How common is it to find a horse you click with?

Silmarillion

Silmarillion

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Just wondering, really - I never really clicked with my first pony (and sold her because she terrified me) but I did with my old mare. I knew I was going to buy her 30 seconds after meeting her, literally!

I seem to have found another with which I share that special bond, even though he's not mine. I think about him every time my mind wanders to horsey things. I'd LOVE to have him myself and look after him every day, and I always look forward to seeing him or riding him.

I'm planning on asking his owner if she'd give me first refusal if she ever decided to sell as I couldn't imagine ever losing him. That's pretty extreme for me!

So, tell me, have you had / do you have That Horse, or have you had that bond with someone else's? How common do you think it is to feel that way? Have you ever seized an opportunity with a horse you liked that much, or passed one up?

:)
 
I think you know, i spent an hour with my latest and in the first five minutes i was in love with her, i adore the ground she walks on and i only had her 2 weeks and we have a lovely bond already x
 
sleepykitten said:
I tend to know within 5 mins of sitting on a horse whether we click or not, and I don't bother getting back on the ones I don't click with :)

(I buy the ones I do!)
Click to expand...

Ditto this basically. With my first pony, I just knew he was "the one"; and again with my first horse it was just there, that knowledge, a gut instinct really.
 
Pretty much know as soon as we clap eyes on them, whether they are going to be right for us.
Sister and I like very different types, but we both deal with each others horses on the ground. The one we are buying for gets the final say, but we both have to agree before they can come home.
The current Appy looked pretty ordinary at first sight (not spotted, now roaning nicely :) ), but the second I got on she 'came up' under me and I knew she was coming home. She is my second Appy and the second horse of a lifetime :)
 
So it's not all as difficult and rare as I seem to think! I suppose I worry that I'd never find another like Frank... I know I'll never find another like my mare, but having now found Frank I know there are others out there. I think I'm torn on whether to worry about the future and what might happen if he gets sold on, or whether to be safe in the knowledge that, despite his health and physical issues, I'd have him if his current owner didn't!

I suppose I should just be happy that I am allowed to ride a horse I get on with so well, despite his not being mine :p
 
I adored my last horse, but wouldn't say we were the best match. There's only one horse I feel I've really clicked with, would ride him anywhere, can't remember a time I've felt worried on him (and I'm a nervous rider, can feel worried on pretty much anything else!). He belongs to someone else :( Was offered him 7 years ago, and was just about to start a 5 year uni degree so couldn't have him. I'm in a position to get another horse now, so I'm going to be cheeky and ask again, I've got nothing to lose, he belongs to a good friend, who will not be offended (or surprised!) if I ask.
 
I went to view my horse of 15 years with my instructor, for her to buy for her riding school. She said he was too green. I said 'I'll buy him'. Never owned or shared a horse, completely unpremeditated, but definitely the right decision. Novice partnership, so not perfect, and no doubt with a braver rider with more spare time and money he would have done more, but we's great.

Completely the opposite with our homebred - she was supposed to be my horse of a lifetime, and despite backing her and riding her on, I never gelled with her.

I have a rising three year old, bought out of a barn of over 20 feral yearlings. He kept stareing at me, and I liked him. We now have a great bond, he's just a lovely horse to be around, trusts me, is kind, and I hope will be my horse of a lifetime. Funny how I could sell the homebred 'keeper' no problem, but I'd really struggle with him.
 
We have a friend who saw the face of a horse at a sales, said to her husband, 'I'm having that one'. She did buy him, quite a few years on she still has the horse, gets on brilliantly with him, the husband is long gone :p
 
As soon as he walked out the stable when I first went to see him, he gave me that look and I knew that min he was going to be mine. I've never looked back my first horse and he is amazing! He will be with me for life!
 
I felt at home on the yellow pony as soon as I sat on him. Even though my friend told me not to buy him I did any way and it was the best decision I made. We have a good working relationship as he can be quite funny about being pushed to do things but generally lets me ask for more without downing tools, he has refused to go out of walk with one friend before :o. I think you do generally have a type though as I find I get on well with native types and ponies. But I also get on really well with my friends tb as she is similar to the yellow pony.

I tried a few others and although the little grey mare was what I wanted she just wasnt right, her jump was fab and so easy but the flat just wasnt :(. The black gleding I tried at the same time I knew I wouldnt like as soon as I saw him and we really didnt get on when I rode him and I got off after about 5 mins.
 
The best one ever was the Clydie mare we bought from a RS, for me and sister's then OH to share.
Sis & I heard that she was for sale when we went to the tack shop, so popped round the corner to ask about her. Owner was out but groom showed her to us in her stable and we arranged to go back.
On our 2nd visit, the mare whinnied to us as we approached her stable. We did try her a few times but actually sis and I knew from the 2nd visit that she would be ours.
 
