Playing with your horse - how?!

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Jimmy260910

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So I've just been reading on Facebook about how people 'play with their horses in the field' ( or school) does anyone else do this? I feel I'm missing out, I do join up and free school my boy but just wondered what people mean by playing with their horses? Because it sounds like fun and I want to do it too! ☺️
 
I do a bit of loose schooling, or inhand schooling if I have a headcollar with me, or a bit of clicker training, or a bit of hide and seek. Whatever takes my fancy and if the horse is in the mood for it. It's not a training session, there's no how to guide, just hang out with your horse and see what happens
 
I chase my pony around and he runs after me and then we play hide and seek :) (he is 2 and half so still a baby) he usually just runs around chasing me and pouncing haha!
 
If my lot are hooning around I'll sometimes do a bit of whooping and arm waving to keep them going, don't know if that counts.
 
I've played 'chasing games' with horses, esp. my TB Lucky when he was a young adult. I'd chase him for a bit, and then I'd run away and he'd come running after me. It didn't do us any harm, and fun was had. However, I think it has to be done in such a way that normal boundaries and manners are not un-taught. It's a risk, so detractors have a fair point in saying "don't do it". Like "never feed food by hand", it's too dogmatic in my view, but there is a reason for saying it.
 
fburton said:
I've played 'chasing games' with horses, esp. my TB Lucky when he was a young adult. I'd chase him for a bit, and then I'd run away and he'd come running after me. It didn't do us any harm, and fun was had. However, I think it has to be done in such a way that normal boundaries and manners are not un-taught. It's a risk, so detractors have a fair point in saying "don't do it". Like "never feed food by hand", it's too dogmatic in my view, but there is a reason for saying it.
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My friend does the same with her horse. It's funny to watch but I feel safer staying outside the fence as 550kg of charging cob is a bit intimidating :D
 
The problem is that I have never found a horse (or horses) intimidating in my entire life, so the normal, healthy emotional fear factor isn't there to restrain my actions and I have to rely on rational judgement. On the plus side, it has allowed difficult scenarios to be tackled with confidence; on the minus side, it has occasionally led me into situations where I look back and think what a d*mn fool I was. I've also played chasing games with a group of 9 or 10 horses, wheeling and hurtling full of joie de vivre round a large field, with horses passing me at speed with a couple of feet to spare. Exhilarating, but not recommended!
 
Jimmy260910 said:
So I've just been reading on Facebook about how people 'play with their horses in the field' ( or school) does anyone else do this? I feel I'm missing out, I do join up and free school my boy but just wondered what people mean by playing with their horses? Because it sounds like fun and I want to do it too! ☺️
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Done it all.

had my mare follow me loose over jumps and her son
waved arms about#
when they snort after a gallop the woosh sound from their nose i replicate it
said go on and set them off made sounds with lead rope in circle and more
run towards then turn run away


one favourite is - all mine know this. with an apple i walk towards them tossing apple up and down in my hand (they know what it means) an apple is looking for a new home. This always get their attention, i then run back and they break into a trot or gallop , i then throw apple to side or behind, which causes them to brake- buck- bronc and charge after it
 
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I can tell when kyra wants to play, it isnt often. But she'll run up to me, stop about 10 feet away and wait for me to move. If i take a step forward she'll whiz around the field and come back infront of me. Sometimes i jump instead of stepping forwards and she squeals and rears then runs and comes back, this can last up to 30 mins and when she doesn't want to play anymore she just grazes away from me. If i don't want to play anymore i ignore her and walk past her and she'll usually get the idea after a few mins.
 
I'm not convinced its a good idea to be honest. I can see it being dangerous if the horse doesnt know or forgets its boundaries in the excitement and the fact you weigh a lot less than they do and therfore cant take there weight when they barge up against you or something similar!

I'd not long had my TB and when he saw me coming to get him in he would start walking over so I would run towards him (up to the gate not in the field) and he would have a bit of a headflip and come charging over bucking and farting like a goon! It was funny to start with but it did escalate and wind him up to a point he would be on his toes coming in which is obviously not ideal with over half a ton of TB bouncing off the end of a leadrope so I put a stop to it pretty quick, lol :o

We still have our cheeky moments when we are hell bent on teasing each other and being silly which is fun but safety first in my opinion :)
 
Leviathan said:
Done it all.

had my mare follow me loose over jumps and her son
waved arms about#
when they snort after a gallop the woosh sound from their nose i replicate it
said go on and set them off made sounds with lead rope in circle and more
run towards then turn run away


one favourite is - all mine know this. with an apple i walk towards them tossing apple up and down in my hand (they know what it means) an apple is looking for a new home. This always get their attention, i then run back and they break into a trot or gallop , i then throw apple to side or behind, which causes them to brake- buck- bronc and charge after it
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This sounds like so much fun! Might try it with my boy! Thank you :)
 
Antw23uk said:
I'm not convinced its a good idea to be honest. I can see it being dangerous if the horse doesnt know or forgets its boundaries in the excitement and the fact you weigh a lot less than they do and therfore cant take there weight when they barge up against you or something similar!

