RE: fighting horses

["Kathy Mayeda" <kathy_mayeda@atce.com>]

It probably is a phase they are going through and it's pretty much
up to you if you could tolerate their injuries.  My horse was in
a mixed herd pasture and went from being subservient bottom horse
to wanting to be "king of the pasture" at seven.  I spent a year and
a half nursing him through cuts and bites, but now as a 10 year old
he just hangs around uphill of the rest of the herd.  One time I
saw a mare charge at him, and he just kinda did a half kick, gave
her a dirty look and went back to grazing.  The mare got the message.

A lot of owners got upset at me (but this is suburbia, yuppie town)
for keeping my horse to get chewed up in the pasture, but I stuck
it out and now he's fine.  I think that your concern is real, and
I wouldn't blame you for worrying, especially with two of them
at that age!  I think that keeping the 4 yo with the mare is a good
idea - teaches them manners.

K.


-----Original Message-----
From: Marlene Moss [mailto:marlene.moss@wcom.com]
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2001 9:36 AM
To: ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RC: fighting horses


Hi,
I have 4 horses which we currently split up 2 in each pasture.  In the
summer, we usually put all 4 together in the biggest pasture.  The
horses
are:  a 4 yr old gelding who is an annoying little pest, 7 yr old
mustang,
who will play but gets tired of it, a 7 yr old gelding who also like to
play, but isn't quite the pest that the 4 yr old is, and a 9 yr old
mare,
who's mostly the boss and just ignores the rest.

The problem is the geldings - they play pretty rough, on their hind legs
a
lot.  The 4 yr old is very mouthy and bites at anything that moves.
When
the mustang finally gets annoyed, he goes for the throat.  Both of the
other
geldings have very nasty wounds on their necks.

This makes me very nervous - afraid that the mustang could potentially
kill
the other 2.  Right now I have the mustang and mare together and the
other 2
can play all they want.  But this isn't the best arrangement based upon
feeding needs and other things.  Plus, we soon plan on putting all 4
together.

How much should I worry about this?  It doesn't seem like the 4 yr old
is
learning anything from the abuse he gets back - he didn't learn much
about
herd behavior when he was young - lived in a stall for 2 years.  I'd
like
him to learn to behave - but I don't want to risk his life. We've had a
few
sales and purchases over the last year, so I'm not sure what the real
long
term dynamic of these 4 will be.  (I've had the pest and the mare for 3
yrs,
the other 2 about 3-6 months).

What do you think?  Am I worrying too much?  Should I put them together
and
hope the youngster figures it out before he's dead?  Should I keep them
separate at all costs?  Things are somewhat better with all 4 together -
the
brat can spread out his play targets!  Maybe I should get one of those
throatlatch sweat things to protect him!!!

Thanks for any advice.
Marlene


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=