Do horses love or hate some disciplines?

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oldie48

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The Golden Button thread has made me think about whether horses love some jobs and hate others or is it just training, the effectiveness of the rider, laziness or a natural aptitude for some jobs rather than others that affects their performance. Some years ago I bought a lovely TB gelding quite cheaply as a hack and to do some low level dressage. I was really shocked to find out that he had evented at intermediate with an absolutely cracking XC and SJ record. He'd been sold to do JRN and from that point he rarely got round a XC at all, let alone with faults! He was a lazy toad but had bags of natural talent. My daughter did a couple of low level one day events on him and was placed in both but her assessment was that he "just didn't want to do it".

A few years later I bought a dressage schoolmaster,he had great paces, was very well schooled and was bred for the job. Take him out for a hack and he was a lovely forward going ride, take him in the school and he had every evasion in the book and although with a lot of effort I could get him forward and working nicely, he was always ready to drop behind the leg. It was pointless competing him as he dropped me as soon as he heard the bell! He's now a hack and seems to be a really happy horse. He was, IMO, schooling stale and had decided to throw the towel in.

So to the nub of this post, can you get a horse round a challenging course like the golden Button, or an advanced BE course, or in deed, to perform GP movements if they don't want to? What do you think?
 
My horse is a master skiver in the school. He has to stop to scratch his nose, scratch his sides, poo, fart, stretch, etc, at least every every couple of minutes. He can overcome the need for all these vital pitstops out on a ride. As I bought him to be an endurance horse and hack I can live with the fact that he lacks any enthusiasm for schooling, I do understand where he's coming from and find it quite funny. :)
 
Fergus doesn't hate jumping, but he really doesn't enjoy it the way that Dae does. Fergs would far rather school and be asked to think about going sideways than have to tackle obstacles - he does it willingly enough, but he does approach it like it's a bit of an ordeal to be endured. I definitely think some horses have their own preferences over what they'd rather be doing.
 
Ned loves jumping! He's happy as anything to pop around a few jumps in the school or even go over the same one again and again!

He HATES dressage. I wonder if it's partly to do with me because I'm not really a fan, but he just throws a strop every time I try. He's a pacer so he finds canter very tricky and that means we have to stick to intro.
 
My Draft mare was obviously not bred to jump but she is the only horse I've ever met who refused point blank to pick her feet up over a pole on the ground. She has been known to attempt to jump over something that is in her way in the field, even if her attempts are not very successful but she just stamps quite deliberately on coloured poles.
 
I used to know a horse that truly loved to jump, if he was turned out in a field with jumps in he would go around jumping them and loving it!

My cob can't see the point of jumping showjumps since they just fall down if you don't, but not sure whether that is really a preference or just laziness.
 
My OHs mare Joyce evented up to Novice level, loved jumping, would jump anything but really wasn't keen on dressage. However she'd been bred for dressage +was originally bought for my SIL to compete. To look at she looked more like a skinny racing snake TB than a WB, fantastic horse, taught me loads!!
 
Flame_ said:
My horse is a master skiver in the school. He has to stop to scratch his nose, scratch his sides, poo, fart, stretch, etc, at least every every couple of minutes. He can overcome the need for all these vital pitstops out on a ride. As I bought him to be an endurance horse and hack I can live with the fact that he lacks any enthusiasm for schooling, I do understand where he's coming from and find it quite funny. :)
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LOL, this is my horse, sweetest boy ever as long as he's out in the countryside, tried to do more schooling but he wasn't having any of it , with me or anyone else, mentioned it to his previous owner and she said he was always happiest chasing kangaroos around the outback! just as well i don't have any aspirations to do anything but hack then!
 
my old mare was ridiculously talented at jumping she could take a stride out to a 1.40 oxer & still leave it up & she was only 15.2 but sadly her old owners had taken advantage of this & she was sour.

