Horses that make your heart sing - that you connect to...

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maya2008

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Is it just luck? Random chance meetings? My old mare, riding her was like putting on a glove. Even now, I can lean against her in the field and feel at home, peaceful, connected. Her replacement - I adore her, but she's a horse and I'm a human and we are friends. OH's horse, I can get in the zone with schooling and we both really enjoy that, but he's not mine and I wouldn't want him to be, he loves his daddy! So for a long time, riding was enjoyable as a sport, but not what it had been.

And then...

The kids' pony needed some training, and I discovered I honestly liked her. Didn't realise until this week how much. She's the spookiest (as in, actually spooks occasionally, the others don't really!) so I left her 'till I was fully recovered, having had two weeks out with illness. I rode my mare first, it was fun, but no 'buzz'. Then I rode her and OH's horse. Also fun. Then I got back on the little one, and kind of felt all the tension leave me as I settled into the saddle. It was like putting that glove back on... good thing I'm small!

Never mind, I always figured I'd get left with her once the kids grow up.
 
I was thinking similar to this recently. I've had my gelding 7 years and I love him and he has a home for life with me, but I've got a rising 5 mare who I've had for 8 months and we just seem to gel. We seem to understand each other and she wants to be with me and understand me. On the other hand, the gelding is indifferent and treats me like his "boss" and being ridden is work ?
 
Yup. Bog and I are the best partners, I love him dearly and just as much as a horse I lost, Basil. I loved Basil but never felt he loved or needed me. Boggle however is a one woman horse through and through. Endlessly loyal and whilst not affectionate In a sweet way as such he does make it pretty clear how much he adores you!

He has a home for life with me, I also feel weirdly protective of him I think because he is so mentally tough but in some ways actually quite physically fragile, I do think he would break down in a super competitive home. I don’t have to “manage him” as such but I do keep a keen eye out as he’s the sort who would jump the moon for you if you asked him regardless of any physical issue.

We are like two best mates with how we are with eachother. I’m sure he’d irritate the hell out of most people with certain behaviours but he’s never, ever let me down in any situation behaviour wise when I’ve needed him.
 
I put a wanted ad looking for a loan in an advert newspaper and the day the paper was printed a lady rang and said she had exactly what I was looking for. The horse was exactly right for me, I immediately felt at home on her so I bought her after loaning for a couple of years. She is 29 now and still as fast and feisty as she has ever been. The odd thing was at least 20 people had tried her and no one else even liked her and I was her last chance before she was going to be pts, (old owner told me after I bought her!) so it was meant to be!
 
I always say Finn, my 23 year old pony, and me are twins. If she was human she would be me, if I was a pony I would be her.
Small, bossy, impatient, occasionally stubborn but mostly kind. And we both have thick untameable manes.
We have been together 15 years, she will give anything a try and has never let me down and I hope I have never let her down.
 
Yes I know what you mean. I love my gelding dearly and I cannot imagine not having him around, but I often find him slightly annoying. Whereas he and my OH are like kindred spirits, they just get each other.

Whereas my Arty mare, who I have owned for much less time and spent the first 6 months of ownership actively disliking her, she is different. Telling me I couldn't ride her again would be like loping off an arm. I trust her in a way that I never trusted another horse.
 
My little Arab I just love him his very loving and I trust him totally his very much my horse, I think he would happily live in the front room with me, I have had him 14 years loved every minute of it his with me for life.

My other Arab I have had 6 years and although I love him his trickier to ride and not so straight forward but his great to school his so talented and quick to learn, he was passed about a lot as a young horse and was a bit mixed up initially but I wouldn't part with him.
 
Diva. She was my absolute soul mate. To have to make the decision to put her to sleep when she was just 10 was one of the most horrendous times of my life and I miss her so much that i feel like a piece of me died with her that day.
We were so close that we knew each other inside out and were practically telepathic. She was the most amazing person to be around, so full of character and had a real love for life. Riding her was like putting on the most familiar and comfortable pair of slippers and I felt like we were made for each other.

I truly love my girls, but nothing will come close to what me and the Diva had.
 
I had the same with my first horse. The day I tried him it was like I was home, we just clicked and even his owner said he had never seen anyone gel with him the way I had.
I had arranged to buy him and have him delivered as I had no transport at the time. Except he never showed up. Turns out the owner's mother died tragicallty and suddenly very shortly before they were due to leave to bring him to me. So they decided not to sell until the dust settled. I was devastated.

