Anyone else with a horse that defies convention/is a weirdo?

leflynn

leflynn

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As per title really, I am convinced I have a weirdo horse.... he's a 5yo ex racer who windsucks/cribs, will eat for england and usually quite chilled and not nutty now his feed his sorted :)

He's currently on box rest after getting tangled with a cut down fence in the field (he lurks by fences and eats trees mostly when not cribbing on fences) and maaging to get barb wire wrapped aound his left hind leg leaving a large patch of missing flesh. He's healing well and has had a skin graft so all good there in a couple of months!

He has been losing weight whilst out in the field and not eating properly and I always found him lurking by the gate to come in even on lovely sunny days (I mistook that for knowing I was arriving), now he's on box rest he seems much happier and is eating more and more and more and stacking the weight on :eek:

I've spoken to my vet who agrees he's a bit weird and prefers being stabled with an hour or 2 of being grazed or being out.... He also isn't bothered if he's on his own, in fact he seems to prefer that too... He's as happy as Larry at the moment being in and seems to be extra cheeky

Goes against convention that horses prefer the company of other horses and love being turned out, trust me to pick a weirdo :p :D Am I right in thinking this is what he's been used to for the first 4 and a bit years of his life?

Anyone else have this or similar odd horses?
 
we have a racehorse who hated going out, would never leave the gate and wouldnt go off for a roll or eat. When he retired he went to my mums as a companion horse for a while and had to live out 24/7. He has eventually got used to it and now happily lives out with his loaner and is fat as a pig!
 
Before his box rest he started to refuse to leave his stable without an argument, then he'd get out there, roll, munch for a bit and then reappear at the gate..... Now he hand grazes, has a roll whilst on lead rope and takes himself back into his stable when he's had enough and wants his tea! (normally around 7pm) lol!
 
Sounds like he has been so conditioned to living like that he is not comfortable with the change. I'd also hesitate a guess that as TB's are bred for performance they probably aren't as hardwired to revert to a more natural existance if the opportunity arose?

In the long term, after the box rest, is there any way he can have turn out directly from a stable? So you can just leave the door open and he can make that decision to go out by himself? Most animals like to influence a little control over their environment, makes them feel more secure. Humans are the worst for it though lol!

Trina x
 
We had an ex racer that wouldnt go out in the rain,he didnt like staying out in the winter for more than one hour or so.If you left his stable door open he never walked out.The stable was his comfort zone,where he was fed,I think he felt the field was just for some exercise a roll and back in to eat.He stayed out a little longer in summer but never at night ,TOO DARK.
 
He hates the rain too! We're in a stable block so I can't leave the door open for him to wander sadly, I would be interested to see what he did if he could have that! He escaped one night a few weeks ago when I forgot to put his bottom bolt across and was found winsucking/cribbing on a gate after having been in the haybarn, obv didn't have the sense to go back in....

Trina I do wonder if you're right on the conditioning thing! :)

I glad he's not the only one that a bit weird! :D
 
my mare (ex racehorse) loves her stable. she likes to go out but always happy to come in and chill in her box. I went and walked the dog for an hour and forgot to bolt her door. when i came back she had pushed it wide open and was just standing there. she is also odd in that she loves to have her mane and tail pulled. I have done it too short before as i feel guilty stopping. lol.
 
trina1982 said:
I'd also hesitate a guess that as TB's are bred for performance they probably aren't as hardwired to revert to a more natural existance if the opportunity arose?
Click to expand...

at a yard where i used to work we let one of the horses out to graze on a big bank on the yard while we had a cuppa. I just happened to look up after about 10 mins and he had taken himself off the bank and put himself ON the walker and was pushing at the paddle wondering why on earth it wouldnt go round! When i called out to him he had SUCH a shifty/guilty look on his face and trotted out the walker and went back to the bank as though he hadnt been anywhere or done anything.
 
