Mare Behavior- Long

[StacyRz]

Hi All!

I am new to minis, and haven't been around horses in many, many years, so I'm having to re-learn a lot and I'm hoping to get some advice. I've learned an awful lot from this forum just by reading and have to say mini -folks are the BEST!

So here's the situation... I purchased a colt, who is about a year and a half old (soon to be gelded) and as a companion I got him a beautiful silver bay mare, 18 years old.

I fully expected her to assert herself with him, but now I'm wondering if this is going beyond that and into bullying and if so what I can do to fix this.

I give them hay and grain twice a day and at feeding time, she (Fancy) scarfs down her grain and chases Finale away. He eats slow. Painfully slow LOL... Anyway, I ended up after the first few times, going in and shooing her away so he can eat. Now I just sit outside their pen and say AHHHHT loudly to her when I see her headed over to him and she stops and just mad dogs him but doesn't chase him away. We are moving to our new home in another week or two so I will be able to separate them for feeding to solve that little issue...

The main concern now though, is that out of the blue (seemingly) she picks on him! The other day he had her back to him, snuffling around (not even near the hay) and she actually crouched down (like a hunting lioness!) and lunged at him to bite him in the hocks

She didn't actually make contact, but it scared him, since it came out of nowhere. She seems to give him dirty looks and ear pinning all day long and it is making him jumpy. If I go in there with them I have to warn her (I say "Don't!" firmly) not to chase him away from me... She is also an attention hog lol...

So does this sound normal? It's only been a little over a week, and I just don't know how long it takes for herd order to be established, but she certainly seems to me to have it well established. Do you think I will have to keep them each in their own paddocks when we move to our new home? I can always get a few goats as companions, but if I can just keep them together I'd much prefer that.

Any advice is welcome! Thanks in advance!

Oh and I have to ad that I observed her with her former herd (all mares) and she was wonderful with everyone!

 

[AnnaC]

A young colt is not the best companion for a mare. She will be agressive towards him unless she is in season, especially as she is an older mare and in her eyes he is just an 'upstart'!!

Are you sure the mare is not in foal - could be another reason for her agressive behaviour towards a youngster. And yes, you do need to separate them, and as soon as possible. At his age he will be fertile and well able to cover a mare - if she comes into season her attitude towards him will probably change and he will cover her, only to find that she becomes suddenly really agressive again as she goes out of season. Poor lad, it would be a bit confusing for one so young!

Separate them now, and also when you move - they can share a fence line for company, no need for further companions. Then once your colt has been gelded and a bit of time has passed, try them together again to see how it goes, they will probably settle in the end.

If you cant separate them immediately (and I feel strongly that you should) then I suggest that you bring your little lad out of their paddock for his feeds, as the stress of eating while looking over his shoulder is not good for his digestion and could even lead to stress related ulcers.

Good luck!

 

[Eagle]

Yes my first thought was maybe she is pregnant. My girls will not put up with a young lad hanging around once they are preggo it is ' get the heck out of my field or you are dead'

As Anna has said, a young boy and an older mare is not a good idea and it woud better to divide them asap

 

[StacyRz]

Hi Anna!

Thanks for the fast reply! I will separate them. I can tell she's stressing him out

Funny you should ask if she is in foal.

The other day when I was just sitting outside their paddock (admiring them lol) I could have absolutely sworn I saw a kick...But she was also swishing at flies with her tail so I thought maybe it was just a twitch. I went in anyway and tried to feel for movement, as well as checked her udder. She has had 10 foals so it was hard for me to tell. It seemed the area where the bag would be was a bit heavy, but I thought maybe just from her being a bit chubby. Above her nipples it was not "full" feeling though. So though her nipples hang down just a tiny bit, I just figured that's what it was from.... I did take photos to compare to others online, but she's pretty furry under there so it was hard to get a good picture. She also got quite tired of me groping her, since she's only ever been a broodmare, so I gave up. I will post this then try to put the pictures up on here.