About two weeks later I got a call and said he is here if I want him, so I was there in hours and had arranged transport and all to bring him home. Ever since we were inseperable. He knew how I felt, knew how to calm me, knew everything I needed and was extremely protective of me. He used to chase off anyone that upset me. It was telepathic too. He used to hear my car driving into the yard and would call and call until I came to him. He stepped on my foot by accident once and really damaged my toe so much so it was painful to walk and I had to call a friend to drive me home. My friend went to check on him and had to calm him down cos he was pacing the stable in a ball of sweat thinking he had hurt me. when I came back a day or too later he sniffed me all over to make sure I was ok. He was really a one in a million horse and everyone that knew us knew how much we adored each other.

The day I had to put him to sleep, I found him in the field (he was retired) with a broken leg after he got kicked. I had started my drive home from the yard but just got a flash that something was seriously wrong and I had to go check him, so I turned round and came back and there he was.. I knew he needed me. I was there till the end with his head on my knees and telling him I loved him in his ears as he took his last breath. I promised him I would be there and I was.
That will be 7 years ago this weekend and I still miss him. Terribly.

I have two horses now, a mare and a gelding. I adore them both but I don't have the same attachment with them. I have great fun with them and they do wicker at me when I come into the yard. My gelding is a cheeky spooky sort and very fun loving and my mare is a take it or leave it sort of gal. she does occasionally get really cuddly and snuggly with me and I love it when she does.
 
I’ve had two.
My first childhood pony.....what I would do to see that boy again. He wasn’t particularly affectionate and, whilst talented, had a nasty stop in him when he wanted. But he was a constant in my life when everything else was up in the air. He was just ‘there’ when times were tough (and when you’re a teenager it feels like the worlds out to get you sometimes) and I’m sure he knew it. I know where he is and it’s always been a dream to have him back to retire with me one day, I owe him that. We will see.

My mare that I have now still makes my heart skip a beat sometimes when I pull up to the yard and see her stood in the field looking over. I’ve never been able to ‘gel’ with a mare before but I’ve had her a year and it already feels like we know each other better than anyone else knows me. She is so special to me and the day she walked off that trailer I promised that she would have a home for life and I fully intend to keep that promise to the best of my ability.

I’ve been lucky enough to ride and meet some amazing horses in my life, and there’s many I care for dearly, but these two are my ‘heart’ horses.
 
Rob Horse, my little yellow pony gelding.

I’ve owned a lot of horses, and worked / ridden a lot more, and I’ve loved and grieved for plenty but that little horse was put on the earth for me.

I brought him when I was 15 and looking for a jumping pony, I started seriously searching on the Monday and went to see him on the Tuesday. Stopped to look at a mare on the way, that bit, and drove over; saw him tied in the yard and he lifted his head and looked at me. There was a really odd sensation of ‘oh there you are.’

I’m not religious but it was the closest spiritual thing I’ve ever felt. Like it was always meant to be.

Anyway, I mentally brought him on the spot, but did actually get in and ride. He was the only horse I never haggled or argued price on, I said to Mum if she dallied and we lost him I’d never talk to her again, so we offered full price on the spot.

I was almost telepathic with him; he’d leave the herd and gallop up to me when I arrived, he’d come out with me for hours and right to the last day, be happy to head out for a ride.

Losing him was like losing part of myself and I know I’ll never find another one quite so special.
 
tristar said:
all horses make my heart `sing` some more than others

some get me out of bed in the morning, others gallop through my dreams at night, some come back to me from other worlds and stand besides me for a few moments, some are there in spirit. every day, all day
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who sometimes has the feeling they come back sometimes. Occasionally I have very intense dreams about one that feel different to a normal dream, and I always like to think it’s them finding their way back from wherever they are now.
 
i should`nt say it but the youngest one we have now, is a bit extra, he has eyes that always shine at you, it was the first thing i noticed about him, when a foal, two big eyes like headlamps in load of fur,

last sunday he had me in stitches, he was watching the telly from outside, mesmerized, through a little window for half an hour, it was about buying a home abroad, in florida,i was pretty mesmerized too, lovely places they were.
 
I think it is just chance. I love both of mine, and both have a home for life, but my mare is the one who I feel totally connected to, not just with riding but just being around her. I feel that I can really trust her. Just luck I suppose, I have had many horses, but she is the first that I have felt such a strong bond with.
 
I hacked an RS Connie for ten years, She would do anything for me. Anything the yard staff asked as a joke. She was my heart horse for ever and ever.
I think my new share could become the same but I vowed not to bond with her. But she doesnt know that. She thinks I am hers. And that tugs your heart strings doesn it?
 
I think it is part chance and part working at it.

With George and Jay, I knew them before I met them, it felt like I was searching for them in person, and kind of recognised them when I saw them (or just a photo in George's case).

Both were utter heart horses.

