One person horses, do they exist?

JanetGeorge said:
Agreed. And - frankly - people who boast that only they can do anything withtheir horse just reveal themselves as bad trainers. IF it was true, what the HELL do they think will happen to that horse if they get run over by a bus?

The kindest and most sensible thing you can do for any horse is to teach it to be sensible and good with any reasonable rider. That way, they'll always have a chance of getting a good home!
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I totally agree with this - sadly, I have one of those 'one person' horses! A right nervous nelly, too frightened to catch for all but a VERY select few (even then can be hit and miss) and is very hit and miss for others ridden wise too. He just panicks. I do get others to handle him and he is much better than he was, but doubt he'll ever get totally over it. Sadly he is just so distrustful of people :(:(
 
My youngster is challenging to handle and I wouldn't trust anyone other than very experience people to have anything to do with him, he does behave but can be very coltish/anxious.

My old mare is completely a one person horse. She will tolerate other people handling her/riding her but only as long as they don't try to 'bond' with her. I have had a sharer for her on two occasions in the past and the more grooming etc they do with her, the more she hates them! I have caught her trying to take a chunk out of a girls back when she was turned, she wouldn't let the girl catch her, wouldn't work properly and the girl fell off more in a week than I had in 4 years!
However, she was always fine to be rugged/turned out by livery staff, no problems! Shes a funny old thing though and has never 'clicked' with anyone else quite like I did with her :D Shes my old baby (8 1/2 years on :) )
 
I would describe mine as a one person horse, although she behaves for my parents and others if they have to take care of her for whatever reason. I'm the only one who can ride her so she responds properly (not that I'm a good rider by any means but nobody can get her to behave the way i do- Big headedness much :o) She also only behaves for me if I want to change her bandage, she creates merry hell for anyone else. Having said that she's a good egg, but i suppose being the person who has taken care of her almost every day for the last 6 years i suppose it could be that i know how to behave around her and get her to behave for me :)
 
Star is 'one person horse'.
When she was on working livery and had multiple riders, she was stressed, angry and she bit.
Once off WL, and only one rider (me) - she gained weight, stopped bitingand became a much nicer person.

I think she is a one person horse because we speak the same language. I have no doubt that another person would learn her language, but not several a week.
With me, she canters upright, does not lean or motorbike. When Julie rides her - she is atrocious. I'm sure that Julie would find her buttons and press them if she were Star's only rider, but Star does not do 'giving rides'!
 
Auslander said:
And you don't see this as a problem? What if you had been unconscious, and in a critical condition?
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Oh no too right that is a problem in itself, but it was just my biggest piece of evidence that she is a one person horse.

She hasnt been handled/trained any differently compared to my others, but she is just a One Person Horse. Its nothing to do with bad training, its her temperament, her character, and although a lot better these days after I have worked on her loads over the years, she still does not make friends with other humans easily - or doesnt want to/choose to.
 
yes, solely because she bonds closely with just one person

however, she is impeccably well behaved for absolutely anyone and doesn't have a nasty bone in her body. Kids can and do lead her around, she has very good manners and other people can ride her. But she, like many horses, trusts one person (in this case me, obviously her owner) more than anyone else and will show her very softest side to me. She's more reserved about doing this around anyone else, she's very polite and kind and likes people to make a good fuss of her, but she won't be quite the same as she is with me - much like many people in that respect I suppose

she's always been like this and has been to 3 different homes in her life and I'm sure at each of these she found one person to trust most

my previous horse on the other hand, couldn't care less who's around him so long as someone feeds him :o :p he honestly just doesn't form a connection with anyone in particular, my mare does
 
I have a 3yo gelding that we bought from a shed of colts that had never been handled.

Four months later I can do pretty much anything with him, but as soon as anyone else is in his stable or tries to catch him hes a nervous wreck.
Its a pain because OH can change his rugs, put him out and feed him but other than that I have to do it.
But I do find I have a closer bond with him as he is so needy and loving towards me.
 