Her former owner did but she did not settle. She also winks I noticed so I assumed she was coming out of heat.

I am not sure exactly when she was bred, but her owner did say that she has been in heat since he bred her. He is pretty experienced, so I don't doubt him at all, but there was just that tiny question in my mind when I thought I saw a kick lol!

Let me find the pictures and I will get them up on here...Thank you So much!

 

[StacyRz]

:unsurePlease excuse her dirty butt...she's just done her business. To me, her belly doesn't look pregnant. If you like I could post pictures of that later

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

In this situation, her chasing him away from his food is going to be the least of your worries if they stay together. If she is in foal, she could really turn aggressive towards him at some point. If she's not if foal, she soon will be if she's stabled with an intact male. As already stated, an intact male and a breeding age mare do not make good companions...they make babies.

I wish you the best and hope you can seperate them soon before your issues compound.

 

[StacyRz]

Thank you Eagle! That seems to be the attitude she has..

Parmela, Thank you! I will be separating them as soon as my husband gets home. Since I will be gelding him very soon, I did not think that within a couple of weeks he would breed her, with him being as immature acting as he is.

Please bear with me, as I am new and learning

I dislike sounding so ignorant but if it can and will make me a better owner by asking, I'll take it

 

[Eagle]

Your are NOT at all ignorant and this is the right place to learn

there are loads of really nice people here willing to help so don't worry about asking questions

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Within a couple of hours- within minutes he could breed her!!

Why on earth did you not just tie them up to feed?

Unless you have two angels sprouting wings the dominant animal is always going to take the other animals food. This is so with any animal up to and including humans!

I feed two geldings that are best buddies in the same paddock- they are tied at their own feeders- apart from anything else I want to know that they are getting the feeds they are given, I do not want musical feeds with added kicks taking place.

Your mare must be very confused by now, wondering why on earth you were telling her off for doing something that comes naturally.

I think you owe her an extra kiss on the nose.

Oh, and if you get her ultra sounded ASAP it may not be too late to inject her- it is not usually done until 30 days, anyway......

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Thank you Eagle! That seems to be the attitude she has..

Parmela, Thank you! I will be separating them as soon as my husband gets home. Since I will be gelding him very soon, I did not think that within a couple of weeks he would breed her, with him being as immature acting as he is.

Please bear with me, as I am new and learning

I dislike sounding so ignorant but if it can and will make me a better owner by asking, I'll take it

Please ask all the questions you wish! Someone on here will know the answer and the ones of us that don't will also learn from the response. Good news all around!

 

[StacyRz]

Thank you all so much for the replies! I love reading here and learning!

Thanks for writing Jane. I should have been more specific, I don't believe my colt bred Fancy. I thought there may have been a possiblity that she had settled when she was bred in the spring/summer. I spoke with the fellow I got them both from last night and he told me she has been in heat a couple of times since he bred her, so he really doesn't think she is in foal.

She was also low on the totem pole in her previous herd, so that may be another reason she is being so bossy towards Finale.

I love the idea of keeping them on the same fence line so they can have eachother's company still.

We just bought our own home on 5 acres and will be moving some time next week (YAY!!) There will be lots of room for both of them

I spent a lot of time with each of them individually last night with lots of extra kisses and scratches. Well, no kisses for Finale LOL I don't think it would be a wise idea for me to be kissing him on the nose

You know, I can see why everyone says how addicting these miniatures are. I have only had them a week and I just sit out there for hours each day watching them (in between taking care of my kids of course!) Thanks again for all the advice and info!

 

[StacyRz]

I was just thinking how I hadn't answered the question of why I didn't tie them up to feed them when I first saw Fancy was being greedy... I wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question or not

I thought I would take the time to answer it rhetorical or not, because I honestly thought I was doing the right thing, and maybe it will open up another topic for discussion that some of us can learn from.

