Are you picky/protective about who touches your horse?

PolarSkye

PolarSkye

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It's weird b/c I would have said not really but the other day I was coming back from a dog walk and saw some strange people touching/talking to my boy over the fence (caveat, our fields are on private land with very limited access so I'm always suspicious of strange people anyway) and I was surprised how upset I became . . . so do you mind if strange people touch/interact with your horse when you're not there?

P
 
I'm always there and there's no way for anyone to just come along and touch my horses as they are surrounded by the rest of my land, so no I don't mind it. I don't think it would bother me if my horses were homed near the public but I don't know for sure. I'm not possessive over my horses so probably not.
 
Yes and no. I don't mind people petting two of my four and they're the ones I would let someone else bring in if need be. The other two only a few select people are allowed to handle. One is on a restricted diet and *must not* be randomly fed - chewed a couple of kids out for leaning over a fence to give her treats once, in spite of a notice on the gate, then moved her away from temptation. The other is my fairly unpredictable and very large youngster. 90% of the time, she's fine, the other 10% I wouldn't want it on my conscience if someone else was handling her and she decided to be herself about life.
 
We have a public footpath alongside, I don't mind people petting my horse at all, in fact I like when people stand and admire her but I would be suspicious that there was food involved if she was at the fence, that makes me annoyed and they'll have it thrown back at them if I am there to see! People just can't help themselves!
 
My horses field is next to a public footpath and he is always being fussed by the local children/older generations! He loves it and it doesn't bother me at all. The only issue I had was when a well meaning older gentleman tried feeding my horse onions from his garden! Tosh didn't eat them (as the onions spat all over his gateway proved) but it worried me a bit that he could be being fed all sorts. We have notices up around the yard saying "do not feed the horses" but I don't think anyone is out to hurt them, and I don't mind the local children giving him the occasional carrot.

The joy he brings particularly to the older people is so lovely - they will often stop me to tell me how lovely he is and stories about how when they visited on Wednesday he was doing this and that and so on. I can see why people wouldn't like their horses being touched by strangers but no harm has come to mine, and it makes both him and others happy.
 
Wouldn't mind about passers by giving them a pat, although mine aren't next to any path/road, however in summer, some people who were staying in a caravan on the farm had some children who fed my youngster sheep/cattle feed off the farm which gave her colic, so I do understand people being protective over them. I don't mind other liveries bringing them in either - in fact I'm grateful of any help!
 
My tb is the yard pet! I don't mind he loves attention, can be fussy about who is allowed to touch him in the field though. He's very dominant in the field, when he was in with a small pony some kids on bikes stopped in the lane and the pony headed over to them to see them, my horse steered him away from them back into the centre of the field. He prefers women and isn't hugely keen on children.

I don't think a strange person could get near my youngster.
 
ridefast said:
Yes. She's mine.
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blimey, possessive much?

no, i dont think id mind. they'd be some provisos however...

1.they're not feeding them
2. they're not holding up babies to stick in horse's face and doing stupid things like feeding them kiddies fingers
3. no numpties actually clambering into field/stable with them to 'say hello to 'ickle horsey'
4. not calling horses over from other side of field to interact with them
5. if i was sure said horse was not likely to eat their child. (not that id mind much but people tend to holler and shout when their children get eaten even if it is their faullt :D


if in a hypothetical situation if there was public walking next to field/footpath through field and the odd person stopped to stroke or pet my horse who was next to fence before going on their way and none of the above provisos are breached then no, im not stupidly possessive.

unfortunately there are so many donuts about you have to cover your arse that you're not going to get sued if someone got bitten/kicked/killed so people going up to my horses is not something i would exactly encourage.
 
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Not at all - what a very strange thought. I never have any issues with anyone who is on our yard petting either or my two. They dont bite, are well behaved with no issues and both enjoy a fuss. I am not keen on them being fed titbits as I dont feed them titbits, but a cuddle, no, not at all. I would add that our yard is very private and gated heavily and anyone on the yard is either visiting the YO's family who live on site, or is a friend of any of the liveries, or is the vet, farrier, back lady etc. The turnout is also pretty private as well, so nobody is going to go down to our fields just to pet the horses - they would need to know it was there in the first place.

I would have issues with somebody riding either of my two without permission, but that never happens though. I did have an issue with one of the other liveries who moved my two horses around to suit her horse for a very odd reason. I had a major panic session that somebody had stolen my two, only to look through the treeline to see them grazing in the next field (also belonging to YO), and another livery confessing to me that she did it deliberately and did not want to 'bother' me by telling me. Grhhhh, all it would have taken was a text, and it caused some major panic. Not happy. Apart from that, I dont worry if any of the liveries handle my horse etc. We are all quite well established on our yard and everyone knows everyone else, so I know no harm should come.

However, overall I am not overly protective of who touches them, I am very proud of my two and I am more than happy to show them off.
 
bubbilygum said:
My horses field is next to a public footpath and he is always being fussed by the local children/older generations! He loves it and it doesn't bother me at all. The only issue I had was when a well meaning older gentleman tried feeding my horse onions from his garden! Tosh didn't eat them (as the onions spat all over his gateway proved) but it worried me a bit that he could be being fed all sorts. We have notices up around the yard saying "do not feed the horses" but I don't think anyone is out to hurt them, and I don't mind the local children giving him the occasional carrot.

