Cranky horse with traffic

[keenkick725]

I have a mare who is very cranky when other horses are sharing the arena. She turns out with other horses without any issue, is a very sweet horse on the ground and under saddle, but the moment a horse looks at her in the arena she gets so angry pinning her ears and showing her teeth. Other horses can be behind her, coming towards her, or on the other side of the arena and she will still try to focus her attention to the other horse and be complete mean girl about it.

How do you guys typically handle a situation like this and do horses typically “grow out” of it? I try to expose her to more arena traffic to get used to clinics, shows, etc but I’m not sure I see it getting better with more exposure? Any thoughts?

[AmmyHunter]

More practice will help a little bit, but it is likely just her personality/hormones, unfortunately. If it is hormonal, Regumate or Altrogenest shots will help.

[Paint_Party]

I guess I’ve been fortunate to not have any mares that behaved like this. But I know they exist.

I agree: consult with your vet about trying Regumate. Must admit that most of the show mares where I ride are on it.

One other tip: Are you sure you’re riding her on your aids? I mean, like really make her focus on you and the job she’s doing? She could be one of those mares who just really needs to be kept a little between your hand and leg, and given an exercise (like circle, leg yield, shoulder-in, etc.) when she starts to give off her Mean Girl vibe.

[endlessclimb]

If a horse I’m riding starts showing that much interest in other horses/activities, they get their booty put to work. Small circles at the trot, shoulder in, transitions.

If she’s got enough brain wavelength to think that hard about what other horses are doing, you aren’t occupying enough of it.

When she makes a face, give a growl or an AHH AHH, then hard work for a minute, then clean slate to try again. She’s got to make good life choices.

[findeight]

Need to work harder at keeping her attention on you, not ignoring you. And thats part of what shes doing. It may be rooted in hormones and that can be managed. But shes learned she can change the subject and ignore your aids.

Keep her busy when flatting. Extensions, collections, bending, counter canter, displace haunch/shoulder, frequent transitions and direction changes. No just riding around the rail. And thats all the time. Good habits start at home with every ride, every time. In time she will give you the respect you lack currently.

Have had 3 mares, only one, the classiest and best show horse, could be a real wicked witch during estrus cycles and whenI first got her, most of the rest of the time. Thats why her former owner sold her after only 6 months and at a ( comparatively speaking) reasonable price. Mare had her number, estrus made it worse.

Took some time in a serious, consistent program and Regumate from March to Sept but she really leveled out and became my best ever partner, even if she was always ready to offer her opinion if she got bored. So keep them busy.

[PNWjumper]

I have had two who are really terrible with other horses. One is my TB gelding. Maybe related to having spent time on the track? Though he was a terrible racehorse, so it’s not likely that he has memories of being in a pack of horses, lol! But for most of his life I did private sessions in clinics because he was such a pain to ride in the ring with other horses. Warm ups at shows were similarly challenging. He showed through the big GPs and for most of his career the warm up was a very carefully managed situation (but for more reasons than just that). I think it took him until the age of 17 or 18 before he slowly turned into a “normal” horse in that respect. But his was a freak out when other horses were anywhere near him…not the “mare” thing of ear pinning and basically talking shit to the other horses.

The other is a young mare I brought over from europe. She would absolutely freak if horses passed her or came at her in a ring. Ear pinning, faces, and just the whole bitchy thing. It had nothing to do with her heat cycles at all. And similar to yours, mine grew up living with other horses and lives out with my mare herd 24/7. I put her to work every time she did anything and she very quickly learned to pretend to be polite. And then over the course of a couple of years the pretending to be polite turned into legitimate manners. Now she’s perfectly fine to ride in crowded arenas. But I still see little moments - my daughter and I do gallop laps during most of our rides and my daughter loves to chase me when we do it. When she comes thundering up behind this mare she goes right back to ear pinning and bracing for some imaginary fight. Same story when we do gallop sets on the trail. But it takes that level to set her off (and even then it’s only the ear pinning).

I’ve had a couple of others who were funny about super close encounters in the ring, but I’ve never thought much of that and they’ve all grown out of it.

[Mercedes2]

Have you considered blinders? I had an instructor with a mare who would get so worked up being around other horses in the small indoor in the winter that she would rear. She eventually got blinders for her and it seemed to help.

[keenkick725]

Thanks for suggestions. She is on regumate and I think it helps with her overall mood. We’ve tried blinders and I’m not sure I noticed much a difference. I will pay more attention to keep her focused on a specific task. She does it with anyone in her whether it be me or my trainer who encourages me to “just keep going” but I wish she’d be kinder about it. In fairness, she really has never done anything to a horse, it’s just her expressions are very loud. Can we just pass a horse without you royally pissed off and pinning your ears about it?

[SuzieQNutter]

@keenkick725

She does it with anyone in her whether it be me or my trainer who encourages me to “just keep going” but I wish she’d be kinder about it.

This is solely the responsibility of the rider. The trainer cannot fix it when the other rider lets her get away with it in between. If the mare does bite or kick another horse in the arena and it does happen, then it is the fault of the rider. Do not blame the horse.

[keenkick725]

No where did I intend to blame the horse, my OP was literally asking how I can go about correcting this issue in my rides. Thanks to all who provided suggestions.

[Pokerface]

So one of the training methods I have been taught to acclimate a a horse to being ok with sharing a ring with other horses is to start off with your horse on one side of a jump/barrier, and another horse on the other side. Start with making sure your horse is quiet just being hand held on the other side. If she picks her head up or makes a face when the other horse passes by the other side of the barrier, you want to pull her head down and ask her nicely to focus on you and hopefully relax. This can involve food/treats in the beginning. Slowly increase the demands, eventually getting on her and expecting her to stand there relaxed while another horse is working on the other side of the barrier, then you can start working her on the other side of the barrier. Eventually you can make the barrier less and less. It can take a while, but it can be really helpful for horses who are otherwise good.

I think for a smart or sensitive horse, just “getting after them” when they get upset is about as helpful as yelling at a tantruming child to “Calm Down!” or really to tell anyone to calm down when they are upset about something. It’s better to help your horse actually feel calm and willing.

[keenkick725]

Thanks for that explanation. I will make sure to try to incorporate those things. Yes, we certainly don’t get after her but I’m guilty of not “challenging” her to focus on something more interesting so I’ll be sure to try to focus her attention on other things

[SuzieQNutter]

Yes focusing on you is correct and that should also reassure them that there is no danger.