Following on... Quirks we have come to love...

Queenbee

Queenbee

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Following on from another thread 'I think Ive taken on too much' another poster PM'd me and we were talking about quirks. It got me thinking, that sometimes the worst bits are the things we come to adore, the memories that make us smile... A bit like the OH really, I hate the fact that he farts and then smells under the covers:eek: or the way he picks his nose and puts it on his jeans to dry out:mad::eek: but even though I haaaate it, just sitting here thinking about it makes me chuckle:rolleyes: So, what are the quirks in your horse that started out really annoying but now are the bits you cherish because they make that horse what it is.

Ben
Ben paws out with his leg when he gets impatient and he just loves to nibble gently at you. He is a right pain with a headcollar because he loves to have the leadrope threaded through his mouth as a comforter (well I used to use it as a control) and at the moment if you don't get it in his gob he will nodd up and down like a donkey in frustration, just a phase so not a problem but soooo irritating. I couldn't poo pick in the field because he thought the wheel barrow was a toy and would circle it fly kicking at it and prancing around like a poofta. He nibbles at everything, I will be mucking out, turn around for my plastic pitch fork and its gone:eek: he picks it up in his teeth and its on the other side of the stable, I go to fill his water bucket and hear the hose pouring out all over his stable floor, this is because he has either picked up and flung his bucket across the stable or because he has the hose in his gob!

Ebony
Eb's is the sharpest horse I have ever ridden, and if she thinks you are falling off she stops dead... great if your hunting or riding in the open because she never leaves you and just waits for you to get back on, but its a nightmare if you are just a bit unseated because she then puts in a killer stop and short of superglue on your bum its almost impossible to stay on! Glad to say she has more confidence nowadays and we are more in synch so it hasn't happened for ages. If you are ignoring her and with another horse or she wants to go out, she has been know to jump out of her stable and rearing full up for fun to pass the time in a stable is a common occurence, if you are in with her she is quiet as a lamb, this again has lessened over the last 18months but winter times and stabling was not the best time of the year for me, this year however, it is bliss. She is brilliant to catch nowadays but catching was a nightmare, and she will pop an electric fence like its a trotting pole :D She was a nightmare with rugs and hated anything flappy. She would come off a trailer sweatty and spend the entire day tucked up bouncey and sweaty at a show and refuse to drink. She wouldn't load for a while. She got so excited hunting that I was always the one on the nutty horse that it took 2 people to tack up and wouldn't stand still at the meet. She has a wiser head on her shoulders now and is a lot more relaxed and manageable.

Above are all things that make me smile and chuckle about my 2, they should irritate (and often do/did) but my god they are the memories that I wouldn't sacrifice for anything. They are the bits about horse riding that no one warns you about, and they are what makes your horse unique :D


What are your horses quirks?
 
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queenbee said:
if she thinks you are falling off she stops dead...
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Oh don't even go there! My cob does this - which is very sweet, but I'm trying to play horseball on him at the moment and every time I swing down to pick the ball up, he stops dead (which you aren't allowed to do) - it's driving me nuts! Photos because I'm obsessive about them (this is one of the few times I've been able to stop him stopping)

pickup-Copy.png


He's also a menace for tripping up (it's been checked out, it's not medical or farriery related, he just doesn't think about where he's putting his feet)

fall.jpg


Then there's my highland's astroturf phobia, which results in this:

lol3.png


(Please, I know I'm hopeless and should have grabbed the neckstrap or something, I do appreciate that, but 20/20 hindsight etc)

And the fact that he can't possibly leave me alone in the field to photograph one of the others without coming to investigate :D

IMG_9460.jpg


Fortunately the yearling hasn't shown any frustrating quirks yet.. I think he's plotting something though...
IMG_9444.jpg


Fortunately I do love them, regardess.

Sorry, photo overload...
 
Love the astroturf phobia, comedy picture!

Mine has a few quirks, one of which is rather annoying. Here's the annoying one: if I am even 30 seconds behind another owner in our block in the morning (block of 3 thankfully) she whizzes round her stable mashing in all her poos.

When I arrive, I get her breakfast and attempt to open her door. She is flashing her teeth at me and trying to bite my hand as I open the bolt. I left my hand there, in a moment of madness to see what she would actually do if she got me, and she gently placed her jaws around my arm. Didn't bite, it's just a thing she likes to do.

