Superstitious horse

[Brownmare]

Anyone else have one too?

One of mine has decided he can make his dinner appear by doing certain things. Now if he was logical those things would include coming when called and standing to have his headcollar put on.... but no, he has decided that what actually makes his dinner appear is shaking his head ? Before that it was having a wee but that habit seemed to die off when he wasn't stabled. He never shakes his head at any other time, even when flies are about and now he is teaching my 3yr old to do the same! I am trying to wean him off his habit by not bringing him his bucket until he has stood quietly for at least 10 seconds but I am now wondering what he will decide to do next???

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

Our chickens believe a legend that says that if you gather in a circle underneath the labernum tree , stand very , very still , stare at the ground really hard and make a wish , then peanuts will fall from the sky .
( There is a wild bird feeder high up in in the tree - but don't tell them ) .

 

[Dwyran_gold]

Funny what they pick up isn’t it, my rising 3 yo got his leg stuck in the wooden fence a few weeks ago and I went running ?‍ and guided his leg back out. Now every time I arrive and he sees me he runs to the gate, pops his front leg through the gap and stands there waiting.... ?

 

[Brownmare]

Funny what they pick up isn’t it, my rising 3 yo got his leg stuck in the wooden fence a few weeks ago and I went running ?‍ and guided his leg back out. Now every time I arrive and he sees me he runs to the gate, pops his front leg through the gap and stands there waiting.... ?

OMG that is one hell of an accidental lesson to learn ???

 

[Dwyran_gold]

OMG that is one hell of an accidental lesson to learn ???

I know it’s a nightmare I’ve had to stop panicking and hide, keep an eye on him and wait until he takes his leg out before I go to fetch him. Little monkey x

 

[Merry neddy man]

Best idea is some STRONG small mesh netting on the gate.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Not quite as amazing as the above but i have the most gorgeous little elderly pony who can be a bit difficult to catch. When he lost his bff this year I didn’t get near him for weeks
When I caught him finally I tied him up stood on a rubber mat as the ground was stony and gave him a bucket of food.This became a bit of a routine for a few day’s. Now wherever I put the mat, approaching dinner time he wanders in and stands quietly on it. It’s the most super cute thing ever ?

 

[frostie652]

Not quite as amazing as the above but i have the most gorgeous little elderly pony who can be a bit difficult to catch. When he lost his bff this year I didn’t get near him for weeks
When I caught him finally I tied him up stood on a rubber mat as the ground was stony and gave him a bucket of food.This became a bit of a routine for a few day’s. Now wherever I put the mat, approaching dinner time he wanders in and stands quietly on it. It’s the most super cute thing ever ?

That just melted my heart ?

 

[tiahatti]

A pocket will always contain a carrot. According to Tia this always the case.

 

[Roxylola]

Supercob discovered that treats fall out of his girth area if he sticks his head between his legs - the reality was I was doing carrot stretches which he understands, and I sort of dropped the treat in his mouth instead of giving it to him. He spent a fair amount of time with his nose under his chest trying to produce more sweeties that evening

 

[timefort]

When J was on box rest (only allowed out for muck out) she very quickly learnt that bouncing around and/or breaking free while tied up resulted in someone rushing to her with a haynet. It took some time to train her out of bouncing Feed Me tantrums!

 

[J&S]

Mine will gallop up to me from wherever they are standing/grazing if I so much as touch a fence post! (more often I am moving them to get less grass not more!!)
I have learnt to move any fence whilst they are in their stables.........so who is training who???

 

[little_critter]

Not quite as amazing as the above but i have the most gorgeous little elderly pony who can be a bit difficult to catch. When he lost his bff this year I didn’t get near him for weeks
When I caught him finally I tied him up stood on a rubber mat as the ground was stony and gave him a bucket of food.This became a bit of a routine for a few day’s. Now wherever I put the mat, approaching dinner time he wanders in and stands quietly on it. It’s the most super cute thing ever ?

How nice of you to lay the table for him - it's like you've just put the tablecloth down.

 

[Surbie]

If I move anywhere near the fat grass fenceline I have 2 very earnest, enquiring cobbly shadows.

I stupidly taught cobbus to raise a front leg for a treat when he spent months on box rest. He now does it if he thinks he's been good and deserves a reward. 'good boy' doesn't count. Righthand pockets might contain carrots and must be thoroughly checked (cobbus recently made one pocket bigger so his snout fits in more easily ) and my arms always need licking, even if covered by a sleeve.

If I sit down in the field to watch the horses, after a few minutes mine will generally bimble over and stand over me. If I am really lucky he will have a drink first then dribble on my head.

When I groom his right side he will lift his hind so I can scratch his inner thigh. He looks at it, then at me, with his best appealing face cos he can't reach.

 

[9tails]

I'm fair game if I sit on the felled tree trunk in the field. I'm firstly searched for treats, my phone is knocked to one side by her snout, then I'm presented by her fat arse for scratches. If I ignore it, she will actually sit on my lap. Horses are surprisingly heavy so I've only ignored the fat arse once.

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

Not quite as amazing as the above but i have the most gorgeous little elderly pony who can be a bit difficult to catch. When he lost his bff this year I didn’t get near him for weeks
When I caught him finally I tied him up stood on a rubber mat as the ground was stony and gave him a bucket of food.This became a bit of a routine for a few day’s. Now wherever I put the mat, approaching dinner time he wanders in and stands quietly on it. It’s the most super cute thing ever ?

He could cause carnage in a yoga class .

 

[poiuytrewq]

How nice of you to lay the table for him - it's like you've just put the tablecloth down.

Um, yeah, he also quite likes his bucket put inside another bucket aswell, you know, don’t go to any trouble but I like the red bucket... put inside the blue one.... on my mat and only then, will I eat my prescand containing feed (I think we are both playing each other ?‍)

 

[Brownmare]

Um, yeah, he also quite likes his bucket put inside another bucket aswell, you know, don’t go to any trouble but I like the red bucket... put inside the blue one.... on my mat and only then, will I eat my prescand containing feed (I think we are both playing each other ?‍)

??????

 

[Ceifer]

Wheelie bins that are put out on the street for emptying are to be treated with the highest suspicion and a snort and jog past is in order.
wheelie bins on the yard are to be investigated and if the opportunity presents itself, knocked over.
I don’t know why she likes doing this. There’s rubbish in the bins on the yard so nothing to gain.

 

[Brownmare]

Wheelie bins that are put out on the street for emptying are to be treated with the highest suspicion and a snort and jog past is in order.
wheelie bins on the yard are to be investigated and if the opportunity presents itself, knocked over.
I don’t know why she likes doing this. There’s rubbish in the bins on the yard so nothing to gain.

Ah yes, a few years ago my OH kindly converted a couple of wheelie bins into hay feeders for me. Hacking out on bin day after that was highly entertaining as they tried to stuff their faces into any bin with an open lid ?