What possesses those mares sometimes?

[Godsgrl]

I'm so glad you are okay, how scary! I have had that happen to me with a filly one time. She always pushed me around, and I didn't know how to handle horses. She backed me into a tree and kicked up her heels at me. I'm still leary around horses. Thanks be to God you are okay.

 

[joletabey]

I have a mare that gets cranky once a month, too. WORK HER. Take her out and longe line her till she is pooped out every time someone rides off on the gelding. IF you have your longe line whip in hand, and you give her a tap if she gets feisty, she will remember her manners. I am NOT saying whip her, just keep her attention. If she associates the gelding leaving with hard work, she may calm down.

My horses walk freely out of the barn each morning. My mare will sometimes have a fit, and wants to get out of her stall FAST and will buck and kick her way out the barn door. I immediately go out and get her, halter her and lead her in and out of the stall about ten times till she gets sick of it and calms down. And then I halter her and walk her in at night and out in the morning for the next two days. She needs the occasional reminder that she is not the boss.

 

[onthespot]

I prefer mares too. I know you didn't ask for suggestions, but if anyone else is reading the thread, I'd say don't be around a fit throwing horse unless you get a halter on it and THEN feed her and pet her face.

 

[abooth]

it's called herd bound. it doesn't have anything to do with her gender.

 

[bkreugar]

OMG we are so glad you are ok!

We have 3 ARABIAN mares!! Only one is herd bound that is the 23 year old retired mare and mopes when the kid rides her new pony instead of her and when my daughter and myself go trail ride on our good as gold bomb proof horses (that are ARABIANS) they LOVE IT! the mare left behind not a big fan

she will cry and cry and then eat then cry she calms down after see can't see us anymore because she knows we are coming back. The crys some more after she sees us coming back. Like I said shes retired and so wishes she was galloping with the kid on her back, I put my 7 year old son on her bareback and she is soo happy! Anyway back to the point ITS NOT A MARE THING , though my daughter and I seem to here this ALLLL the time! Maybe a UNtrained mare but not all mares!!

For the mare to kick out AT YOU, shows a level of malevelence she wouldn't do 2x here and stay. TOTALLY unacceptable.Even the retired girl while unhappy would NEVER EVER dream of showing her unhappiness towards US EVER!

Even in this thread it seems that us "mare lovers" are the minority. I myself when looking for a new horse ONLY looked at mares.I find them to be smart, and forgiving, but mostly SMART!

 

[ducks4you]

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.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I also prefer mares. My previous mare had her moments, but most of the time she acted up because she was frustrated with me when she couldn't understand what it was I was asking of her. The 5 year old mare we have now has not had a mare moment since we've had her, and the previous owners described her as being somewhat of a demon horse!

My dad prefers geldings, but for some reason I've always gotten along better with female animals. I don't think he has any real reason for preferring geldings, but he's been talking to "cowboys" recently and a lot of them keep only geldings on their ranches. Apparently no mares helps prevent crazy geldings, but I actually find the herd works better when there is a hierarchy with both mares AND geldings. I didn't see any craziness when we introduced mares to our two geldings.

Sorry for hijacking your thread and going off topic a bit. I always find the mare vs. gelding debate an interesting one!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

My aunt owns a mare that shares a mutual hatred. Meaning...she hates me and I hate her.

When I was younger, I couldn't show one of the other mares seeing as how she was so pregnant. So, I was showing this GORGEOUS mare in color class. She gave me a look and I took a step back. I will not EVER ride that horse. I'm the only one she does it to...go figure.

 

[Camelot Farms]

Ms. Crankypants will be getting herself a workout today while General goes for his ride with DD and DH.

I think there are lots of factors coming into her attitude, none of which make it acceptable, just understandable.

She and the gelding were field boarded for 2 years with another mare who held the Boss-Mare position. Recently 2 things happened, we lost the rental on the field so instead of 15 acres to roam, she has a 1/2 acre paddock and the Boss Mare left for another boarding field so she is now finding herself 'alone' and in charge of our gelding and she isnt quite sure what to do. So, when he left and she was stuck there with me, she got a bit loopy. Again, not acceptable. I should have been more aware of what was going on and not tried to deal with her until her temper tantrum was over. Honestly, she has never acted this way in the time that we have had her. I have never seen her kick her feet in any situation, let alone kick them at me. DH insists that she was just kicking and being a twit, not necessarily kicking at me. All I know is my face was full of mud and it came from hooves that were mighty close to my face.

So, off to the barn to re-teach some manners.

By the way...I love my mare but a prefer a gelding everytime. With a gelding, you get the same horse every day...no hormonal fluxes.