Question: I have 4 horses in one pen and I have a problem with the 2 older ones my white Arab is mean to the other 3. She chases them and kicks them and when they are close enough, she bites.  I really don’t want her to live alone but I don’t want the others to get hurt. I wonder if it is because she was in a small pen with 11 other horses when I got her. I know she gets spooked easily on her right side because she has cataracts but she can be so mean to the point she runs them through a fence. The other one is a black Arab that was abused before I got her. She is aggressive toward people. She bites, kicks, and tries to run you down. I love her and don’t want to sell her but I have kids. Can you please help me?

Answer: The problems you state lead me to believe that the horses don’t have enough space. You say you have 4 horses in one pen. Remember that most horses need about 1-2 acres EACH. Overstocking has serious disadvantages, including possible injury to other horses, loose horses (because one or more have been run or run through a fence), injury to other people or animals due to loose horses, poor pasture quality, increased feeding costs (because you need to feed more hay, etc. because grass quality is low), increased parasite rates, and many more.

While your white mare may behave the way she does because of the number of horses she was housed with in a small space prior to your purchasing her, it may not. She may simply have a dominant personality. In previous articles, I’ve spoken about properly introducing horses. Horses strive to maintain a natural hierarchy. When placed in spaces that are too small (for your horses, I recommend an area NO SMALLER than 8 acres fenced if they are on pasture 24 hours a day), horses have more aggressive interactions and there is a higher likelihood that one (or more) will be injured. Additionally, if your horses are fed a high concentrate (grain or pellet) based diet and not exercised adequately, they will have "high spirits".

You mentioned your black mare is aggressive toward people. Because you mentioned you have children and all your horses are in the same pen, I find this to be a very concerning safety hazard. Children should never be permitted to enter horse pens/paddocks unsupervised. Children should be assisted in catching and handling all horses by an experienced adult. I do not recommend keeping an extremely aggressive horse where children are present, especially when you mentioned your horses get loose because they get run through the fence by your other mare. Keep safety in mind. Make sure that your fences are adequate. Electric fencing, while often used alone, may not be enough. You may have to use electrical fencing as your secondary fence, with an outer, strong wooden fence around your pasture to help eliminate loose horses. Have a dual fencing system has several advantages. First of all, an outer wood fence generally helps keep people OUT of the pasture and horses in. To protect the wood fencing from chewing, using an inner fence of electric is often a good choice. If you have a pasture of at least 4 acres, I would seriously urge you to consider partitioning your pasture so that 2 horses are on one side and 2 are on the other. Obviously you should place them in the pairs that work best for your horses. You can even rotate the pairs to help prevent over attachment, but I prefer keeping horses in stable pairs to prevent introduction battles when they attempt to reassert their hierarchy.

Good luck with your horses!