My pony lived wild on the welsh hills for the first 5 years of her life then wild in a field for another 5 before I got her. She's an absolubte cow to catch when she wants to be but since I've introduced her to a stable as soon as it rains she'll leg it from her field to her stable and stand there impatiently until she's let in :D
 
My TB mare used to live out on fresh air most of the time.
She could be turned out with 5 horses, have 20 in surrounding fields around her.. and they could all be brought in and her left out for the night and she wouldn't give a flying fart! :D
 
I ride a horse called Ned (The horse in my sig) and he's certainly a weirdo. His show name is even Nutty Ned. He won't go in a stable and ripped the door off it's hinges last time someone put him in one. He's perfectly happy standing at the fence to be tacked up and groomed etc though!
He's got a fear of going anywhere infront of the other horses and going alone! He does the funniest moves and being a re-trained standardbred, his legs don't go quite right either!!

Here's some videos of the funny man!
This video doesn't feature me, but Ned's other rider who always does a fab job with him! In this video, he's jumping with 1 stirrup! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUgsO3YTyA4
Here's me :P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpendZQ05pU
 
I had a 12hh newly gelded 5yr old M&M in one January for his owners to break & school - then produce that season.
He was a poppet in the stable, but when we turned him out - all he did was gallop madly round and round the small (secure) paddock we kept for newbies - and after 10 mins stood at the gate ready to come in.

On asking his owners, they said he hadn't been turned out except while his box was mucked out - not since he was a yearling!

Took some getting over for him - after a few days of him frantically banging the gate with his feet to come in (he couldn't escape as fencing then was 6ft all the way round & gate was a 'special' one ;) ) - the amazed look of the other 'inmates' in the adjacent paddocks, we eventually managed to get him to stay out for an hour or so while the whole yard was mucked out & done.

Coupled with working on a regular routine, it took till after Royal Windsor (about 5 months) for him to be relaxed about staying out all day.
It took longer for him to integrate properly into the mixed herd, but once he & a 14hh 'boss' gelding had sorted their differences he was a far more relaxed person.
 
I also have a freakish Standardbred!
He doesn't have the typical stress-induced vices, like cribbing or weaving - instead when he is confined in any way he will spin his head violently in circles. He has often smacked his head against walls when doing it too close to them, but he doesn't seem to notice :eek:

He also does a weird thing where he stretches his head right out, tips it to one side, rolls his eyes back and grinds his teeth.

He is also terrified of sheep baa'ing if he is in his stable or tied up and will completely freak out, which considering he lives on a sheep farm can be a little tedious....
 
My WB won't go out in the winter, loves being out in the summer 24/7 but winter no. He will take the gate off, literally removes a steel gate, and bring himself back in if you ignore the requests to come in.His requests are standing at the gate, hoof on the top rung and running it down, repeat until you have driven poor YO insane! Or be seen practising running at the gate at full gallop.

Once in, he is stabled in an American style barn, he will get to the barn doors and plant. Believe me, if a 17-3hh WB doesn't want to move, he doesn't. He has even been known to stick his head out, check the weather, if it's raining, snowing etc and then decide. Sounds like a spoilt brat but gates are expensive, as are heavy rugs and vets bills!

We accommodate his wishes and he exercises in the arena, even then it is reluctant to leave the barn if it is cold or wet! He is just a horse that likes his comforts, warm rugs, stable toys, good haylage and none of that horrid winter turn out!

TBH he is regularly described as "quirky" he will take caps off people's heads, dunk them in his water trough and then bring them back! He can open any stable door, without a kick lock and in his last home used to open his, then go round and open all the others and let them out. When he was allowed turn out with the ponies he used to like to test electric fences by running the ponies into them. He loves Parelli's carrot stick, mostly he loves to get hold of it, swing it and throw it across the arena.

There are many many more! He certainly has character, but I would never change it!

FDC
 
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I've got a lovely, demonic little horse, who is an utter weirdo!

Some of his antics include:

- His standard way of greeting other horses is sniff nose, squeal, sniff, then a good lick of their nostrils.

- He assists with mucking out by flipping the barrow over EVERY time you turn away (he gets banished now...).

