Horse preferences, how much does the horse's opinion count?

[CanteringCarrot]

I battle with it sometimes, and wonder if my horse should be a riding horse at all...or most horses, really. I think he does it because he feels that he must and wants to do the right thing. He's an intelligent little people pleaser and at this point without a job, I think he'd be a bit unsatisfied because he enjoys interacting with his person and the possibility of earning rewards.

If I had never put a saddle on him since day one, maybe he would've been ok with this too. I don't know.

Whenever he knows we are going somewhere he takes a slightly nervous poo while getting him ready. He self loads but sometimes hesitates for a second, but he's also a bit spooky and not the confident self assured type, so sending him ahead/alone is a big thing for him. Mostly, he walks right on.

I think he really wouldn't do well with someone unaware of their body/body language and with someone who doesn't clearly express their intentions. I feel as though "say what you mean and mean what you say" is crucial with horses. He's so tuned into his person which is fascinating and makes so many things easy. Communicating with him is so easy, and I wish more people were more self aware, but I get that it just doesn't come naturally to some and is difficult. I see so many people misinterpret their horses, so it's refreshing when someone actually reflects on something.


I think it's interesting to think about their actions a bit. Perhaps if Ludo has an easy way out such as not being caught, he'll take it (they're smart little opportunists), but if you've already got him, and then the lorry shows up, he just goes with it. Perhaps it's not that he totally hates it, and obviously he doesn't want to fight it, but maybe if the odds are "in his favor" he'll take his chances and try to evade/go for the easier thing, which is staying at home. As for the eating thing, he may just have anticipation. They don't know where they're going and whatnot, just a feeling of (somewhat normal) uncertainty. Sort of like when someone says, "I don't enjoy x task/it makes me nervous at first, but actually, once I get into it, it really isn't so bad. It's just getting it all sorted out and started."

So yeah, maybe there is an objection there, but not totally. The fact that he's a domesticated and trained horse probably also kicks in. I think they do many things for us because we've trained them to, or they're resigned to it being the easier way in a given situation. Mixed feelings on that and I don't know how much stress it really causes.

I think when it's your hobby you can allow the horse to make more choices and be more relaxed, when it's your profession, not so much. So we have the "advantage" of being more flexible with our horses if we choose to.

 

[milliepops]

trouble is, I bought him as a hack-I love to hack! I also didnt have any facilities. But am over it now, and if I can get them safe and happy together thats great. If not, we'll all go out in hand and enjoy our Trec obstacles and shooting at targets.

awkward. but good to have alternative options even though it's a bit disappointing to end up with something other than you hoped.
Mine was supposed to be a doer-upper project that i would sell on so i had to revise that plan pretty fast.. i wouldn't change a thing now looking back but at the time it was frustrating.

 

[windand rain]

To be honest I don't think horses think like that they do not seem at all bothered by day to day stuff. Mine all try to get in the lorry at once. Might be because they don't really do much. The old girl doesn't much like being in the school much prefers to be out hacking has always been the same but she doesn't much like going on her own either. She loves shows and showing off even in a school. The boy tries to put everyones headcollar on if you walk into his field with one he even left fresh grass to pick up a bridle by the bit he really wants to do stuff until you do then he is a horror. The youngsters are all in your pocket and no they don't get treats its harder to get rid than to catch them. So I really don't see the connection. If they are happy to get on a lorry travel well and get off fresh then they are demonstrating very well that they are not bothered. Maybe excited maybe looking forward to travelling not objecting. I also don't think they do it for you as in making the concious decision "if I do this it will please her/him" more if I do this it will be of benefit to me and it will be fun. I reckon if half of ton of horse didn't demonstrably want to do something they would object and no one could make them. Perhaps if they do object more notice should be taken but horses are not subtle

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Well, some of us are just more aware than others, so of course some of us wouldn't notice more subtle signs

Edit: going to add the disclaimer here that I do think there is a level of equating human thoughts and feelings to those of a horse in an effort to understand behavior. It's not always accurate or correct. It is also possible to look for signs where there aren't any and "create" if you will. I think horses are blunt in most aspects, but not all.

 

[cauda equina]

I often watch a youtuber and they have genuinely convinced themselves there horse is excited to go out to a competition. The mare will pace and paw at the ground tied on the yard and at the mere site of the trailer she tanks off with the owner away from the trailer she is supposed to be 'excited' to go on .... and when on she is a pawing, sweaty mess ... apparently this is her being excited to go out.

