How to shut a horse up?

[maxelly]

Anyone got any tips for stopping excessive calling/neighing? My mare has always been a stressy anxious type but is usually fine about being ridden/worked on her own, but in the last few weeks she and another mare seem to have developed an 'attachment' and now if one is taken down to the school or turned out without the other they call constantly to one another...I am not talking little whickers here, it's full on belly neighs/screams that go on and on and on... I am currently only working mine from the ground due to a previous injury, and I have been trying to get her to concentrate on her work rather than on calling but there's only so much I can do, and to be fair to her she is working quite nicely and doing everything she is asked whilst shouting her head off . My instructor caught us at it yesterday and said 'she's just being naughty, you need to tell her off, give her a whack' - bit harsh I thought, although TBF she had been listening to the very annoying noise of 2 horses neighing at one another for some time while trying to muck out so maybe not at her best .

I'm not soft with my horses by any means but I don't really want to whack her, the trouble is that although I've had some success with growling at her/telling her off when I 'catch' her about to call (then praising if she says quiet), it all depends on timing and telling her off after she's already started just seems to confuse and upset her and do nothing to actually quieten her down. Plus even if mine stays quiet the other mare keeps shouting her head off until we reappear on the yard. Can't ride them together due to lockdown and having individual slots. Any ideas anyone???

Andalusian, perhaps? Strong tendency to do this in these breeds. My view is that neighing is deeply instinctive & does not engage their higher brain. I think it is nearly impossible to stop, as long as she & other horse are attached and can reinforce each other’s behaviour. If there is any way that you can completely separate them, that is the only real solution.
Going back to the instinctive bit, I think it doesn’t interfere with their learning/training as much as you think. You should continue to work her & just try to ignore it. I would correct any associated behaviours, so if she stops and turns to neigh or face her friend, correct THAT behaviour & try to ignore her calling. Good luck!

Whacking her is not going to help, I wish these instructors and their violent methods would disappear.

Has she got distraction toys in her stable?

My horse got very attached to another. The only thing that ‘cured’ it was for them to be completely separated, mine changed from day to night turnout and moved into a different stable block. There were dramas for a few days then they got over it

She's not an andalusian Moanranger, I wish just a bog standard cob although she's as highly strung as a warmblood sometimes! The other mare is an ISH.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, I was hoping there was a solution other than separating them or ignoring it, YO has just completed a big reorganisation of the turnout groups which entailed an horrendous amount of 'politics' about who could and couldn't be turned out with who, who would only go out with mares/geldings, who needed to be in the 'fatties' paddock etc etc, she's going to kill me if I ask her to change it again but maybe it will be the only way long term. The joys of being on livery!

Atm they can see each other from their stables but they are out (together) nearly all the time, they only come in for exercise or for the farrier or whatever. Mine always has hay if she's stood in her stable for any length of time which is usually enough to distract her from anything else but not from this it seems! Not sure about the other mare, the other day when the shouting was particularly bad she was stabled (not sure why, possibly to have a feed) so maybe some distraction would have helped. Their field is right alongside the school so (unhelpfully) they can hear/see one another if one is in there so that's a nuisance.

Is it a possibility that one of them being in season might be making this worse? The other mare was I think in season all last week but finished now and although it might have been my imagination it seemed a bit better this morning? Mine has never been particularly mare-ish before so this is all new to me!

Our 2 do this

We have 1 retiree, and DD’s pony and they’re very attached.

When DD takes her pony away to ride, the retiree bellows her head off. DD’s pony will call back for as but she’s pretty good and gets on with her work

We just ignore the retiree. She has phases when she gets a lot better and doesn’t really moan much. Then will randomly start kicking off again out of the blue

We bring her in as she’ll pace if out and has pretty bad arthritis so cripples herself. We gave her a stable mirror which helps a bit I think

I was going to ask if one or other was in season, as there must have been something that started this off. Horses will try to synchronise when foals are born - the more that are born close together the greater chance of survival for them. So there could be some really strange, primeval behaviour going on here.

Sorry I don't have any useful suggestions, other than that I cannot see hitting her working. It might shut her up, but at the expense of making her stressful and distrusting. I find with my very horse-dependent old boy that when he starts neighing, reassuring and comforting him is more likely to quieten him but you could see that as a reward for behaviour you don't want, and not want to go that route.

Cheers Vanhi and Springers, appreciate the thoughts. Strokes and pats and reassurance don't seem to do much, growls when she is about to shout sometimes work, sending her super forward and making her work very hard works a bit but she gets quite tense if unsure what she should be doing and she's only recently learnt to canter on the lunge nice and calmly and not motorbike around at a million miles an hour nearly falling over so I don't want to undo that .

I'm starting to think I just need to get brave pants on and ride again this weekend as can only do so much from the ground and she's getting quite sassy in lots of ways -feeling very well on the spring grass I think! Blimmin horses, who'd have them eh

My mare can be like this. She went away to stud once and in a massive field of mares she fixed onto one other mare. I definitely think it’s a hormonal thing. She’s quite a sensible horse otherwise, and not always like that. Interestingly it got worse when she started with cushings, and the prascend stops it.

Progress report, I rode at the weekend and again this morning and am pleased to report the shouting is much improved. She felt the need to do a little 360 degree spin/dance and loud announcement of her presence when we first went into the school (do need to do some serious work on standing still and being patient at some point!) but once we started work she knuckled down and didn't shout once despite her friend calling her quite a bit. So pleased with her! She was quite tense throughout and was having none of the gentle stretching the vet recommended post-injury - much more fun to whizz around with your head in your chest apparently! but we will work on that...

I'd recommend Warwick Schiller's work for this. He has a FB group and a subscription with a load of videos. Life changing stuff if you can give it time.

Your goal is to get her to focus on you. It might start with as little as an ear turning toward you but once you have an ear, you aim for getting an eye and then the more focused she is on you, the better she can concentrate and she will feel calmer and more secure being away from her friend.

It's horrid to listen to but don't whack her - she isn't being naughty she's reacting instinctively.