I had been asking for Filly to be allowed out in a field and the other day I arrived at the yard to be informed that they had tried (I had hoped to accompany her for the first few times). Apparently she had been put in a field with another mare and they had waited with her for 20 minutes. As she seemed settled she had been left there. Five minutes later a very hyped up Filly was back in the yard having jumped the electric fence !
When I heard this I decided to take her back to the field on a 45 foot rope and observe what the problems were.
To start I had trouble getting her through the mud at the entrance. She has always been distrustful of mud, which is a inbuilt fear horses have. The trouble with mud is that is does not give a good footing and as their primary means of defence is to run away anything that inhibits this is viewed with deep suspision.
Having persuaded her through the mud we spent a very pleasant 45 minutes exploring the field. I just let her go wherever the mood took her and she was generally fine. She did react when I gelding (P) in a neighbouring field came at her with her ears back, but other than that all went pretty well. She even trotted towards dogs playing ball in another field to watch them. As it was getting cold I decided that as a field introduction it had gone fairly well and it was time to leave. Then the trouble started.
As we left the field, with more problems at the mud both P and a horse on the other side of the track came at her with head low and ears back. She absolutely flipped. She ran for the yard with me in tow until I could slow her down a bit. I needed to close the fence as it powers the electric to the other fields. She was unhappy to stay in the area. P sensing weakness mounted multiple charges which I had to fend off by driving him away. Filly was now very high on adrenalin and took sometime to settle down, whilst my fingers throbbed having been caught in a coil of rope. To cap it all she even knocked my hat off, an unforgivable crime !
At least we now know exactly what the problem is. She severely over reacts to any aggression from other horses. I am sure that all P expected was for this precocious Filly to yield away a bit but was delighted to find what effect a minor charge could have and so repeated the exercise.
I now have the problem as to how to get her confident around other horse. Last year she was in a field, but only with a very old, small pony which she could dominate. This did nothing to increase her horse sense.
We have started socialising her with Bonitao whilst she is in her box. He is so patient with her. She does not know how to groom properly and just licks him. He is trying to get to nibble her gently as all horses do. But if he tries she again severely overreacts as if he is trying to attack her. He seems to understand the problem and really gently licks her moving onto very light nibbles. Slowly she is getting better, but I fear this process is going to take a very long time.
When I heard this I decided to take her back to the field on a 45 foot rope and observe what the problems were.
To start I had trouble getting her through the mud at the entrance. She has always been distrustful of mud, which is a inbuilt fear horses have. The trouble with mud is that is does not give a good footing and as their primary means of defence is to run away anything that inhibits this is viewed with deep suspision.
Having persuaded her through the mud we spent a very pleasant 45 minutes exploring the field. I just let her go wherever the mood took her and she was generally fine. She did react when I gelding (P) in a neighbouring field came at her with her ears back, but other than that all went pretty well. She even trotted towards dogs playing ball in another field to watch them. As it was getting cold I decided that as a field introduction it had gone fairly well and it was time to leave. Then the trouble started.
As we left the field, with more problems at the mud both P and a horse on the other side of the track came at her with head low and ears back. She absolutely flipped. She ran for the yard with me in tow until I could slow her down a bit. I needed to close the fence as it powers the electric to the other fields. She was unhappy to stay in the area. P sensing weakness mounted multiple charges which I had to fend off by driving him away. Filly was now very high on adrenalin and took sometime to settle down, whilst my fingers throbbed having been caught in a coil of rope. To cap it all she even knocked my hat off, an unforgivable crime !
At least we now know exactly what the problem is. She severely over reacts to any aggression from other horses. I am sure that all P expected was for this precocious Filly to yield away a bit but was delighted to find what effect a minor charge could have and so repeated the exercise.
I now have the problem as to how to get her confident around other horse. Last year she was in a field, but only with a very old, small pony which she could dominate. This did nothing to increase her horse sense.
We have started socialising her with Bonitao whilst she is in her box. He is so patient with her. She does not know how to groom properly and just licks him. He is trying to get to nibble her gently as all horses do. But if he tries she again severely overreacts as if he is trying to attack her. He seems to understand the problem and really gently licks her moving onto very light nibbles. Slowly she is getting better, but I fear this process is going to take a very long time.
1 comment:
Tim, my mare Miss Sienna was one of those bottom feeders that we had to separate at times from the herd to keep her safe. As we progressed, not only did her confidence in me grow, she also developed a healthy dose of self-confidence and wouldn't let the other horses boss her around anymore. Not a quick fix but at least light on the horizon... :-)
Petra Christensen
Parelli 2Star Junior Instructor
Parelli Central
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