I just see a stressed anxious horse so at least call it for what it is! She goes well at competitions and travels fine once on but i often think has the owner convinced herself and the camera that the horse is excited or does she know deep down that its stress and anxiety but doesnt want to say anything as ethically it opens up this exact question you pose OP? An interesting one and a dilemma i have myself at the moment as well

This is the same sort of logic (or lack thereof) that convinces people that their horse 'loves jumping' because it rushes its fences

 

[windand rain]

I would put those sensitivities down to projection and anthropomorphism to be truthfull. But hey ho each their own my horses and ponies have always been as subtle as a brick through a window. I can practically read their minds

 

[Cortez]

This is the same sort of logic (or lack thereof) that convinces people that their horse 'loves jumping' because it rushes its fences

I am constantly surprised at the reasons people assign to their horse's reactions, always usually completely off track.

 

[Annagain]

It's an interesting debate. I wonder how some of it is down to personality too?

Our two oldies could not be more different. Archie either loves or hates everything and will tell you. He would nap pretty badly if he didn't want to do something and would give it extra beans (as in waterford gag style beans) if he did.

Monty is a totally closed book. He has always been Mr Perfect, you can do anything to him and with him. He never says no and he never complains but he only ever gives it just enough to get the job done. When he was ridden, the most you would get was him pricking his ears and popping into canter without being asked when jumping, it was the only thing he ever showed even a flicker of enthusiasm for. Even then he'd do his job and go straight back to sleep - he'd sometimes grab a snooze in between goes in group lesson! Some might see that as him not enjoying what he did but I think it's mostly just him not being the demonstrative type. When we went to camp, he'd give the impression of being fine to anyone who didn't know him but wouldn't drink for the first 24 hours and even for him, would be in his shell a bit. If you didn't know him, you wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. The more he did, the better he got with it and it never affected him physically (as in weight loss or looking tucked up etc) but he was never totally happy stabled there. He was much better when he was being ridden there and usually settled by day 2 so overall we thought it was worth it.

Now they're both retired, Archie screams happiness, he plays in the field, he rolls, he comes running over for attention, it was like he was born to be retired. Monty's just there. We've often worried whether he's a bit depressed not having a job but I don't think he was ever that perky when he did. He never really did those things anyway it's just that that's all we ever see of him now.

 

[honetpot]

I bought an old TB for my then teenage daughter, all she wanted was a plod and something she could do a bit of dressage on, I had my reservations, and hoped he failed the two stage vetting, he didn't. She was a very nervous rider, so you think if was domed to failure, she perhaps rode him half an hour in a school, occasional walk around the field, took him to the odd dressage comp, and a few shows, the rest of the time he was kept like a pampered pet. In the school he was lazy, at a competition, he could put on a show, just while he was in the arena, someone once asked me if it was the same horse. He was well behaved, so we took him to a bigger show, he was demented, he could cope with sheep at a small show, but not the buzz and the sound of the tannoy just set him off, he was trying to buck and run backwards.
I later met someone who used to own him who was a professional show rider, he said he could be a wonderful ride, but hated some ride judges, he just wouldn't go and once turned around to bite the judge. In all the time we owned him, apart from the show where he was completely overwhelmed he was well-behaved, he did as little as possible, which drove me mad but suited my daughter. At home, he only bucked once, he stood in the corner of the school, gave one big buck, and dropped the sharer, which if I had not seen it, I would not have believed. She was doing nothing wrong, I think he just didn't like the way she rode him, his preferred contact was virtually no contact.
I think the big personalities of the equine world are very good at making their opinions heard, like our now old pony who deliberately stood on my daughter's foot, or the pony would bully children just because they were there. The trade off was they were very good at looking after my children when ridden, when I had no control over the situation, so I think they must have accepted the 'deal'.

 

[PurBee]

Excitable nerves may be involved with lorries, especially if they travel perfectly fine.

Reminds me of being a kid, and told we’re going out “go and get changed’ but weren’t told where we were going. It’s the ‘unknown’ - some places i loved, some were boring, some i didnt like, so if never told where we were going, that unknown element made me feel curious/excited yet slightly nervous/agitated. Two opposing emotions cause stress reaction.
I got in the car, travelled well, but the whole way was looking out to guess where we were going.

