Do you think horses understand you?

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Kelly1982

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I was starting to debate about selling my gelding. He has done nothing wrong as such just a bit quieter than I'm used to and over the winter has been hard work and i just didn't get the buzz from him like i did with my mare so I started to wonder whether we was actually compatible.

Then it was almost like a light bulb went off in his head and for the past month or so he has been amazing!!! Even my instructor said he is like a completely different horse. I can not fault him.

Took him out today to a local show centre for a lesson. It was his first time out this year and he didn't put a foot wrong. Done everything that my instructor put him at. So happy things are starting to come together again.

Roll on the show season :)
 
Me and my mare were like this! With my first horse we clicked instantly, but with my mare it took at least a year. She can definitely understand me and she recognises me too. I don't have to call her and she neighs and runs up to the gate for me, but wont do it for anyone else hehe. She knows when I'm trying to help her out and as long as you show them clearly horses will easily understand you, its just as soon as you tell them 64567 things at once that they don't. But Id be confused too x
 
yes defo, I was talking to my very nervous mini this morning, he'd not quite finished his food, left a couple of bits of apple, which I fed to him! he thought I was a monster and snatched them like I was going to grab him if he was any slower!

as I walked to the gate I saw his bucket still had food in, so I said, "i'll leave that there in case you want to eat it" he was following me and then went to finish off the food in the bucket! it was no coincidence, he ate it because he understood what I said!
 
kerrieberry2 said:
yes defo, I was talking to my very nervous mini this morning, he'd not quite finished his food, left a couple of bits of apple, which I fed to him! he thought I was a monster and snatched them like I was going to grab him if he was any slower!

as I walked to the gate I saw his bucket still had food in, so I said, "i'll leave that there in case you want to eat it" he was following me and then went to finish off the food in the bucket! it was no coincidence, he ate it because he understood what I said!
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Ha ha bless him!! I do wonder sometimes!!! It's just too much of a coincidence lol.

I've threatened to sell my mare on more than one occasion tho and it's never made a blind bit if difference but I think she is clever enough to realise that when I say it to her its empty threats lol.
 
I constantly talk to whatever horse I'm handling or riding so I hope so too. Theres a RS horses that I really love but who is a bit detached and a big worrier. I make a point of telling him how I feel about him. A little time back he was ignoring me so I said "ok you, if you can't be arsed to talk to me I'm off" He swung around immediately and came to me. This from a horse who used to stick his head in the farthest corner of his stall and do a " can't see you can't hear you- go away!
 
I was at Blair 3 day event with my big mare, and she WAS a mare that year! She bucked me off three times in the ten minute box. I managed to get going, but had the leg grease on one rein, and although she was strong normally with one greasy rein it was nigh on impossible to stop her. In fact we had a run out as I could not steer, and I cursed her the entire way round.

I told her it should have been the happiest day of my life, it was such a wonderful event, Sky TV were recording us and transmitting around the show ground at the same time. The commentator was commentating real time, there was a great crowd applauding our every jump.

We finished safe but miserable, as she had fought me the whole way round. This was not a one off, when she was full 3 day fit she was almost angry, and was not a pleasure to have around.

At the finish I informed my husband that I was not going to ride the mare again, although the event was thrilling I just did not enjoy the experience, and neither had she. I decided to sell. I thought she would do better with a more experienced rider.

I was going to withdraw there and then but was persuaded by other competitors to at least do the trot up as otherwise people would think she had finished lame. She was her normal "Marey" self for the trot up, and I wanted to withdraw.

Again it was pointed out to me that if she completed she would have better value than if we withdrew, and I said in her full hearing that I would give it a go, but for me to ride the SJ she would have to park up next to the mounting block for me to mount, would have to stroll in an orderly manner to the SJ warmup and do whatever warmup I see fit to the best of her ability.

"Oh, she is not going SJ then" said my husband.

No, she heard me, parked up, strolled over, warmed up like a pro, jumped the best round she ever did even with the large boom cameras.

I swear she understood me!

At least it looked like she thought she had a good home, even if she was a "mare" at times!
 
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How funny, I've often thought this but really, how they can understand human language that is not taught to them?

Sometimes it has happened to me, a few years ago at towerlands my sister was there with her horse to do BSJA, in the warmup my mum goes to her jokingly don't expect too much from him, he's a right carthorse (or something like that) and he only went in the next round and got placed :p

To more recently I was hacking a horse out from work yesterday and he had a paddy at something he didn't want to past so I said to him 'right! We are going to sit here until you see sense and walk past it!!' Cue a sigh from him...and he walked past... coincidence right ;)
 
I think that most animals are capable of and understand a lot more than we give them credit for. Horses are the masters of body language. I only had to gesture to my mare and point to where I wanted her to go and she knew what I meant.
 
I learnt a long time ago when catching horses never to think about the work I was about to ask a horse to do before I had a head-collar safely on. Always think about feeding them instead :)

I don't know if they mind read or body read or what, but they know!!!
 
Horses definitely learn through repetition and association. If I say to my horse "I'm coming back" she will stand and watch over the fence waiting for me to return - no matter how long it takes. I have no doubt whatsoever that she understands whether through the lilt of my voice or the sequence of words what "I'm coming back" means.
 
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