Entries Tagged as 'Horse behavior'

Unexpected Company

Welcome back!

Winter Missouri river

We had some unexpected company last week.

Our horses spend the winter in a brushy pasture on a bend in the Missouri River. It’s a nice place for shelter and they come in for hay and grain almost every day. The Missouri River is covered with ice right now, as well as a layer of snow over the ice. Usually there are several air holes (open water holes) in the area, but there must be some changes in the current this year because the river is frozen solid from bank to bank right now.

Last week we got a call from some folks on the other side of the river. They were missing some horses and suspected that they might have tried to cross the river on the ice. Sure enough, the missing ones showed up with our horses and had to be trailered home (about 30 miles by road and bridge) after their little half mile river crossing.

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Boss Mare

Several years ago my dear younger sister gave me a cap for Christmas. It was a denim color with Boss Mare across the front. I think there was just a little bit of attitude in the selection of this Boss mare capparticular gift, but I have gotten the biggest kick out of wearing it over the past years.

Why? Because every time I wear it I think of some of the Boss Mares I have known in the past. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, it is the highest mare in the pecking order of the horse herd. A stallion will be the “boss” of the herd, but he leaves much of the direction and management up to the Boss Mare. She is usually in the lead as they travel and what she says goes!

Even in a small group of horses with just geldings and mares, there will usually be a boss mare that is either the most dominant member of the group or who attaches to the dominant gelding.

A few years ago we had a boss mare called P.K. She was dominant even as a younger horse, but by the time she was older she had every horse on the place convinced that she was in charge. She got the best feed, walked through the gate when she wanted, and the other horses cleared a path when she came by. Human logic would suggest that other horses would avoid P.K. in order to keep from getting in the way of her wrath, but horses know the value of the herd and having a strong leader.

One time we put her in the corral by herself and left the other horses loose in the pasture. After a day the outside group had still not gone out to graze. Through nickers and squeals from inside the pen, she had convinced them all to stay with her and I’m convinced that she threatened their lives if they even considered leaving. We couldn’t even drive those horses away from the corral when she was “talking” to them. They only left after we loaded P.K. in the trailer and took her away for a day of trail riding.

Anyway, I enjoy my “Boss Mare” cap and the best part is - Nobody questions me when I wear it!!

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Funny about genetics…..

It’s always interesting to see what kind of a colt a mare will produce by being mated to a particular stallion. There are various crosses that seem to work, and others that don’t.
Some of my mares are better producers than others, some milk better and seem to have good colts every year.
But most interesting is the influence that the mare has on the colt’s disposition and way of dealing with the world. A veterinarian friend once told me that “the colt will be the same disposition as the mare”, and I this seems to have a lot of truth to it. When we halter-break we expect similar behavior from colts as from past years’ siblings.
The gray mare’s colts don’t give in the first time they are haltered, but after thinking about it overnight they lead off like they’ve been doing it forever. They tend to be a little “bossy” with the other colts, and often grow up to be on top of the pecking order.

The dun mare’s colts are a little shy to begin with and need to be worked with softly to gain their Mirror image dun mare and colttrust. Then they will be in your pocket whenever they see you. She is very dignified and businesslike and so are they….not a lot of frivolity in their nature, but nice and honest. The picture to the right is the dun mare and this year’s filly. I see them standing like this often…they are almost mirror images of each other.

Blurr’s colts are a favorite. They are a little timid too….maybe their thoroughbred bloodlines….but they halter break easily and grow into dependable, athletic riding horses. Usually she produces solid colts - not much chrome.

And Missy….we raised her from a colt and her foals are just like her….bossy, opinionated, smart, and athletes deluxe. We have to be careful not to make any mistakes when halter breaking her colts - they remember everything and will take advantage of a mistake. They also like things to move along quickly and get a little antsy if they get bored.

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Aaaah……the Smell of a Warm Horse!!

I love the smell of a warm horse. I don’t mean the hot sweaty smell of a horse that has been worked, although that has its own appeal. I mean the smell of a horse basking in the sunshine and radiating a kind of warm contentment.

Our weather is beautiful right now, sunny and warm with just the hint of fall in the air. It’s one of my Buckskin coltfavorite times of year, and I think the horses must like it too.

As I walked throught the corral yesterday, I noticed the fall smells - the dried grasses, warm ground, and …..aaah,…..warm horses. Their hair is starting to get a little thicker as the nights get cooler, and they really seem to enjoy soaking up the sun during these beautiful fall days. As Sis nudged me to get attention I noticed that her eyes were half closed, and her lower lip drooped in mellow enjoyment of the day.

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Self Esteem for Older Horses

We have several “older” horses on our ranch. They are over 20 years old, healthy and in good condition considering their age and lifestyle. In the summer they graze in good pasture, and in the winter they are in “assisted living” quarters where they get additional feed and care based on their individual needs.

Jade is a 22 year old cutting horse gelding who carried all 3 of our kids to multiple wins in the cutting pen, a state championship, National High School finals in girls cow cutting, many NCHA wins….in short, a long-time competitor and family friend. His once-shiny sorrel coat is now a little duller and has a lot of white hairs in it, and he is a little thinner than he used to be. In his younger days, he liked to “play” with the other horses in the pasture, although I’m sure it annoyed many of them. His cutting horse blood made him develop games where he would herd the other horses and try to get them to outsmart him. Most of them just didn’t get the point! He also liked to “play hard to get” when it came time to get caught. Then, after a suitable length of time he would allow himself to be caught….but only when he was ready.

We haven’t been riding Jade lately - he’s been retired and allowed to take it easy out on pasture. But the other day when we got ready to catch a couple of horses to ride I noticed Jade doing his usual sneaky run for the gate. I said to the kids, “He wants to get caught!” which of course looked like anything but the truth at the time, but sure enough it didn’t take too long before he was back in front of us “trying to get away” again. My oldest daughter caught him and had a nice ride on him which made them both happy.

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Horse habits in the making

Sometimes it is hard to realize that everything we do with our horses is a teaching experience - but they may learn more than we expect.

For example, when I drive our pickup into the hills a couple times a week to check the mares and colts I usually bring along a couple of buckets of grain….just as a treat for them and as an incentive to mares
come to me and stand around while I look at them. It works great. They see a vehicle approaching and they come to meet it and expect their grain as a reward. They will even follow the pickup for a mile or so for a few bites of grain.

Last week we had to ride after the mares to bring them in - they were in a far corner of the pasture in very rough country where no vehicle can travel. It’s several miles as the crow flies back to the house and usually the mares take a pretty straight route home. However, this time I was amazed to see them take the road the entire way, even though it meant winding around hills, backtracking and adding at least an extra mile onto the trip. The only thing I could figure out was that they had gotten so used to following the pickup that they automatically took to the road instead of going cross-country.

So be careful what you teach your horse - it may show up in a different form than you intended.

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