Is it bad to dislike a horse?

yep. And he wasn't even badly behaved, we just never got on. He was fine in the stable, admittedly an arse in the field to other horses but never people. He had a funny piggy eye with a lot of white round the edge. I was really glad when he didn't make it and got sold on as a riding horse. Only time I offered to do anything with him was run him up for his vetting ;) lol

Werid, been around horses 16years and he's the only one I've not got on with. Even the ****** who double barrelled me in the stomach was good for the odd cuddle and I mostly felt sorry for him.
 
Can't say I've ever disliked a horse, even the s****. Maybe I've been fortunate in that I haven't come across one without any redeeming features.

Have met a few owners I'd like to slap though.
 
Plenty of horses that I can say that I haven't particularly taken to or there has been a mutual feeling of tolerance and nothing more in my lifetime but one mare I could not stand. She stayed with us for a few months and was a nasty cow and a kicker with it. Almost did serious injury to one of my mares and she didn't give a toss if a person was in the vicinity when she decided to have a go. She was the first horse ever who I had to arm myself and my daughter with a lungeing whip when bringing in, she had no respect and would quite easily have taken us out too. The only horse who when she left, I could have had a party and was blissfully happy!
 
mandwhy said:
I did know one who was a complete pig and never greeted you nicely, but then I couldnt bring myself to hate him, he would barge and bite and run at you, but occasionally you'd see his softer side and feel somehow like you were special not to be his target that day!

Horses I don't like it is usually because they just seem dumb and soulless to me, I get this more with geldings, I just feel that there's nothing behind the eyes sometimes. It does make me feel a bit bad saying that though, I'm sure plenty of people like these uncomplicated types!
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I know what you mean about 'bland' horses. I much perfer something with 'character' which usually means they have some kind of naughty streak. I like a horse that shows intelligence too. Some horses can appear bland, and then they do something such as looking out for a younger horse that is being bullied and you realise there is a lot more going on inside that head than it would at first appear.
 
Wagtail said:
I know what you mean about 'bland' horses. I much perfer something with 'character' which usually means they have some kind of naughty streak. I like a horse that shows intelligence too. Some horses can appear bland, and then they do something such as looking out for a younger horse that is being bullied and you realise there is a lot more going on inside that head than it would at first appear.
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that's like my mare. she's very reserved, and untill you make an effort to get to know her, she will just be a well behaved horse, thats is all. but in fact, she is fully of character and when you bond with her you can instantly tell her moods apart and what you're likely to get that day, she stops being reserved and actus towards you according to her mood, so i know that if she's being all cuddly and lovely on the ground, she will be horrible, argumentative and a general cow to ride, dont get me wrong, she will work lovely, but only after questioning your decision 10times and throwing a temepr tantrum or two :rolleyes: but to people who dont know her and she doesn't know, she just appears to be a big, well behaved, bland horse :)

On the topic though, yes theres been a few horses that i have disliked, 2 that one of my best friend have/had, 1 that is on my livery yard, and 1 that used to be the YO horse on old livery yard. With my friends horses, i learnt to tolerate them, they don't like me either though so its mutual, and we just tolerated eachother and stay out of eachothers way, and it works :) The little pony from livery yard is a ill mannered, rude, horrible stupid little thing. It always follows the horses like a foal, squished up the their flanks, and does the same when you try to bring them out the field. when in its stable, is kicks the door, paws at the ground and rears constantly, non stop, right from the minute its brought in, untill you go home. so i just tend to listen to my ipod now to drown out the horrible noise of pony :mad:
 
I've certainly had a personality clash with one, absolutely nothing wrong with him at all (sharers I had for him and the lady who now has him on loan think the sun shines out of his bottom) I could just never get on with him, on the ground or riding.

As long as you treat them nicely no need for them all to be your favorites.
 
There's one horse that I do definitely dislike. She was owned by me previously. I owned her from 4 months old till she was 5 years old and then I sold her. She was a lovely foal and a super youngster but since selling her, her leaving for a year and then coming back to my farm about 6 months ago, I actually cannot stand her now. She doesn't do anything particularly 'bad', she just irritates the pants off me! I'll be very glad to see the back of her ... if she ever leaves!

