Are horses naughty/ rebellious?

[JadeyB]

I think horses can be cheeky! my boy is an escape artist, he can get out of most stable locks (the bottom bolt never stops him) and he teaches his neighbours how to do it too, which is not helpful when his neighbour was once a horse referred to as the 'bull dozer' and his current neighbour who he's taught is known as 'Damien' from the Omen because of his bad behaviour, he will untie himself the minute you turn your back, you can't leave anything within his reach (which is a long reach considering he's 17.2hh and has a giraffe neck) if you don't want it detroyed or buried in his bed, and he wont let 'newbies' catch him... he'll take their sweet then wander off just out of reach! LOVE HIM!

 

[blitznbobs]

horses are cheeky and vaguely naughty. My horse will go out of his way to remove rugs from doors - even if they are on someone elses door. He seems to think that the correct place for rugs is on the floor. I have a large rug rack inside our barn and one day last year he managed to get in the barn (someone didn't shut his door properly ) and on his way to the stacked bales of hay he pulled at least 30 rugs off the rack... can't see any reason for it other than being a PITA...

Bx

 

[Hoof_Prints]

Ah, I guess it depends how you define naughty ! I see it as meaning cheeky and playful, but I can see what another poster (sorry I forgot who it was after reading through the posts!) said about naughty being bolshy and rude- Think I prefer the definition cheeky and playful, seems more appropriate if you associate naughtiness with bad manners and rudeness ! Either way, love reading the stories- we do own a bunch of characters

 

[Carrots&Mints]

And another

"I see you've taken off your welly to remove a stone, I'll just take that for you"

Love Elvis!

I have a rather cheeky pony, he refuses to be caught if the grass is rather tasty! At the top of our old field there was an allotment which an old chap spent every hour in the summer growing all sorts of veg, went to get Merlyn one morning and he's there nibbling away! Must have jumped over as there was no other way! And I bet the fence was 4 foot high! Also found him playing with the cows one day in farmers field at 4am before a show! Stunk of cow muck! He also wanders around the yard pulling bin lids off, emptys the bath of water, knocks my friends grooming kit over every time and also goes up to the mares being cheeky to make the squeal! Not to forget he drools all over you and tries to chew your head when your picking his feet out! I do love him and wouldn't change him for the world x

 

[Ginger Bear]

My boy is full of character, he holds on to my hood or the back of my coat as I walk him to his field, If I turn to look at him he let's go & looks the other way. He also ges my keys out of the drawer outside his stable, holds them in his teeth & swings them around until he throws them somewhere! The pony untied himself the other day & I found him in the feed room eating the dinners, when I shouted 'oil!' Across the yard He backed up out of the feed room & just stood looking at me like butter wouldn't melt! Lol..

 

[tankgirl1]

Not sure they have a sense of humour but as they've lived with man for thousands of years they have adapted to living with us but I suspect that most of the things we might find funny are just them reacting to situations, water too cold in hose - tread on it, tied up but would prefer to be elsewhere eating - untie the rope, grass better other side of the electric fence - find a way to get through etc. some horses are definitely more intelligent than others and quicker to make links between events/situations and as owners we also use our intelligence to outwit them. Thankfully, most owners are brighter than their horse. Sorry Maree T, i wouldn't put up with nipping in any circumstances, personally, I think your pony needs to know where he stands in the pecking order as one day he might really hurt someone and it might be a child.

I agree. Clever as horses are, they are animals, and will have a reason for acting the way they do. It's about finding out WHY they are acting in a certain way. My welsh D for example nuzzles and chews at my coat = looking for treats. I don't profess to know much about horses, I am a novice owner, but I do strongly believe that they have a reason behind every behaviour, they don't understand the concept of being naughty or rebellious, they are animals. It's up to us as owners or keepers of this huge wild animal (in evolutionary terms) to figure out why they are behaving in an undesired manner, and then change things to rectify the situation. Just my 2 penneth worth

 

[katpower]

I definitely think they have a sense of humour. My boy likes to grab bits of my clothing in his mouth and wiggle me around - grabbed my boot tag once and pulled my foot up and down. A 2yo in the same paddock does the same thing.
My Welshie takes great pleasure in pushing over my mounting block/grooming kit at every opportunity. He also likes waiting for my partner to drop the reins, then take off just fast enough to stay a stride in front of pursuit, smiling all over his little ears.

 

[fburton]

I wonder... If no one found what the horse did funny, would he still have a sense of humour?

 

[Fellewell]

Charming idiosyncrasy or stable management malfunction? This also largely depends on other riders/handlers, vets,farriers,physios, etc. finding the horse as much of a hoot as the owner does. I'm guessing they probably won't.