What did your horse 'tell you' at first viewing?

Ha I was completely suckered by our current one! He told me he was miserable as sin, hated racing, that he had a sore back but that he was a dope on a rope. He was built beautifully and we fell for him, hook line and sinker. Some things were true - miserable and sore back = definitely true. "Dope on a rope"? Absolutely not. He is a complete cocky, bargy, sharp brat - he's the equine equivalent of a brilliant and engaging leader of a high end criminal gang. But there is still something about him and Teen 2 is potty about him. He is the type I loved as a teenager, but he would not have been my first choice as a 50yo mum hoping to have a safe hack in the weekdays while Teen 2 events at the weekends. All it has taught me is NOT to trust my first instincts :D
 
Bills told me he was a spooky S**t, i tried him three times, he was spooky in the school, which was his home. He was young so i thought he would grow out of it........HE HASNT!. He was also very very 'Cheeky' which i thought was cute. This has turned into abit of a domination fight, he thinks he is boss, i say im boss. He has to be checked and put in his place regularly!

I'll just live with it, they all have their good and bad points. He has a great jump, so i put up with the quirks.

The cheekiness can also be very funny, this morning he picked up his headcollar and leadrope, looked at me, and then chucked it on the floor! As if to say 'COME ON...I WANT TO GO OUT!'
 
My mare just looked at me and i knew i had to have her she didnt say anything other than I need you! and she has been difficult sometimes an opinionated pain in the bum but i love her more than anything and would not be parted from her she has captured my heart.
My gelding said the others are not a patch on me! and he was right they were not and are not! he is amazing and i am looking forward to our future together.
And sadly an old mare of mine just said SAVE ME, having moved home on average 2X per year in her 12 years :(
 
Many, many of mine have said "Help me!" and "get me out of here!" I have listened and been rewarded (mostly) with some lovely horses.
 
I was nervous trying my lad after not having ridden for 4/5 years. But it was like he knew and looked after me. And I went home beaming as he was brilliant.
 
My 1st pony flung me head 1st into a wall 1st time I tried him out !! He said to me learn to stay on I think 😄

Still bought him & he ended up being the safest pony every everyone adored him absolute angel !
 
Smallest said I am not a childs pony, I am a scurry pony, I can run very very fast but I am ***** scared of life - he was right but he taught my daughter everything she knows and a whole lot more - still with us.

Middle said I am sad, I am ugly, I am the lowest in this herd and if I follow you round doggedly despite you having no food you will take me home and I will repay you millions IF you do as I say.........I did, I do and she does over and over.

Biggest said 'ahhh whats that, ahh and whats that, oh no whats that' spooky as they come, nightmare to do anything with on his own but at 9yr old this yr has finally grown up and grown a pair - LOL!
 
That he would work to his own agenda, be highly critical of my riding technique frequently, back chat to pretty much every request, but that he'd never do anything to intentionally hurt me.

Thankfully the last point he has stuck to and we have compromised on the rest - he now does whatever asked just with a little back chat as my constructive criticism. and to keep me in my place!
 
Elsbells said:
I'm scraggy and depressed but if you have the patience and love Il walk through fire for you.
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Yup, same as my lad who was very quiet, timid and nervous when I picked him up as a 5 year old. Now aged 13 he's a total saint and yard favourite in more than one yard.
The others sort of found me so didn't say anything, with the exception of the ISH who told me quite clearly to **** off :biggrin3: She had been let off with murder for years as the previous owner was terrified of her and she didn't take kindly to me taking charge :rolleyes3:
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
that he was going to be awesome, but difficult.

i only saw him bombing round a small muddy paddock as no menage available-he passaged, he piaffed, he extended and he did clean changes...........................and that was enough to cancel out the fact that when he accidentally clipped the fence rail bucking, he span round,went back to the same spot and belted it again for good measure, and then tried to do the same to the girl who went to catch him!
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Haha!!
 
Aww, I love this thread...

My old loan horse from a few years ago, said "I don't trust people". When I went to catch him on our first meeting, he kept walking away from me, just 2 steps ahead, and not allowing me to catch him. And I understand why as well. The person that owned him and the people he had been around were inherently untrustworthy people, and that was the message he was telling me.

