Two Pairs of Mares
I have two pairs of mares that at the moment are reminding me that ponies don’t respect clear orders of dominance or rank. Each night and morning I swap them in and out of pasture, in what may be a vain attempt at managing their weight. My goal is to halter one pony but bring in two, and that has required letting go of preconceived notions about who is leading who.
One of the pairs is a mother daughter one. The mother is the undisputed though reluctant lead mare of the herd. The daughter is in the middle of the herd. (It’s so interesting that I wanted to use the terms pecking order or middle-of-the-pack there, but neither is about equines.) This mother-daughter pair, though, complies with the ‘normal’ rules. I can halter the mother and lead or ride her in and the daughter follows. When I put them out, I let the daughter loose first, and she will usually wait for her mother before taking off for greener pastures.
The other pair is an unrelated set of three-year-olds. One is clearly dominant; she can lay her ears back or toss her head and make the other one move. Occasionally she will turn and offer to kick and get the same result. For awhile I was haltering and leading this mare in, but the other mare didn’t follow. I finally figured out that if I haltered the lower-status mare and led her in, the higher-ranking mare would follow us, sometimes immediately and occasionally within five minutes. When I put them out, I began by putting the lower-ranking mare out first so that she could move off when the higher status mare was put out with her, but I found that the lower-ranking mare would often leave and be out of sight by the time I put the higher-ranking mare out, causing her distress. So now I put the higher-ranking mare out first and she waits around until the lower-ranking mare is put out and they move off together, usually with the lower ranking mare in the lead!
Despite the second mare of each pair coming in on her own, sometimes she doesn’t come in when the paddock gate is open. I then need to go out and bring her in through the gate. I am mindful of my goal of ‘haltering one to bring in two,’ and I am very fortunate that these mares still make that goal achievable. Both of them will come through the gate when I beckon them or if I put my hand under their jaw and lead them that way. Still no halter and lead, so it makes me smile!
© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020
More stories like this one can be found in my book The Partnered Pony, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.
