horsie prejudice?

singing tree · 10-11-2009, 06:29 PM

I have wondered about this for awhile, so thought I would post about it here. Are any of your horses breed snobs? My Haflingers all seem to be. They will buddy up with any other Haflinger that they meet it seems - never a snort, barely a sniff if allowed. But if we ride with a friend that rides some other breed, especially a gaited horse, some of mine actually get protective if there is another Haffie besides them in the same group. It is almost embarrassing. Mine are all pastured with a dark bay Morgan, so they obviously are used to her, but really are leery of most other "different" breeds. Do I have the only weird horses around?

WickedNag · 10-11-2009, 06:46 PM

I am guessing it is not that they are of a different breed but of a different herd.

singing tree · 10-11-2009, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WickedNag

I am guessing it is not that they are of a different breed but of a different herd.

That is just it - When they get protective, the Haffie they are protecting is not from their herd - it is one that perhaps they have never even seen before.

And it is not how some horses buddy up with whoever they are being ridden with. I rode one day with a friend's paso, and my haffie was watching the paso with suspicion the entire time. It was just the two of us. Maybe it is just that most Haffies look so much alike...

I have heard that TB racers have to be pastured with grays, in case they have to race against one...

Just wondered if anyone else had experienced anything like that....

theoldbear · 10-11-2009, 06:56 PM

When I was running the horse camp years ago in West Virginia, the horses on the place where we camped were all bays or bay roans. When I turned my near leopard app in with them, they reacted like I'd put a giraffe or a zebra in with them. They ran, tried to hide, finally ganged up on him.

When we turned two bay geldings that belonged to a camper and a staff member in with them, they were accepted immediately.

Same thing happened the next year with our Palomino gelding. They shunned him. But when we turned a bay leased mare in with them, she was welcomed like a prodigal coming home!

Horsie prejudice?
I think it exists!

WickedNag · 10-11-2009, 07:08 PM

I see I misread the first post... sorry.

Carri · 10-11-2009, 07:23 PM

I have definitely seen horses that didn't like another horse just because of it's "color". I used to work at a Saddlebred farm, and one of the mares would not allow a spotted stud near her, even though she was fine with a solid one. And she was spotted! I guess she had never looked in a mirror!

We took Sunshine to a vaulting clinic today, and a big draft cross who is colored exactly like a haffie was fascintated with Sunshine (who is a haffie). It was really cute!

kesty6 · 10-11-2009, 08:01 PM

My paint mare loves other paints more than any other type of horse. She was raised in a pasture with all paints so I think that she sees paints as her "herd".
My other mare hates black horses. I have no idea why, but if a black horse comes near her she gets grumpy. I think she must of had a bad experience with a black horse and that is why she dislikes them so much. She is not like that around other horses.

**taelesean** · 10-11-2009, 10:45 PM

I've often wondered if gray horses or light horses that like to roll in the mud or

are trying to make themselves look more like thier darker herdmates...

singing tree · 10-12-2009, 09:27 AM

Now that's an interesting thought

. Thanks for answering my question. So it is not just a Haffie thing...

fishing_trex · 10-12-2009, 09:42 AM

I really think it's more of a color thing and a "hey you look like me so you must be ok" thing. I've seen it in chickens too.

candy4legs · 10-12-2009, 09:50 AM

Our six yo appendix QH HATES spots...or perhaps it is more accurate to say she's terrified of them...Apps, Paints...it doesn't matter...she does not like to be anywhere near anything with spots...she's a solid bay, with a small star and has always been pastured/boarded with horses of all colors/patterns, so I really don't get it, but there it is...

Jen&Jack · 10-12-2009, 10:55 AM

Jack's herd is all solids. I moved him last summer because of finances(later moved him back but that is a different story) and the BO had a pair of SSH mares. LARGE black and white spotted mares. Well, Jack managed to pick a lock and got in w/one. He was TERRIFIED! If he wore pants he would've crapped them. Lol, Pepper picked up on it too and even after we separated them all she had to do is pin her ears over the fence and he'd take off.