Do horses wonder what the next moment will be? They evidently live mostly in the moment, but memory functions too, so they dont always fully live in the moment devoid of memory of other past moments. We know they can be ‘triggered’. So i believe animals have that child-like wonder /curiosity what we are planning to do with them, and have that part of mind functioning, and dont live exclusively ‘in the moment’.

We cannot verbalise to our horses where we are taking them in the lorry. They possibly feel that same excited but pensive reaction to an unknown journey i recall as a kid.
(Unless we just took them to 1 place only, always…theyd know/predict where they were going)

Its a really interesting discussion, what right do we have to ask anything of a horse?

Most times horses make it explicitly clear when they really dont want to do something. I never force, just introduce concepts, see if they are curious. Its wonderful to see them enjoy something completely new that they slowly learn is something they enjoy. Building trust between us is important to be able to help the horse navigate the domestic world of experiences their wild counterparts will never experience. Trust enables the horse to allow you to introduce new things.
I’ve never known force training techniques to build trust….they may achieve compliance, devoid of trust. Training via fear is devoid of trust being developed. Its submission. Over-powering via fear. It’s the lazy way to train aswell as just being heartless to a sentient being.

The only force i’ve applied despite their reaction is to make them safe, in those very tense ”oh sh*t!” moments. Im only remembering 1 time in fact in a decade, where horse was tied via headcollar to ring, ahh yes…i remember now, my OH had not done a quick release tie on the lead rope….i didnt notice, young horse had put his head under the rope and lifted head up so rope tightened across poll, which freaked him out, he pulled back, tightening further, i went to pull the end to undo the rope, it didnt move, had tightened, and OH was there too, so got him to undo his knot, while i held horse via headcollar to bring him close enough to produce rope slack to undo leadrope from headcollar.
I also had to firmly force horse to put his head down far enough so i could get the rope off his poll, pulling the rope clasp taught. A stressed horse puts his head UP and is reluctant more-so to put it down, so via noseband/chin band pulled against his pulling weight to release the rope. I had to use all my strength and force in the moment to de-escalate a stress situation, to make us all safe.

It was one of those probably 5-10 second moments of horse potentially fully exploding with stress, but by me holding horse firm stationary, and Oh undoing the knot, and blocking horse ‘escape’ route from tie-up place, we were both calm, yet knowing it could be worse, easily…we alleviated a potential much worse situation.
Having trust somewhat established with this horse helped enormously, the outcome could have been far different without this foundation.

As usual after such incidences we question, what could i have done differently, what could have prevented that. We learn from this introspection and i think if we do care for animals, we do our best, and we know we will make mistakes, but we are also willing to learn and upgrade our handling/training etc.

The equine world for so long has been quite brutal to horses imo. Many are constantly ‘forced’ to do owners wishes.

If you even notice your horse is somewhat agitated when you go near the lorry, i’d say you’re self and other awareness is of a level that many in the horseworld can only dream of achieving.
It’s admirable for me to read on here many times “we tried X, but he didnt seem to like it, so we now do X”. That’s paradigm shifting as the equine world once didnt give 2 hoots whether the horse actually liked what it was told to do!

Many who ride regularly and compete etc probably dont realise that their primary love of the horse is just being with them. The enjoyment they get from their riding eclipses the foundational love of the horse.
Some say “whats the point in having horses if you cant do/ride them?” - ask the non-ridden/retired owners on here why. There’s plenty of them. The posts that say they’ve given up horse-owning/riding but still need a horsey ‘fix’ by hanging around a local yard, helping-out - they realise it wasnt about what we DO with them that truly is at the heart of our interest in horses.
Most simply love them, for being horses. Those owners care about the horse more than what they ‘get’ from the horse.
Those owners, which are encouragingly most on this forum, truly are horse-lovers!

The equine world has turned/is turning a HUGE corner where force/compliance isnt the ‘acceptable’ mainstream way of handling/training/enjoying horses. There’s some miles to go yet, as recent cases highlight, and other countries lag far behind with their general animal treatment, yet it’s a milestone reached in many equine circles, and wonderful to be alive to witness, be a part of, and encourage such a huge paradigm shift happening, which i personally hope, will ripple-out eventually to the whole industry.

 

[Jellymoon]

iffy ground, the edge of that rabbithole

I think if we start thinking along those lines, we wouldn’t make them wear shoes/bits/saddles, or ride them at all. And maybe we shouldn’t, if we really think about it, so best not to too much!!!