After he had been with me 3 months, I distinctly remember him giving me a certain look that said "OK, so *you're* my person now. The trust grew and grew and after having him for 5 years, we both trusted each other implicitly - he would have done anything to 'save' me and he knew I would do the same.
 
Bob said to me "I'm older than you're looking for, my kidneys are failing slowly, both my hind suspensories are pooped, I've had colic surgery and almost died, got war wounds left right and centre, but I know my stuff - oh, and I jump out of my field on almost a daily basis!"

First viewing and that was it, love. Rode him in a field by a busy road and he just got on with it. The owners dropped him off to the yard 2 days later. The owners said he'd only want a quiet life, maybe a bit of dressage once a month, and that his hind suspsensories won't hold up much bigger than 2ft 3. That was fine with me!

Before I had Bob, I was a polo player for 10 years, didn't know anything about dressage, SJ or eventing, and had never done it! Had Bob 4 years now and he'll be 17 this year (body age of about 25!), but he's going great guns, BD Elementary - preparing for Medium, BE90, hope to go 100 later this year, and SJ-ing 1m+ easily.

He's probably THE most expensive horse to have and look after with all his illnesses etc, but I wouldn't change it for the world! Best FREEBIE I've ever had!
 
Little mare - I'm full of life and fairly opinionated (she caught me out with a small excited buck and off I came!). Shes still opinionated and always up for everything particularly if it involves galloping & jumping, but is a proper sweetheart.

Big mare - I love to jump & don't care how useless you are as a jockey (so long as you don't take my back teeth out) as long as I get to jump! Completely accurate, she is incredibly honest and loves to jump and we are much more together as a partnership now. She was fairly reserved with me on the ground, nice but a little disinterested but I thought under that she was a big softie because of how she was with her owner. Again accurate, just understandably since she'd been in her home for years it took a few months for her to settle firmly into her new life & turn into a big loving softie with me.
 
Mine said to me 'beware, I'm nuts' - I ignored it and 7.5yrs later I wouldn't change her for the world - I now recognise that she was very unsettled, and is most certainly a one woman horse, and whilst she'll never be a dope on a rope, she's as calm as I need her to be (still throws in the odd few bucks and leaps for good measure!) but will never be the jumper that I need - when she's in the right mood, she's incredible, jumps the moon, but if for any chance there's a niggle of 'I CBA mum', then I'm most certainly doomed and will definitely hit the deck. But, she's 16 this year, and I realise that it's most likely pain related so I'm cautious about where I jump her (arthritic knees, I suspect through poor confo) and how high and often and she will ALWAYS have a home with me. Even if I have to live in a tent up the yard!
 
Although I knew I wanted him before he was even born, the time I decided I would buy him was as a 4 month foal and went to help a friend move him and his dam to a field over the road. Quiet road, we held the traffic both ways as she lead the mare and my fella running loose at foot, out of one gate, 100 yards up the road, and into a field almost opposite. So along the road he trotted, stepping curiously over the white lines, peering into car windows saying hello to everyone..... I had little experience, but loved his attitude. 22 years on he has not let me down, has been fun but safe, and never been the scary spooky type.
He's now taking a 60yr old lady for a relaxed hack once a week, teaches both of my nieces (6 yrs an 12 yrs) and has helped baby-sit my younger mare and another youngster at the yard and show them the ropes out hacking. But in all that time he never has got over his totally unprovoked fear of tractors!!!
 
The spotty baby: "I may appear to be totally psychotic but just you wait until you get to know me!" There was also a strong element of "Save me? These people have big whips and keep chasing me and I don't understand." Most of her psychosis did turn out to be from being chased, hit, and generally mishandled as a foal/filly. Three years on, she's growing up, settling down, and will trust me to do more or less anything with/to her. What's left of her psychosis is now turning into a comedy routine: "Look, look, no legs on the ground!" *eyeroll*
The Life Partner: "Helicopter, what helicopter? OMG!!!!! A can of coke - RUUUUNN!!!" Yep, pretty accurate. Sane under the most trying circumstances, incredibly talented, but petrified of tiny things and infinitely breakable.
K (bought with and for a friend): "Will sacrifice all dignity for food." And she will! Suits her new owner very well, since she's quite fond of trick-training.
 
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