Little things you and your horse do..

ATrueClassAct

ATrueClassAct

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Im sure we have some rituals with our horses at some time. Every morning when I go to the yard to do my horse she gives her very vocal neigh to me and then she stands infront of me and waits until I've kissed her on the forehead to carry on with her eating. Anyone else have strange little things they do with their horses?
 
When I turn her out I give her the same little lecture every day ' don't lose a shoe, don't get kicked, don't tear your rug, don't get colic, laminitis...and so on'. I suspect though it goes in one furry ear and out the other! She is quite happy to stand at the gate while I talk to her, then she gets her carrot and mooches off to join her herd. I hate it when someone else is turning theirs out at the same time and disturbs my ritual!
 
We play "Grandmother's Footsteps" whilst I poo pick. He tends to follow me about so we play a game...I stop, he stops behind me, I walk back, he walks back, I walk forwards, he walks forwards....we can manage it in trot too. Must look mad from a casual onlooker's point of view, but it makes me giggle!
I've often thought it might look like an equine version of Dances with Wolves from a distance lol!
 
i always baby wipe my hands after i've given him his tea and he waits there until i wipe his nose (he usually gets a bit of a runny nose after eating) and he seems to really enjoy it! he also wont join the rest of the herd at turn out time until polos have been exchanged!
 
Not a ritual, but my horse likes to spend about 3-4 hours a day lying down - morning, afternoon and evening naps ;)
If he is lying down in his usual place (top of hill) I go and sit with him and watch the world go by :)
 
My pony says hello then turns his bum on me to have it scratched. I know its quite a bad habit, he has done it when I have people with me and they thought he was going to kick but he never would, he just reverses towards me to get a bum scratch. If I sit on the wall next to where I tie him up he does it then too, even lifts his tail away from the bum cheek he wants scratched. We're weird aren't we?!
 
Haha, the new foal on our yard does this to everyone who goes to see him. He loves a good bum scratch. I think it's funny what people do, my horse has fallen in love with a lady who gives her some pony nuts from her pocket everytime she sees her, damn my skinny little pony makes everyone feel sorry for her!
 
i often go up to her when she's in stable and say "nom nom nom nom nom" in a silly voice and she'll put her nose up over the door and wait, then i blow in it and she flares her nostrils at me and i give her a kiss and she goes back to eating.
i'm sure there's more i just can't think of any!

once my non-horsey friend (but who really wants to learn) said she was amazed at how close me and my horse were-just given her her hay, stood next to her left and scratched her back and over her right side and said 'right be good, i'll be back later!' and she turned her head and neck so i was kinda squished up against her shoulder and she looked at me til i grabbed her nose, kissed it and left the field. then she carried on eating her hay!

i love my pony, been 6 years this year and i know i probably won't ever love another like i do her :D:D
 
When we get back from our ride I get off open the gate, lead him into the yard then he waits for me to get the skip bucket and has his wee! Wont wee out riding and actually stares at me until bucket is in place!! Does make me giggle!

Also he always wants to see what I am doing in the tack room (no food in there so it's not that, he is just nosey!) and will bend his head around the corner and watch me until I come back out! :D
 
Ha! I've got one that presents his bottom to you for a good scratch and if you stop to chat to someone he wiggles it enticingly from left to right until you scratch again. Not that he's got me perfectly trained or anything!!
 
Every night at about 10pm I go to give them their bedtime apples! They're normally stood waiting, think they can count the church bells! Then once they've scoffed them, they have their kiss and walk down the field!
 
Jzee said:
Ha! I've got one that presents his bottom to you for a good scratch and if you stop to chat to someone he wiggles it enticingly from left to right until you scratch again. Not that he's got me perfectly trained or anything!!
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^^^^^ this!
my filly does this, almost pins you to the wall until you do, very naughty habit but she's forgiven! when the vet came the other day she turned her bum on him and he stepped back warily,i just said oh she just wants her bums scratching, haha it was hilarious the look on his face. she eyed him until he gave her a scratch.
 