Danni L · 10-12-2009, 11:27 AM

its just like people. if your raised where you never see any one but blue eyed blonds with white skin, then suddenly some one with radically different skin-eye-hair coloring shows up, you'd be suprised. on the other hand if you grow up impartialy with people of all different nationalities skin-hair-eye color would not make a difference. my mare is grey, but has been around horses of every color and is currently budies(out of a herd of 20+ horses) with a 16.2 hh bay tb race horse and a 14hh chesnut appy with very loud markings. go figure.

Sundance_Solo · 10-12-2009, 11:29 AM

My guy is fine with all horses but he seems to really be into a little haffie mare.

singing tree · 10-12-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundance_Solo

My guy is fine with all horses but he seems to really be into a little haffie mare.

What is it with guys and blondes????????

barnmom · 10-12-2009, 11:38 AM

I don't know why they buddy up I did hear that grays will go with grays and they roll to fit in more and that's why grays are always muddy. We had 2 Palaminos at the barn and he hung out with them until they left.

Luigi is gray but there is another Appendix named Roger at the barn and they are unseperable and Luigi hangs out with the 30 year old guy. He grooms him and just takes care of him in general. He avoids the Alphas in the herd, he is out with 9 others, all chestnut, bays and sorrels but Weege.

Carri · 10-12-2009, 11:59 AM

I was just thinking, I wonder if greys are genetically predispositioned to stay dirty so they will be less noticeable to predators in the wild?

roberts617 · 10-12-2009, 12:18 PM

I agree that horse predjudice occurs! My herd hates our paint and the old pali rescue. Everyone else is considered the "in" club. The in club in my herd is 2 sorrels, 2 duns and a bay....

The first time I put fly masks on my horses my mustang mare chased the other mare all over the pasture, before I could catch them. I had no idea she'd react like that. Heck, she had one on too!

What I truly don't understand is how a horse knows what color it is? I can see how my mare would react to the fly mask being foreign, but color?

Honestly, how do they know which ones look like them? Like someone mentioned above, they don't look in the mirror!

enchanting · 10-12-2009, 02:22 PM

The POA I grew up riding never had a problem with other horses until at a 4-H meeting one day a new rider that was on a Palomino ran into the back of him. From then on if he was in the show ring and a palomino would come past him he was really on gaurd, but if they were in the field (most of our horses are lighter in color) he was fine.

Another kid I showed against all the time, his pony didn't like spots, and when we would show against each other 5-10 times a year she would make a fuss at Silver everytime. It was funny to watch them.

It does go to prove the people wrong that say horses are colorblind.

Korven Kuningas · 10-24-2009, 02:48 AM

None of my current horses are color prejudice or anything, but a bay mare I used to have hated white and gray horses. Didn't matter the gender or if she'd been pastured with them, she'd lash out. Any other color was fine, paints and everything. There was a flea bitten gelding that was boarded in the pasture with her and my uncle's horses and they didn't mind him, but she'd go out of her way to chase him away. Even under saddle, if a gray came close to her, she'd pin her ears, snake her head and possibly kick.

I remember at one of our rodeos, a friend wanted to do a ribbon race and I declined due to her having a gray horse and my horse being prejudice. She didn't believe me and upon practicing, she found out the hard way. My mare kicked her horse in the chest. I'd ridden on a lot of group rides with that mare and never once did she act that way towards non-gray horses. It still baffles me to this day.

I have to say though, one time I was glad for her anti-gray ways. She foaled without proper warning out in the pasture and I don't know if it was revenge or what the heck was wrong with the gray gelding she picked on, but shortly after arriving when the foal was still fresh out of the oven, the gelding started acting very aggressive and charging at the little filly. My mare beat the crap out of him and I wasn't too nice to him either. Momma and baby immediately left the pasture though.

But that's my horse prejudice story.

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10-11-2009, 06:29 PM
singing tree Long Yearling Join Date: May 2009 Location: Hartville, Ohio Posts: 1,025	horsie prejudice? I have wondered about this for awhile, so thought I would post about it here. Are any of your horses breed snobs? My Haflingers all seem to be. They will buddy up with any other Haflinger that they meet it seems - never a snort, barely a sniff if allowed. But if we ride with a friend that rides some other breed, especially a gaited horse, some of mine actually get protective if there is another Haffie besides them in the same group. It is almost embarrassing. Mine are all pastured with a dark bay Morgan, so they obviously are used to her, but really are leery of most other "different" breeds. Do I have the only weird horses around?