 

[smolmaus]

Many who ride regularly and compete etc probably dont realise that their primary love of the horse is just being with them. The enjoyment they get from their riding eclipses the foundational love of the horse.
Some say “whats the point in having horses if you cant do/ride them?” - ask the non-ridden/retired owners on here why. There’s plenty of them. The posts that say they’ve given up horse-owning/riding but still need a horsey ‘fix’ by hanging around a local yard, helping-out - they realise it wasnt about what we DO with them that truly is at the heart of our interest in horses.
Most simply love them, for being horses. Those owners care about the horse more than what they ‘get’ from the horse.
Those owners, which are encouragingly most on this forum, truly are horse-lovers!

Lovely thoughtful post PurBee. I struggle to articulate this thought but I do agree with you. As a very new horse-owner who has been around horses for a long time, it is something I see now that I was definitely missing before. Love of the sport vs love of the animal. Both is ideal but having one and lacking the other is only a problem one way round.

 

[Jellymoon]

This is the dilema we as horse riders and owners have to wrestle with. There is no doubt that pretty much everything we do with horses is not what horses would want to do if given the choice.

This ^^^
So we do our best to make it as tolerable as possible, that’s all we can do.

But back to the OPs question, it sounds to me like he associates the trailer with something unpleasant that happened in his past every time he sees it, but then once he’s on, he’s actually quite relaxed and tolerates the experience. In that case, I would (I’m afraid) not overthink it and carry on taking him out.

If he was getting massively stressed and really worked up on the trailer and you had tried everything to get him settled for a decent length of time, then I might find him a home where he doesn’t have to travel.

 

[Pippity]

My PSSM 1 horse struggles to travel. The vets took her muscle enzymes after 45 mins on a lorry and CK was over 1000. Travelling is a workout for horses which might be why some dislike it

That's really interesting. Mine tied up for the first time after a 45-minute trip to a farm ride. She loaded and travelled fine but, five or ten minutes after setting off on the ride, having done nothing more than walk, she tied up. She's since tested positive for PSSM1. Annoyingly, she loaded better on that trailer (Cheval Liberte) than any other, but I'm now wondering whether there was something about the ride that made it harder on her or if it was just that she was less fit than on previous trips to the farm ride so the journey took more out of her.

I make her do things she doesn't enjoy. Given the choice, her only work would be hacking with just her regular hacking buddy as company. I make her go in the school occasionally; I make her hack with more than just her preferred buddy and occasionally on her own; I make her go to the local show and do a very occasional dressage test. I make her tolerate the farrier and having her feet handled. I make her walk past the scary mattress somebody has fly-tipped and past the freshly cut-down tree next to the bridlepath. Some of these are for her own good; some are because I want to do them and they're part of her job.

Equally, I listen to her. She normally moves towards me and positions herself to be tacked up when she sees her saddle (and does it quicker if she sees hacking hi-viz than if she sees schooling matchy-matchy!). If she moves away, I know there's something wrong - maybe the saddle fit needs checking or she isn't feeling well - and she gets checked over and usually doesn't get ridden. After I started using a pelham for hacking, she stopped reaching for the bridle, so I went back to a snaffle and she went back to practically putting her own bridle on. She doesn't enjoy schooling, so we don't do as much of it as I would like. If I push her to do something new and she clearly doesn't enjoy it, we don't do it again.

There's a difference between pushing them outside their comfort zone and making them do something they actively dislike. My comfort zone is tiny, but when I push myself outside it, I usually feel amazing afterwards, whether that's taking a new job, going out to the flemish horse on the t'gallant yard, or going swimming in the middle of the Atlantic. Blue's comfort zone is similarly tiny, but she clearly feels some positive emotion when she knows she's done well at something outside it, even if she isn't quite sure what she did well. (She doesn't understand showing. She walks and trots and sometimes she gets something pinned to her bridle and I'm thrilled? Huh? Whatevs, I'm happy, so she's happy for me.)

 

[Bellaboo18]

I often watch a youtuber and they have genuinely convinced themselves there horse is excited to go out to a competition. The mare will pace and paw at the ground tied on the yard and at the mere site of the trailer she tanks off with the owner away from the trailer she is supposed to be 'excited' to go on .... and when on she is a pawing, sweaty mess ... apparently this is her being excited to go out.