Strangely enough I've dealt with some real hellion horses and some very nasty gits but I've never disliked them. I usually get along with them and come to some sort of understanding with them.
 
Yep... Horse at work is so far up its own arse It can't see... Probably why it constantly steps on me. Horrible
 
We have one on the yard that I quite simply can not stand! Everyone else loves him but to me he is dull, lifeless and boring. He is kind of a robot - he goes, he does, he goes home. Never a toe goes near the line let alone touches it. But as much as I despise him I do feel sorry for him as his heart clearly isnt in racing anymore but he is such s genuine chap that he runs just well enough to stay in. I think he would much prefer a hunting/xc home with a gungho teenager to bomb about with.
 
No and it makes me so sad. These are horses that are not loved and they know it which makes them the way they are. The owners are the ones to blame.
There is an old gelding on our yard whom, to my shame, I dislike but also feel sorry for and numerous times I have tried to give him somelove and affection. Sometimes he accepts it and other times not. Not particularly found of his owner either and when I see her with him, I can see why he is the way he is. These sort of people shouldn't be allowed to have any animal to look after, EVER!
 
I had a horse once that did not seem to have one redeeming feature. It kicked, bit, reared, bucked, tried to squash you and could nap for England. It usually napped on the road and if I tried to push it on, it sidled and attempted to kick the nearest object, be it a fence or a car, at the same time locking its jaw. It also was a nightmare to load.

It was 6 when I bought it, and as far as I could find out it had always been like that and never ill treated.

Apparently when I bought it (after riding it 3 times) the owner heaved a huge sigh of relief and admitted that she thought it was evil!

I must admit I really disliked that horse, and so did all of my friends.

Looking back I suppose that there was an underlying reason for her behaviour, but in those days not many people tried to understand the psychology of the horse.I feel sorry now that I could not help her or understand why she behaved as she did
 
I have it from the other way round .... I have had many people dislike my horse! He's beautiful but very quirky and absolutely does not tolerate any rough handling. And as a big, strong warmblood has no problem setting anyone straight. I've waved goodbye to four sharers so far as they just could not get along with him at all!

He knows how to take advantage of a rider and is very sensitive to any kind of nervousness or emotion. It took me a year to learn how to figure him out - show no fear :D !!! I completely adore him and he's huge fun now we have an understanding. He moves beautifully and has a very powerful jump so it's been worth the wait! It's only now though after three years of owning him that I am getting any sort of affection from him. He was a very grumpy youngster! My Dad used to call him a miserable sod!

He's very much a one person horse though so I've given up on the idea of a sharer, too stressful for both me and my horse! I suppose this could be the case for some of these other horses, they only like to have one handler. I know the staff on my yard have had a time with my boy .... He kicked one of the grooms and used to be very naughty to be led to the field and caught again. Also refusing to have his rug put on .... The list goes on! I just apologise, I did warn them he is quirky still embarrassing though ....
 
I dislike many horses :o luckily none I work with now!

The worst one...it was just vicious. No doubt she must of been in pain or something but she was just vile. Extremely aggressive, if you tried to catch her companion she would herd him away from you with her ears pinned back and back legs flying at you. Was horrible to ride - reared, was napping and just..ugh.

The best moment was when I had a moment of feeling sorry for her, gave her a carrot and a pat and she tried to savage me in return.
 
I have an elderly mare that we bred and I have often said that I love her but don't always like her very much. the reason being that from the time of her birth she was kept with her mum and another older mare and as the two oldies became less capable of getting out of her way she would threaten to kick and bite them and she would push them off their food given half a chance and I hated her behaving like that. Now I have the Welsh Cob he is definitely the boss and she has to tow the line somewhat with him. It has made her a nicer animal all round and is much more affectionate towards people and other horses. Never met another horse I have disliked though.
 
I knew a shetland which i really didnt like. Not sure why - I think because it was very independent, did what it wanted and had no respect for anything, and it chose to never improve its manners!
 