10-11-2009, 06:46 PM
WickedNag Long Yearling Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Dakota Posts: 1,008	I am guessing it is not that they are of a different breed but of a different herd. __________________ ~D~ Please feel free to visit my sites and light a candle http://amanda-garner.memory-of.com/ http://samantha-evink.memory-of.com/

10-11-2009, 06:56 PM
theoldbear Yearling Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Arcadia, Florida Posts: 771	When I was running the horse camp years ago in West Virginia, the horses on the place where we camped were all bays or bay roans. When I turned my near leopard app in with them, they reacted like I'd put a giraffe or a zebra in with them. They ran, tried to hide, finally ganged up on him. When we turned two bay geldings that belonged to a camper and a staff member in with them, they were accepted immediately. Same thing happened the next year with our Palomino gelding. They shunned him. But when we turned a bay leased mare in with them, she was welcomed like a prodigal coming home! Horsie prejudice? I think it exists!

10-11-2009, 07:08 PM
WickedNag Long Yearling Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Dakota Posts: 1,008	I see I misread the first post... sorry. __________________ ~D~ Please feel free to visit my sites and light a candle http://amanda-garner.memory-of.com/ http://samantha-evink.memory-of.com/

10-11-2009, 07:23 PM
Carri Pasture Pet Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Alpharetta, Georgia Posts: 13,652	I have definitely seen horses that didn't like another horse just because of it's "color". I used to work at a Saddlebred farm, and one of the mares would not allow a spotted stud near her, even though she was fine with a solid one. And she was spotted! I guess she had never looked in a mirror! We took Sunshine to a vaulting clinic today, and a big draft cross who is colored exactly like a haffie was fascintated with Sunshine (who is a haffie). It was really cute!

10-11-2009, 08:01 PM
kesty6 Halter broke Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: FL Posts: 198	My paint mare loves other paints more than any other type of horse. She was raised in a pasture with all paints so I think that she sees paints as her "herd". My other mare hates black horses. I have no idea why, but if a black horse comes near her she gets grumpy. I think she must of had a bad experience with a black horse and that is why she dislikes them so much. She is not like that around other horses.

10-11-2009, 10:45 PM
taelesean Administrator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Virginia Posts: 6,319	I've often wondered if gray horses or light horses that like to roll in the mud or are trying to make themselves look more like thier darker herdmates... __________________

10-12-2009, 09:27 AM
singing tree Long Yearling Join Date: May 2009 Location: Hartville, Ohio Posts: 1,025	Now that's an interesting thought. Thanks for answering my question. So it is not just a Haffie thing...

10-12-2009, 09:42 AM
fishing_trex Greenbroke Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3,432	I really think it's more of a color thing and a "hey you look like me so you must be ok" thing. I've seen it in chickens too. __________________ -- There are two ways to slide easily through life -- to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways will save you from thinking.

10-12-2009, 09:50 AM
candy4legs Long Yearling Join Date: May 2009 Location: O'Fallon, MO Posts: 1,440	Our six yo appendix QH HATES spots...or perhaps it is more accurate to say she's terrified of them...Apps, Paints...it doesn't matter...she does not like to be anywhere near anything with spots...she's a solid bay, with a small star and has always been pastured/boarded with horses of all colors/patterns, so I really don't get it, but there it is... __________________ VOTE FOR "DUSTY TRAILS HORSE RESCUE" DAILY IN THE PETFINDER SHELTER CHALLENGE! http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/c...faces?siteId=3

10-12-2009, 10:55 AM
Jen&Jack Halter broke Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 151	Jack's herd is all solids. I moved him last summer because of finances(later moved him back but that is a different story) and the BO had a pair of SSH mares. LARGE black and white spotted mares. Well, Jack managed to pick a lock and got in w/one. He was TERRIFIED! If he wore pants he would've crapped them. Lol, Pepper picked up on it too and even after we separated them all she had to do is pin her ears over the fence and he'd take off.

