what do you like best about horses?

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Sugar_and_Spice

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I'm wondering if most people are in it for the riding, competing, etc. I like grooming and mixing up feeds more than anything else. I like my yard friends but I don't miss them if nobody's there when I go. I'm not really bothered about riding either, though I like to support others if they're competing and I'm happy to go with them and be helper for the day. I wouldn't want to be the owner of a fidget horse who didn't like being groomed. It's a pointless post really, I'm just being nosey.
 
Bringing on youngsters. :D

The grey that I got as a weanling is now four and backed. I also have a two year old and he's doing so well with his training that I can now lead him through water (this was a big deal for him to begin with). He's turning into a polite horse now rather than a reactive bundle of energy! :)
 
I love the smell too. And the way they are always happy to see you. And the look in their eye when they trust you ...:)
 
I wish I knew! For me there's just something about horses that makes me want to be around them.
I definately love riding the most though, there's no feeling like flying over a fence on the perfect stride in complete harmony with your horse...
 
Just being in their company. I love faffing, preening, standing side by side if the pone's grazing in hand whilst at a comp, scritchying her withers, chatting away to her when out on a hack... Daughter hates it that the pone looks over to me in a 'hi mom' kind of way if she rides and I watch, I think she is a tad jealous of that :D :D
 
Their bigness (yes, I know that's not a real world) . . . I find it oddly reassuring. Their smell - even my non-horsey husband likes the way horses smell. Soft muzzles. The greeting KaliBear gives me when I step on the yard in the morning . . . love that deep whicker. That they trust us.

P
 
I thank my 2 horses for keeping me fit, and I'd personally like to thank them for keeping the bingo wings away. :D

Seriously though. I've never not had horses, it's a way of life and they give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning :)
 
Pretty much everything. I like riding, competing, schooling young or difficult horses. But also love silly stuff like the smell & finding their itchy spot. The feeling I'm invincible when I ride, & that problems in life don't matter round horses. The adrenaline rush from galloping & jumping. But also the fact a flight animal trusts me above its own natural instincts. Watching them in the field interacting & just being horses. Pre daughter I used to get a kick from the danger element of riding known nutjobs or unknown horses in auction car parks but now xc & hunting have to make do. Love the way they look & move. So everything except the cost, emptying wheelbarrows & frozen hands on winter mornings.
 
the way they make you smile when they neigh at you in the morning, that mucking out is the best time to sort things out in your head, grooming them is a way to totally relax and riding them makes you forget about everything else!
 
The smell of his breath - warm, gentle and reassuring. The softness of his muzzle and the lovely warm spot under his mane, high up on the crest. Perfect as a mobile hand-warmer on the coldest of winter days. :D

Harnessing him for a drive - he fidgets with anticipation and that fills me with pleasure, for I know if he doesn't fidget, something's wrong. :D

And the way complete strangers like to stop and admire him - makes me intensly proud, and thankful that he's mine. :D:D:D
 
The lie-ins, long nails and money to spend on clothes for me:cool:




Seriously - wouldn't know where to begin. They're as necessary to me as a heart beat.
 
Do love a good gallop with the wind wooshing past :) or jumping on the perfect stride.

Also relaxes you after a busy day at work even just sitting watching them eat hay or nice relaxing hack.

Also they don't judge you as much as people and aren't judgmental.
 
The air of calm that being around them brings and the sweet way he snuggles his muzzle into my neck when I'm putting on his bridle!
 
Definitely mainly the riding. Exploring, mooching through lovely forests, cantering through large fields, that sort of stuff. :)
 
Their calmness and how I'm only really calm inside when I'm with them. Their soft soft noses and when they breath into your hair and its all warm. When they look at you in that - oh its YOU way, as if a little part of them has been waiting for you to come. When they do something just because you ask them to without fuss or bother, just out of the infinite goodness of their wonderful big hearts.
And listening to them munching hay. My favourite noise!
 
Where to start?! Another vote for soft muzzles & that horsey smell. I find that watching them simply grazing is incredibly peaceful & calming, and I love the way he throws his head up when I call him and he looks at me as if to say 'she's here!'. And I love that after a crappy day, the stress seems to melt away as soon as I'm at the yard. I don't see horses as a hobby, I see them as part of who I am.
 
Spotsrock said:
How soft they are between the nostrils.
Click to expand...

Oooh this ^ I looove stroking his nose!
The smell, the relaxation of being around him, especially when I'm grooming him and he starts to fall asleep which in turn makes me feel sleepy.
The silly things he does sometimes like the other day I crouched down in front of him to undo the chest straps on his rug and he started grooming my hair (the gentleist groom he's ever done!) and pulling my braid loose at the top. I looked like a dodgey haystack in the end but I didn't mind :D
Getting on and having a pootle about is always fun :D
And looking back and seeing how we've progressed, it might not be much and we might not be going as fast as someone with more experience would but knowing we are growing as a partnership makes me feel very proud and makes me look forward to the (hopefully) long years we'll have together knowing it'll only get better :D
 
As many have said there really isnt just one thing. I think its the release they give me and I just love to spend time with them. Just the other day I spent a good hour just sitting in the field with my yearling, we groomed each other, played about then had a chill. I spent a year without horses when I thought I needed a break, I did need it at the time but I now know I will never be without horses again and both my boy who I have had for 8 years and my yearling will never be going anywhere.


Spotsrock said:
How soft they are between the nostrils.
Click to expand...

that said you cant beat a soft and kissy nose. my yearling has the 'squidgiest' nose ever :D
 
Aww bless, I'm loving these replies, you're all as soft about your horses as I am about mine. Most people I know aren't all that fussed about their horses. I'm glad I'm not the only soft one. Imagining a life without horses is like imagining the world without the sun.
 
The noses and the smell are high up on the list :) The way that they make us laugh ( we were only saying this evening that we don't know what people without animals laugh about) The main thing, I think, is the way they keep us in the moment, we experience the 'now' when we are with horses, something not many other people get to do.
 
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