Beau pulls faces at me when I massage her back untill I scratch her rump with the other hand! When I groom her in front of people she lifts her hind legs and threatens. Never has kicked me in 9 years and never threatens when we are alone!

When we jump a course at a show I always gently pull her left ear just before we start. She stops looking around at that point and focuses.

Lottie will present herself for a head rub but always waits to be invited.

Ice puts her nose in your face when she wants a kiss. Really freaks out new people if she takes a shine to them and just arrives, nose inches from their face, ears back! Ears go forward if you kiss her!
 
Spotsrock said:
Beau pulls faces at me when I massage her back untill I scratch her rump with the other hand! When I groom her in front of people she lifts her hind legs and threatens. Never has kicked me in 9 years and never threatens when we are alone!

Are u sure Beau isnt pulling faces because her back is sore? :o
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This is such a lovely thread!
I am still waiting for very special things with my boy - had him a year, and 6 months of this was on box rest, which made him a bit crazy. He is starting to get back to normal, and have started some riding in walk, but we are very spooky right now, so have gone from very chilled TB to an 'i'll spook at anything TB'. To be expected I suppose. Anyway, we are now working on the bonding again, as the box rest made him hates us :(
He likes his withers being scratched when he is in a good mood, and he tucks his head under, chomps his teeth and rolls his eyes. He has just started whinnying at us too this past week when we get to him in the morn/even ing, so I think he is staring to love us again :)
 
foxeefilly1 said:
^^^^^ this!
my filly does this, almost pins you to the wall until you do, very naughty habit but she's forgiven! when the vet came the other day she turned her bum on him and he stepped back warily,i just said oh she just wants her bums scratching, haha it was hilarious the look on his face. she eyed him until he gave her a scratch.
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ha ha! your pony has the vet trained! that's pure genius!
 
Mine loves having her mouth and behind her ears towel dried as soon as her bridle comes off. She offers me her head and woe betide if I don't have her special towel ready!

She also loves lots of kisses, which is good, because I do too.
 
My pony always has her head rubs when i go to the yard :) (shhe isnt bolshy about it- just get extremely itchy)
During the winter when she was in a lot I used to go and take her big rugs off. She would then poiny with her nose to the area she wanted to be scratched and stare at me until I scratched it!

We play a game where I leave the door closed, but not bolted, and she pushes it open. I then close it again and she pushes it again and it goes on and on. She loves it for some crazy reason :L
 
elsazzo said:
Spotsrock said:
Beau pulls faces at me when I massage her back untill I scratch her rump with the other hand! When I groom her in front of people she lifts her hind legs and threatens. Never has kicked me in 9 years and never threatens when we are alone!

Are u sure Beau isnt pulling faces because her back is sore? :o
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Quite sure thankyou, she has regular treatment from my mctimoney prac who is a well known lecturer also. She has taught me exactly how to do it gently but firmly with a tennis ball and B who normally hates physical contact is quite enjoying it, there is massive improvement since we started. She moves her rump a bit nearer me and sulks until I scratch the top of her rump then she grooms the wall and really enjoys herself!!
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Both Amber and Blossom whinney to me when I arrive at the field.

Blossom follows me around when I am poo-picking,and has to sniff every shovelful as to goes in the wheelbarrow. Amber wanders over after eating for a tail scratch.

When I leave the field, I give Amber a hug round the neck and she turns her head like she is hugging me back. I also always tell them to be good and I'll see them later.
 
All of mine help me take their bridles off by sticking their heads out and up so I can get it undone. They then proceed to itch on their legs as I won't let them itch on me, it's just rude and considering they destined to be kids ponies they could well knock a kid over doing it so I don't allow it.

Jeff loves watching me juggle apples and he is fast as a relli when I drop one - it's gone before I can even look for it! He can also open any number of zips to find whats inside your pockets.