I've clicked with a mare but it definitely didn't happen straight away! It took weeks of hard work to even get her working with me rather than against me. We finally did click though, she has the most beautiful, sweet and gentle nature once you've taken the trouble to get to know her.
 
I've had the pleasure of clicking with a lot of horses but two in particular stand out.

The first being my lovely Koko, my horse of a lifetime who was perfect for me in every way.

The second being Andy, the complete and utter opposite to what I want in a horse and if horse hunting I would go out my way to avoid horses like him but I adore the little guy and wouldn't swap him for the world.
 
I think it is 'common' enough - but you have to give it time. I clicked big time with my last horse, Mickey - but for all the wrong reasons. He was nothing like anything I'd ever ridden before - he was insane, for one thing. He was strong, he was nervous and very, very sharp....and he was a bolter (and I do mean bolter - not just that he like to run!) But for some bizarre reason, in spite of having been terrified of even riding my previous 'push button' ponies out on my own, I was never scared of Mickey. Not once. We really were soulmates; I can't explain why. Nobody else could understand it either, for he really was a nutter.

When he died, I felt I'd never find another that I would click with in the same way. I was all up for giving up riding altogether, until I was persuaded just to start looking. Once we started, I realised that horses were my life and I couldnt give up, not really. But I was searching for something that I didn't think I'd ever find; we scoured the country and still couldnt find the right one.

Twenty three horses later, we found Ellie - a mile up the road :rolleyes: That was eleven and a half years ago; the rest is history :D
 
I've always just known. When horses were my job, I met loads, & you end up attached to any you work with. But there'd always be some that I just immediately fell for. Not always the most logical ones either. On a private dressage yard I fell in love with the kids shettie. On a breaking & schooling yard that had lots of very nice horses, I fell for a semi retired demic tb, a sec d mare with a vile attitude, as well as more rational choices. Not sure i'll ever feel the same about another as I do for mine tho, but that's because after 20 years its more than just that initial click.
 
Interesting experiences - nearly everyone seems to have bought every horse they've clicked with! I hope I can do that too, one day :)
 
Have an incredible bond with my youngster and couldn't imagine not having her around, regardless of whether she might end up unridden, ill etc. She's far more than something to sit on.

I was meant to be buying her sister, walked into the bank and pulled the money for her out instead. It had been playing on my mind for ages how unsuitable she was compared to what I was looking for. It was only on the day of finalising buying her sister I couldn't see myself without her. I don't regret a second of it and would never let her go.

I've never had this bond with another horse or animal and think it comes from both of us. She isn't nearly as close to anyone else and is much more wary and spooky. However I can fall over her legs and tread on her feet and vice versa (both far too clumsy) and she just gives me a baffled look. She'll follow round like a puppy and watch me round the whole yard. I know some of it is familiarity and time but a whole lot is natural bond between us that we've worked on. We can spend hours just sitting in a field together and grooming etc without any boredom.

So I don't think it's that common, but when you've found them you know. My OH has one who will leave food etc just to keep him at her side. Utterly besotted with him and totally uninterested in anyone else. I'll walk in and she loves a scratch but won't bother coming over without a call, she'll fly down the field for him :)

Pan
 
My best horse was one I was given. I did go to see him first but didnt ride him or even see him ridden - he was led out of the box, the stud groom said 'I hope you like big horses', I nodded feebly and he was delivered on the most amazing racehorse transporter a week later. He was at least a hand, if not two too big for me, far too fast and had a reputation for being nasty (that I was blissfully unaware of until Id had him a while and someone expressed surprise that I faffed about with him in his stable, because he'd turned on a couple of stable lads in the past). He looked after me whilst I was pregnant and was insanely jealous of any other horse who came near me.

Porridge - not sure about her! I suppose I've 'clicked' with her in that I seem to be able to get her to do the things I want, and I am aware that she gets very excited when she hears my car turn into the yard gate, but I suspect it is cupboard love (although she never treated her loaner the same as she does me). I can't say I clicked instantly, I didnt find her particularly easy to ride on the flat as she is bone idle and also clever at avoidance tactics - especially spooking which I find absolutely infuriating and could gladly kill her on a bad day.

Ive only had one horse I genuinely didn't like - Finn, the Han/TB that I took to camp that time, who reduced me to tears quite regularly. So I sold him.
 
I think it can vary a lot. You can click instantly with some and others take time even a lot of time. You can probably still pick your horse of a lifetime from those. I have never instantly clicked with any pony even with my all time favourite which I bred
 
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