I just see a stressed anxious horse so at least call it for what it is! She goes well at competitions and travels fine once on but i often think has the owner convinced herself and the camera that the horse is excited or does she know deep down that its stress and anxiety but doesnt want to say anything as ethically it opens up this exact question you pose OP? An interesting one and a dilemma i have myself at the moment as well

I think the average person is very good at telling themselves what they want to believe...it makes for a far easier life. Frustrating to watch when there's an animal involved.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

awkward. but good to have alternative options even though it's a bit disappointing to end up with something other than you hoped.
Mine was supposed to be a doer-upper project that i would sell on so i had to revise that plan pretty fast.. i wouldn't change a thing now looking back but at the time it was frustrating.

I just came to the conclusion that I had to start making the most of what I have (not just the horse either) and the archery has given me my horsey mojo back and something else to do, a different type of thing to train towards (these days I am a better archer than rider-which doesnt say alot). Archery (at least the way I do it ie slowly) isnt hard on them.

 

[paddy555]

But, equally well, the horse often knows the natural world better than its human does. I recall an incident where I was riding out over a Welsh mountain. The rider in front of me tried to get the horse to step through what looked (to her eyes) like a bit of soggy ground. The horse had been raised on various terrain, so he was saw that ground as what it was - a bog - except he'd been taught to be too submissive of a soul to disagree with his rider for long. And then, it was his responsibility to jump out of the bog and get them out of that mess.

Just one example where the horse knew the dangers a lot better.

to a point but if that was the case then horses wouldn't end up in bogs. I had one end up in a bog and had to whip it to get it out and I rode behind someone where the same thing happened. Both horses had done many thousands of miles over that sort of country. Horses are not infallible.

 

[maya2008]

Travelling-wise…
One of mine associated the lorry with SJ competitions and scary fillers - once we switched to dressage she would march up the ramp with glee. If you are going out to do fun things that you know the horse enjoys and they still aren’t happy, then perhaps your horse has issues balancing for some reason or dislikes being alone while travelling?

In the general theme…

My TB would like me to wave a magic wand so she could be ridden again - but I can’t, so retirement it is.

Our 3yo would like to go hacking (on the lead - she isn’t ridden yet) every single day and to canter absolutely everywhere. She barrels out of the field when she sees the headcollar come out and I am wearing hi-viz, with much more enthusiasm than if we are just offering feed. We don’t have time though - there are other things everyone needs to do, so she has to be content with every other day. She would also like not to wear her rug (that she needs cos she is itchy) in the field, but she has to - or she hurts herself!

Much like with children, I pay the bills and have the life experience, so I make the decisions. For example just because our coblet finds the dentist scary doesn’t mean he gets out of it - but I do have a lovely patient dentist who does his best to make it as low stress as possible.

When riding I do pick the disciplines they like for them to do though - what’s the fun in forcing a horse over fillers who is terrified of them, or making one do dressage who is clearly bored to tears? As a result, I have flitted between disciplines depending on which horse/pony I am focusing on at the time.

 

[Goldenstar]

Horses need to be fit to travel I agree with that totally travelling is hard physical work .
But the more they do it the better physically conditioned to doing it they become .

 

[milliepops]

in a slightly existentialist way i was thinking about it this afternoon on the way to the yard. Different horses have such different personalities. My 4yo is easy going and kind but not a bold horse and does not seek out new experiences himself. My nearly 2yo is as bold as brass, inquisitive, wants to be in the thick of it and even if she startles at something she's straight back to see what it was. I think she will be a pickle to back but then a very enjoyable horse to do things with, i don't think there's a lot that she won't like doing. the 4yo will go along with things but it wouldn't be his preference to do anything except hang with his mates.