The Old Appy was not a one person horse, but did believe that I should be a one horse person. She was happy beng ridden by me, sister, my then OH, foster daughter, was fine on the ground with all of us and my Dad.
She just believed that I belonged to her, she once watched me ride Dad's driving pony, when the pony was put back in the field, the Old Appy grabbed the poor soul by the neck and dragged her up the fence line. We only got her to let go with much shouting and wavng :eek: When we tried to ride out with Sis on the Old Appy and me on Sis's Welsh Cobx we only got half way round the ride before we swapped, as she was being such a pig and upsetting the WelshX.
She was an odd horse and very oppinionated. The Current Appy may be as bad, but Sis has much bigger horses, so she's never made it known the same, although on the ground she believes that everyone in the family should be paying her attention :)
 
grumpyoldmare said:
Absolutely - I would go further and dare to suggest that it is almost bordering on neglect of fair and correct handling to NOT train a horse to accept other riders and handlers.
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I agree with this and would find it really strange if anyone deliberately tried to ensure their horse wouldn't accept another person...

But I think they can have preferences in who they prefer to be with - within their herd mates and human contacts... I don't even ride our TB - he behaves well for my son and the university lass - but there's no doubt he prefers my company and is just more responsive to me... Would he survive if I was run over by the number 26 bus and he never saw me again and had have a new home and bond with someone else? Of course he would... But then so would my children...

Equally, my daughter has a loan pony for my grand daughter... Said pony will let me do the doing for her perfectly well and you can throw any child on her back - but she 'tolerates' me (for want of a better word) and won't choose to spend a minute longer than absolutely necessary around me... :D
 
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One of mine is a real odd ball he takes strong likes and dislikes to people and there's no way of guessing why or who he likes and dislikes .
he likes me luckily and likes to be ridden by me hates me riding others and gets very jealous and we have to watch him with my new training project because he attacks him sometimes if he's been in the field watching me ride the young one.
He loves my groom but does not like her riding him although she's never given him any reason for that .
He generally dislikes men but loved the trimmer who came to do his feet last weekend but my OH who has never done anything to him can't get a hand on him and he's been here four years.
he is without doult the strangest horse I have ever met and i aggree it's not ideal but I am not sure what I can do about it.
 
There seems to be a perverse amount of pride taken by people who say 'only I can manage my horse.' Do they think that in all the whole wide world it is pure chance that their horse has been thrown together with the only human out of 6 billion of the blighters that could possibly handle them?

I take a peculiar pride in having horses that I would happily put anyone on. It comes as part or my lifestyle - I often have to work away from home. I learnt early on in my career that if I am to have horses that are pleasant to be around and a delight to ride, that I would have to teach them the ability to have manners and courtesy around other people, and that I may have to swallow my pride and let other people ride 'my precious' while I was away.

All horses should be taught to tolerate a variety of handlers and riders. They will be happier for it in the long run.
 
Both of my two can be handled/ridden by others. My tb however has issues with certain things ie. creams being applied anywhere on his legs (was blistered when in racing). It has taken me 5 years for him to finally let me apply creams etc such as barriers. He still has his moments but I can just grab his rug now and say "stand" firmly and he will. I think if anyone else tried, he'd flip!! The vet always has to sedate him to do anything! Trust is a big thing with him, my other one doesn't give a *****!! He'll do cartwheels for anyone if he can sniff a treat!!
 
I think perhaps the point has been totally over shadowed somehow, maybe because your bond with your horse is purely mechanical - or for some other unknown reasons. Anyway, I think when people say a one person horse, they dont mean that the horse will pine and die if the owner was unfortunately, as some have said, got run over by the number 46 bus. Horses are not like dogs and are pretty independent type creatures. Some horses will respond far better with one to one handling compared to some that dont give a monkey who sits on their back or brings them in.. perhaps it is down to the fact these horses like the comfort of routine and if that routine is changed ie the person who feeds, handles etc changes they do not respond in the best nature. But they will adjust eventually.. like everything you change around them.

I think no matter how many years of training and however wonderful a horse person you are, you will never change a horses personality, you can certainly work with a horse to help it to cope with these changes and adjust its personality; like I could join a public speaking class, I cant for the life of me talk in front of large groups of people, but I can learning coping techniques to help me deal with these situations and improve.

