Horses do not like men much

Bit of a generalisation that, BB! :)

Why do some horses not like men? I don't think it's all down to mistreatment, whether deliberate or inadvertent - but insensitivity and a inability or unwillingness to seek a meaningful dialogue is probably responsible in many cases. I guess you could call that bad vibes of a sort.
 
Its a racing thing. It also depends on what yard your horse came from. The lads tend to be a lot harsher than the lasses in some places, especially if they ran as colts.

One I took home positively hated men when he first came to the yard. He hated rugs and having a bed - he used to pull rugs off and shiver all day and dig his bed to the back of the box and lay on rubber matting. He was gnash his teeth, stamp his feet and swish his tail at men, more often than not swinging his arse on them too - which is why I suspect he hated men because he would have just been leathered to turn around in his previous yard.

I looked after him for a year in training and took some hefty bites off of him but that's nothing compared to what he would do with the lads. The farriers could catch him and work with him ok but they smelt different and did a different job to the rest of us.

I took him home injured but he was also incredibly sour and refusing to do things before he finally lefr racing. It took a year for him to get used to my step dad who only ever fed him once in a while if I was away racing. He took a savage chunk out of the livery yard owner because he went to turn him out but he was in a bad mood and was being quite rough. But that was the last time he really had a bother with men. He never really had to deal with any but the farrier for the next 8 years until I lost him.

So it is definitely a racing thing not a normal horse thing.
 
Interesting observation BB. Yes it may be a generalisation, yes there may be horses who dislike women, there may be horses who hate humans in general! But we have found exactly the same with our three greyhounds, all of whom were retired racers. They were all terrified of men when they arrived. One was terrified even more of men wearing caps! Our current one is even more terrified of men carrying a walking stick! All had male trainers. Now I'm sure there are many male trainers who love the hounds and are gentle and kind to them, likewise, many female trainers who aren't. Again, with a lot of love and patience, husband and son won them over, but it does make you wonder.........
 
[QUOTE="EKW, post: 14091874, member: 81440

So it is definitely a racing thing not a normal horse thing.[/QUOTE]

I'm not so sure about that!

I had a TBxWelshD who had never been near a racing yard, bought by me as a 4 yr old, with full history. I know that she had been owned as a 2 yr old by an older man, had to fight for food within her herd and been treated roughly. She was very wary of men and extremely proud of her food, even hay, in the stable. We got her over it, so that Dad and other men within the family could handle her but after several years, one of her herd had a minor field injury, YO, a short, older man, who took water to the fields daily, went into the field to investigate and she kicked him to keep him away from the pony.

However my current cob, bought as a 2 yr old, stood in the field the day we brought her home, with my Dad, while we sorted out a problem with something else and looked after him until he died. Many of the others have worshipped him too.
 
EKW said:
Its a racing thing.
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Unless 13.2hh show ponies are being raced then it is not just a racing thing!
My 13.2hh show pony came cheap through beeston market because he would have a chunk out if any man who walked past his stable.
He was one of the best ponies i have ever owned but it took years and many stitches for him to tolerate my farther or my brother.
 
EKW said:
Its a racing thing. It also depends on what yard your horse came from. The lads tend to be a lot harsher than the lasses in some places, especially if they ran as colts.

One I took home positively hated men when he first came to the yard. He hated rugs and having a bed - he used to pull rugs off and shiver all day and dig his bed to the back of the box and lay on rubber matting. He was gnash his teeth, stamp his feet and swish his tail at men, more often than not swinging his arse on them too - which is why I suspect he hated men because he would have just been leathered to turn around in his previous yard.

I looked after him for a year in training and took some hefty bites off of him but that's nothing compared to what he would do with the lads. The farriers could catch him and work with him ok but they smelt different and did a different job to the rest of us.

I took him home injured but he was also incredibly sour and refusing to do things before he finally lefr racing. It took a year for him to get used to my step dad who only ever fed him once in a while if I was away racing. He took a savage chunk out of the livery yard owner because he went to turn him out but he was in a bad mood and was being quite rough. But that was the last time he really had a bother with men. He never really had to deal with any but the farrier for the next 8 years until I lost him.

So it is definitely a racing thing not a normal horse thing.
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I wonder why he hated a bed?
 
