I was walking my Mare back to the barn after a good 45 minutes or more of hand grazing on lovely green grass – as we were walking down the hill to the barn she head pushed/nudged me from behind - often wondered if she was being a fresh Mare or what she was trying to say to me - I thought maybe she wanted more grass? but it was an intentional nudge from behind - not nasty at all - at least it didn’t feel so…
Really have to follow your own instincts on this. When my mare was younger she would occasionally get me attention by butting me so hard from behind that I staggered. Somehow that stopped. Now she will sometimes touch me with her nose gently when she wants me to notice something. Very different and sweet.
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Ummm… she hasn’t been taught manners (or how to walk properly) and was telling you where she wants you because she thinks she’s the boss?
One of the most dangerous things you can do with horses is let them walk behind you instead of correctly beside you, as they are prey animals, and if they get spooked they may trample you before they realize it out of instinctive reaction. Another of the most dangerous things you can do with horses is allow them to initiate contact with you with their heads. Horses are way bigger and stronger than we are, and don’t know they can hurt us, so they need to be taught limits.
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thank you - this makes total sense!
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NEVER lead horses behind you. I was trampled by 3 horses in October and sustained major head trauma. I never let horses walk behind me anymore.
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Ummmm this is a horse being a horse…IF she had NO manners she would have dove dragged back to the grass bit pushed etc but a nudge is a nudge like a child just giving a little tug on your pant leg…she could have had an itch, a bug landed on her or or or or or or… Yes lead from the side but this is literally NOTHING to write home or anywhere about or write overly long warnings back to you about. I actually have a little game with my guy…he nudged me ever so gently more of a boop than a nudge while on the crossties once so I did this dramatic slow motion twirl away from him saying something silly in a silly voice like 'oh nooooo your nose blew me awaaaayy" again all very calm and slo-mo…he thought that was very entertaining so I kept on repeating it. He has never progressed beyond more than a gentlest of nudges even though he is incredibly mouthy on NON HUMAN things.
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No. Head butting and nudging, no matter how gentle, are right on the line that should never be crossed because both of those behaviours can very easily lead to very serious injuries when a horse gets a little excited or decides to push the boundaries just a little bit more. It IS something to “write home about” and good for the OP for asking about it.
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I think it depends on what it actually was. Actual head butting, big no no. But my mare will sometimes nudge me lightly when she is wanting to tell me something. The attitude it’s done with makes a big difference to me on if it’s a nip-in-the-bud behavior, or just her communicating with me in one of the ways she knows how. But when I say lightly, I mean LIGHTLY, like lightly enough it wouldn’t budge a baby chick. If you don’t know your mare well enough to know for sure if there is attitude/dominance behind it, I would discourage it.
Disclaimer: I have had my mare since she was 3, she’s almost 14 now. She has impeccable ground manners, I’m kind of a drill sergeant in that regard. So we have had many many years to work out our little system of communication that works for us, and she knows the boundaries well. She’s never tried to push them, but I wouldn’t hesitate to reinforce if I needed to.
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