I'd not long had my TB and when he saw me coming to get him in he would start walking over so I would run towards him (up to the gate not in the field) and he would have a bit of a headflip and come charging over bucking and farting like a goon! It was funny to start with but it did escalate and wind him up to a point he would be on his toes coming in which is obviously not ideal with over half a ton of TB bouncing off the end of a leadrope so I put a stop to it pretty quick, lol :o

We still have our cheeky moments when we are hell bent on teasing each other and being silly which is fun but safety first in my opinion :)
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I agree completely with this, however, my boy is incredibly laid back ( so much so he's horizontal ) and when I chase him round the school with a schooling whip he'll spring around head shake throw in a few cheeky bucks and then as soon as the whip is down he will stop turn in and walk calmly towards me. I sort of think that even if I initiated some sort of play it probably wouldn't last long because he probably wouldn't have a clue what to do, I've never seen him properly play in the field with his mates (he's out with 7 others), to be honest he'd rather sleep than do any sort of movement and has been this way since i've had him and that was when he was a 5yo. I just think that it might be fun to do haha but I'm safety conscious and so wouldn't want to push it beyond the boundaries :)
 
Thank you all for your responses, I've got a few ideas to liven up our free schooling sessions, I think though that if my jimjam wanted to play he'd try to initiate it because I am playful with him, in the stable especially, he'll chase me in circles and I'll chase him, but out in the school, unless a whip is following him, he'll be glued to my side so I guess I need to play around with a few things. What I do know is I wouldn't try to initiate play in his field, because it would probably wind all the other horses up and that would be scary haha !
 
It all sounds like great fun, but my two can be such loons in the field that I think I'd fear for their safety...either that or they'd have the field ploughed! I don't have the problem of them winding others up Jimmy as there's just the two of them, but they can do a lot of damage on their own. Maybe I should try it in the arena...
 
piglet99 said:
It all sounds like great fun, but my two can be such loons in the field that I think I'd fear for their safety...either that or they'd have the field ploughed! I don't have the problem of them winding others up Jimmy as there's just the two of them, but they can do a lot of damage on their own. Maybe I should try it in the arena...
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Is your horse called Jimmy too?
 
Well she seems to have mastered monopoly so thought we would move on. Currently liking Dominion.

Chess has been a disaster in the past.

Might try a bit of snakes n ladders in the future.
 
Tallyho.. Have you tried tiddlywinks? It's great fun but it might not be interesting enough fir your lot seeing as they've mastered monopoly lol
 
TrasaM said:
Tallyho.. Have you tried tiddlywinks? It's great fun but it might not be interesting enough fir your lot seeing as they've mastered monopoly lol
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Far too fiddly my love. She's not the dainty kind. I have a feeling card games are her forte... brooding over her next move. I shall let you know how things go.
 
tallyho! said:
Chess has been a disaster in the past.
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I'm not surprised! :eek3: It is (or should be) well known that horses simply don't have the mental capacity for games involving logical reasoning. (To be honest I barely have the mental capacity myself.) The fact that four of the pieces in chess are little horsies makes NO difference.
 
I used to play pull-your-tongue with my horse when he was a baby. He'd lick his chops or put his tongue out and I'd try to catch it! Never tried the game the other way 'round though! He still lets me do the silly face with his lips while saying "sausages" in a daft voice. Does that count?
 
RLS said:
I used to play pull-your-tongue with my horse when he was a baby. He'd lick his chops or put his tongue out and I'd try to catch it! Never tried the game the other way 'round though! He still lets me do the silly face with his lips while saying "sausages" in a daft voice. Does that count?
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Aww yes that definitely counts haha!
 
When I had an Iberian we spent a lot of time playing. He loved playing tag so we did that a lot, he also could fetch like a dog so I would throw sticks for him. We played football too, although occasionally he would pick it up in his mouth and throw it around. Always was a rule breaker that one :p

With the shetland we also play chase, tug of war and occasionally fetch if he's feeling cooperative. He definitely thinks he's a dog.
 
Carrots&Mints said:
I chase my pony around and he runs after me and then we play hide and seek :) (he is 2 and half so still a baby) he usually just runs around chasing me and pouncing haha!
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This is what my friend does with her yearling but ive witnessed several very near misses when over exited horse and hooves come far too close to her head! so it is not something i would personally ever do!
Stick to free lunging and join up! :D
 
Jimmy260910 said:
This sounds like so much fun! Might try it with my boy! Thank you :)
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i let them sniff the apple first when tied up then proceed to chuck it up and down, they were unsure at beginning till they realised it would not hurt them. Eventually i could chuck it gently it would bop their nose gently. The ever time i went to catch in they knew what it was and went from there. My pony now licks her chops and lifts her top lips ready
 
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