 

[windand rain]

I also think that personality of the horse and the level of fear/experience of the handler plays a part for those intimidated by the size and strength of the horse it might seem the horse is liking or disliking certain activities when in fact it is picking it up from the handler. OH is basically worried by their size and strength but the ponies all are very gentle around him and carefully ignore his bruskness and will tend to be more accepting of his being generally louder than I am where as I only have to raise a hand or lower my voice to gain their attention. it almost like osmosis they seem to know whats is wanted almost instinctively. I guess it is quiet repitition in training

 

[NinjaPony]

A lot of the time I prefer to negotiate rather than order, and I’m happy to make some compromises and adjustments to make life more pleasant. I take a view that ‘I know best’ but that doesn’t mean they don’t have preferences and opinions that need to be listened to. I was lucky, I had a pony who pretty much agreed with me on everything, so the few things he did express an opinion on (didn’t like hacking behind other horses, didn’t like flashes, didn’t like standing still for me to get on at shows), I just worked around them to suit him because it was a partnership. Going forwards, I’d choose a horse that likes the things I like, like schooling and dressage. As a single ridden horse owner, I can make those adjustments to suit quirks where needed. It’s an interesting thread though, lots to think about!

 

[SEL]

That's really interesting. Mine tied up for the first time after a 45-minute trip to a farm ride. She loaded and travelled fine but, five or ten minutes after setting off on the ride, having done nothing more than walk, she tied up. She's since tested positive for PSSM1. Annoyingly, she loaded better on that trailer (Cheval Liberte) than any other, but I'm now wondering whether there was something about the ride that made it harder on her or if it was just that she was less fit than on previous trips to the farm ride so the journey took more out of her.

off topic, but along with fitness there's a knack to feeding type 1s so they've got energy when you need it. I feed 1/2 scoop soaked grass pellets before travelling which helps. Worse tie up was on the way back from vets where they'd sedated her so hadn't fed her for hours. Could barely get her off the ramp and the transport company were horrified.

 

[Gloi]

But, equally well, the horse often knows the natural world better than its human does. I recall an incident where I was riding out over a Welsh mountain. The rider in front of me tried to get the horse to step through what looked (to her eyes) like a bit of soggy ground. The horse had been raised on various terrain, so he was saw that ground as what it was - a bog - except he'd been taught to be too submissive of a soul to disagree with his rider for long. And then, it was his responsibility to jump out of the bog and get them out of that mess.

Just one example where the horse knew the dangers a lot better.

I have had several ponies that spent their early years on the hills and would always trust their judgement. One in particular was like a mountain goat on bad terrain.
Ones raised in pasture are hopeless in comparison.

 

[Caol Ila]

I have had several ponies that spent their early years on the hills and would always trust their judgement. One in particular was like a mountain goat on bad terrain.
Ones raised in pasture are hopeless in comparison.

Hill/feral horses definitely have upper level skills at reading and navigating terrain. Survival of the fittest. Apparently youngsters and foals were occasionally falling into bogs or gullies and dying, so anything in Foinavon's feral herd that made it to adult age had learned how to make good choices about nav.

 

[palo1]

I have had several ponies that spent their early years on the hills and would always trust their judgement. One in particular was like a mountain goat on bad terrain.
Ones raised in pasture are hopeless in comparison.

Our hill ponies ability to read and work with the ground/terrain are extraordinary. Our hill 'trained' horses are very good too and I would (and do) trust them to decide what is safe. It takes a while for them to accrue the necessary experience and confidence but horses are amazing at that sort of thing thankfully!

 

[Tarragon]

What an interesting read. I am gladdened to read so many posts from people who are tuned into their horses and care.
I am another who prefers to negotiate with my ponies, preferring to train using persuasion and reward and a willingness to adapt. But yes, they do have to do as they are told, to be safe and a pleasure to be around.
I think I have to be as I have acquired all of my ponies as unbacked and largely unhandled youngsters, so I have no idea what they are going to be like as ridden ponies! Looking back at the last 20 years of pony ownership, I do wonder what I would be doing with my riding now if I hadn't decided to invest in my lovely, quirky and opinionated Exmoor ponies with their huge personalities and highly developed natural independence and self-preservation qualities!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

What an interesting read. I am gladdened to read so many posts from people who are tuned into their horses and care.
I am another who prefers to negotiate with my ponies, preferring to train using persuasion and reward and a willingness to adapt. But yes, they do have to do as they are told, to be safe and a pleasure to be around.
I think I have to be as I have acquired all of my ponies as unbacked and largely unhandled youngsters, so I have no idea what they are going to be like as ridden ponies! Looking back at the last 20 years of pony ownership, I do wonder what I would be doing with my riding now if I hadn't decided to invest in my lovely, quirky and opinionated Exmoor ponies with their huge personalities and highly developed natural independence and self-preservation qualities!

I think with proper moor ponies, you have to negotiate rahter than boss about-Exmoors never.forget.anything.