Do horses get Jealous Of eachother ?

[horsemads mum]

hey There is Sue (Horsemads Mum's Daughter) :)
I was just wondering Do horses get jealous of eachother ?

I have two mares, (mare and foal) Nancy and Winnie, And recently we have started to Back/break in Winnie as its her time (at last), And I've had to stop riding Nancy for a week as she had some teeth removed, and for some reason Nancy has become very grumpy towards me, so far in the mornings she will call to me until I go and see her but when i go over to her she will pull faces at me, Or if I'm saying Hello to winnie, Nancy will kick her stable door. In the field when I call both of them to get them in, Nancy will charge her way over to me before winn, so she gets to me first, Or If I'm rugging Winnie up, Nancy will fidget, knock things over, scrape the floor, call.

Is this because she is jealous or could there be something wrong ??

Thanks :) xxx

[clippi]

I think so. Clip is a very laid back horse with other horses, but reacts very negatively to Noodle - if I do things with Noodle first. But Clip can be a funny onion. Normally he#ll call to me and canter up to see me, but if i dare to go away and have someone else look after him, he doesn't talk to me for at least a couple of days.

Yes I hold my hands up I am guilty of anthropomorphism

[horsemads mum]

Nancy does that to me, the times i've gone on Holiday, I come home and Nancy will be so aggressive towards me =]. Guess it shows how much they loves us :).
Hmm Nance tends to think I'm her property I guess, If I put someone else's horse out before I put her out she will kick her stable door, call all sorts of things. but shes gotten worse since Winnie has started having work done with her.

[africa]

They definitely get jealous. A friend had a horse who was totally non-aggressive until she got a youngster who he hated. She had to be careful to always greet Dippy first, turn him out first etc or he'd be even worse about attacking Charley.

[My Crazy Clan]

yeah course they do, your starting to spend more time with winnie! but its got to be done :lol:

how hold is she now? you must post some photos.

[CityLights]

Kizzie does she is a very pretective pony if im cuddling King, her yearling, she will have to come over and muscle in on it all and chase him off, she has to be the center of attention, she also sometimes does the same if your on the yard talking to someone

[so-n-so]

ooooh yes!! iv have come to the conclusioon that my welsh madam has that ADHD!
if im even stood talking to another person - like my yard owner, she will stand and whicker, then paw the floor, then start pulling at the rug she is waring if she has one on...! :scared:
if they dont work she will try to destroy her water buckets, feed buckets or twang the electric tape if its not on... all to get my attention on her.. :rolleyes:

[Zeitgeist Mom]

Absolutely! Misty is very jealous of Sandy. Last week I left her in when the kids were riding Sandy. When I brought Sandy back Misty was in such a mood it was actually laughable. She had been perfectly sweet and normal when we left, but by the time we got back she was in a flaming mood. She was pulling faces at everyone, and kept trying to bite Sandy over the partition.

[Barry G]

The way I normally check to see if a horse is illustrating an emotion is to devize some way of checking it by deliberately setting up a situation.

My feeling about jealousy is that definitely the two horses currently predominant in my life show distinct signs of it.

DiDI shows it in two ways - if I pay attention to Hilly first - before approaching DiDi then she will either turn away and sulk - refusing to allow me to put a head collar on her
or
DiDi will come in forcibly between me and Hilly and threaten the junior horse with ears down and teeth bared.

Hilly on the other hand will show it by a form of weaving. If I walk off with DiDi, then Hilly will stand by the gate fretting. The best thing to avoid friction is to bring both in at the same time and to work with each in turn.

It is all very much the same as my two dogs behave at home. I have to be careful to give each equal attention - either when food is involved or just with stroking.
The small but much older bitch terrier will, if miffed, attack positively the Rottweiler - until he decides she's gone too far. Then mayhem ensues until I calm both down.

As a result I try to ensure that I don't pay too much attention to the one, whilst the other is watching.

The basis of the animal's behaviour probably lies in the perceived pecking order. So whether it is jealousy or something to do with herd ranking is debateable. But I never take anything for granted - I am dealing with two mares both of whom can be unpredictable.

[horsemads mum]

Ahh At least Nancy the only one that does it :)
Winnie is really good thanks She will be 3 on the 21st of April :) Yeah Im just sorting out the pictures to put on here :) xx

[north-mcqueen]

Northy used to SULK if I gave treats to the horses in the stables next to him, or even if i just went over to them and gave them a fuss. He'd go all mardy and try and get me back, and give me grumpy looks. Big baby :D

[eeek]

Yes, I think horses get jealous.

Because of the racing the system I have with mine is that the winter is Vinny's time and I don't really ride Hasty, and in the spring/summer Hasty's training takes priority and Vinny has to fit around it (which I hate but it has to be done). During their 'off peak' times they make it very clear to me that they need as much attention as ever. Vinny doesn't speak to me if I don't ride him for a few days.

Vinny is not a very cuddly or affectionate horse, while Kilo and Hasty are. But if I give Kilo a fuss when Vinny's around, Vinny chases him away and steps into his place (even if he showed no interest in a scratch before Kilo started getting the attention). He doesn't dare chase Hasty away so he just sulks.

[kistra]

i would agree, they definately know when they are not getting all your attention haha! one horse at our yard has become worse recently if anyone talks to the other horses and not her so she kicks the stable door pretty badly

[gemma1309]

Defo get jealous!! I have had my boy 15 years and when I first got sash 5 years ago he hated her trying to attack her and push her about lol 5 years on he still like that he silks if sash goes and me go away for the day and pushes her away from me when I go to catch them. Problem is he not a cuddly pony where sasha is and that annoys him to. It's hard keeping them both happy and if Justin is getting attention and she not she does things to get attention like rubbing her bum off door Walls etc, knocking things down emptying bags fidgeting etc it's rather amusing I have to have an order where everything gets done with my boy first or he will sulk and show his dissatisfaction. Makes me feel loved though