If she finishes her breakfast before I've lifted all the poos, she comes over to me and bumps my bum with her nose. Repeatedly. This means "Chop chop, I'm ready to go out now".

When rugging, the teeth flash again. She circles around me and I tell her it's like trying to rug a crocodile. She also lifts a leg to my dad who tells her "Put it down" and down it goes.

If tied up outside, she wil do two sloooow scrapes after a while but then gets bored when there's no response. She'll also rummage down whatever's in the vicinity, stop when I tell her to, then wait 5 seconds and start again.

She snorts like a dragon when being brought in, especially if anything that's normally there isn't or has been moved a fraction.
 
JFTD said:
Oh don't even go there! My cob does this - which is very sweet, but I'm trying to play horseball on him at the moment and every time I swing down to pick the ball up, he stops dead (which you aren't allowed to do) - it's driving me nuts! Photos because I'm obsessive about them (this is one of the few times I've been able to stop him stopping)

pickup-Copy.png


He's also a menace for tripping up (it's been checked out, it's not medical or farriery related, he just doesn't think about where he's putting his feet)

fall.jpg


Then there's my highland's astroturf phobia, which results in this:

lol3.png


(Please, I know I'm hopeless and should have grabbed the neckstrap or something, I do appreciate that, but 20/20 hindsight etc)

And the fact that he can't possibly leave me alone in the field to photograph one of the others without coming to investigate :D

IMG_9460.jpg


Fortunately the yearling hasn't shown any frustrating quirks yet.. I think he's plotting something though...
IMG_9444.jpg


Fortunately I do love them, regardess.

Sorry, photo overload...
Click to expand...

Fantastic photos, they all made me smile :D I would love to play horse ball but even though madam has the speed, sharpness and agility she would not let me get near the ball and she would probably start to rodeo if I unbalanced her like that and we havent rodeod in probably 6 years so Im not going to invite that occurence now.

Your highland is ace I love the jump photo, although I would say he is probably a stag judging by that :D

when you going to get your new one?


Can't you hear it whinneying on the wind... 'pick me, pick me, piiiick meeeeee!'

:D:D:D
 
9tails said:
Love the astroturf phobia, comedy picture!

Mine has a few quirks, one of which is rather annoying. Here's the annoying one: if I am even 30 seconds behind another owner in our block in the morning (block of 3 thankfully) she whizzes round her stable mashing in all her poos.

When I arrive, I get her breakfast and attempt to open her door. She is flashing her teeth at me and trying to bite my hand as I open the bolt. I left my hand there, in a moment of madness to see what she would actually do if she got me, and she gently placed her jaws around my arm. Didn't bite, it's just a thing she likes to do.

If she finishes her breakfast before I've lifted all the poos, she comes over to me and bumps my bum with her nose. Repeatedly. This means "Chop chop, I'm ready to go out now".

When rugging, the teeth flash again. She circles around me and I tell her it's like trying to rug a crocodile. She also lifts a leg to my dad who tells her "Put it down" and down it goes.

If tied up outside, she wil do two sloooow scrapes after a while but then gets bored when there's no response. She'll also rummage down whatever's in the vicinity, stop when I tell her to, then wait 5 seconds and start again.

She snorts like a dragon when being brought in, especially if anything that's normally there isn't or has been moved a fraction.
Click to expand...

Ebony will nudge the door open with her nose as you re trying to slide the bolt across, its so irritating! :D
 
I was a part of the previous post :D

After reading the description on your boy Ben, I just had to comment as you basically described my big lad!

He spooks and snorts, at anything and everything, but not only does he spook, he decides to "kick out" at the invisible thing that scared him in the first place, then dick off :mad: oblivious to the idiot trying to hang on on board!

I spend 10mins mucking out and 20mins playing tug of war with the shavings fork. He grabs it by the handle and refuses to let go! Great when you have loads of time to mess around, not when you're in a rush! But makes me giggle so much! :p

He takes bucking to the level of extreme....not so fun at the time, but always something to laugh about later.

