Does anyone else’s horse behave better with other people?

[Peglo]

Tali can be very cheeky when she wants (but also very sweet) she never does anything bad but leading her up the road she might throw her head in impatience and trot ahead of me but never pulls on the rope. She spins her bum into me so I give her a scratch and nuzzles my pockets if she wants a treat. That sort of thing. She is a very affectionate little horse. When very non horsey (or any animal) OH takes her up the road she walks slowly and carefully next to him. It seems like she tries to take care of him which she doesn’t with me ? she isn’t demanding of other people the same way she is with me.
Peggy Sue could be the same. When a beginner would ride her she was careful and calm. When I got on we galloped everywhere we could and she knew I would be fine. (At 13 I was totally ok with this)

is this my bad horsemanship or do I just have characterful kind ponies?

 

[Ali27]

Yeah, my pony will trot over jumps with others but not me! Apparently we wind each other up! ??

 

[Sossigpoker]

Mine is more of a one person horse so is usually the most predictable with me.
Sometimes he won't be caught by others but comes to my call , he only whinnies to me , that sort of thing.

 

[ycbm]

I have known quite a few horses who were downright cheeky to ride until you put a beginner on their back when they turned into saints.
.

 

[paddy555]

my first 2 behaved differently. The first removed men and sometimes women for a pastime. He was famous for it. Then I put my mum, a total beginner, on him and he was so careful with her. I also put a neighbour's 4yo on him. She wanted to trot but he refused, he didn't think she was up to it so that was that. Put an adult on him who assured me they could ride him, he would walk calmly down the field, they would turn round and the rodeo act began and off they came.

The 2nd a pure bred arab was also totally perfect with my mum. A friend came with his young boy and their nanny. The child got on and arab was perfect. I offered the nanny a go and the horse wouldn't move. He really really didn't like her.
We thought she was great and urged our divorced friend to marry her.

The arab must have known better as a few months later she was sacked for fraud. How did the horse know?

 

[DonskiWA]

My boy Ollie has regular vet treatments which require ALOT of big needles (Which I hate watching). He acts up and now has to be sedated prior to treatment. One day I couldn’t make the appt and my partner took him instead. My boy didn’t act up at all to the point where they could forego the sedation. Next time we both took him. My partner held him and as an experiment, I would leave and come back. After a bit of this, the vet and my partner just told me to stay the hell away as every time I approached, Ollie would become restless.
I was moaning about this to my instructor, feeling a bit hurt, but she said it was just like a mum dropping a kid off at daycare. The child would cry terribly, but as soon as mum was out of sight, would settle and down play happily.
Still not sure how I feel about this!

 

[Barton Bounty]

BB can be a pure nut with me but will trot around with an 8 year old on him quite the thing ?
I love his character

 

[HorseMaid]

I think mine behaves best for me. This evening when getting the girls in (3 of them) two of them managed to bugger off past me into the big field that they're not allowed into. Totally my fault. My girl was first to the gate where I normally put their headcollars on, therefore was the last in the line of them running past me in the opposite direction. I held my arms wide, shouted and growled at her, and fully expected her to flatten me in pursuit of her mates who were hooleying round being me. She wanted to go past, but she didn't! She held it together just enough for me to get a headcollar on and I stuck her in her stable where she kicked up a fuss while I went in search of the others who were immensely pleased with themselves.

If it had been someone else getting them in I think they would have got flattened by her so I'm pleased that on this occasion she listened to me and behaved herself ?

 

[spotty_pony]

if anything my boy behaves better for me on the ground and then is most spooky and forward with me on but steadier and more sensible if anybody else rides him.

 

[planete]

Woody is still very suspicious of strangers. He is friendly with them until they try and do anything with him like picking up his feet. I have given up trying to tell the trimmer I have done a lot of training with him.

 

[Arzada]

No, he knows which side his Stud Muffins are buttered

 

[maggiestar]

OP, she probably gets vibes from your OH that he doesn't think she's as adorable as she undoubtedly is! Maybe she feels she has to be more 'respectful' around him if that makes sense? I think some horses know which people adore them and which people are purely business like.
It's interesting because I used to ride a horse who tended to play up with women, asking for treats, spooking, not really concentrating etc... but if a man rode him he appeared to completely relax and focus. I wonder if some horses have a preference for men or women or vice versa.