Charlie Horse, I bought him on the rebound. When they led him out of his box I wanted an excuse to turn round and go home. But, he was sound even though he was an awful mover. Plus he was sweet. We somehow ended up buying him. He wasn't right for me really, always won a numnah at BE100 (or PN as it was then) but didn't have the commitment for Novice. Mr Red bought him off me and he became the most loved, wonderful, insightful horse ever.
 
It was my last horse for me. When I first went to view him I decided I wanted him when I saw him ambling across the field to us. I had the best 13 years of horse ownership with him. It is really hard to describe, but we just clicked. He knew what I wanted him to do, and I knew what he was going to do (if that makes sense!). I would spend ages just fussing and talking to him. We used to go off on a hack and I would sing to him (very badly) and he always listened to me. He was a character with the most fantastic temperament and everyone loved him. I still miss him like crazy, and I had to make the dreadful decision to have him put to sleep almost 20 years ago. It feels like it was yesterday. As other posters have said, I felt like a part of me died when he did.
 
I think its chance, luck, universe playing with you, whatever you want to call it. I had a pony as a child that I had an amazing bond with, but I was too young to appreciate just how special the bond we had was, but I worshiped that pony, I used to bunk off school and lie on her back reading for hours. Under saddle she was extraordinary, brave as a lion, and the most fun its possible to have, it broke my heart when she was sold, as an adult I searched for her endlessly wanting her to retire with me, but I never found her.

I had another when I was 16, and working in a dealing yard, and this ugly 4yr old horse came in for us to back and sell, he was about 16hh, big head, big legs and nothing else, and painfully headshy, and I have no idea why, but I totally fell in love with him, worked all hours, and sold everything I had to buy him, and he was a soulmate. I adored him, and it was mutual, no one else could ever catch in the field, touch his head etc, but we trusted each other utterly, and he saved me a million times over. He was also amazing to ride, we sj to 1.35, evented to Intermediate, lived in three different countries together, and I taught him to piaffe when he was 20, he died in my arms aged 30.

My next heart horse is 18 now, and I bought her when she was two weeks under saddle, I went to try several horses at the same yard, and I got on her, and just thought this is my horse, before she had taken the first step. I cant explain it, I just knew, and she is a wonderful horse, she has given me a career, she has changed my life, she is the first horse I trained to compete at GP, and she is my everything.

I feel exceptionally blessed to have had many wonderful horses in my life, both my own, and others I have looked after, and I love them all hugely, but these three are something else.
 
Snowfilly said:
I’m glad I’m not the only one who sometimes has the feeling they come back sometimes. Occasionally I have very intense dreams about one that feel different to a normal dream, and I always like to think it’s them finding their way back from wherever they are now.
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I had this same feeling the day after I lost Tudor in January. I had the most vivid dream that I was standing in a beautiful golden field, with the sun shining down, and Alice came up to me with Tudor behind her. Nothing happened except that we stood together, and she let me know that she had him and was taking care of him for me.
I can’t explain the sense of comfort it gave me or how strongly I felt that they were both there when I woke up. I’ve dreamed of her in that field before, but this time they were together in their beautiful, shining summer coats, and I knew completely that they were safe and content.
I’m not a particularly spiritual person, but I felt strangely peaceful after - the same effect that she had on me when she was alive, I suppose ?
 
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As a child learning to ride, my fav pony was called Marcus. He was a New Forest. We just got on. I don’t know why. He was a bugger with his back feet and could be handy with them. Every ‘own a pony’ week I would choose Marcus. He won me my first rosettes in ‘showjumpiing?’. I’ve always got on better with geldings.
 
I know exactly what you mean OP.

My first pony was like your mare you describe, we were joined at the heart and I still miss the little guy even though it was a long long time ago that he suddenly wasn't here....

I think I've been lucky in that all my horses have somehow "found" me rather than the other way around: certainly a much-loved horse that came into my life and meant a lot, was literally looking over the gate at me one morning, completely unexpectedly! (To explain - as briefly as possible - I had a livery at the time, and her OH was doing a bit of dealing, and had bought this horse late the night before and didn't quite know what to do with it, and figured that I'd be OK with the unexpected until they could see me to ask me properly, and bunged him in the spare field at about midnight!) I ended up buying him (the horse, not the OH!!); best thing I ever did!

The youngster I have now is another "joined at the heart" horse, she literally walked up to me in the field and "chose" me - I somehow knew that I'd been "chosen". It was the weirdest feeling ever, and very special, I felt that there was this little creature, rather waiflike and a bit unprepossessing I have to say, but she'd actually made the declaration that I was the person that she wanted to be with! She's the pony in my profile pic. I ended up bringing her home and she's been a real little treasure in every way, I'm so glad I went with my gut-feeling.
 