I have known plenty that were not happy with men, I think a lot have a bad experience when their first contact is often being jabbed, having feet trimmed or being gelded, the majority of vets and farriers are male, although it is changing, most owners/ breeders are female so they will associate men with that first real contact, the majority of well handled youngsters get over it or are well prepared but a few will always have a deep rooted suspicion with a few having that compounded at a later stage, often when being backed.
I had one that was very fearful of all men including vets but good with farriers, I found out later that the OH of his previous owner had teased him and wound him up when he was alone with him, she had her suspicions but he only told her he 'hated that **** horse' some time later, she thinks he was jealous, mine improved but it took years before he really trusted men and I used to give his jabs to make life easier, he would let me do anything without a second thought but got really upset by a male vet approaching.
 
be positive said:
I have known plenty that were not happy with men, I think a lot have a bad experience when their first contact is often being jabbed, having feet trimmed or being gelded, the majority of vets and farriers are male, although it is changing, most owners/ breeders are female so they will associate men with that first real contact, the majority of well handled youngsters get over it or are well prepared but a few will always have a deep rooted suspicion with a few having that compounded at a later stage, often when being backed.
I had one that was very fearful of all men including vets but good with farriers, I found out later that the OH of his previous owner had teased him and wound him up when he was alone with him, she had her suspicions but he only told her he 'hated that **** horse' some time later, she thinks he was jealous, mine improved but it took years before he really trusted men and I used to give his jabs to make life easier, he would let me do anything without a second thought but got really upset by a male vet approaching.
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What a weird OH! It wasn't the horses fault he was jealous😲
 
mule said:
What a weird OH! It wasn't the horses fault he was jealous😲
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I only met him a couple of times and he was a bit odd and obviously resented the horse, it lived at home so probably got more attention that he felt it deserved, from memory the sale was a bit forced on her, I bought through word of mouth as I heard she was having to give up due to young children.
 
My welsh pony doesn't like men. He won't let a man catch him in the field, and is extremely difficult with male vets. He arrived very headshy, extremely defensive and openly hostile to men so it doesn't take much to put two and two together and work out that he had clearly had some bad treatment off a man at some point before I got him. I've had him 13 years and he is much better with men but still much happier and more relaxed with women.
 
fburton said:
Bit of a generalisation that, BB! :)

Why do some horses not like men? I don't think it's all down to mistreatment, whether deliberate or inadvertent - but insensitivity and a inability or unwillingness to seek a meaningful dialogue is probably responsible in many cases. I guess you could call that bad vibes of a sort.
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Sorry i was just meaning mine 😂😂 not everyones
 
I’ve found that many horses that have come over from Ireland aren’t keen on men, but can only be ridden by men. Many ponies that have come from “colourful” backgrounds (shall we say) aren’t overly keen on men either.
I have a welsh beastie that hates men and women but loves children.
 
My horses adore my husband (but he is ridiculously soft with them)
It took my Irish horse a while to trust him but my other literally loved him at first sight (hence why she is now his horse) but my previous two partners couldn’t get on with them at all (they literally hated them)
I think sometimes men come across with a very dominant air (maybe generalising again) but this put my girls off. Luckily the Mr had a lot of respect for them and just wanted to be their friend!
Think it depends on the bloke and the attitude and the past experience of the horses :)
 
All mine seem to prefer MrPF on the whole. Apart from Granny horse who hated everyone apart from me regardless of sex. 😂 The Beast is from Ireland and the second time we went to view her she did a huge "HI NEW HUMAN DAD!!" whinny as soon as MrPF walked into the stable block. At that point I knew I was getting another grey mare despite bring quite specific in my request NOT to get another grey mare. It was basically love at first sight with them two.

And now the new boy has been following MrPF around the field like a puppy earlier this evening... He's supposed to be my horse this one! 😂
 
I had one years ago who was very wary of some men, especially if they were loud and shouting. I am guessing he had had a bad experience. He was fine with my OH and men who had a quiet gentle way with them. I used to show him as a small hunter at one show he wouldn't let the steward and male ride judge near him. I was terribly embarrassed as he had never behaved like that before with any other male judges.
 
I can remember going to the HIS stallion show at Newmarket.
Nearly every stallion was on its toes apart from one handled by a women. It a bit like the Welsh it has to look fiery to make men look good, as if they were ‘real horsemen’ and compliant animals make it look easy. I have been round some racing yards where you can feel the raised stress level.
Women are just more likely to use their brain not brawn.
 
wattamus said:
My horses adore my husband (but he is ridiculously soft with them)
It took my Irish horse a while to trust him but my other literally loved him at first sight (hence why she is now his horse) but my previous two partners couldn’t get on with them at all (they literally hated them)
I think sometimes men come across with a very dominant air (maybe generalising again) but this put my girls off. Luckily the Mr had a lot of respect for them and just wanted to be their friend!
Think it depends on the bloke and the attitude and the past experience of the horses :)
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I think there's a lot in what you say, including about a "dominant air". Horses tend to dislike bossy people who don't offer anything in the way of give and take. Some horses will comply just to have a quiet life; others react adversely or aggressively which just leads to escalating conflict. One can imagine that men are more like this than women, but there are plenty of exceptions.
 
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