My horse being how she was when I came off, was no, not great behaviour, but we hadnt really trained for such situations, its hard to mimic a first time show environment and falling off at the same time when your practising at home.. I have trained her, it has been extremely testing, but she is a mare of great intelligence and if she doesnt like you I honestly cant change her mind, and however intelligent she is, she is very much like the small child that hides behind their mothers legs on the first day of school. It is also the initial impression you have given her and the people who she does make a V-line for are the ones that dont take time to say hello and go straight into her personal space without a second to even introduce themselves to her, thus making her uneasy about the situation.
 
My horse trusts me probably more than he trusts others, so for things he does not like, picking up feet, trailer loading he is much better for me than others.

Also we have our own communication, so he understands cues that I give him, that others would not use with him, unless taught, so from that point of view I get a better result as well (talking at liberty or ground work here mostly, but poss. some ridden cues as well.)

However, he loves other people, he is a people person, so it is not that no one else could work with him, they could.

It is like when you have a partner/OH, some things you do not have to speak out loud, you just know what the other is thinking, going to say or going to do, and so on.


My son's pony likes only one person to ride him, he is happy for anyone to handle him, but gets used to being ridden a certain way. He does not like a certain style of rider, which his previous owners noted as well. He played up for their oldest daughter and went well for younger daughter.

That is not to say that no one else can ride him, but it takes time for him and them to sort out an understanding.

Other of our ponies anyone can ride - take no time to adapt to they just don't care.
 
I think my spanish is one person horse no one can catch him or really wants to. I think hes a novice ride but when my very experience friend rode him. He spent the whole half hour trying to get her of tricks i didnt even know he could do. As never done it to me. He just hates everyone. And sometimes even me. And my cob is mummys boy although he will let anyone get him in he bullys them and is nasty and when i go on hoilday he gets a bit depressed so im told and gets nasty with everyone.
 
yep i have a one person horse she is ok with other people but loves her mum and goes better with me but not kidding myself its my wonderful personality i feed her she is food driven but she also looks at me for reassurance when she is scared of something she is not very trusting of other people
 
I had a mare that was very difficult to catch, when I first got her I spent the first few weeks just pottering around in the field quietly then eventually she would let me scratch and stroke her...finally caught her and could catch her easily from then on she would come when I called. A friend of mine could also catch her as could my 7 year old daughter-she would lower her 16.2h head so she could reach! Yard owner and other liveries couldn't get near her though...once caught she was good as gold for any body but she would only let us catch her! Funny mare!
 
It is normal for a horse to trust the person who is responsible for their daily care over others. Does not mean they wouldn't be cabable of doing that with someone else.

I've had 2 of my horses since birth. One 6 and one 8. I've had my mare since she was 3 and she's now 12. I've had a retiree gelding for 7 years and a youngster since she was born. She's now 2. If I was an idiot then I would say my horses only bond with and trust me. They like their schedule and for as long as they've been with me it's all been the same. Hopefully I have given them life skills to cope with and trust humans as a whole, not just me. I sent my jumper mare away for 9 months because she needed to deal with life away from me. I'm not saying I wasn't there most days for a little while but it had to be done. I wasn't worried about her not coping, she was fine, but I admit I have issues with people. I can tell you that on certain mornings when I'd pull up to the barn I got barked at to go into the barn while trainer finished up. As a youngster her focus would be distracted when she saw the one person in her life that she has known all her life. It's not rocket science! It doesn't make me special and it doesn't mean we have a magical bond. If she were to be sold and never see me again she will be just fine. As much as that pains me, it's true!

But I think people need to start realising it's probably not this magical connection but rather comfort in knowing there is a routine and care associated with the one that does all of or most of the care. If you have a quirky horse that has learned to trust you then teach them it's ok when other people handle you as well. I try and let as many people as possible, obviously qualified, to handle my horses and ride as well. To me this is the Mark of how well I've done my job raising and having my horses. If they can only deal with me I've done a crap job.

Terri
 
Lots of interesting thoughts here! Definitely agree that creating a one-person horse is not something to aspire to for obvious reasons of safety and convenience, but sensitive types do take unexplained dislikes to certain people for no obvious reason.
Mine is perfectly ok for anyone to handle but can just take an instant dislike to some, eg an unfortunate new saddler and recently a spectator at a show who the horse kept making horrrible faces at - both rather embarrassing for me!
 
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