Mare and social issues

Question

My new mare, the abused TWH if you know my other questions, has more social and herd issues than I thought. I found out yesterday that because she has never been outside, she doesn't know what is OK to eat and what isn't. Her mother was never in a pasture with her so she has never had the opportunity. She kept trying to eat bark, grasses that the rest of my horses avoid, and other things.

Is there a way to work with this? I have an older gelding who is a "babysitter" and was in much the same condition when he was very young (ex-racehorse), but not quite this stunted as he's 17 and fine now. I'm hoping he might be able to help her a bit, but I'm not sure if it works that way. She's going to be put in a paddock that has very little grass in it so that I can control her feed, she could easily colic with how excited she gets over grass, plus the plant issue.

She's also never been with other horses, to the point where she has no herd instinct it seems. She doesn't show any interest in learning, either. I led her almost nose to nose with another mare, and she didn't even react. Just stood there with her head down, and when she did look at something her eyes were on me. Her entire life has consisted of the show arena and a 10x10 stall.

Any advice? I'm open to all ideas! Thanks!

Answer 1

I think the gelding is your best bet since geldings often bond with mares. Have you tried putting them in a paddock together? If possible, I would do this for a couple of days until the mare and him bond. I think once she hooks up with the gelding she will follow his lead. Your best bet would be to find a one horse that can bond with her and take her into the pasture. She will then eat near where her new friend eats.

Answer 2

Well what you are doing seems to be the right thing. Only time can teach her.  Im pretty sure there is a spray that deterrs horses from chewing on stuff. Maybe put that on the bark. Ask for the other plants, remove them from the roots as best you can. Keep her in a cotrolled paddock where she only has access to the stuff she CAN eat

Answer 3

She knows how to speak and act like a horse she's just rusty at it. It would help if she was shown the way. Your right to keep her on a bare patch for a couple of weeks. Feed her grain and give her some exposure to grass. Turn her out for an hour or two a day at first and increase the amount of time till she's out for most of the day at the end of two weeks. After that you can leave her out though keep her on feed and wean her off gradually. Leaving her out with other horses will awaken her horsey instincts. She'll watch the other horses and try to mimick what they do. Naturally, horses like a leader. To her all of the other horses will be leaders to one degree or another. She'll start out at the bottom of the pecking order at first. She'll then start to work out the order of the other horses by seeing who deffers to whom. She'll then look to the leader, the horse she believes is at the top of the rank. She'll mimick that horse and try to eat what she sees him eating and drinking when he/she does. She'll then start to jostle her way up the ranks. If she sees a horse doing something she thinks is dumb, aka opposite of what her leader does then she may show him she thinks she's superior and if he gives in she's moved up. She'll do this till she's settled where she needs to be. Her place will fluxuate, but all of this will happen naturally and when it does she'll be a well adjusted horse with just some minor issues to work out. Being with other horses is the best thing for her. As many as possible, though I wouldn't recommend putting her in with overly aggresive horses. She'll do better if she's allowed to take her time in joining the herd. It might work better if you put your babysitter in with her and let them form a bond and then put him and her out together. She'll stick with him and when he's accepted into the herd, she'll feel the need to try and get in too. Be prepared for her to get a little scrapped up.This is natural. We just introduced two new horses to our herd of five. It's taken 9 weeks for the last of the scrapes to heal on all of them. The other horses need to know where she falls on the pecking order as much as she does and some will try to establish their dominance over her in the beggining. Just have patience and let her go at her own pace. I'm sure that within a year you'll have a perfectly adjusted horse and probably sooner. Good luck.