XC she was a machine at & she never stopped in the 4 years I had her, but showjumping one week I would take her out & she would win & then next weekend I would take her out & she wouldn't walk over a pole in the warm up ! I just worked with it when she was happy to jump she jumped when she wasn't we did something else :)

She was very good on the flat but sadly at competitions was far too tense to dressage no matter how much warm up she had

My current mare I have broken & produced myself to be a well rounded mare, she loves everything she does as she has such a varied life & that is how I would want every horse to be if possible :)
 
Alf was bred to showjump, but won't jump a stick on the ground. His orginal owner used to try and jump logs in the woods, and he would very deliberately step on and off them, just to prove a point. He went on to be a successful dressage horse, and although he is a bit creaky, he gets really excited about doing his party tricks, and will offer piaffe/passage/sideways/changes whenever he thinks there's the slightest chance you might have asked for them! He likes hacking, although he's an idiot to hack - but its in the school that he really gets his happy on!
This pic makes me smile every time. He was so happy about being asked for passage that he could barely contain himself!
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Megs absolutely loves to jump, would happily just keep going round in circles jumping the same jump. She pulls you into the jump if she gets half a chance.

She schools nicely but I can tell it's not her preference. She gets grumpy and spooky, whilst managing to also bs lazy.
 
My boy finds flatwork boring and switches off accordingly and is therefore almost a plod in the school. Jumping he loves, XC he adores and he's a hugely fun little chap to hack. He does really seem to rise to occasion when I take him out though, he loves competing and is even fun to ride at a dressage competition.
 
I have had horses that have appeared to love jumping, and others that have had an 'if I have to/if you insist' kind of attitude. I prefer the former as I'm not really comfortable 'making' a horse do something on a regular basis they don't really fancy, I like a willing partner who's up for doing the things I like doing.

Of course, there are some who might say the keen horse is actually stressed, worried and running on adrenalin, feels it's running for it's life, the horse that rushes to a fence does tjis so to 'get it over with' and those out hunting and racing and only do it to keep with the herd, either that or they've been drilled into submission - can't win, can you?
 
Deltaflyer said:
My boy finds flatwork boring and switches off accordingly and is therefore almost a plod in the school. Jumping he loves, XC he adores and he's a hugely fun little chap to hack. He does really seem to rise to occasion when I take him out though, he loves competing and is even fun to ride at a dressage competition.
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My old boy was like this. I liked dressage and he loved his jumping. He also enjoyed hacking especially charging up hills!!!

I did most of his schooling either out on a hack or incorporated poles or a small jump into our schooling sessions. He was great when out and def easier to ride at a dressage competition. However he would also get more enthusiastic at jumping comps too and would over jump everything. Apparently this was hilarious to watch but he never did it at home. Never stopped or touched a pole though!!

Lottie seems keen to try anything. When I loose jumped her I just stood in the middle of the school and she took herself round and round!!! She loved it!!! She's also tries very hard with schooling and really seems to enjoy in hand work too. I hope she stays a true all rounder!!!
 
Sunny really doesn't like doing schooling or dressage. She has to look at the sky, go faster, spook at the moving blade of grass etc, she pretends gets tired within 10 mins (she's not really), but jumping or hunting on the other hand (or anything other than flatwork) she loves, and would happily do it for hours on end. She's lucky that I too prefer doing jumping & fast things! :P
 
Horses preferring more exciting stuff than plain flatwork does seem to be a common theme doesn't it. I suspect it's me as much as Samuel TBH. I get bored just doing flatwork unless I'm working towards a test and therefore have a goal.
 
Madam loves to have a bomb around the school, is very forward going and a total show off! Flicky toes and head in the air kind of thing .. Show her a jump and despite a beautiful natural jump, you can tell she's not enjoying it/giving it her all.

Louie, although he's very willing and will do everything you ask of him without a fight isn't the biggest fan of schooling he would much rather be hacking! He hasn't been jumped since he came to ours but given the looks he gives the jumps as we ride past i can see him loving it .. Unfortunately for him i am not gonna be a jumper :p
 
I think it depends on their early experiences and whether they were positive or negative although like us they can have preferences! My first horse loved to work. Whatever you asked he would put his heart and soul into. He'd hack happily with her ears pricked for miles either alone or in company. He'd work twice as hard as he needed to in the school and got very very excited when asked to do things that were a bit more challenging (although he never really liked lateral work much but that could have been his arthritis stiffness coming into play. His real love was jumping and he'd find even more enthusiasm when pointed at a fence (his other great love was bombing off up fields out hacking).

