I’ve been away for four days at a Parelli conference in Columbus, Ohio. I drove 600 miles today and still haven’t been home yet. I need groceries, I have laundry to do and I have to work tomorrow, but instead of being practical, I came straight to the barn to see Xena.
My plan is to spend the last hour before dark just visiting with her, hand grazing and perhaps do a quick grooming. Of course, this all goes out the window when she decides keep 15 feet of distance between us.
Being uncatchable is nothing new for Xena, but 15 feet is actually the least uncatchable she’s ever been. She stands quietly just out of reach, looking at me, and as long as I don’t pressure her, she doesn’t turn away. At one time she would have trotted away in the opposite direction — we’re actually making progress!
Tonight the herd dynamics seem to place her at the bottom of the pecking order. With two of her herd mates in the barn, she’s turned out with only two other horses, Roxy, a 3-year old mare, and Deed a 4-year old gelding. Deed usually owns the bottom rung of the ladder, but tonight he’s playing the Porcupine Game℠ with Xena; nipping at her hindquarters, and in effect driving her away from me. He wants my attention, and I now realize it was a mistake to pet him when he approached me a few minutes earlier. I think I’ve in effect recognized his importance, and inadvertently betrayed Xena.
At the Parelli conference, they did a demonstration with a herd of four horses, and mentioned that dominance games among the horses was forbidden when the human alpha was in the paddock. As the alpha, I should have corrected Deed, and defended Xena. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.
For tonight, I spend the remainder of my hour sitting on a tree stump, admiring my pretty mare from a distance.
Xena's YouTube Channel
Hmmmm, any tips on how to forbid dominance games in a paddock?
I am having trouble with a gelding in with my girls, I’ve convinced him he is not allowed within 10 feet of my girls and I but he keeps trying to drive off the girls if my wife is out and I certainly do not trust him an inch as he is always circling. The other night, Cayleigh and he walked off to munch some grass while Sunrise followed us out of the paddock. This gelding took the opportunity to pick on Cayleigh and she cantered right to me from the other side of the pasture. I was able to intervene and keep him away, so I think that was bonus points for leadership but…
Speaking of which, 1100 lbs of cantering horse making a B-line for you requires a little bit of intestinal fortitude. As is often the case, I trusted in Cayleigh’s body language to let me know what was going on. (Sun has only made it to 60% trust as she can still be unpredicitable)
PeterC
I think like everything else to do with horses, learning to handle dominance games in the paddock, takes time and practice. Linda Parelli mentioned correcting the dominant horse while defending the subordinate, but that can be difficult to do in a larger paddock. By the time I’m in position to correct, the moment and the opportunity are gone. Another example of being passively persistent in the proper position. :)
Actually, I should give you an update here.
The gelding in question will now move away if I puff my chest at him. So, now I’m working on a little friendly with him and get was so nice he got a big of Sun’s carrot. It took about five days of “Don’t make me lift this stick cause you ain’t going to like what comes next!!!” I caught him respecting Cayleigh’s space as I put the halter on her, he wanted to circle but didn’t!
Good stuff.
PeterC