Other people's horses smell funny. Discuss.

dibbin

dibbin

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I was having a conversation with a friend the other day in which we agreed that other people's horses always smell "different" to your own. I had thought I was the only one who thought this but apparently not!

I also thought Jazz smelled funny when he first arrived, but he doesn't anymore.

Has anyone else noticed this strange phenomenon, or are we the only 2 weirdos who go around sniffing horses?!
 
I've noticed this too. My sister's always smelled like raw sausage meat rather than horse... Don't know what she fed it.

Geoff smelled awful at first, not like a horse at all, but have either gotten used to him or he's using a new deodorant...
 
They do smell different!

I walk past the police stables every morning and they smell like the first yard I ever went to, it's very nostalgic! Ned doesn't smell like that.
 
Yes! I always used to say this!
I had a very very clean gelding who was kept on shavings, he smelt lovely (abit like a big guinea pig!) however i always thought other peoples horses smelt of wee :/
 
Completely true. A bit like the smell of your own clothes! Mine smells nice and clean but my sister's always smells dirty!!
 
Yes!! Mine smells of warmth (hard to describe) and my neighbour's horse has a really sweet smell, like silage. So glad I'm not the only weirdo who sniffs horses!
 
Mmm mine smell like warm love! Other people's often smell different.

I smell everything and all animals get a good sniff, can't help it!
 
Our three all smell different.I could tell them apart just by sniffing despite all being fed the same food and kept on the same bedding.
 
I have noticed this in the past when buying new horses and bringing onto the yard. I think its a combination of having their own scent and how they've been kept. I noticed it most with the one most recently back into the yard, smelt like a hamster to me :o, I assume because of being kept on shavings! One of my old TBs used to have a very distinct lovely 'warm horse' smell, I think my others are much of a muchness, but then I dont deliberately sniff them!
 
It can be a very primative, emotional "thing". I really loved a pony I used to share, his smell and everything about him. When I had to let go and get my own it was a while before the pony I bought "smelt right".
 
I wouldnt know has no sense of smell at all for 20 odd years. but miss so many smells - sweaty horse,sweaty leather,mowned grass . . . and my beloved baby.so many :(
 
lol, I thought this was just me :p

OH and I have commented over the years (we are both horse sniffers ;) ) that our horse smells different - he lives out, unclipped, mostly unrugged and has a lovely fresh sort of "grass" smell. Other horses tend to smell a bit fusty, sweaty or just musty. However, we ruled out that it was living out vs living in a stable, because although horse's "live out" fieldmates don't have the nasty stale pee smell stabled horses tend to get, they still smell different.

We smugly congratulated ourselves on having the most fragrant horse in Scotland :o Then about a year or so ago, I finally realised that horse had anhidrosis. He doesn't sweat. If he does sweat, it's in little ladylike patches, or a wee bit of damp under the girth. No amount of galloping makes much difference - he was a bit damp after the last 20km pleasure ride but it dried in minutes and he then smelled exactly the same as normal. So we now know why he smells different... And it's still the most lovely smell. Actually, I need to stop playing on the internet and get out and sniff him a bit just now :D
 
My mare went to live with a friend a few months back due to my bad health. Noticed last visit (Saturday) when sniffing greasy hands in car on way home (don't lie-we all do it!) and remarked to OH that she simply does not smell the same! Have to admit to being a little disappointed....
 
After losing my boy a friend offered me a ride on one of hers. I enjoyed the ride but I did comment the horse was the wrong size, colour and smell, (still feeling very fragile after loss of my boy).

I think my friend thought I was barking at the smell comment, glad I am not the only one.
 
Yep! Mine smells good lol if you sniff his coat it's almost like a dusty smell lol but its nice. I remember when working at yards you'd come away absolutely stinking. I always thought it was maybe a haylage thing. Or maybe rug hygiene etc.
 
Yes! It really hit me when I took my new boy out and he started sweating up, the smell really assaulted my nostrils. Very strange!
 
Thank you so much for starting this thread . . . I honestly thought it was just me!

It must be partly down to how they are kept and what they are fed . . . but, yes, I do think horses have their own individual smell - just like we do.

A former friend/fellow livery's horse always smelled a little biscuity . . . I really liked his smell . . . very different to how my own boy smells.

And it seems it's not just we hoomans who like our own horses' smell . . . Kal prefers me to smell like "me" and is noticeably put off if I turn up smelling of perfume :).

P
 
mine all smell different so although husbandry may play some part i think they just all have their own smell. the ginger one who i sold earlier this year had a very strong smell, very manly! big girl has a nice warm smell, unless she's in season and then she just smells like an incontinent old woman! new cob is starting to smell nicer, she was a bit greasy and unloved when she came so didn't smell particularly nice but now she does :)
 
Oh wow yes, I was just thinking this earlier today when I was bringing my YO's mare in - I thought "you smell lovely and horsey but not at all like mine" haha x
 
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