Re: jealousy

["Tracey" <tracey@tbt.co.za>]

Hi, Rhonda,


I'm not sure that I'd call this reaction in a horse "jealousy", because
that, to me, is such a negative, distinctly human emotion.

However, I have seen the reaction you describe in my own horse.  Whenever I
used to ride PG, Toc would tear up and down the fence line, bucking, farting
and screaming like a banshee.  Yet, if my instructor rode him, he would
carry on grazing as if nothing had happened.  It also had a bearing on my
relationship with PG in the paddock, because he was afraid to approach me
for affection, as every time he did, Toc would bite him or kick him.


Thinking about it from a horse's point of view (because I don't see much
point in anthropomorphising what they do), I think it wasn't so much
jealousy over my affection, as Toc being proprietorial : in the same way as
he is proprietorial over his hay net, his food bowl and his stable!


It would be easy to say "aw, how cute, your horsey loves you", but in fact
this kind of behaviour is NOT cute.  It can be downright dangerous.  I can't
swap horses with people on an outride if their horse is playing up, unless
that person elects to walk Toc in hand and stays far, far away from me.
Occasionally, at shows, people ask me to warm their horses up for them if
they're having problems (isn't it amazing how, when people see you riding a
lunatic, they automatically assume that you won't mind riding THEIR
lunatic).  The only safe way to do this is to remove Toc from the arena
completely, or he will express his displeasure in very marked ways!  There
are also very few horses he will allow near us on outrides, and has a very
exaggerated idea of what constitutes "our" personal space.  When I arrive
home, dogs, groom, and other horses are chased away from "his" person.


Unfortunately, I have nobody to blame for this but myself, as I took him on
when I was a green newbie, and didn't know better.  Suffice it to say that
I'm working on teaching him that I do NOT belong to him, and that he must
play nicely with the other children <g>.  It's not easy, and I don't think
I'll ever entirely trust him with other horses, but I do think that it's
necessary.


Just as I won't tolerate possessiveness in my dogs, I don't think I'd
tolerate it in my horses.


Tracey