural horsemanship has been successful.
Good Advice. Very true. The same thing happens with my horse, but thankfully I was able to find help, and now I am SO glad that I did.
Great article. Helpful to so many. Thank you!
Yes! i have had this problem the horse i ride is a 11 year old black mare an literally the sweetest horse i will ever know! But one day she did something that she has never done in her 11 years of life! she kicked another horse (a horse she new very well) right in the side! everyone on the trail ride was shocked! since then iv noticed that every now and then she will have her marish moments. when she has those days i do alot of ground work with her and that seems to help her!. Thank you for the article it was very helpfull!
In my experience this mare would have slowely being getting disrespectful incrementally and steps were not taken when they should have been. The worst cases is where the horse is treated as a pet, which it is not! To show dominance over this mare involves moving her feet at your suggestion. This suggestion is backed up with whatever is necessary to get her moving. As she is likley to resent this initially, and maybe kick out, the reinforcement needs to be from a distance (carrot stick or lungeing whip). She does not need to be hit but she certainly needs to move when you say, and eventually with no resisitance.
My now-almost-3 year old gelding was very aggressive from the time he was born!!!! I've always been able to "manage" him but it wasn't until a year ago that I was able to get the help I needed!!! I am SO thankful I found the person that helped me with him!!! Now I don't have to "manage" my "problem child", he has turned out to be very well mannered!!! He does have his moments but they are few and far between!!! The last time he challenged me was about 6 months ago when I was riding him. I was able to dismount and began working him from the ground. He thought he had the advantage because he out-weighs me but he learned that I am not going to back down from him and I will get his feet moving when I tell him the first time!!! Now he is easy to handle and fun to ride!!! When he tries to be dominate over my young colt with me in the middle all I have to do is point my finger at him and he backs off!!!
I bought a horse from a nearby Hunter barn that acted just fine when we looked at him. After getting home, that's when the aggressive behavior started. We eventually got him under control but he is a horse who has a tendency to bite to this day. Sometimes we don't learn from mistakes...we bought another horse from the same barn a couple of years later (for a student) and don't you know it? That horse turned deadly aggressive after we brought him home!!! My guess is that at that other barn, the horses are dealt with very severely on a daily basis so they "behave". After coming to our barn where we respect our horses and treat them gently (not like cuddly pets but definitely with a soft hand which our horses appreciate and thrive on) they turn into vindictive monsters! Also, don't be surprised if some horses are drugged when you look at them....
Join Parelli Natural Horsemanship. Consult a Parelli Professional. Do not whip your horse.