I bought Harley by accident 23 years ago, my first horse, he was only five. He’s still with me, retired. It’s like an old marriage! He’s not an old soul and not at all brave but he is so kind.

Tinner I saw in a barn full (over 20) of youngsters at David Stephens yard. He was the only one who looked back at me, kept stareing at me. He was feral but gentled with time. In hindsight he had many problems, one was loading. After very tries to solve the problem I had a communicator out. She told me he felt muzzy in his head, that he hurt around his loins but not SI, that he hurt in his stomach but not ulcers, and that he felt life was pretty much over, there was nothing ahead for him. After a lot of head scratching I suddenly clicked. He had hurt me over the head so hard that I’d momentarily lost eyesight and was concussed for about two months. He’s also dropped me on the road and seriously injured my pelvis/hip. Oh...

A week later his half brother died of a torsion. Oh...

he never came right to ride. His chronic problems escalated and he left me forever six weeks ago.
We were very close, he was quite protective of me and had even positioned himself in the firing line of another horse quite obviously to protect me.

I miss him terribly and it hasn’t even begun to sink in.
 
Jester did it for me the day I first saw him, he was too much horse for me and I had to sell him a couple of years later but I loved the bones of him.
I didn't gel with anything after him really, til now. I was on the search for a new horse, found one advertised for loan but was told I was too late and he'd already found somewhere. Fast forward a few weeks and I found my current boy Rex who I liked alot. Bought him and the day after I paid for Rex I had a message from the lady advertising the loan horse asking was I still interested. My friend and I decided to take a look as it would give me something to ride while Rex was being broken in etc.
Enter Rocket. I fell in love with him the instant I laid eyes on him and riding him was like I just found my old favourite arm chair. We said we would have him and he and Rex arrived within 2 days of each other.
I love Rex, he grows on me all the time and he and I (I really hope) will have a great future and I genuinely think that although it wasnt love at first sight, it was a gut feeling, our bond will develop over time but I still say now that if I'd met Rock first then I'd never have bothered to view Rex. Rocket is here for as long as we want him and I love the dope more every day ❤❤I think it's fate that I have them both.
 
So lovely reading everyone's stories!

I wish I knew how to create that connection though - my little mare adores me, is endlessly loyal, lights up when I choose her to put a head collar on and positively begs me to ride her, even when her pssm is bad and she is struggling. But there's no connection. I do all I can to keep her healthy, to fuss her and give her attention. We go for solo hacks and I trust her 100%. But I wish, so much, I could have that connection with her. She deserves it.
 
My current girl. I was actually forced down to look at the young stock, just to be polite, she was about 8 months at the time and was completely insistent on my full attention, she was generally considered a bit antisocial in comparison to the rest of the babies. I was there to look at a share horse. (It was a disaster, we did not bond)

But this little filly who would knee me in the backside every time I tried to stroke or groom a different horse... I bought her 6mth later.

I didn’t want a youngster, I didn’t want a grey. At least she was a girl. She’d done nothing and had nothing done to her. I had her out in a youngster herd and it took months to get her to accept a lead rope around her neck and then a head collar. I got completely stuck in the mud once in that field. She trudged over with a look of totally disdain, let me use her to pull myself out and she towed me back to solid ground before cantering back to the herd.

At 2 she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma over the right ribs where her saddle would sit. She was given 8mths to live with treatment. if she beat it she might not be ridable due to surgical scar location. I geared up to fight and accept a non ridden pet as I wasn’t prepared to give her up.

She saved me back. I was walking her in hand on a deserted road and a car blocked us in and the guy got out and started coming to towards us. She charged him, you know how you see wild horses attack predators? That. She damaged his car (she was fine) I reported it to the police, he didn’t. The police took a description of the event, car and him. It’s recorded as an attempted rape, their decision on events not mine.

She sailed through her metastatic spread check 9 months later. The scar was comfortable enough to take a saddle.

I finally got her backed, a professional three star eventer with a schooling sideline in the down season.

Carmin is officially the most difficult horse she’s ever trained, but one of her favourites to have had on the yard. It turned out it wasn’t she didn’t want to be ridden, she didn’t want to be ridden by her; she’s lovely, so kind to the horses, carmin had no reason to act like that.

I arrived one day to see how she was doing and she jumped out the arena and ran to me. None of the big 17hh+ eventers have jumped the arena with the drop surrounding it. My 14’3 little warhorse, without a hestitation.

She’s an idiot, but she’s 100% my idiot, and it looks like it’s completely mutual. I tell her on a regular basis this is all her fault, she picked me not the other way around.
 
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