The joy he brings particularly to the older people is so lovely - they will often stop me to tell me how lovely he is and stories about how when they visited on Wednesday he was doing this and that and so on. I can see why people wouldn't like their horses being touched by strangers but no harm has come to mine, and it makes both him and others happy.
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My boy was out in a field 24-7 next to a footpath for six months, out of work. I did him once a day, and he was seen by others both ends of the day. He loved being out but missed some of attention. He soon had dog walker and walkers patting him, and bringing him treats. He made lots of walkers happy as he loves kisses and cuddles. I did spot parents and children bringing carrots and I left them to it.
 
wingedhorse said:
My boy was out in a field 24-7 next to a footpath for six months, out of work. I did him once a day, and he was seen by others both ends of the day. He loved being out but missed some of attention. He soon had dog walker and walkers patting him, and bringing him treats. He made lots of walkers happy as he loves kisses and cuddles. I did spot parents and children bringing carrots and I left them to it.
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My other boy I doubt if anyone would get near him, he isnt very trusting of strangers in the field / over the fence.
 
No, I think its lovely. So many people never see a horse close up, so if interacting with one over the gate puts a smile on their face, then its all good.
I am privileged to have horses, so I don't mind others getting brief pleasure from them.
 
Yes.
I probably wouldn't mind if I'd chosen to keep them in a public area and only one I'd have a problem with. Mine is because she spent a long time not trusting people and I'd hate her to be set back again. The other, people can help themselves but she's temperamental with people she doesnt know.
I'll always give horses a scratch if walking through a field with them or past. Don't feed though.
 
Yes and No

I've had my mare two weeks and she is quirky so there is a potential of her hurting someone if they didnt have a heads up about her in certain situations!

Also when i mentioned she was food agressive a person at the yard said "thats what crops are for, go in the stable with a crop and give her a wack if she is food agressive" ... Sorry NO that is totally unacceptable so please stay away from my horse from now on :mad: I would never ask for this persons help if i could'nt get down the yard!!

In general though i say no i dont mind. Petting the local horses when i was young was what got me passionate/ obsessed about them and started me off in the hobby :)
 
I don't mind people stopping to pet the horses, or even feed them a carrot- I do not like it when they go in the field with the horses, that makes me mad!
 
Our livery yard is also a riding school so it would be pretty futile to try and stop people from petting her!

I don't mind her being stroked over the stable door one bit. I wouldn't mind people fussing her over the fence either but it would bother me if they were going in with her or doing things other than just stroking.

I'm reasonably happy for other liveries to give her a treat or bring her in etc and as she leads sensibly sometimes trainees and helpers turn her out or bring her in.

The only thing that bothers me is some of the riding school parent's with no horse sense who come up when she's tied up as I worry about her squashing people. If I'm there though I'm always happy for her to have a fuss.

I remember being a horseless kid and how happy it made me to pet a horse, and how upset I was the one and only time someone told me not to touch.
 
Yes. They're mine, all mine! Seriously they're more than half a tonne each of unpredictable free thinking muscle - and i'm liable if it goes wrong, never mind they're my babies and they could get hurt as a result of poor handling, so yes, i'm funny about who goes near them.
 
No I don't mind people stroking my coblets at all. Mine are kept in a village and the lane through goes past my field, every day the regular dog walkers say hello to them, I think it's reassuring to know people are checking on them and would let me know of any problems!
 
I am very paticular, but luckily for me, so is my pony!

If he doesnt like you he wont entertain you touching him (if you can get near him) if he likes you you will have a job shooing him away! His taste is similar to mine which helps :) x
 
I wouldn't mind anyone stopping to say hello to her but would not like any one feeding her as she gets very rude if she gets treats and she is on a diet! As for anything else, I have three or four people on the yard who are aloud to Lead her to and from her field. If I found out any one else was doing it I would not be happy at all! My horse, my permission!
 
Ours aren't on a public right of way or on a livery yard but I wouldn't mind people saying hello to them over a fence. However, sadly these days you have to think of the liability aspect and, even if they climbed in to you private property without permission and got injured by your horse YOU could be held liable :(

Depressing really. I thiink anyone who says they can't stand strangers (especially kids)petting their horses across the fence or feeding them treats etc must have forgotten what they were maybe like as a kid. I wouldn't give a 2nd thought about stroking a horse over a fence and would maybe feed them grass I'd pulled up etc.

I know people get funny about horses being fed treats and fair enough if the food isn't 'horse-friendly' but then surely it's best to educate those well-meaning people than to get huffy about it?

We had a family years ago who used to walk their grandkids to our field to feed the horses and they did feed them (well the donkey) too many apples. We think that may be why he got a couple of episodes of colic. Therefore we told them to not feed them so much as it could make the donkey poorly as he was only little. They listened and stopped bringing the feed (or just brought small amounts and made sure greedy donk didn't get them all!). I wouldn't want to ruin the pleasure they got from bringing the kids to see the horses though.
 
No. Mine doesn't go in for cuddles with strangers anyway, & will move her head out of the way if she doesn't want stroking. I've let loads of kids do stuff with her, everything from daughters non horsey school friends lead, groom, sit on etc to letting horsey kids & teens compete her or take her to local shows. Even lent her to a random child at a show as a last minute gymkhana entry once. And I always stop out hacking etc for people to pat them. She's a typical mare & would soon make it known if she wasn't impressed. However, above a pat, I don't like anyone doing anything in my absence unless I really trust them. Daughters I am fine about from my pov, & happy enough with kids near her. However she would be highly likely to damage a strange adult who got in her face over a stable door or fence.
I don't get the whole 'no, mine' attitude. They are ours, but letting someone else have a few minutes enjoyment doesn't make them less ours.
 
yes - there are a lot of idiots out there including horsey ones. Taz is too big and too unpredictable for people to mess about with and Rio being a stallion no one should be going near him anyway. i dont mind yard people stroking them but they do so at their own risk but no one handles them without permission and no feeding by hand as i already have two mouth horses as it is! Strangers though, no, dont touch them my horses temperments could be horrible as far as they are aware i dont need the blame for them being idiots!
 
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