Conference noted::equitation

    My filly tried to kill the pygmy goat I had gotten to keep her
    company last summer.  She chased it down and tried to stomp on
    it.  I have also seen her chase dogs and cats or whatever prey
    happens to be in her territory!  Sometimes I think she is trying
    to play, but the other animals don't think thats the case!!

    
    
    	My horse did this recently. I was very puzzled by it.
    	We had a dog follow us on the trail, and every time it 
    	got near Eb's front end, Eb would drop head head and
    	try to *leap* on top of it. At first it was kindof funny,
    	since he's always `mr. placid', but he kept it up for an
    	hour and since the dog wouldn't get the hint and go away,
    	it really ruined our ride...After I thought about it, I 
    	think I can connect it to a previous boarding situation
    	where a dog liked to amuse himself by barking in the horses'
    	faces. Perhaps your horse was once startled by a duck, or
    	somehow perceives it as a threat. To you, it may be for no
    	apparent reason, but you don't know if something happened 
    	when you weren't around to make the horse want to `get even'
    	with the duck (or goat, or whatever). I really think Ebony
    	remembered his previous experience with a dog, and transposed
    	it onto this other dog. 
    
    	Sherry
     

    
    
    
    i think *you think* they act nice, but if you werent there you 
    would see a different side of em'
    
    I generally stand around and watch them and disappear and watch their
    actions/movements....... you'll see a different side I think!
    
    well that the experience i have had anyways.
    
    
    

    If you are there, it is unlikely that you will see aggression because 
    you are a dominate herd member.  In the horses perspective, they are
    dominate over the smaller "herd" members, and display this thru 
    aggressive gestures. Unfortunately, the little animals in their "herd"
    cannot express themselves as horses, therefore they must run for their
    lives. This would be unlikely to occur with older horses that have
    learned the difference between horses and other animals.
    

    I have seen my horse take a swipe at smaller animals. I assumed that he
    saw them as competitors for his food, his primary passion in life. I
    have seen goats and even a large cockatoo, when I was in Australia,
    drive a timid horse away from its grain bucket to get at the grain
    first.

This really isnt an instance of agression against a smaller animal, but
we do have an interesting situation at the barn where I board Louie....

There's a part shepherd dog that belongs to the owners.  The owner's
quarter horse loves this dog.  I mean L*O*V*E*S  this dog.  Oskar
will groom Angel and protect her as if she's his daughter.  He's even
tried to pick her up by the nape of the neck like a kitten.  The dog
acted like this hurt, but returned for more.  Its the wildest thing
to see Oskar lick her coat clean.  I've also seen Angel approach
the other horses for this same sort of attention.  So far, Louie is the
only one that will even attempt to groom her.  He hasnt quite got
it down...he does alot of rubbing his nose in her fur, but he tries.
All the others chase her away.  He's not very wild about having her
with him on the trail, though.  She has a tendancy to run up under
his legs.  It gives me the willys!

Jan

    After reading the previous notes on this topic it appears that my 
    horse does a simalar thing even though we live in the UK.
    
    I have got a golden labrador who insists on hanging around Williams
    stable until he has finished his dinner, William gets very jealous 
    and tries to bite my dog.  But when the stable cat is around she will
    rub herself round his legs and he will sniff her.  There is alot of
    trust there.
    
    I have come to the conclusion that William gets very jealous of any 
    animal that is close to me and he sees them as a threat.  Even if 
    I am making a fuss of one of the other horses at my yard he shakes his 
    head, and bangs his stable door until he gets some attention!

    One of my horses last year, leaped on all fours on top of a chicken,
    killed it instantly, by breaking it neck. She was in a rather playful
    mood at the time.  After she realized this chicken was not going to
    get up, she stood and looked over it, quite apologetic I think.
    
    

    I have a draft horse gelding that weighs almost a ton, if any of my
    barn cats get in the coral, he will put his nose to the ground and
    chase the cat out. When one of my dogs get loose, the horse will not
    bother the dog at all, figure that one out????....
    
                                                      Greg

    My horse adores other animals, any type at all.  My neighbors
    dog used to come over, and he would nuzzle her and poke her
    and follow her around.  He did this to the barn cat at the stable,
    too.  He watches the birds & squirrels, and my neighbors chickens. 
    
    However, my sisters horse will chase, and yes, even try to kill
    anything smaller than him, including ponies.  He chases, bites
    at, kicks and tries to stomp them into the ground.  He attacked
    an kicked a goat, chased the dogs & the cats.  He also chases around 
    the horses turned out with him.
             
    Lynne
    

    I have a rather "serious" aggressive horse problem that I wonder if 
    anyone has successfully solved.  My mare is 17 years old and has always
    had what I would call an aggressive, Alpha-type personality.  She has
    been known to kick (never with serious results) at horses who come up 
    behind her in crowded conditions in the ring and on the trail, and I
    have, of course, always been cautious when riding with others because
    of this tendency.
    
    However, lately she has started to kick unexpectedly and without
    warning in situations which I previously thought were "safe."  For
    example, a friend and I were on the last mile of a 15 mile ride last
    weekend.  We were trotting at a good clip side-by-side on a wide dirt
    road (approximately 4 feet apart) when my mare suddenly lashed out
    at my friend's horse, and put a rather significant cut on her (the
    horse's) foreleg.  This is a horse that we have often gone out with
    before and with whom she has never shown serious aggressive behavior
    toward before.
    
    In any case, I am very concerned about this behavior since it is
    potentially very dangerous and because it happens without any warning.
    Has anyone out there experienced anything similar?  Has anyone got any
    ideas of how to cure this behavior?  (I have tried "punishing" her with
    several hard smacks with the crop, but it hasn't seemed to help...maybe
    because it takes me a few moments to get myself back together enough to
    apply the punishment.)
    
    Any ideas/help will be appreciated.  
                                       
    

    I would get a vet check of her reproductive system. I had a mare with
    an ovarian tumor that acted very agressive. Long rides made it worse
    because they caused her pain in the back. Surgery gave me a different
    horse, though she still doesn't care for geldings.
    Sandy
    

    Sandy,
    
    This is an interesting idea....was your mare aggressive on a consistent 
    basis, i.e., in the barn, in the pasture, etc.?  I ask because my mare
    isn't...she is a pussycat in the barn, is real easy to work around,
    and shares a small paddock for
    several hours a day with another horse and is not at all aggressive
    with him.  She's definitely the boss, but laid-back ears are about
    all I see her do in the way of asserting her dominance over him.
    
    

    Summer was fine with her pasturemates but would agressively go after
    anyone new. She acted like she was in season just about all the time.
    She was a real sweety with people which is why I worked with her and
    found the problem. Things just didn't make sense. My sister has her
    now, She still will threaten some but she used to fly backwards going
    after other horses. We always wore red ribbons... in the forelock AND
    the tail!
    Sandy
    

    My first thought is hormone imbalance, too.  I had a broodmare who was
    always the boss of the group, and whenever she first got in foal she was
    *awful*!  She acted like a stallion -- kicking and biting at all the
    others.  The vet said he thought it was the hormonal change, and she
    usually calmed down after the first month or so.  If the hormonal
    imbalance is due to something other than pregnancy though, it won't go
    away, of course.  I'd have the vet take a look at her.
    
    -ellie
    
    

    Thanks to everyone who replied re: my mare with the kicking problem. 
    I will have her checked out!
    
    Joyce