- He's scared of sheep, Golden Retrievers, and horses smaller than himself.

- He unties himself and goes walkabout if he's tied up and left.

- He can't wear rugs without surcingles or else he climbs out of them and ends up with them stuck over his head.

- He bucks people off for the fun of it, and throws wild tantrums if he doesn't get what he wants

- He loves wasabi.

- He gets into a huff about things, and refuses to speak to people.

- He loves nipping unsuspecting people, then running away before they can smack him.

He also poses for the camera!

IMG_2225.jpg
 
No grazing last night as it was raining, got as far as opening the door and that was that :p

He also loves wine, strawberries and tea. He has acquired in his mind a friend in the field over the road - he constantly whinnies at him although said friend never whinnies back! He has also tried doing the jiggy jiggy with a mare over a fence.....

Love the stories, gotta love a quirky pony - I know I wouldn't change mine for the world even if he's weird :p :D
 
I do think that the first few years of a horse's life are extremely important in influencing the way it behaves for the rest of its life.
My Westphalian mare spent the first 12 years of her life in Germany and Holland , where I believe that the majority of horses spend a lot of time indoors and usually have a short amount of individual turnout. She finds it difficult to relate to other horses - I was very pleased to see her mutual grooming with a pony over the wall yesterday - the 1st time I've seen that in the 6 mopnths she's been here.
And she HATES weather! A bit unfortunate really as we live at the top of the Pennines, in a very exposed location and our horses are out 24/7 in Summer and 12 hrs per day in Winter. She's going to have to get used to it.
 
A bit different to the field stories on here but definitely have a "crank" of a horse!

My fiancee owns a 12yr old dutch warmblood show jumping mare. Amazingly talented but definitely goes against the grain of your average show jumper.

Won't warm up. Will maybe jump a few but you're lucky if you get anything out of her, she naps, rears, bolts, stands at the fence and refuses to go anywhere. He has to ride her up the lane and back a few times to make sure she's warmed up and just take her in. She works hollow, cocks her head and jaw, is strong, leans, like a plank of wood! But in the ring she's a winning machine! She's currently jumpuing Foxhunter and B&C's (with a win or place everytime out) (1.20m-1.30m) classes too! A lot of people have had her in the past and just can't get to grips with her. Try to go to war with her and you could never win! Let her do what she wants and she'll win all day long for you.

At home she won't ride in the arena, she only ever hacks out or goes in the field! So she is definitely a crank but we love her all the more as she is one of a kind!
 
cuppatea said:
at a yard where i used to work we let one of the horses out to graze on a big bank on the yard while we had a cuppa. I just happened to look up after about 10 mins and he had taken himself off the bank and put himself ON the walker and was pushing at the paddle wondering why on earth it wouldnt go round! When i called out to him he had SUCH a shifty/guilty look on his face and trotted out the walker and went back to the bank as though he hadnt been anywhere or done anything.
Click to expand...
:D where is the like button


my old horse lived out for the first 7yrs of his life on the welsh hills in a small herd. However after one winter of being warm and cosy in a stable he used to refuse to go out if it was raining, or cold. If he got caught in the rain he would play merry hell till someone fetched him in,

Oh and he liked to have an umbrella too, he would push me out of the way to get his head under it. What a sight that was, me carrying a brollie over his head while I was getting soaked :rolleyes:
 
Moved Samba onto Livery this week, was worried as all go out in a 8 acre field (she can be funny to catch sometimes), thought I would never see her again (shes lived full turnout until now). Shes been first at the gate calling for two nights now wanting to come in when I come in. Strange pony.
I also have to turn her out first when im working (about 0545) YO worried she might get upset, she didnt even care. lol

I cant tie her up, she doesnt go anywhere but she has to break the bail twine and then just stand there. Took me three headcollars to realise this.


Wish she had this attitude to being ridden.There is very little I can do conventionally with her, all I can say is Kelly Marks and Richard Maxwell I love you.
 
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