CATCHING
ON PASTURE
Dear Cherry Hill, I
have recently been presented with two problems I am not sure how to handle. I
do not own my own horse. I am fortunate enough to be able to ride a friend's
horse because she doesn't ride her much.
The
horse I ride is a 22 y.o. mare who was trained as a show horse and who was rescued
by my friend from very inhumane conditions. Mary Lou is a sensitive and
Spunky horse who has also developed some bad manners over the years. I am
only able to ride her once a week which means I probably only spend 4 hours with
her a week. You can probably sense that this may be a problem in and of
itself. I am not a very experienced horseperson although it has been a passion
all my life, if only in my daydreams and playtime! I am realizing now with
my new situation that going to camps and saving my allowance to rent horses every
weekend as a child/pre-teen is not the same as owning and caring for and disciplining
and training and riding your own horse! There are many, many things you
cannot learn unless you handle the details of owning a horse from beginning to
end.
Recently my friend put Mary Lou (and
her other horse) out to pasture on a neighbor's property. This neighbor
has two horses that are also out in the pasture. I recently embarked on
my first trip to retrieve Mary Lou from the pasture. The first thing that
happened was that I found myself surrounded by the other three horses, who were
nipping at each other and Mary Lou. I remained calm and grounded and safely
lead her out of the gate, but I realized that this was a potentially hazardous
situation. I am comfortable with Mary Lou's stablemate, but not with the
other two horses, who are not exactly placid and dull. (They are beautiful
Appaloosas.) My first question is: How do I safely retrieve her from the
pasture under these circumstances? (I may want to note here that I took
carrots out to the pasture for the horses and perhaps that was not wise and not
helpful in that situation.)
After I got
Mary Lou out the gate and heading toward her stable, she started screaming loud
and hard and turning back toward the pasture. She was jumpy and tense.
She usually does not like to be taken from her stablemate, but she has never acted
as intensely as this time. She continued this behavior the entire time I
had her away from the pasture and her pals. I was able to ride her and she
behaved fairly well, but I am hoping there is a way to calm her down and discipline
her appropriately so she will not think I condone this behavior. So, my
second question is: How do I appropriately discipline her throwing such a fit
and how do I help her to calm down and trust that I am not going to ruin her life
by taking her away from her friends for a few hours?
Thanks, Deb
Hi Deb,
Thanks for you well
presented question.
First,
there is no "safe" way for one person to get a horse out of a group
on a pasture. It is risky no matter which horses are in the group and no
matter who goes to get them. That's because the horses have been interacting
via horse behavior modes for hours or days and all of a sudden a human comes into
the picture. Now, even if the horses are "well trained", they
still are horses in a herd with a pecking order (dominance hierarchy) so depending
which horse you take out (top or bottom on totem pole or somewhere in between)
will dictate how the rest of the horses will interact.
As
you discovered, taking food out with you only intensifies competitive behavior
so is not a good idea.
Ideally, two or
more people should go out so that while one halters the horse that is wanted,
the others can "run interference" which might just mean standing in
a certain position to keep you safe while you halter and then lead out and to
help you get out the gate safely. As far as the herd bound behavior the horse
exhibited once you started taking her away from the herd, once again, this is
a very common problem because horses are social creatures with strong herd ties
and once horses are turned out on pasture together, they really can form strong
bonds. Herd bound or buddy bound is very similar to barn sour (the attachment
is to a horse, or herd or barn with horses in it) so be sure to read the 2 articles
on my site about barn sour behavior.
You
probably already suspect that your 4 hours a week with this horse compared to
the 164 hours a week she spends with the herd just isn't going to stack the deck
in your favor.
That's why, if at all possible,
if you can spend more time regularly, such as taking her out at feeding time,
bringing her up to the barn and feeding her (reward away from the group!),
then grooming and riding, she will begin to form a bond with you. As it
is, she is anxious because her security and daily routines are more connected
to the horses left on the pasture.
I keep
all of my horses in separate pastures or pens. They are fed individually and worked
individually. Occasionally they are turned out with mates for exercise and
grazing but I usually change who goes out with who and when and in which pasture just
to keep them from getting too attached to any horse or routine.
I
hope this gives you some insight. I know that you are trying to work in
your situation the best you can. Good luck 
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