His funniest quirk has to be when he burrows in my hair :D he gets his lip and "digs" on my head hahaha, so funny! And also wearing hats with a pom pom is a bad idea as he pinches them off your head! He pulls things off the walls in his stable, picks head collars up and throws them around, he pinches the brushes off me whilst trying to groom him. The list goes on!

Basically, he's one big cheeky chap, and I would change him for the world....infact, I encourage it sometimes! :p
 
I love that my two geldings are mummies boys, however it means I see them as complete saints when actually both of them are rude little beggers :D

My Welsh Cob has an interesting sense of humour.

I had him professionally schooled and I used to cry with laughter as my instructor used a schooling whip to back up her leg aids when he was refusing to canter and Fudge would buck and jam the brakes on nearly launching her out of the saddle.

He also ran another two instructors over, one who was attempting to show me that Fudge does lunge (which he does until he gets bored) eventually he just got fed up and trampled her. The same happened when trying to teach him turn on the forehand.

I've concluded that he doesn't like people who think they know it all :)

He also runs off with the fishermans lunch and peoples bags given half a chance :D
 
The way Ned can gallop on the spot. There's 4 beats, but he's not going anywhere! Usually when I'm at the back and the others have started cantering and it's not my turn yet :P

His "crab man" moves.
horse_a_GIFSoupcom.gif
 
The horse I used to share had some entertaining quirks.

If we were out on a hack and we got to certain points or saw something interesting, aka a deer, he would stop dead, head up and stare. There was one place he used to always do it, it looked over the whole yard and the mares field and I used to say he was surveying his kingdom!

He was another for lifting his leg but putting it down when you said 'put it down'.

He also did the sideways crab move, it was amazing how fast he could go sideways!

Salt bins were the devil.

He used to jog when excited, which in the school was mainly irritating, but out hacking it actually amused me and I used to pretend I was a cowboy jogging through the countryside, riding one handed and bobbing about. When he was put on calmer he stopped jogging in the school but I could barely get him to canter!
 
Definatly JT :D
How about just being speshul? but he does make me laugh with his muppetness and ability to throw any thing if he feels he is being ignored
 
jesstickle said:
Does being a massive knob head count as a quirk??! :D
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:D

My chap undresses me (undoes anything with a zip:rolleyes:) and also empties anything near him (grooming kit, handbags etc). He also does his comedy value tank impression - sets his neck and beggars off a few steps, normally if I don't let him have the grass in the yard or if something is a bit scary:p

Some others say he is too strong to lead, but he hardly ever tanks off and he never goes far:D In fact, most of what he does just makes me giggle:)
 
i have a small cupboard where i keep all my loan ponys rugs and things, i stand in the cupboard and she comes over and closes the door with her nose, then opens it again, looks at me, then closes it and this goes on until i manage to escape! its her favourite game, i can see the look on her face going "haha youve been locked in!!"
 
I love the way Sam puts his feed bucket over the door when he has finished. I'm not so keen on they way he stickes his head up in the air when my youngest daughter is trying to put his bridle on, he knows she can't reach. He doesn't even try it when its me or my eldest daughter. It causes no end of shrieking from youngest!!!
I love/hate the fact that he feels the need to roll in the muddiest spot of the field, but takes any rug off that you put on him! He also gets his field mates to remove his grazing muzzle - you can almost hear him saying to them to each grab a bit and he will pull in the opposite direction! Love him really:D
 
Both of mine knock things off near them, e.g. they are tied next to a wall they knock everything off then look shocked. Will eats anything! He tried to eat tinsel and the fur hood off a coat!:confused::rolleyes: Sophie barges anything over near her ggrr. Love them though.:D
 
ooooh, where to start?! The blondie won't stand still for me to get on, but stands perfectly still for most other riders, then won't stand still once I'm on, but will for most other riders, thinks she is surgically attached to her best friend and jumps the fence or the stable door if left without her, but wont jump a pole if you ask her to :rolleyes: when out hacking likes to jump sideways onto banks, calls none stop if best friend is taken away and she can't get to her (other day while I was out hacking she escaped and caught up with us!!), squirts at other mares, generally causes a nuisance wherever possible but is fantastic to ride (as long as you don't want to stop) like a mountain goat going up and down the hills here, over any terrain, goes out all day and still has plenty left in the tank, so comfortable to ride and was very sadly abused in her last home so here she gets away with murder. Plus she is too pretty to be mad at for long :)
 
