fighting mares... help

[Miniequine]

What do you do about two mares that fight.. and I mean FIGHT like

Stallions. Neither will back down. I need them to be pastured together.

One is considerably bigger than the other. I’m afraid somebody will get hurt.

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

Have they always been together and this just started, or are they new together? If they are new together, they sound like they are both alpha mares. And if they are, someone WILL get hurt. How long have they been together?

 

[wildoak]

Sandy, if they are really serious about it I'm not sure you can do anything but separate them, or at least give them an area with plenty of room to avoid one another. I have a couple of mares like that too and it's downright scary to see them fight.

I did put an aggressive mare into the herd once using Acclimate on her and a couple of others (kind of like Vicks on the nose but better, same idea) and it worked in that instance. Haven't tried it with the dominant mare I have now as she's been up in the barn for a year - that solved it LOL - but may be worth a try when she goes back out with the mares.

Jan

 

[krissy3]

crud , this doesnt sound good. i have a donkey and a mare that dont like eachother.... the donkey is old , and the mare is small, so they havnt really hurt eachother YET. I ended up sending the donkey away for a month long "Holiday" ( jail) ... he came back minus the chip on his shoulder. and things improved. I will build 2 separate barns this summer so the donky will be with the ones that tolerate him.

I think it just takes time for one to back down, maybe you will have to split the pasture in half for a while. I had electric fencing all over the place until things settled...it was like a mouse maze. So I feel for YA.

I did things to make the Donky the weaker pasture pal, because i knew the mare would never really hurt him , but the donky , if allowed to be alpha could do damage. Some of the things I did to lessen the fighting were as follows

blankets, fly sheets, he hated them and would just pout in a corner

grazing muzzle

separation

special attention with the donkey away from the rest

and that "Holiday" with the farmer.

these things sort of let Willy know that he wasnt going to be in charge.

In this time where Willy couldnt pester Pearl , she learned how to defend herself , and gain some muscle.

It just works better for us to enforce 1 alpha mare , and discourage another wanting that role.

good luck

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Oh Sandy, this isn't good my dear.

I'm not saying everyone should try this or that it's even smart to do, but personally it's worked for me....

I go into the area where the two mares are that are fighting for alpha status and I go with a lunge whip. Basically I wait for them to fight - usually doesn't take long and then I immediately intervene by yelling and waving my arms and cracking that whip and I do it with a very aggressive attitude. I charge them while they are fighting and it gets their attention off each other and on to me. To me anyway, it seems to remind them that neither one is in charge, I AM IN CHARGE. I am the alpha mare around here. For me with a new mare I brought in mid last year it took about a week and about 10 times of doing that. So maybe they just got used to each; I don't know. But in general I don't tollerate fighting so when anything breaks out, no matter how small I handle it the same way - I very aggressively (and loudly lol) move toward them and get their attention on me. It's worked with everyone except for when Merlin and Corona went at it (horrible!) and when Wiz, my KS rescue gelding, goes after Corona. But it's always worked on mares for me.

I sure hope something works out for you. It's never a good thing when two hard-headed mares decide not to like each other.

 

[frosthillfarm]

[SIZE=10pt]I have a solution![/SIZE]

Send one to MY barn! Ta-Daa! No more fighting!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

A lot depends on how big your pasture/turnout area is.

A lot of mares will get territorial, especially at this time of year, when the light is lasting longer each day and the hormones are rushing, pregnant or no.

If your turnout area is big enough to accommodate this, I would suggest you running a line of hot wire down the centre of the paddock and putting one mare on one side and one on the other.

If these are not your only animals, section up the other animals according to temperament, but do not leave either mare with no friends.

Once they are settled like this I would swap the mares round, leaving the other animals in their rightful places.

Then I would swap a few animals, back and forth.

Rake as long as you want, but try not to rush it due to pressure of space, if it can be avoided.

When you just take the fence down, when you are ready, I think you will find that they have been so desensitised and disorientated that they will forget their differences.

Good luck, keep your cool, do nothing to draw attention to either mare, never pet one without the other etc, and try not to get upset!

 

[Miniequine]

[SIZE=10pt]I have a solution![/SIZE]
Send one to MY barn! Ta-Daa! No more fighting!

HEHEHE Karen... OK I'm on my way....

Thanks for your input

I think I will try round pening them together.

 

[Magic]

I don't know that it would be at all safe for you to round pen them together; you could end up getting kicked accidently in the limited space, or one or both of the mares may get injured.

I have one *very* alpha mare and I have to be careful to keep her only with non-dominant mares and geldings. When I got this mare she went after every mare in the field even though few of them even tried to challenge her. She kept chasing them down and then would repeated turn and kick in earnest. I had to remove her and keep her by herself. Over time (a LOT of time) I've been able to introduce her into small groups but the other horses have to be absolutely non-confrontational. I bought a mare a couple of years ago that is also extremely dominant and I ended up selling her because it just drove me crazy. She and the other mare could never be kept together and she was just too plain mean to my other horses.

I would do as the others have said and separate them for now, but have them adjacent to each other so that they can get used to each other in safety. It would work best if other horses are not in their view so that the mares start to "buddy up" to each other for company. If they still fuss and fight with each other through the fence, you will know that they are just not compatible. If they start hanging out companionably by each other with the fence in between them, then you have hope that they will get along better when you put them together. Good luck!

 

[Miniequine]

Thanks for your help.

These two have been living side by side for 2 years now.

This mare intentionally goes after others to establish her place....

I can remove one and all is fine. I always have to keep one of them

apart. What a pain.

I think pairing them up until they are lonely may work! hahaha brats!

 

[eagles ring farm]

Have you tried just the 2 alpha mares together with no other company

even through the fence

They might just learn to enjoy the only company they have

and learn in a calmer way who is in charge

Without our army behind us sometimes we aren't so tough no cheering section

 

[georgiegirl]

What do you do about two mares that fight.. and I mean FIGHT like
Stallions. Neither will back down. I need them to be pastured together.

One is considerably bigger than the other. I’m afraid somebody will get hurt.

I have wondered the same thing, however, I have two geldings that literally try to kill each other. I tried putting them in a huge turnout area together and the fireworks flew. The smaller gelding grabbed the other behind the withers,on the bottom of his neck, and started dragging him around. I separated them immediately and dont intend to ever put them back together. I truly believe that one would kill the other.

I will be reading this thread with interest.

I also wondered about putting a kicking chain on them. Of course it would have to be sized way down for a mini.

 

[Marty]

I can't do it Sandy. I would have to cross fence and separate. Yup its a pain but it will solve the problem. You can just try to set some tee posts and use some wire, that should do it in a pinch. You know in all honesty there is not a bite or even a scratch mark on any of my horses. I really don't have much of an Alpha mare, I don't think anyone is really running the show too much out there so it stays pretty quiet that way. I got lucky with my group