I think there's some horses which certain people just don't gel with and clash personality-wise. I've liked all my horses but there was one I can think of who I would hate sometimes, he was such a bolshy thing and really knew how to wind me up but funny thing is that once I sold him, he's the only one I really regret selling and would have back! My current horse who I got about 6 months ago - I didnt like to begin with because he was so grumpy, but now he's being turned out (he used to be stabled all the time) he really has changed and is so much happier and I now really like him!
 
I don't hate any horse, though i do dislike one at the racing stables who is incredibly grumpy and always used to have the annoying habit of stretching when you went to do her girth up so the cloth we wrap around the girth would unravel :mad: so you'd have the start over.

I don't dislike her as much now as she has been less grumpy recently, and i don't have to tack her up anymore :D

The only grumpy horses I know are racehorses, in said horses's case its quite obvious she doesn't want to be a racehorse (why her owner keeps her in training I will never know, she has came dead last in every single one of her races. Waste of his time and money, I reckon she would make someone a lovely fun horse and she would love the new lease of life)
There are only 2 other grumpy ones who are both on box rest and in my opinion box rest is a perfectly good reason to be grumpy.

I don't tend to think of horses as mean and nasty, just misunderstood and I think (with an exception to a bit of grumpyness, which horses like people are entitled to) horses do everything for a reason.
 
I had a horse on loan that I hated. Couldn't catch him and he made me really mad coz the whole time I rode him once so I only needed to catch him for grooms and food so why he was such a ****** i never know. I often get annoyed with others horses that won't leave me alone when I'm trying to see to my horse gerrrr
 
Shame, these disliked horses all seem to have issues because of how they are or have been treated and how they are left out late when all they want to do is come in when others do, i believe 99.9% of horses can be changed to be nice people with some good handling (not beating them up) you know what i mean.

I know no matter how hard i try to be nice, there are some people who just dont like me and find my ways different, but i have a brain and can change that if i like, sadly a horse can only learn from being taught, bless them
 
I know one, it went out of its way to chase me up the field, reared up and came down on top of me and whilst I was lying on the floor thinking I was probably about to die, it ran at me backwards and tried to kick me in the head! If it wasn't for the fact I'd never actually be cruel or harm any animal, I could happily give it a kick every time I walk past it lol! Luckily it's only 12.2 so other than a few bruises I was ok, horrible thing! Lol!
 
There's a dumblood I have to work with who I really don't like, he kicked me several times when he was younger and is generally a big ignorant brute. He's not dangerous or aggressive or anything, I just do not like him. And keep getting made to ride him, it makes me not want to ride again!
 
I've only ever had one truly vile horse and she was a real witch. No physical issues and also had only had one home before me and never treated roughly.She would always be fine in a place she didn't know, this sweet period would last about a week and then she would turn almost over night! I had her for 18 months and she taught me a lot. She was a super star to jump and lived for her work, but you could never go in the stable with her! She wasn't a very nice person but we had an understanding. I sold her to a very patient home who had her on loan for a few months first to make sure they could cope with her. I still miss her as in a lot of ways she was brilliant, however she kept on eating my grooms and was a bit of a liability to have on a big yard. She's doing really well and is much loved in a super home now and I would like to think that in her quiter home she's a lot happier.
 
Yes. Sadly. I don't really like a pony on my yard but adore her owner so I shut up and put up. I also disliked one of my daily rides at race yard, just couldn't trust him even though he did nothing wrong. I arrived one morning to be told he had died and felt guilty that I was relieved it wasn't my favourite ride. The saddest one was my mare I bought as a foal, raised backed etc. Never gelled and it got worse till I would have pts if i'd been given her value to do it. Nothing actually wrong with her just so unbelievably stupid and I don't do stupid. It was mutual i'm sure. Sold to a lady who loves her to bits which is what any animal deserves so i'm pleased I did right by her but more pleased I don't have her anymore!
 
I had one foal that I couldn't take to at all even though I pulled him out; he just grated on me from those first minutes and I can't say why at all, never happened with any others.
It must have been me though as he was 10 years in one home and 5 in another!!
 
Yes, three in my lifetime that I just haven't been able to warm to :o None of them were mine, and they didn't do anything particularly terrible, they were just obnoxious types.

I do feel guilty, I know it's all down to how they are handled and their early life experiences etc, but argh, some are just frustrating. Horses are still doing better than people on that front though!
 
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