10-12-2009, 11:27 AM
Danni L Yearling Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Red Deer,Alberta Posts: 627	its just like people. if your raised where you never see any one but blue eyed blonds with white skin, then suddenly some one with radically different skin-eye-hair coloring shows up, you'd be suprised. on the other hand if you grow up impartialy with people of all different nationalities skin-hair-eye color would not make a difference. my mare is grey, but has been around horses of every color and is currently budies(out of a herd of 20+ horses) with a 16.2 hh bay tb race horse and a 14hh chesnut appy with very loud markings. go figure. __________________ Rain- gorgeous grey 6 year old mustang, just getting started under saddle Guido-adorable yearling Appaloosa Sport Horse

10-12-2009, 11:29 AM
Sundance_Solo Newborn Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: PA Posts: 21	My guy is fine with all horses but he seems to really be into a little haffie mare.

10-12-2009, 11:38 AM
barnmom Coming two Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: northeast pennsylvania Posts: 1,995	I don't know why they buddy up I did hear that grays will go with grays and they roll to fit in more and that's why grays are always muddy. We had 2 Palaminos at the barn and he hung out with them until they left. Luigi is gray but there is another Appendix named Roger at the barn and they are unseperable and Luigi hangs out with the 30 year old guy. He grooms him and just takes care of him in general. He avoids the Alphas in the herd, he is out with 9 others, all chestnut, bays and sorrels but Weege. __________________ Remember to thank the horses for the happiness and joy we experience through them! It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice!

10-12-2009, 11:59 AM
Carri Pasture Pet Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Alpharetta, Georgia Posts: 13,652	I was just thinking, I wonder if greys are genetically predispositioned to stay dirty so they will be less noticeable to predators in the wild?

10-12-2009, 12:18 PM
roberts617 Kid Safe Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Central Oklahoma Posts: 6,059	I agree that horse predjudice occurs! My herd hates our paint and the old pali rescue. Everyone else is considered the "in" club. The in club in my herd is 2 sorrels, 2 duns and a bay.... The first time I put fly masks on my horses my mustang mare chased the other mare all over the pasture, before I could catch them. I had no idea she'd react like that. Heck, she had one on too! What I truly don't understand is how a horse knows what color it is? I can see how my mare would react to the fly mask being foreign, but color? Honestly, how do they know which ones look like them? Like someone mentioned above, they don't look in the mirror! __________________ "The only way to have a friend is to be one."

10-12-2009, 02:22 PM
enchanting Halter broke Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 197	The POA I grew up riding never had a problem with other horses until at a 4-H meeting one day a new rider that was on a Palomino ran into the back of him. From then on if he was in the show ring and a palomino would come past him he was really on gaurd, but if they were in the field (most of our horses are lighter in color) he was fine. Another kid I showed against all the time, his pony didn't like spots, and when we would show against each other 5-10 times a year she would make a fuss at Silver everytime. It was funny to watch them. It does go to prove the people wrong that say horses are colorblind. __________________ Enchanting Acres Appaloosas www.enchantingacres.com

10-24-2009, 02:48 AM
Korven Kuningas Yearling Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Prattsburgh NY Posts: 627	None of my current horses are color prejudice or anything, but a bay mare I used to have hated white and gray horses. Didn't matter the gender or if she'd been pastured with them, she'd lash out. Any other color was fine, paints and everything. There was a flea bitten gelding that was boarded in the pasture with her and my uncle's horses and they didn't mind him, but she'd go out of her way to chase him away. Even under saddle, if a gray came close to her, she'd pin her ears, snake her head and possibly kick. I remember at one of our rodeos, a friend wanted to do a ribbon race and I declined due to her having a gray horse and my horse being prejudice. She didn't believe me and upon practicing, she found out the hard way. My mare kicked her horse in the chest. I'd ridden on a lot of group rides with that mare and never once did she act that way towards non-gray horses. It still baffles me to this day. I have to say though, one time I was glad for her anti-gray ways. She foaled without proper warning out in the pasture and I don't know if it was revenge or what the heck was wrong with the gray gelding she picked on, but shortly after arriving when the foal was still fresh out of the oven, the gelding started acting very aggressive and charging at the little filly. My mare beat the crap out of him and I wasn't too nice to him either. Momma and baby immediately left the pasture though. But that's my horse prejudice story. __________________