Current horse is an odd beast at times. He will school nicely but only if the rider gets things right. If I mess up in some way then he gets very stressed over it all and can take quite some convincing to calm down again. Equally he does seem to enjoy to jump when he's on form but when he's unsure and I'm not quick enough to back him up (or I try to convince him to go when he's not ready) then he runs out and has in the past totally spat his dummy out and refused to play. Again he can enjoy hacking and exploring but he tenses up when we go somewhere new until he's convinced himself that nothing's going to eat us (again he can get himself very wound up if you don't react to him in what he deems is the correct way) He enjoys being challenged and using his brain but only if he can understand what's being asked (again if pushed before he's worked things out he just winds himself up and won't play) He seems to quite enjoy groundwork and figuring exercises out with me on the ground first whereas my previous horse hated groundwork and lunging with a passion and just didn't seem to understand the point of it all!
 
The late chesnut git used to blow hot and cold about things. Some days, he'd be really up for a hack, then the next day it would be 'nah'. Schooling was pretty iffy, though he loved to jump, but had a rubbish knee dangling technique. I tried taking him on a fun ride, and he got so overwrought that he nearly killed us both.

The one thing he really loved and was very good at was herding livestock! You could drop the reins and he'd know exactly how to keep sheep or cattle moving along, with an occasional nip on the bum of a lazy cow if necessary.

If he'd shown as much enthusiasm for dressage, he could have done very well (he had fab paces). As it was, we bumbled along together for 24 years, and I forgave him his tendency to occasionally bronc me off because he made me laugh.

Still miss the old reprobate.
 
My little mare has a preference for going fast. She enjoys her hacking, and loves the endurance, although she is less enthusiastic if she is not allowed to go at speed, and switches off. She does enjoy her jumping too, and schools with less good grace. Its not being in the school, as if she just goes in and canters in circles she is happy!! I took her to dressage at a venue we usually jump at, and you could see the look of disgust on her face. If she is under the weather, she will still happily hack out/pop round showjumps or xc, but schools with less good grace. Think she has made her preference known!
 
Boulty said:
I think it depends on their early experiences and whether they were positive or negative although like us they can have preferences! My first horse loved to work. Whatever you asked he would put his heart and soul into. He'd hack happily with her ears pricked for miles either alone or in company. He'd work twice as hard as he needed to in the school and got very very excited when asked to do things that were a bit more challenging (although he never really liked lateral work much but that could have been his arthritis stiffness coming into play. His real love was jumping and he'd find even more enthusiasm when pointed at a fence (his other great love was bombing off up fields out hacking).
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I must admit, experience had coloured Samuel's attitude to flat work. When I first bought him this time last year I had to put him on working livery and because he's such an amenable little chap he got all sorts of riders on him who probably shouldn't have been riding a very green but honest 6yo. He was used constantly in the school, day in, day out and began to hate it so much that he became very backward and even started bucking rather than go forward, the instructors decided that whacking him was the answer, of course it wasn't. I immediately pulled him out of working livery and placed him on DIY. I think that experience definitely soured him as regards going in the schools. I spent 6 months only taking him in the school for jumping lessons, he was a nightmare in the school for flatwork. Other than I hacked him and did XC country schooling just to make him feel life could be fun. I think half his problem is that he associates going in the school for flatwork with spending hours going round in circles with novice riders when he needed the support at that time of a more experienced rider. Even now he has one mounting block, the one outside the indoor school which would have been the one used when he was on working livery, that he won't stand nicely at. I regret having put him on working livery and I'd never do it again. Fortunately, he's a lovely little chap and he does go a lot better in flatwork sessions but it's definitely NOT his favourite thing.
 
My old boy evented but he never felt like he loved it. He did it well, he had his ears pricked but....well...I just always felt he was doing it to please me. I took him hunting to try & 'freshen' him up....oh my word he really, really, really loved it! I realised then I'd never ask him to event again.

S- I always said he was bred to race, born to go XC. The first time he hit a XC course I could literally feel him grinning with joy. In fact any jumping just made him feel happy. I always knew whatever the fence he was getting me to the other side. However hacking & flatwork....meh. It still makes me tear up to think that he might never go XC again (injured) because of how much he loved it.
 
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