Quote:
Agreed. I used to believe that gender made a difference. The "bad" mares that I bought, then turned around and sold we really badly trained. I lucked into the mare that I now own--she's a doll, and loves on you even when she's in heat. The man I bought her from trained her for CW Reenacting--that's where we bought her, at the 145th Gettysburg, National Event in PA--and she was handled, worked, and ridden frequently, despite the fact that he bred her 4 times in her first 10 years. (She'll be 12 this year.) My 16'2hh (and growing), soon-to-be-4-year-old GELDING is very pushy. I push him back. With bad footing now, he is inside a stall at night. Although, I let my horses come in at night without a halter, and in their pecking order, I lead him out every morning, make him stand and wait before I release him. (Part of this is because I want my gelding to have a working familiarity with my barn because he has to enter into/exit out of an opening the size of a house's front door.) I have even begun to close the gate and make him put his head over it before I undo his halter.
You mare needs to be worked
by herself because she has separation anxiety, just like dogs get. Please do GROUND WORK whenever your horses are excited. I am becoming a fast fan of Clinton Anderson. His "stick" is nothing special--you can use a lunge whip with the "string" part tied up on the shaft with overhand knots. I really like how he does not let his horses push their way into his personal space and he uses his "stick" to teach this and remind the horses NOT to push him around.
REMEMBER: Animals don't understand equality;
Animals understand that one of you is the boss, and one of you is the follower.
Here's another exercise that might help you, but it's best done daily:
1) Take each horse out separately to get grained.
2) Tie them up with their grain bowl, securely, but far enough away from the others so that they can't make physical contact.
Don't worry that the first few times they don't come to gate to be haltered in their pecking order--THEY SOON WILL!
When I first got horses, I had 6 horses and I rented a turnout area. Haltering was a game, and I was losing. I started this exercise, and my horses began to line up, in their pecking order. I made each wait until the horse in front was secured. When they were ALL done eating, I turned them back out in their pecking order. They associated haltering, leading and tying up with food. It made these chores enjoyable for ME, and I had now trouble after that. Horses have
REMARKABLE memories. When my old guys (RIP CORPORAL & RO GO BAR, 2009) weren't being haltered for grain anymore, they STILL would walk over and meet me when I took out a halter and lead.