 

[smolmaus]

Only I get cheek. For everyone else, especially children, she is a perfect angel. I give off big "pushover" vibes, I'm working on it ? but I don't mind that much. I fell in love with the cheeky brat not the dope on a rope.

eta: She did push my dad into ruining his shoes in a mud puddle when he wanted a nice video for his gf but that's just having a sense of humor.

 

[Peglo]

OP, she probably gets vibes from your OH that he doesn't think she's as adorable as she undoubtedly is! Maybe she feels she has to be more 'respectful' around him if that makes sense? I think some horses know which people adore them and which people are purely business like.
It's interesting because I used to ride a horse who tended to play up with women, asking for treats, spooking, not really concentrating etc... but if a man rode him he appeared to completely relax and focus. I wonder if some horses have a preference for men or women or vice versa.

I think you could be right. ?
my TB definitely preferred men. She didn’t dislike women but if a man was about she was much more affectionate than she was with women. She loved my old farrier but I couldn’t blame her there ?

 

[Auslander]

Alf marches to the beat of his own drum. I used to influence him more when he was younger and we were on livery yards, but now he's old, and at home, he pretty much does as he pleases. He knows how he should behave, and he's very good for other people, but he and I have agreed to grow old disgracefully together.
I have to get someone else to worm him/clip him, as he gets really stroppy with me doing anything offensive to him, but is very mannerly with others. He likes to bide his time and then give me a sly nip after I've molested him - the only times he ever bites. Sometimes he bides his time for 10 minutes, and sometimes 2 days - but I always cop one eventually. He doesn't do that to many people - just me, and two friends who he considers to be his people!

 

[mariew]

I have known quite a few horses who were downright cheeky to ride until you put a beginner on their back when they turned into saints.
.

Yup, my share horse 20 years ago would be a right toad with me. But if you put kids, a nervous rider or a beginner on him he would do a foot perfect dressage test with them as pure passengers. It was amazing to watch.

 

[TPO]

I had an Arab mare that competed at medium and was schooled higher (not by me!).

Long story about how I ended up with her and all thr misfortunes that had happened to her before that point.

She was the trickiest and most frustrating horse I've ever ridden. The biggest sweetheart on the ground but close to impossible ridden. Roughly every 6mths I'd have an amazing session with her, think that I'd cracked it and be inspired to carry on...only to have to wait another 6mths.

Put someone new on her for the first time* and she'd go like a dream. This would leave said person thinking a mix of what amazing they were and how hopeless I was. Always fun!

It was extremely annoying in a lesson. I'd expect a trainer to ride way better than me but what they were feeling when they got on was not a true representation of what Shiraz did with me.

I got a sharer for her (randomly via this forum. Short story: complete disaster and I hate people). The same thing, I warned them she would only be easy the first time and she was, so a false sense of confidence/arrogance was duly installed in the "better" rider that Shiraz duly eroded with each subsequent ride!

* You could put a noise or kid on her and she'd be a gem. I met a woman via work who told me how experienced she was and capable etc. I went with her to visit her 2yr old at her yard and could see trouble on the horizon for her (ended up on 2 different yards with her and did witness the damage her spoilt & badly trained horse caused). Then it was her turn to come and see my horse and have a shot. Her riding was so awful that she's the only person that Shiraz didn't go like a perfectly trained dressage horse for. The "experienced" rider and trainer (?) tipped forward and gripped up so badly, while hanging off the reins, that Shiraz interpreted it as a wall of death canter around the arena while I shouted for her to sit up.

 

[Gloi]

Mine does when being led ?. He naturally walks faster than I can so I have to constantly check him and sometimes find him hard work making him walk nicely next to me. The yard staff just take him to turnout , stride out, and he walks with them like an angel.

 

[lynz88]

Mine can be super cheeky with me but won't pull the same stunts with others, especially kids or those who aren't "horsey" (though he can pull stunts on other "horsey" people like the yard staff however it is usually when he hasn't gone out for a few days because of ice or injury). He is particularly attracted to kids though for whatever reason and just loves them. He is also quite a cuddly horse but I brought the guy that I have started seeing to the yard last week to meet the horse (might as well get the 'big' test over and done with early) and the horse decided the human man was the BEST thing since sliced bread - it was like I didn't exist anymore.