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Julie Suhr said:
>...I have a
>gelding who regardless of
how many times I have turned around and slapped his
>face (a no-no for
many of you, I am sure) for nudging me when my back is
>turned and
pitching me forward into a gate or whatever else is in the way,
>continues the behavior although he is becoming a bit more wary. But he
is
>certainly indicating disrespect and I have not established myself as
dominant
>when I am on the ground although he seems to respect my wishes
when I am in
>the saddle...
From this I'm thinking that my (relatively) new
mare
is challenging my dominance. She's taken to
nudging
me with her nose as I stand outside her stall
screen.
I was interpreting it as a kind of cute "give me
some
food," so, if she kept it up long enough I'd
usually
relent and toss her a flake of hay.
This past week, it's progressed to something
more.
She's now nuzzling my arm, and then making
tiny
little doesn't-really-hurt pinch nips. I
didn't
really know how to react to this. I'd turn
to
face her and raise my arms in her face as I
stepped
toward her and she'd back off the stall screen into
her stall and turn sideways to me--but
she'd always
return to my side when I turned back around and
recommence nuzzling.
It feels kind of funny to be getting
drafted
into "horse universe." My old gelding never
tries
to engage in these head games with
me.
I guess the flake-of-hay for nudging is going
to
have to stop. But what do I do about the
sneak
nips?
Linda B. Merims
Massachusetts, USA
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