Re: "Horses do not think"...

Weezy

Weezy

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Was thinking on Sunday - was out on a fun ride and we have to go through some woods and fondly remembered a pony I used to ride that would ALWAYS take the route under low branches if possible...what did he do it for...fun or sheer bloody mindedness or something else? Whilst I am totally in agreement that horses do not stand around wondering how to piss us off, I am sure most of us fondly remember a pony that would go out of its way to squish you against a gate post, take you under the low branches or something else...
 
Oh my little Jezebel is a pony like this. She is only 14.1hh and she never does it to me - she's a good little girl when I ride her. However when she has a trail rider on her she can definitely have fun with them! If they are totally beginners, she never seems to do it, so long as they don't interfere with her or try to tell her what to do.....however if they are a beginner and keep bugging her and trying to make her go or do things she knows she's not supposed to do....then once we are up in the forest, she will walk sooooo close to all the trees and bang their legs off almost every one! We have a lot of trees in our forest.......
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One of the reasons I want to keep this little mare - she is such an absolute love and I adore her quirkiness.
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Ahh.....I would slightly agree.....alot of years ago I had a skewbald cob mare,and a friend borrowed her to take out with a group of friends, they got lost.....she let this little mare's reins loose and said 'She will find the route home',and she did,so some thinking must have been required,or it was just memory that kicked in!
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He did it because it was the less muddy part of the track. No deviousnous (sp) intended

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Nope, sand tracks in a cork forrest - no variation to track type or camber at all
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If you turned to chat to someone for example he used to take you under a tree, little sod!
 
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He did it because it was the less muddy part of the track. No deviousnous (sp) intended

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Nope, sand tracks in a cork forrest - no variation to track type or camber at all
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If you turned to chat to someone for example he used to take you under a tree, little sod!

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I forgot where you used to ride. For me it was the very muddy tracks of england, for you the sun drenched beaches of spain....
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Hahahaa.
Yes, my first pony used to drag me along hedges, fences and fence posts to get me off. I did eventually learn to ride with one leg up and over the neck (Almost sidesaddle)!

He knew all the tricks in the book. He had been doing it for years. I was just fresh meat. hahahahahaa
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Jess was my first trail pony that I bought over here and she shows lots of quirks like this, but never ever with a nice beginner who doesn't know what they are doing. She's great and makes me chuckle a lot.
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I forgot where you used to ride. For me it was the very muddy tracks of england, for you the sun drenched beaches of spain....
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Yes, this is a view of my home that was taken from one of my usual rides (not by me I hasten to add)...

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la la la

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I agree!!!


And you moved AWAY from that Louise????? Are you certifiable???
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la la la

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I agree!!!


And you moved AWAY from that Louise????? Are you certifiable???
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If not, she is very, very close to it!
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I personally think horses are very clever and do think!!!They are bloody quick to learn aswell!!!Nothing more to add,lol!!
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If you did Natural Horsemanship, and particularly Parelli, Weezy, you'd find that your horses wouldn't hate you so much.
S
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Hmmmmmm you may have a point S, obviously my barbed wire whip, electric spurs and starvation to the point of collapse way of doing things is a little harsh do we think?
 
My horse speeds up as we approach road ends which would take us on a longer hack to pass them quickly and drags his feet horribly if I turn him down them. He does not hurry home if we simply carry along the shorter route though.
 
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If you did Natural Horsemanship, and particularly Parelli, Weezy, you'd find that your horses wouldn't hate you so much.
S
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Hmmmmmm you may have a point S, obviously my barbed wire whip, electric spurs and starvation to the point of collapse way of doing things is a little harsh do we think?

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As the Parellis so rightly say, just because you're a horse owner, doesn't mean that you're a horse lover.
Have you tried understanding his behaviour instead of cruelly punishing him? Maybe playing the games with him would develop your relationship?
Or selling him on Project horse as a last resort?
Only trying to help!
S
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If you did Natural Horsemanship, and particularly Parelli, Weezy, you'd find that your horses wouldn't hate you so much.
S
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Hmmmmmm you may have a point S, obviously my barbed wire whip, electric spurs and starvation to the point of collapse way of doing things is a little harsh do we think?

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Perhaps if you laid off the barbed wire whip? I think everything else is pretty acceptable.
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If you did Natural Horsemanship, and particularly Parelli, Weezy, you'd find that your horses wouldn't hate you so much.
S
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Hmmmmmm you may have a point S, obviously my barbed wire whip, electric spurs and starvation to the point of collapse way of doing things is a little harsh do we think?

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You don't LOOK like you've been starved to the point of collapse, though, Weezy?
S
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Since having Ginger I've realised ponies are definately smarter than we think.

He has a field mate who is terribly possessive and grumpy. Ginger finds great amusement in standing to the side of his back legs nipping his hocks, just for the sheer fun of it. Ginger is quicker than field mate and as soon as he kicks out Ginger's gone.
When my 2yr old rides him he's a saint. It's asif he KNOWS she cannot give proper aids, so he just plods along and follows me. When my 7yr old is on board he listens to aids, and looks after him. In canter he'll go as slow as possible and slow doen to a trot if he thinks his rider isnt quite secure.
When my friends daughter (who is a very good rider) takes him off across the bridleway for a canter he'll have an absolute hooley.... she took him for a gallop once and he just went... by God can that pony shift when he wants to!!! If I ride him he just piddles about, tanks with me then finds a way of dropping me, but strangely he's never done that with friends daughter, who weighs the same as me and everything
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. That pony is SMART lol.
 
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Since having Ginger I've realised ponies are definately smarter than we think.

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Oh crikey, I've never EVER thought ponies were dumb....only horses!
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Since having Ginger I've realised ponies are definately smarter than we think.

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Oh crikey, I've never EVER thought ponies were dumb....only horses!
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a horse will spook at a tesco bag in the hedge and spend the rest of the hack quivering over the sheer terror of it.
A pony will spook at a bag in a hedge, realise he's caught you unawares and spook at everything else along the way just to test you
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Have to disagree with that,but think i have been very lucky with the horses i have had,barring 1 nutty tb chestnut mare
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,now that was thick,a lorry would come one way up the road and the damn thing wud shite its pants and turn round and run the same way?????????????????If all horses behaved like her they would be classed as thick,lmao!!!Fortunately i lived to get rid of it!!!Seriously thought i was gonna die!!!
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There's always an exception to a rule and of course horses think but their thought processes are different from humans. I remember reading a learned article that pointed out that a horse can maneuvre itself quite safely under a low branch but won't/can't think things through enough to allow for a rider's height on top. Best to steer!
 
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