Training Tips

QUESTION: Dear Sylvia: My family and I have purchased many Spotted Saddle Horses from a local breeder. They are very reliable and have always sold us excellent and well mannered horses. About 2 months ago I bought a mare and her colt. The two came to our home and everything has just worked out wonderfully. The transition has turned out perfect and they both seem to be very content. About a week ago, the same breeder called and asked us if we would be willing to buy a very young (2 month old) filly. Something had happened to her mother and she was already weaned at a very early two months! Despite the factors working against her, she is doing very well and eats about 2 lbs of sweet feed and alfalfa mix as well as forage a day. She has a very sweet and calm disposition as well. The mare & colt I previously bought had been in the same pasture with her at their old home and she and the colt share the same sire. Now that they are all at my pasture, the mare shows a deep discontent for the very small and fragile baby. Even protected by a fence, the mare lays her ears back and lashes out at the filly. One day she even bit her on the back, bringing blood. I can't understand why she sees so much of a threat in this newby as to practically attack her. The colt wants to play with her, but his dam will not allow it. So I guess my question is: What should I do to integrate the three without harming the filly? Do you think that the mare's disposition towards her will change with time? I'm so frustrated, Please Help!

REPLY: This actually isn't that unusual for a mare to reject another baby, especially if she has her own baby at her side. You're smart to keep a fence line between them for the time being. However, I would want to get proactive there to start stepping in as the real lead mare of her herd (that would be you) and start schooling her on getting along with this new youngster, as it's going to be part of her herd in the future. Here I want to direct you to a link on my web site to show you how you can, in very structured (and safe) lessons, start teaching this mare to get along better with this baby, and showing her that her aggressive attitude there is NOT allowed in "your herd":

Stopping Horse-to-Horse Aggression - How can I stop one horse from biting another?

In that exercise you learn in the above link, it would be the mare that would be haltered in this lesson. Give that a try. I've done this many a time to get horses better getting along and it works! Hope this helps!