Do horses prefer familiar routine or novelty?

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eriskaypony

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Prompted by a post on another thread I'm curious which people think their horses prefer.

We have several tracks around us and hack out over them regularly. But we also put the ponies in the trailers and take them a few miles away to ride forestry commission tracks; sometimes meeting up with friends when we do.

All the ponies have now seen all the tracks within a good radius of us, but when we take them to places they've not been to for a while they become very perky and go onto a new level. Even the less forward going are straining at the bit, and the forward going need seriously held back. When they're let run it's like the charge of the Light Brigade. At home or on the tracks we ride all the time they're much more placid.

Because of this, we take them on outings every few weeks as they seem to really enjoy the novelty. Do other people do this?

Even though they've
 
I think all horses need to be mentally stimulated! Change is a good thing and can only help your horse become better in any situation......
 
ive just bought my new boy from a riding school, he was very ploddy out hacking, but now ive got him home and everything is new , he,s very perky,
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I think some of both is healthy.

I am helping to bring on a green 7 yr old, and familiar routes are very useful for getting him out on his own, as the routine takes much of the spookiness out of the situation.

At weekends with my OH and sometimes some friends, we will do longer and less often ridden routes, and the ponies definitely enjoy exploring these.
 
I think they get confidence learning various hacks but mine (have had fro 13 years) does get bored and I can tell and his whole demeanor changes when he goes to a 'party' (showjumping/eventing) and he'll be on a sort of high for the days following as i think he still feels 'special'. He also loves going out in the wagon and on a different ride, he's really perky and you can just tell he's enjoying himself.

My sister's horse doesn't seem to care less about where he hacks though but does love 'parties', he gets buzzy then!
 
I think they get confidence learning various hacks but mine (have had for 13 years) does get bored and I can tell and his whole demeanor changes when he goes to a 'party' (showjumping/eventing) and he'll be on a sort of high for the days following as i think he still feels 'special'. He also loves going out in the wagon and on a different ride, he's really perky and you can just tell he's enjoying himself.

My sister's horse doesn't seem to care less about where he hacks though but does love 'parties', he gets buzzy then!
 
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