My mare is just so moody!?

Question

I have an 8 year old arabian mare. When she was 5, she was bought and trained by a 13 year old girl. This was her first horse and wanted to break a horse. She completely skipped the ground work. She is just fine in the saddle, she listens, doesn't buck or rear or anything.

On the ground, she is pushy and doesn't respect me or my space. She almost bites me thinking I always have a treat which I don't all the time. She pushes me with her head if she is bored, or irritated. She will throw her head. When I'm leading her she will sometimes step on my foot because she gets too close to me and either tries to go ahead of me or stays behind. She is usually very good about leading though. It is usually when she is tied up and im grooming her. Of course at times she is very sweet.

What can I do to make her not so moody! Having a true arabian and a mare in one kind of makes her incredibly moody, haha. I've wanted to do some natural horsemanship on her to create a bond between us. What can I do to create this? I just want her to seem happy, she always seems mad.

*I can not afford a trainer. Please don't leave any rude comments.*

Answer 1

She's not moody (That is NOT a Arabian trait), she just doesn't have very good ground manners. The only way you will get thru is to correct her when she does all these thing and you are not being mean by doing so, it really is a safety issue. Don't let her push her head into you, make her back off a few steps. you may need to groom her in an area that is open with you holding the lead line and brush with the other hand, when she moves, you back her a couple of steps. she will soon figure it out. While she is quiet, lots of loving words. Do not feed her by hand at all so she will not look for a treat anymore. I always throw their treats in their feed box.



Leading, begin by teaching her to back by wiggleing the lead rope, (yes while backing wiggle it so it jingles a little)), so when she gets ahead of you all you have to do is wiggle it and she will back off a few steps, if she gets to close, use your hand to push her off some, she will again, learn where your space is. It all takes time so don't be discouraged if she doesn't do it right off.



Mares are stronged willed, afterall they are usually the leaders of the herd, but with practice, she will get better at all this. But remember Mares can have their "off" times during the month though.

Answer 2

All I can say is it is never too late to start ground work. If you know how to lunge a horse, I would start with that. Don't let her get away with any thing. If you use an open hand, giving her a little slap on the neck when she acts up will not hurt her a bit. It is better for her to get a little slap on the neck than for you to get hurt because she is messing around.

When you tie her up to groom her, leave her tied up for a while. My own horse was very impatient when she was young, so I would just leave her tied up (I didn't ever leave her alone though!) and just wait until she calmed down before I let her go. She eventually learned that she had to stand still and behave to get what she wanted.

As far as the biting for treats thing goes... she was spoiled :). Get something that she doesn't like but will not hurt her (usually something creamy like creamy flavored candy does the trick) and put it in your pocket or give it to her when she starts acting up. She will learn quickly that you don't have any thing she wants. You may have to keep from giving her any treats for a while. They say it takes 21 days to break a habit, so I would try at least that long maybe a little more.

As far as throwing her head, try getting a head tie down to attach from her saddle cinch to her bridal. It will keep her head down. If you can't afford one, I'm sure you can improvise and find something to make one.

I understand what you mean about arabians. They aren't bad horses, they just seem to be a little more expressive when they are bored, or want something. I have an Appaloosa cross, and they also tend to be a little impatient some times. I think it also is because they are smart. You just have to out smart them ;).

Answer 3

When she is being groomed or led have a short, stout stick and if she gets too much into your space, won't move over dig it into her chest or her side and say something like "Away" or "Over" in an authorative tone of voice and mean it. After a few times she should get the idea. Do not look her in the eye or lead her while walking backwards. That, to a horse is an aggressive gesture.



Check that you are firm with your brush strokes as Arabs, being thin skinned, tend to be ticklish and this might have something to do with her moods when she is being groomed. Equally, it is possible that she is sensitive to bangs on the bony parts, such as legs and head, hips and shoulders.



A sharp slap with the back of your hand across the side of her mouth with a growl or a firm "NO!" should help with the biting.



As you say, it is the lack of ground work that is causing the problems, not the fact that she is a mare or an Arab. You need to start getting firm with her and never feed titbits by hand. She does not need them and is causing the biting. If you want to give her something tasty, either put it on the ground or in her normal feed.



This why I despair of young or inexperienced people who reckon that they are the best people in the world to break in a horse or pony. Their ideas are so romanticized after reading unrealistic pony story books and it makes me sick. I am not casting aspertions on you, but the previous owner - and her parents for buying her in the first place.



If I had a young horse for sale I would be very careful about who I sold it to and would only sell if the person seemed experienced, calm, firm but fair and that they will have help if necessary.

Answer 4

Try a copper bit especially if she is moody under saddle or seems to be excessively touchy when she is in heat. It has an effect similar to regumate in that it is calming to the hormones, and temporarily seems to regulate their cycling. If you take the mare off of it, just as with regumate, they will resume normal cycling after about 6 weeks (you should be able to breed within 6 weeks of being off a copper bit if used consistently). They make copper bits in almost every variation, so it is quite likely you can find your current bit in a copper version. Also, copper encourages a horse to chew, so you may find the horse actually likes the bit better. It seems to have a general calming effect on them. I use copper bits with all of my horses, but particularly mares that are troublesome in their attitudes before I resort to regumate. I even utilize it on my stallion with great success.



All of that being said works well for a "moody mare" - however in your case I think she has absolutely no respect for you as her leader - she follows you, not the other way around ! Start by when you lead her, making her stop when you say WHOA ! And stop then - not in 5 steps. If she doesn't stop, make her back up. Then take several more steps forward and make her halt again. To initially get the point across, you may have to tug on the leadrope a bit hard to get her attention, but after a time or two you will have it and she will stop as soon as you do. When you want her to go forward, say WALK (or my phrase is Walk on - which I use for trailer loading or if they get balky at something - means you must go forward we're not discussing it). If she won't walk forward immediately, carry a whip with you (preferably a dressage whip) so you can tap her (not beat her), just a light tap works on the side and soon that won't be required. Say BACK when backing her up. Also, if she gets pushy and tries to get on top of you while walking, take your right arm when holding the lead rope and place your elbow against where her neck and shoulder meet lightly. This way she knows how much distance you want her to keep from you. If she invades that space, she'll poke into your arm. Don't jab her with it, just a firm nudge gets the point across. She'll learn that's uncomfortable very quickly and not continue to do it. That will help keep her feet out of the way of your feet. This is what I do to teach babies when leading (ie yearlings) that don't know where their feet are in relation to you and try to push you around. This helps them learn their boundaries and respect you. None of it is brutal or hurting them in anyway. Do this daily and you should see a huge improvement in her manners and you will have a lovely horse both under saddle and on the ground !



Good luck !

Answer 5

Don't expect your beautiful horse to behave like a lap dog.

She is an Arabian horse and horses need to be allowed to act like horses! Let her gallop free out in the fields with all her jhorse mates as much as possible. This would put her in a good mood.



I have seen Stable girls and Riders slap and hit their horses into submission. Keep them in and let them out when they feel like it.



Unfortunatley, many 'horse lovers' need to understand that the horse is not just there to give them pleasure and allow control freaks dominate the horse, but that it is a living animal that needs to be recognised as an animal which needs to be out galloping with his type (other horses!)

Respect her as a horse and not a lap dog and she will be happier! Guaranteed!

Answer 6

Join-up. (look it up on google). It always works. You really have to become the boss. She wont listen unless she understands you mean business.