How long did it take you to 'click' with your horse?

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Mbronze

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I find after two years that I am still getting to know my mare, and whilst we haven't finally got it together yet, we are getting there, although slowly with the trust.
With my gelding who I have had for about 15yrs, I seem to remember 'clicking' alot faster with him and he was so much easier to get to know.
Is this a mare/gelding thing do you think, or does it generally take 1 or 2yrs to get to know a horse properly, and thm to know you.
 
I seem to remember buying my mare, got on great for the first few weeks, then she started acting the maggot, and I lost my temper and wanted to sell her. Then I thought maybe I ought to wait 6 months ...

6 months later things were going swimmingly. I eventually met someone who'd known her when she was with her previous owner and I found out that she'd been neglected and given a hard time...
 
I have had Ellie for coming up to 5 months now and I think we have finally clicked. She isn’t one for fuss or cuddles, but then again I’m not an overly affectionate person either so we are quite similar in that respect!

I think the turning point for us was when I got Chad last month. Ellie is now jealous if I spend time with Chad and will follow me around the field when I am poo picking and checking the fences. I will give her a quick pat and then just chat to her as we walk round the field together.

I think her showing me that she loves me in her own little way has bridged the gap that was between us previously.

Chad and I haven’t yet bonded properly as he has issues with being caught and is a bit headshy. He doesn’t trust me yet, but we are making progress slowly.
 
It is notoriously hard to get inside a mare's head! The more time you spend with them and the more 'experiences' you have together - from going to a clinic/lesson even to being there for her when the vet/farrier comes, the quicker you will bond. Time of year is also an influence - they can become very reliant on you in the winter when they are in, but once that spring grass is through, owners slip down their list of priorities!
Geldings quickly become soppy - even my friend's horse that I used to hunt, who was really tricky in the stable learned to love a groom or a wash off after exercise once I'd spent a bit of time with him.
 
I think it depends on the horse... My sister took a good year to really click with hers, but i also find him tricky sometimes, after several years (but i dont ride him much). My boy, a couple of months.... I've never felt so relaxed and happy on a horse so quickly. I know him inside out, and even when hes being an "idiot" i know all his moves! Lol. Now have had him for a few years, but theres always more to learn about them.
I'd say normally takes me about 6 months, thats what i remember from my other horses.
 
It's taken me just over two years to bond with my mare, which felt horrible as I'd see other owners all bonded and my mare seemed ambivalent to me
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However after 2 years and 3 months she grooms me now, and nickers when I arrive - which all usually sets me off with a tearful eye (sentimental bint that I am).
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Took me about a year.
I tried my mare and she was the opposite of what I was looking for but as soon as I sat on her I loved her and felt safe.
Took her home for a 2 week trial and that was fine but we didn't really bond on the ground until a year ago (had her 2 years this June).
 
TBH I fell in love with him straight away. He is lovely and hasn't got a nasty bone in his body. To become confident on him has taken me about 4 years but that is down to me and in no way a reflection of him. I just have confidence issues when it comes to riding
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Tara was really easy to get to know and very sensible and loveable so I'd say about 3 weeks for general handling and hacking.
She wouldn't let me cut a bridle path or touch her ears at first but soon got over that.

Competition wise I think it took a good few months as when jumping I needed to get to know her.
She is forward going and bold but still needs a lot of encouragement.
Infact I would say I am still getting to know her all the time
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I bought Wonky when she was almost three, hated her for first 2 weeks, then started to bond, loved her after month or so. Have only just really and truely started to click riding!
 
I have had my boy for about a year now and we still haven't clicked in the riding side of things, on the ground it took a few months - I am wondering whether we will ever click totally, which I find a bit depressing!
 
Angel took many months to "click" with, but that was mostly due to how desperately close to death she had been when I took her on. I struggled for months and months not to see her as needing to be wrapped in cotton wool 24/7. Sunny, it took minutes. After a dreadful incident on my previous ned who had been sold to me as a plod for a nervous rider but was anything but, I was introduced to Sunny as the safest thing on 4 legs. Still in my neck brace, I went up to see him. He stretched his head over the door of a crappy, gloomy stable and I scratched under his chin. He closed his eyes in bliss and I knew instantly he was the one for me. And he was.
 
Well over a year, probably closer to two. Although the first 18 months we had him he was on full livery so I don't think that helped the bonding tbh. Once we went DIY he trusted me a lot more and I was more confident with him
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it's a great feeling.
 
I've been told that it takes 2 years to get to know a horse properly, I'd go along with that.
I loved my boy the minute I laid eyes on him but it took me longer to get the measure of him - he still does things that surprise me 3 years down the line!
 
Honestly, we clicked on a personality level, right away. He's a fear aggressive horse, with an attitude problem, but both I and his previous owner thought we'd gel - and we did.

Riding wise, we still haven't clicked yet still getting to know each other, but then I have only had him 4 months.
 
My last two mares I clicked with straight away, but I am struggling with my new one. She is adorable to handle and 'do' but we seem at cross purposes when riding. I have only had her two months and she is only 5, but I think it is going to be a long learning curve for both of us.
 
Straight away. My mare decided I was "her person" immediately - I had met her only twice and she had been "delivered" when I was away, got a call from the yard saying they couldn't bring her in from the field as it was very windy. Went up and she came over to me and came in without any fuss.