Kyle is a bum scratcher. Gerry is just a big baby and I really shouldn't play the tag games that I do with him considering he is a 2yo colt but he knows the boundaries and knows when I say enough is enough he stops and mooches along with me following me. Same with my 4yo stallion, he plays tag but he doesn't follow you around he runs round the field like a loony saying "Look at me!" Pips plants her head in your stomach wanting a hug. Rains just presents his body to you to scratch, so does Geeg. Freebs won't let anyone else ride him. He spins, broncs and runs back to the gate broncing if someone else gets on him. I can do anything with him. Flint won't be caught by anyone except me and even then we have to go through the whole - get a scoop of nuts, let him follow it through the gate, give him a handful whilst you run back to close the gate, then get him to follow you into a stable.

Laurel I haven't quite got to grips with yet. He loves a good scratch and we are friends but I have only had him since April and we are still finding out about each other so we have a way to go yet!

The things you do for the beasties!
 
Awwwwee! He's just stood there haha! That's so cute. My horse also Has a strange obsession with cans of coke, she's too scared to touch them but she likes to watch them. The other day a lady was watching some jumping on our yard, I had my pony on a lead rope and out of nowhere she started grooming this woman trying to reach the can of coke. She now relates coke to me, so it means a treat usually. The lady got a right shock haha.
 
I've not even had Monty four months yet but we have our 'things' already, cos he's such a funny horse.

If he's in his stable then he neighs when I arrive and continues whickering until I give him a bit of a fuss and, if he's lucky, a polo. He whickers away to me whenever I'm doing stuff on the yard and he's in - it's lovely because he only does it for me and not the other people who handle him :)

When I take the feed bucket out of his stable I let him have one last lick of it in case he's missed any tiny little crumb of food... then every day he tries to take it by the handle and steal it, and every day I tell him leave it, and every day he goes and sulks in the back of his box for a few minutes. :D

Grooming/picking out feet/tacking up all has to be done in a certain order otherwise he employs knobberism.

When tacking up, he walks around me once before I put the saddle on (then stands still for me to make adjustments/do girth etc) and before I put the bridle on he stands in the corner and sulks until I say his name, when he sighs and comes over to me. (His tack does fit and he does love his work once he's out, he's just a funny grumpy knobber of habit!)

After riding I hold out my hand for him to scratch against (we came to this arrangement because 17 hands worth of knobber scratching on my arm after riding HURT) and he always scratches left side of his head first, then front, then right side.

When turning out he stands and waits for a carrot and a rub before he bogs off (vast improvement on when he arrived when he bogged off before you could remove the headcollar!)

When catching, he now comes when he's called (again vast improvement - he used to pi$$ off across field and was a dick to catch when he arrived) but has to stop for a snack halfway across field :rolleyes:

He's not a cuddly touchy-feely horse, but he does love having his withers rubbed and he nibbles my hair grooming me at the same time :)
 
When my boy comes on from the field he has a nap in his stable for a couple of hours without fail followed by an afternoon nap before he goes out in the night. When he's down he has to have all his legs scratched and a bit of a cuddle if I have time before he wants to get up :) lazy lazy pony!!!
Also when I tack him up he has to be facing in a certain direction otherwise he won't stand still!
 
If he's stabled overnight he has to have a wee in the time it takes me to pull through the gate, park up and walk to his stable door. Then when he's turned out after riding, he usually wants some part of him scratched before he saunters off to roll. He's funny as he'll line up alongside me by the bit that he wants scratched just so I know where to do it for him. And while probably frowned upon, we have 2 places/bushes on our way home from a hack where he's allowed to have a mouthful of 1) salix 2) bramble leaves. He knows to just take one mouthful and keep walking, just routine I know but I like the fact that he's learnt!
 
me and my boy like to play tag when he's turned out in the school.
he throws a tantrum if he doesn't get turned out at half eight :p his lower lip trembles and he sulks in the corner of his stable :D
 
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