Horse nickering??

Hello, I hope you can help me with this one

I bought an eight year old paint mare eight months ago. She has been very unpredictable. She has squealed at the farrier, kicked and reared for shots from the vet (not directed at us but trying to get the needle off of her). She was owned prviously by people who let her get away with a lot of behaviors and didn't ask much from her, they had her for 3 years.

I am doing some Parelli natural horse training with her and her manners are improving. Because she has been so explosive on occasion, I am a little weary of her reactions. When I am working with her on the ground, she talks to me constantly. It is a very nice (hello, are we done, do you have breakfast) kind of nicker. But because of her actions on occasion, it makes me a bit nervous. When she first did it to me, I was standing near her side and was pulling her head back to me, stretching. She does this very well on one side. I was on her good side when she reached way back to me and gave me a very nice nicker. I have not raised horses but it sounded like a nicker to a pony. I love the sound because it is always just a hello from my other horses, but with her, I don't want her to think I am another horse because she is just talking way to much! Any ideas?

Thank you! Nancy

Hello Franklin,

Thanks for the response. My mare has never really been explosive towards me, but she can be difficult to handle. She is really hard to paste worm, pulling up almost to the point of rearing. She rears when going in one direction on the lunge. Things are getting better from working with her and she is getting better about me on her right side. She can just be quite grouchy to me about handling her everywhere, which I still try to do. I have just seen her in action with the vet (rearing and kicking) so she has made me nervous. She was only weird with the farrier one time and now she is pretty good for that.

I am still wondering what all her nickering is about. She talks very gently to me while I work with her. I am not sure if that is a good thing. I had another sweet mare that if she talked to you it was always lovin' but with this girl I am just not sure. I have never seen a horse that nickers (softly rumbles ;-) to you when you ask her anything on the ground!

Thanks again, hope this response helps.
Nancy

Hi Nancy,

If you are having trouble paste worming her, I would get good at handling her mouth, rubbing her upper gum, putting your fingers where the bit goes, putting a finger up in along side her cheek. Doing everything on both sides is very good. Once you can handle her mouth with your hand, hold a wormer in your hand and merely hold it against the horses lips and do not attempt to put it in the horse's mouth. Just hold it there and maybe rub her lips with it. But first thing is to handle her mouth with your hand. If you do not know how to do this, have someone show you (I can coach you through it as well). If you want to touch her anywhere and she gets a wrinkled nose about it I would immediately ask her to do hind quarter yields right there on the spot. I would have her move in both directions. This makes her attitude change immediately as she has gone to work. If you practice this move with her before you really need it, then when she gives you an attitude you can put her to a task immediately, a task she knows hot to do and is work for her at the same time. If done correctly it will immediately stop most all behavior that is unwanted. This can be done from the saddle as well. Again its called asking the horse to move off of leg pressure and yield its hind quarters away from the leg.

As far as the nickering goes, some horses are more verbal than others, just like people, dogs and cats (and probably all other animals as well). I would not worry about it at all and just be grateful for it. Be sensitive in that her nicker is not a warning. Look at the horse's ears. tail and body language when trying to interpret the nickering. Tune in and you will know the answer. Good Luck and please keep me posted.

Sincerely, Franklin