Does anyone else find challenging yourself and your horse in competition increases your bond through overcoming difficulties? You need an awful strong bond to get your horse to do things they find difficult at first.
 
I've had my new lad for three weeks and am really enjoying getting to know him. I think it completely depends on the horse as to how quickly you become a partnership...
It took me about 6 months to get to know my first horse. He was a complicated, sensitive horse and was very clingy to me after 6 months.
My mare, that I sold before the one I've just bought, took about two and a half years to bond with!
 
My lovely mare has had a bit off a rough and full life from what i know of her history, i have had her for 2 years since a 8 yr old, when i got her she was very nervous of people and very headshy it didnt take me long to get close to her but i think she wasnt willing to trust anyone, but after a yr i got her trust and its been building more and more, now we are inseperable, she is so kind and gentle she will do anything you i of her and i can hang things on her ears etc and she doesnt care! she still wont trust strangers and hates men, i have such a good bond with her i will never sell her as i couldnt put her through that again, shes to special!
 
Just over a year - being away and coming back to a horse who was SO grateful to see me, and did for me what she wouldn't for others made me realise how special she was. Before that, I'd been worried that she was just not right for us (she's a family horse) but she is very very right for me, and I have to remind myself what things we've overcome together. She gives me kisses now, which is a massive compliment.
 
I think it depends on individual people/horses. There isn't a set time limit and it takes time from both the horse and rider.

On a personality level I clicked with my mare right away but on a riding level I'd say it has taken a good 18 months. I don't think it matters whether it's a mare og a gelding, they are all different, as are we.
 
It took about 2 years for me to stop having the "did I buy the wrong horse?" thoughts, then we seemed to click and I knew he was the right one. There's a few reasons for this.

Before I had him it sounds like he'd never been anywhere for more than about 6 months so I think it took him that long to believe he wasn't going anywhere else and to trust me. Until then he'd stay by himself in the field and wouldn't mix. It was like he was afraid to make friends as he didn't want to lose them again, until a little 13.2 Section C arrived who is now his best mate (Arch is a 16.2 ISH!) came along. That helped him settle.

The other thing was that I decided I had to stop comparing him to my old boy who died (this probably sounds cruel but as hard as he tries Arch could never live up to my old one who was my horsey ONE.) I realised that I had to stop doing that and treat him as an individual, he's very different from Ebs and I had to accept that and start afresh with him.

Last week, I bumped into somebody I hadn't seen in two years (I've now had him 4 years) and they couldn't get over the change in him. That gave me a huge boost as the spring grass is really affecting him at the moment and I thought he was being really naughty! It did me good to remember what I went through in the first two years of having him!

If you're struggling with a new horse stick at it for at least a year I'd say. Apart from anything, selling a horse on so quickly after buying it could look suspicious to prospective buyers.
 
Ooo good question!
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With the mare I had on loan last year, it took about 6 months to really click. Took ages to get to know her, plus she is the most stroppy and independent horse you could ever meet. One day she suddenly seemed to just decide I was ok and that was that.

Have had the new boy since (I think...) august. Always found him quite easy in terms of temperament though he was a nightmare on the ground to begin with. I would say we probably really clicked around Christmas time and not looked back since. We have a few sticky moments when jumping because he isn't the boldest and neither am I, but he's great in every other respect.

I have a Welsh cob who I put out on loan 2 years ago this July and thinking back, TBH I don't think I ever "clicked" with him, really, even though I've owned him for 5 or 6 years now. Love him to bits but he gets on far better with his loaners (soon to be owners
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) then he ever did with me. Such is life
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Instantly.

He was in a bad way, I'd had a bad time with my previous horse.....we just clicked.

He watches me like a hawk from the field - comes running over to the gate- calls to me when he sees me.....he's never bit/kicked or grumped at me ever despite himhaving had a broken leg and several nasty infections involving me injecting antibiotics into his bum. If he has a 'poorly' he will hold the offending leg up for inspection and cleaning etc. He is a star.
 
QR

With Ellie, it was about three seconds
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The moment I saw her - having looked at 22 others before her - I knew she was 'The One', and when I rode her for the first time, it was like all my dreams had come true
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We had our teething problems, but that was mainly due to her being a very green baby and me being a 12 year old just off ponies - nothing to do with not clicking
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Mickey....well, it was much the same with him in terms of time, although under very different circumstances
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He was everything we didnt want - I couldnt get him to do anything but canter sideways when I tried him - but when I cradled his poor battered head against me and looked into his sad eyes after trying him...I knew I had to have him. We definitely clicked there and then - I say to this day that if it hadnt been for Mickey, I dont know I'd have ever had the chance to truly know how to love a horse. Bless him
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I've had my mare for 2 and a half years and I'm still learning with her really. But then I see people riding her for the first time and it makes me realise how far I've come with her
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So hmm I would say it took me a good 6 months to be totally confident with her really.
 
I've never properly clicked with my boy
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hence why i'm selling him- we just are not suited to each other, and he is so 'unbothered' about trying for me that i can't make him
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I think it culd be because i didn't ever choose him/try him- he was really for my older sister originally, and kinda passed to me, and although i love him so so much and i have learnt a lot (mainly how to fall off and how to stop a bolter
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) i wouldn't have had him, given the choice.
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My first mare took over year to click with. My current gelding I knew he was 'The One' straight away but it probably still took a year to 'get it together'. I wouldn't swap him for ANYTHING now. He is MY boy and always will be.
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