Do horses remember their old owners do we think???

ncarter

ncarter

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I sold Bella 3 years ago after owning her for 2 and a half years from the age of 5 to 8. She has had a bit of a rough time since then and has been through a few owners, but her latest one has had her for a year. Unfortunately this lady has broken her leg so I offered to ride her to keep her ticking over whilst she recovers, and she came up to stay with me on Sunday.

We got her on the lorry just fine, which surprised me as she doesn't like travelling, and she has been perfect since she arrived, very calm and relaxed, and extremely affectionate. We had a lovely ride on Sun in the fields, when I thought she might be a bit spooky/on her toes she was just very relaxed. She follows me around the field whilst I poo pick and yesterday we had about an hour of grooming and scratching in the field. Very different to Ozzy who is not bothered about fuss at all.

So, I am just wondering (and I know we can never get the true answer)....do we think she remembers me, or would she be like this with anyone???

Does anyone else have any experience of getting their old ponies back?
 
Yes, absolutely they do!!! I remember going to see my second pony after he'd been with his new owner for several years (a lovely forever home). He was in a field at the bottom of a long slope and when I called him he threw his head up, paused and then came charging up the slope to me. This greedy old pony went straight past the bucket which his new owner used to catch him and came up to me whickering. Absolutely moved me to tears!!!
 
Buddy reconises his breeders voice immediately and is very polite with him as he is a older guy. Very sweet. He's been with me over a year now.
 
Yes, definitely, Ollies previous owners very often visit and came for a ride out once on him and he knew them straight away, he stood lovely for them and kept loving them.
 
another for definitely, a mare i sold nearly ten years ago i still see regularly. If i whistle which i used to do to call them from the paddock see nikkers straight away.
 
Yes I think so.

I brought my boy as a 4 year old in 2000. I had him until 2007, when I had to sell him. He went through a few homes and I lost contact. I located him and brought him back in early 2011.

He had (and still has) a reputation for being aggressive towards people he doesnt know, and is quite sensitive. However when I went to see him after locacting him he was as good as gold with me and I have had no issues wih him sinc he's been back. However if other people at the farm handle him he shows the aggressiveness again.
 
Yes they definitely do! One of my ponies when I was younger recognised me from the other side of the field he was in and came galloping across (this was about 4 years after he was sold). He was in a very happy home with his new owners and I didn't expect to see him - was walking a dog with a friend when we passed his field I had no knowledge that it was where he was kept. I cried too! But it was lovely to see how happy he was in his new home too. The owners came across to talk to me about him.
 
Yeah, we just sold a pony back to her original owner who had her from a foal...she was straight up at the gate soon as she saw her whinnying [not like her!].
 
Definitely! I sold my mare after 5 inseparable years and when I visited her 12 months later she was brave enough to fight past the 'bully' horses in her field to come and see me :) amusing to see she was still bottom of the pecking order even with her new gang, but even better to know I was worth seeing still!
 
I expect that they do!

my horse defo remembered where I got her from! tried to hack past the place after having her for about a year, she saw the gate and turned around so quickly and trotted at full speed back in the opposite direction, so she obviously didn't want to go back there!
 
Yes they do, the sec A my daughter rode still remembers me - walks off in case I have a headcollar lol! She also recognises our car when we go down the road - normally eating, head goes up and swivels to follow the car. Doesn't when I'm on my bike. Daughter has only ridden her once in the past 2 1/2 years.
 
Without doubt! I had to (VERY) reluctantly sell my first pony many years ago however I still go to visit him now! Whenever I go to see him he stops whatever he is doing (usually eating!), knickers his nostrils and comes over for a cuddle. Without fail!

To be honest though I wish he didn't, I still miss him now and would love to buy him back so it makes me feel even sadder when I go and see him because he still loves me too! And he is considerably older and stiffer which makes me feel even sadder, my little old man! So I always end up getting all teary and emotional, honestly I'm a disgrace! :rolleyes:

Still, it's not like he went to a bad home. He is adored, and I mean ADORED. So much so that his current owners (obviously his forever home!) bought him another new horse trailer as they decided that His Royal Highness would be far more comfortable in a more spacious vessel. So he's not bad for a 'run of the mill cob who'd be more suited to being a Bic Mac!'
Yes, sadly that was actually some people's opinions of him, to be fair though you would have got some lovely rump steaks off that cob bum!! :D
 
Yes they do! I find those I've really clicked with before selling always remember. The best was seeing a 14.2hh I had in at his new home calling his name as I went round the corner and he promptly went nuts! Very happy to see me. Must admit I found it very hard to leave him there.
 
They definitely do! I took my - usually quite bolshy - gelding back to the riding school he had been in for a lesson. Put him in a spare box to have a cuppa with the girls after the lesson... Well, he must have thought I was going to leave him! Went absolutely mad, boxwalking, whinnying, hurling himself at the door... Practically loaded himself into the trailer when I opened the door, bless him.
 
Even more than that, they remember other things that they associate with their owners. A few years ago, I sent a mare away to stud. She was there for about three months. When I went to collect her, I could see her at the far end of a very large field with the other broodmares. As soon as she heard the engine, her head was up and she took off to the gate, standing very excitedly as I drove down the road. She was out of the gate and into the trailer before the stud owner emerged from the house.
 
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