Tom is a bit OCD and attention seeker - if he's not the centre of attention he'll find something to throw at you, or to put in his water bucket (usually a brush, but a rug will do if it's left in reach). He has even been known to grab the farrier's jacket off the corner of the van and fling it at the furnace :eek: he missed fortunately!
He also unties himself regularly, digs at the ground incessantly (there's enormous craters in all our fields!), he runs his teeth along the top of gates/doors regardless of the material- even along the metal ones! :eek:
He also has to allllways be able to see something - anything! he'll actually invent things to stare at if necessary!

Ron is pretty much the opposite of Tom. His main quirk is handing you the bucket back when it's empty. He also spooks at random things (leaves, bins, parked cars, field roller in a hedge, storm drains) but not at the normal things horses spook at (roadworks, fast traffic, heavy wagons). He loves to use a spook as a reason to gallop off or jump something! He also falls over his own feet for no apparent reason then uses that as an excuse (clearly something tripped him up so it could eat him) to bugger off.
At feed time, I leave his door open with him in the stable, and go into the feed shed. He then peers around the door frame, leaning on an imaginary door, trying to look as far round the door as possible!
His most annoying quirk is the rocket launching trick - you can feel him building up to it, but can't do anything about it. eventually he freezes and you know that the next thing you do is going to cause an explosion, but you don't know which direction. Usually forwards, but often sideways.... :D
 
My personal favourite was being passed by the scariest damn tractor I have ever seen with a giant spiky arm thing about 12ft tall and her not batting an eyelid. Ten minutes later she has heart failure at a.......TWIG.

I also like the way she acts like a donkey with my completly unhorsey OH but will happily drag more experienced people to a funny looking leaf by the gate :o

And when I tell people not to touch her while shes eating so they pat her bum as they go past, cue double barrell and look of 'you were warned...';)
 
The fact that all my yard jumper hoods have the strings tied together because the boy will pull them through in an instant and that all my jods have holes in the waistband where he pulls and snaps it (does it to my bra also!)
 
Jack knows that he will be told off if he paws when I go in to the feed room, so he will stand there with a foreleg suspended in mid-air until the second I start to open his door, then do two of the lightest taps ever on the concrete under the door, just to prove that he can get away with it really.

Scary thing = drop shoulder and spin. Usually at the fillers painted to look like brick.. which leads me on to another thing, when riding around jumps, he will lock on to a fence (he's not fussed about height, he once did this when we were riding after our yard had had a dressage competition and we came very, very close to clearing two folding chairs, and a table that had been left conviniently in the centre of the school :eek:) Luckily managed to pull him round that combination!

He also takes comfort from being in a gag, it's hard to explain, but when he is in his gag, I can literally ride him off of the buckle of my reins, he is more responsive to leg and my seat, but put him in a snaffle or anything else and he goes all scatty.

He becomes fixated on people in the distance while hacking. Not a problem as it never leads to anything, but no ammount of leg yield or other forms of distraction will draw his attention away!

When you put his headcollar on, he swings his head in the air. Just a bad habbit really, but I don't notice it any more.

Headbutting small children :o

Being a prat with me, then chucking an inexperienced person on, and he turns in to a beach donkey..

Sucking fingers. He will literally hoover your hand in at any excuse, but won't bite/nibble :p He also opens doors and gates by headbutting them, hard, and if you leave tack or a rug on a door, it is guarenteed to end up in a waterbucket or on the floor...
 
The dragon face is one quirk that I have come to enjoy, from miserable worm Daarcy. It involves being bearing your teeth and laying your ears flat back whilst snaking your head. Usually occurs when adjusting rugs or generally being in her space when she doesn't want you to be. She'd never dare bite you, she just likes to think she would and it makes me laugh, which she hates even more cause she thinks she's 'ard. She also sounds just like a lawnmower when she calls... Wierdo.

Murph is a knobber generally, but he chews his rope when he's ready to go out for a ride, then when you walk up to him he tries to spit it out really fast and pulls this really funny face with his tongue out. He also throws his door open when he knows it isn't bolted and stands there looking at you like 'well woman, what are we waiting for lets go!'

