Do you trust your horse with your life?

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I think my other concern is that there are alot of 'fluffy' horse owners out there who like to think that their bond with their horse is closer than it is.

Kerilli - you're obviously a good horsewoman who has the confidence and knowledge to help build that bond.

I think that a napping horse (like Oscar) is a horse who's natural instinct is always going to be very strong. We went out for a hack yesterday and 30 horses came trotting aroudn the roads on a sponsored ride. In that situation he thought he knew best and whipped around. I managed to get him to move forward in the end so I won the battle but his instinct was to run in the opposite direction.

Some horses are alot easier to get the trust bond and will trust their rider to know best.

I trust Oscar not to dump me for no reason but I have no doubt that he always has his best interests at heart!!
 
Do you trust your horse with your life? - umm... no!!!!!!!! Given his track record I think he is out to finish me off
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I do trust that Merlin will not hurt me on purpose, but he is a herbivore..... they are not noted for their brains!!!

I trust that he will not try to buck me off or rear over with me, because thats not in his nature..... but then he wouldnt do it with anyone else either..

I think if a big bad dog came to eat us, then he would kick out and try to defend himself.... and me in the process, but he would not put himself between the dog and me.

If there was a big snake, he wouldnt kill it 'Champion the Wonder Horse' style..... he would run away and let it bite me instead.

So..... I suppose I trust him to be nice to me, but not to protect me.
 
i can honestly say that i dont do much with my horse at all ... ride him far and few between.. but i can honestly say when i do tack him up ride him in the school or out on the roads hes pefect!! cant fault him at all .. can leave this wee man 6 months and hes the same i trust him totally
 
I'm in agreement with you Kerilli, the literal meaning is that "yes, we have to trust horses with our life" - otherwise we'd never get on board. To go the step further and say that the horse understands this isn't really a logical step for a horse IMO. I think many dogs can do that further step but not many horses, only the really excellent ones eg the cream of cross-country horses, hunters, other types where total trust in each other is essential to succeed. but even then I'm not sure they'd understand the fact that they must keep the rider safe. I don't know
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But we do have to trust that the horse will convey us safely and will try to get itself (and therefore us) out of trouble.
 
The short answer is no. I wouldn't trust any horse with my life, no matter how well trained and bonded to me. In fact I would consider that this would be in some way attempting to transfer human feelings and emotions on to a horse, which is a large animal with a comparative small brain.

I trust that breeding, training and handling mean that it is extremely unlikely that my horse would deliberately cause me harm and there is an element of trust or familiarity between us - but would never go with the romantic notion that I could trust any animal with my life.
 
Generally no. Only one horse I have had would I say our bond was strong enough that I would trust him that much. I knew he would never ever intentionally hurt me, he was never dishonest [though sometimes afraid] and tried his heart out for me. That is the furthest extent that I believe you can trust a horse, and even though he was wonderful, he did buck on occasion, and he did run out at fences - the difference was that he never did it out of malice, it was through exuberence or worry.

Any other horse I've had, even if we have a bond, they have looked after number one first, and been perfectly happy on occasion to pull dirty stops, try and buck me off and just generally be a prat once in a while.

So its a tricky one I think - I wouldn't trust any horse never to hurt me. However I do think you can trust a horse never to hurt you on purpose.
 
nope not so ever horses have 2 main defenses FIGHT or FLIGHT and both are on the horses terms and will do either or both to get out of a potential dangerous situation regardless of how much they love an owner.

In my opinion it is rather laid back to ''trust'' anyone with your life let alone an animal and could prove to be a very bad idea.
Especially if your an eventer or bring on youngstock putting yourself on the line everyday,if you think for one minute your horse comes down with you its not going to roll and thrash to get itself out of trouble regardless of the owner been there and the fact it could kill you through no fault of its own then accidents will happen.


I adore my lad with every fibre of my beign BUT he is an animal and a puffy one at that i know for a fact if it came to its a you or me situation he would pick himself anytime just like any other horse if it came to the crunch.

I dont think its a lovely idea that our horses will always protect us over themselves but in theory it just does not happen.
 
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