The reason I didn't immediately tie them up to eat, was that I had read on another message board (can't remember which) about someone else having a similar problem. The general agreed upon solution was for the owner to stand out there and be the herd leader. When I read it, it made sense to me. I figured that all herds have some sort of pecking order and it can take some time for that to be established, so I really thought I was doing the right thing.

I have to say that when I loudly told Fancy "AHHHT!" when I saw her ear-pinning and heading over to steal Finale's food, she just stopped, dead in her tracks, perked her tiny ears up at me and her eyes, bless her heart were SO big an innocent, I felt terribly guilty for scolding her. If she could talk I think she would have said "I beg your pardon. Was I doing something wrong?"

She is just so precious. I also thought I would share a picture of her beautiful face since you've all been introduced to the other end already

 

[Eagle]

I beg your pardon

Now we definitely need pics

 

[StacyRz]

 

[wingnut]

The issue of the intact male and a breeding age mare has been covered thoroughly, so I'll leave that to those with more expertise than me

We have 6 horses, all girls. Our 3 yr old mare was our first horse at age 10 months. We brought home a 11 yr old mare 3 weeks later. We thought the 11 yr old was going to KILL the 10 month old. Being utter novices at horse ownership at the time, we had no idea of the best ways to introduce the two properly. We learned fast though!!!

With each new addition, she behaved EXACTLY the same. It takes her about a week to stop being a total raging b***h toward the newcomer. And she was NOT pregnant nor in heat at the time. She was simply establishing her role as alpha mare. We didn't step in to STOP her taking on this role, but we did step in to PROTECT the newcomers.

Now, what's REALLY strange is that she DOES NOT protect her food. She behaves and is treated as "top dog" without question in all other areas. But if another horse is allowed in the same area as she is during the time I give them grain, she will walk away with little to no fight at all. She is also our "hard keeper" and can't afford to skip meals, so she is always separate from the rest in some fashion for up to an hour (sometimes 2) so she can eat her grain (1lb per feeding while the others are only getting 1/4lb) and a flake of pure alfalfa hay by herself. Like your guy, she is a s.l.o.w. eater.

Now, #2 horse (the three yr old) will take the bucket of her choice and if she finishes before the rest, she'll push others away from their buckets. The #3 horse will do the same to the others down the line. Because they all eat with pretty much the same speed, she gets very little extra vs. the others getting less...possibly a nibble's worth, tops. So, I typically just allow it to play out. She pushes her way in and the others acquiesce without fuss. I do occasionally stall the two lowest girls on their totem pole so they can eat without being bothered. Horses 2, 3 and 4 can take care of themselves in these matters.

 

[AnnaC]

Oh Stacy, Fancy is just gorgeous - what a beautiful head!

Now we need a picture of little Finale.

 

[StacyRz]

Thanks Anna! I think she's gorgeous too ;-)

Joy, Thanks for sharing your experiences. I didn't realize the first night exactly how slowly Finale eats since the first night she didn't really bother him. She walked toward his bucket and he walked to where her empty bucket was and just kind of snuffled around on the ground, nibbling hay. The next morning though, I noticed that he had almost a full meal left while hers was gone

I will remember what you've written if I decide to get another mini or two later on down the road.

Here is Finale at a show this past October.

 

[weerunner]

Finale is lovely. I have on occasion fed horses together in one stall,but have always had to tie the individuals until everyone is done. My horses are very possesive over their grain and with all the fighting the grain ends up being all stomped into the bedding. Only problem with tying them is that sometimes I wander off and forget to untie them. Opps. I have a stall for every horse right now and I LOVE it.

 

[StacyRz]

Thanks Amanda

I know what you mean about forgetting LOL

I am so paranoid that if I tie them up there will be an accident. I really need to relax a bit. I think my insecurities makes them jumpy

 

[AnnaC]

OH MY!! He is gorgeous!

You have two very beautiful horses Stacy.