Rubes literally sticks her whole butt in your face when she wants a scratch, she also does that cute silent whinny all the time, where her nostrils move but nothing comes out :D
 
Smirn likes to untie himself if he gets bored waiting for me...never goes anywhere, just unties lead rope and stands there looking pleased with himself :D

His other favourites are picking up the feed bucket in his teeth after eating and swinging it around, and throwing in a sneaky mini-buck after a set of jumps if he's feeling exuberant!
 
Everytime i put a rug on b she (Affectionately?) nips me when im doing up the front straps - ears forward, its just cheeky!

i also love/hate, how she knows her name, but will make me walk accross the entire field to catch her, unless i have food....thats a different matter :D

I love also even though she can chuck in a shifty buck, shes restored all my confidence in horses, and actually getting me out competing, somethin i only dared dream :)
 
I did a bit of clicker training with my horse. I only really got round to teaching him to kiss (I know, not hugely useful!). He now kisses people, at random, in the hope of treats. He is rather hairy, so it can cause stubble rash, but otherwise it is rather adorable! Vet was not hugely impressed during vaccinations, mind you :-)
 
My pony's forwardness, it gets irritating schooling when she just cant handle walking for more then a few strides. Although made up for the fact that she is as speedy and turns as anything, winning everything and can complete a 28 mile round trip at a walk/trot in 2.5 hours, just love our hacks, was a sharp as anything when i first got her and now is as bombproof as anything, but still likes to tip toe over wooden bridges. And her ability to untie herself if im not looking.
 
My fella pulls the rug off the door and buries it in the middle of his bed. He also plucks the waistband of my jods when I am picking out his hooves and flicks open the top door of the stable and the horsebox if you have the audacity to close it on him.


He has a bit of a windsuck and paws if tied up, but he is a good guy :)
 
My daughter's old pony would tip the wheelbarrow over but only when it was full. His previous owner told us that when he did PC rallies, he would untie himself and search for the box of apples which were supposed to be for all the ponies. Not if he got there first! He would also undo all the stables and let all four horses out and they would be found on the lawn, having supper. He would jump anything in the field at home, snorting, cantering on the spot and galloping very fast but if he went to a show, he refused to go in the ring to jump. He always behaved beautifully in the show ring but would not compete even in a baby clear round comp. My highland would buck with me on him but would look after any child and he also planted himself to look at views. He would stand for ages, looking back and forth and I couldn't/wouldn't move him until he'd surveyed the area. He would steael tools from the pickup truck if we were fencing and try to lift the bonnet of the truck too. He also played hide and seek with me, in and out of the hawthorn bushes but when he was tired, he would lay down with his head in my lap and snore.
 
I have a quirky thing living in the fields... he likes to wee in front of judge/in showring. I used to hate it but since it draws a laugh without fail, I've come to accept its just his way of chilling out.

He also likes to leap when at shows. Usually when I'm chatting to someone. The first time I think I got whiplash it was so unexpected. Now I can almost time it and can feel when one is coming.

One quirk i DO NOT like is jumping out of fields. He doesn't bloody need to, there's no-where to go, so, why??? A poor milkman had the fright of his life when he crashed into my horse who was galloping around a corner in the lane! Stupid idiot horse! It was only a milk float and so horse wasn't hurt, just a bit surprised and the skid marks were there for ages :D

You can't hang rugs in stable. They are for pulling down, pooing on to warm it up and then sleeping on.
 
Genie will 'lip' you - no teeth but she'll happily suck on your whole hand. She's done it since I got her as a four year old so doubt she's going to change now!

Titchy's quirk has got to be her escaping... no fence to tall, no fence too low, she'll get through (often without breaking it). Electric doesn't work as she seems to be made of rubber. However last night she made me laugh as I got Genie in (Titchy's still out). She was in the wrong place and calmly walked over to G's field gate, sniffed noses with Genie, gave me a nuzzle, then walked through it as I held it open back into the correct field!

Titchy will also investiagte any goings on... when the tractor went into their field the other horses stayed away, Titchy raced it down the field and then when it stopped was trying to chew it. She's speshul... (Keeps the farmer amused though, but the YO had to stand and defend the tractor from a one year old Titch!)
 
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