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5/30/07: I am trying to find someone who can tell us why our normally gentle and lovely quarter horse is aggressive towards our hens and cat when they wander into his paddock. He actually tried to kill the cat the other day by chasing and trying to stomp on it with front hooves. Is there anything we can do as we don't want to find the cat dead! We have two other horses and they do not do this.

If there is anyone who can advise us on this horse behaviour we would gladly pay for their time.

Thanking you,
Elaine

5/23/07: "From a statement you made in a recent E-newsletter: Most horses travel better without partitions and even better completely loose, allowing them to turn around as they wish. I have a 3-horse slant Cimarron. Would you recommend pulling the partitions? With only two or only one horse?"

Joe Camp http://www.thenakedhorsebook.com/OurPlace.htm

5/16/07: I have a six year old horse that has been alone in a field for two years. She starts shaking her head very aggressively when she sees somebody she knows.

When I walk with her to the stables, she moves her head very quickly left and right so hard it’s difficult to stay on my feet. When she arrives at her stable, the behaviour stops and she starts eating. My question is whether this is dominant behaviour or a way of expressing that she is happy?

5/9/07: My six year old mare is behaving strangely at the moment. Normally she is very good and not afraid of anything. But lately she is very spooky when I do a competition with her. When I do my warming up, there is no problem. But the moment I go to the field to do my competition, she starts.

She sees one spooky thing after another. I thought at the beginning that she was just being naughty. But punishing doesn't help, that only increases her tension. How can I solve this problem?

5/2/07: At a pony camp there was a girl that was thrown off her pony while riding. The pony then walked to the teacher instead of the gate that was open (from the arena). Why didn't the pony walk away through the open door? A lot of ponies would have done that.

Answers to May 2007 Ask Monty Questions

Question: I am trying to find someone who can tell us why our normally gentle and lovely quarter horse is aggressive towards our hens and cat when they wander into his paddock. He actually tried to kill the cat the other day by chasing and trying to stomp on it with front hooves. Is there anything we can do as we don't want to find the cat dead! We have two other horses and they do not do this.

If there is anyone who can advise us on this horse behaviour we would gladly pay for their time.

Thanking you,
Elaine

Monty's Answer: Horses have obviously stalked other animals in prehistoric times. The Western Cutting Horse discipline would suggest to us that there is a strong herding instinct in many of the horses we know today. It is a fact that the Cutting Horse industry is now based very heavily on genetics. It has been discovered that certain families have stronger herding instincts than others.

There is no question that you are dealing with a natural instinct and these are not behavioral patterns that are successfully trained out of a horse. They exist and there is little you can do about it. It will be your obligation to manage this behavior by creating a safe environment for those that would be potential victims.

I am old but I am not old enough to know what happened in prehistoric times. My studies would have me trying to determine what happened in prehistoric times. The fact that horses will herd other animals suggests to me that there is a potential that for whatever reason they herded other animals in former times.

There is no absolute evidence that the horse ever stalked and killed another animal. When I say that there are no bad horses and horses mean no harm to any other creatures, it does not preclude the possibility that they could seek to control other animals even playfully. When you have another horse herding and playing with a house cat it can be very dangerous for the cat. Horses do not realize how big and powerful they are so they obviously could kill the cat with no deliberate intention to do so.

One might beg the question, why does the horse have a canine tooth. Most scientists agree that the canine tooth is reserved for flesh tearing. Since it is an ineffective tool for grass why is it there? There could easily be another explanation but if there is I haven’t heard it.

I stand by my statement that the herbivore equus means no deliberate harm to any other creature and that there are no bad horses born.

Please read my chapter on The Nature of Equus in my textbook From My Hands to Yours. Learn how to work with this horse’s nature instead of against any inherent tendencies, even though this particular reaction may be an anomaly to the nature of the flight animal.

- Monty

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Question: "From a statement you made in a recent E-newsletter: Most horses travel better without partitions and even better completely loose, allowing them to turn around as they wish. I have a 3-horse slant Cimarron. Would you recommend pulling the partitions? With only two or only one horse?"

Joe Camp http://www.thenakedhorsebook.com/OurPlace.htm

Monty's Answer: Dear Joe,

In my opinion the partitions can come out whenever you want to take them out for whatever number of horses will fit, so long as they know one another and tend to get along. They will stand on the slant if they are tied to the trailer whether the partitions are there or not. They will tend to ride more comfortably with the additional space as their movements will compliment one another. If the trailer is an extra wide, nearly 8 feet (2.5 meters), it would provide sufficient room for them to turn around and one could travel with loose horses. I have found it interesting to monitor their positions in this configuration. I believe it is the most comfortable mode of travel.

- Monty

(see more questions)

Question: I have a six year old horse that has been alone in a field for two years. She starts shaking her head very aggressively when she sees somebody she knows.

When I walk with her to the stables, she moves her head very quickly left and right so hard it’s difficult to stay on my feet. When she arrives at her stable, the behaviour stops and she starts eating. My question is whether this is dominant behaviour or a way of expressing that she is happy?

Monty's Answer: It is neither dominant behaviour nor an expression of being happy. It is behaviour that is controlling. She controls you completely with the use of her head. My method of solving this problem is the use of the Dually Halter. It will assist you quickly and effectively. You should watch the Dually DVD to learn how to execute the use of it.

- Monty

(see more questions)

Question: My six year old mare is behaving strangely at the moment. Normally she is very good and not afraid of anything. But lately she is very spooky when I do a competition with her. When I do my warming up, there is no problem. But the moment I go to the field to do my competition, she starts.

She sees one spooky thing after another. I thought at the beginning that she was just being naughty. But punishing doesn't help, that only increases her tension. How can I solve this problem?

Monty's Answer: It is great that you discovered quickly that punishing doesn’t help. The fact that you found that it only increases her tension is a good piece of horsemanship for you. The question is, why only at competition time? It is not possible for the mare to know when she is in competition except through your actions. Learn the language Equus in my book From My Hands to Yours. Learn to breathe and you will discover that when you are able to be in competition with no tension your mare will be able to do it too.

- Monty

(see more questions)

Question: At a pony camp there was a girl that was thrown off her pony while riding. The pony then walked to the teacher instead of the gate that was open (from the arena). Why didn't the pony walk away through the open door? A lot of ponies would have done that.

Monty's Answer: I have worked with many horses that will come to me after going through a traumatic event. It has to do with the language of the horse and the fact that the horse has no fear of me. This is not unusual if the pony was trained with my methods or methods similar to mine.

- Monty

(see more questions)

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