What does 'bonding with your horse' mean to you?

Don't be silly faracat! You have a bond with your horses!!!! At least from I have read on here about you and them. You can tell you know them inside and out :)
 
If you have ever bonded with your horse you know what it means, and indeed opposite which I believe is that you have not 'clicked' with a horse.

Buddy is the first horse I have bonded with since my pony I had as a young teenager.

I think you can have a good working relationship with any horse, but to bond with one is special. imo :p
 
For me, its about trust-when you get to that point with a horse that you can do stuff without there being any bother, even if they aren't sure about it because they trust you and you trust them. could be anything from a hack to a new vet procedure and it comes from training and consistent handling. Each knows the other won't overreact :D

But it can also be like today, where I sat on a log in the paddock and had a 'chat' with them one by one. I don't believe that my 'chat' extends to a special relationship whereby it would prevent any sort of behaviour later on, but I do like hanging out with them with no need to 'do' anything. They come and see if any part of me is edible, then if they want they stay and play/scratch or look at the view with me (the big horse does this alot).
 
Yes like that and you also know when a horse lets you "in" if you know what I mean. Some horses are cold and never let anyone in apart from a special person. There is a mare like this at my yard. She is definitely a one woman horse! The bond they have is very tangible and obvious. No one else has that relationship with that mare.
 
I agree with Flame_, it's not a nice word and a bit odd to me! Some horses you just don't ever click with. It's taken three months for my share to not look eternally grumpy while I'm busying around her, and she even had a little groom back when I scratched her back, I think she trusts me more now. It's that sort of thing, I guess, more than a horse not wanting to bite your head off which some people think it is.
 
For dee and I it is like a connection. Everything goes quiet and you can hear her breath softly. She rests her muzzle on the back of my hand or my shoulder and blows softly. If i walk away with my hand to the side of me, she follows her her muzzle gently touching my hand. :) No matter how crap things might be, things like this make me so happy. :)
 
i don't know what bonding means to me as such but i do know that when my horse or ponies turn to me for reassurance it makes me feel great because they obviously trust me.
when someone new rides my pony (one of them) you can see he is scared/worried and looks for me constantly, once he knows where i am he settles. if i get on him then he turns his head round and checks it's me then just does whatever i ask him to do. same with my kids, he knows them well enough now and accepts them on him but mainly because he knows i'm there by his head.
 
All of these descriptions seem to apply to affectionate horses. My mare isn't affectionate, if you try to cuddle her she will take a step back. She's more interested in food than fuss, unless you are scratching her bum! I trust her implicitly though but she's so well behaved its hard to know if she's like that because she trusts me back or if it's just because she's got such a good nature.
 
the pony i'm talking about above is not affectionate, when i first got him he was the nastiest piece of work i've ever met, i would have been happy to put a bullet in his head myself.
i moved him to a new yard to get him started (he was also kicked off previous yard for attacking everyone and everything) and i was forced to handle him daily, i hated it, he hated me and in fact the YO refused to let me do anything with him alone as he was so dangerous.
within 6 months of doing stuff with him he started to soften and is now a true sweetheart BUT you can't cuddle him without getting your face bitten off and you still have to watch his back legs. he will always have a little streak in him and i had people saying to beat it out of him but he was never beaten or smacked, all that i've got with him now is through patience, love and understanding. he does get told off if he does wrong though.
 
Fjord, I could have written that post! My mare is not affectionate in the slightest. She tolerates a cuddle but only because I insist and only in her stable. She's got such lovely manners though!
When she had the dentist and was drugged up to the eyeballs I made the most of it and after trimming her face I sat with her head on my shoulder stroking her cheek. :-) bliss!
 
I think it's the trust. The trust that you aren't going to ask them to do anything that will hurt them, that you will protect them from the pony eating monsters and in return you trust that they won't intentionally harm you.

My horse's will go anywhere I ask them to, with me on their back or with me leading them. I think it goes hand in hand with respect and the horse respecting the human as herd leader. Horses like to have a leader where they know the rules and feel safe. I hope I fill this roll for mine.

I also spend time, just being with mine. Just sitting on the yard, and they'll come over and give me a gentle nudge to see if I'll produce food, sometimes they'll come and just stand and we'll admire the view, or they might come over for a scratch. They're better than any therapy.
 
I think trusting you enough to go to places that may be very scary, go past cement mixers, wagons and such dreadful things with just a quick feel of 'is it ok?' and you almost telepathically telling them it's fine. I can happily say my horse and I now trust each other. He will run with me at liberty, and always has an eye on me if he's being handled by someone else. He also knows when I'm upset, I think we can both tell each other's moods. So I guess we do have a 'bond' but it may just be to the fact I've had him 5 years so we know each other really well?
 
I've known a lot of horses, loved some and disliked a couple. But I've only 'bonded' with one, and maybe my current lad (work in progress). For me it's about mutual respect and understanding. I was lucky with the first 'bond' as my way of thinking and riding met precisely with his, so from the word go we had a great partnership. With current chap we're still learning about each other, so we're not in harmony yet!
 
Don't do "bonding". Do do "I won't scare you if you don't scare me", and "I'm the non-scary, rational-to-horses person". Don't want my horses slobbering all over me, thank you very much. We like and respect each other very much; if I want to "bond" I talk to my other half. It's a horse, not a boyfriend/baby/lap pet.
 
OK, so it's not a mystical, telepathic connection between equine and human then (I was beginning to wonder ;)).

Thanks everyone, interesting posts. :)
 
No no telepathy or anything :)
To me it means when u get a new horse and at some point you notice he/she turns to you for reassurance when scared or unsure and is happy to trust you. If they are cuddly like Emil he will nuzzle me gently. When someone else was riding him he was quite tense, not only did he keep looking at me but even nickered at me when he went past.
 
Mythical, we end up having to take advantage of any soppy moments don't we? My mare was outside the stable once and I was in it, she was tired and wanted her tea so just rested her chin on the stable door and gazed at me. I sneaked a kiss!
 
Cortez said:
Don't do "bonding". Do do "I won't scare you if you don't scare me", and "I'm the non-scary, rational-to-horses person". Don't want my horses slobbering all over me, thank you very much. We like and respect each other very much; if I want to "bond" I talk to my other half. It's a horse, not a boyfriend/baby/lap pet.
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Your post implies that those of us who do like to have an emotional relationship with our horses are not 'rational'.
You can treat a horse as a horse, and keep him as a horse should be kept yet see him as a much loved family pet. My horse is a person and a individual, no he doesn't come in the house, sleep in my bed or eat hob nobs with him but he is my pet.

And he is the least slobbery horse ever, he prefers cuddles to kisses ;)
 
I think if you are looking for evidence that you (or anybody) has a "bond" with a horse, look at those horses who don't.

There was a neglected cob in the last field I kept my pony at. Didn't see his owners from one week to the next, (if that) a situation that had been going on for at least a year.

Far as the pony was concerned, people meant only one thing food. Wasn't interested in you at all apart from food, didn't trust that you would give him food so was aggressive. If you tried to just stand and talk to him, he would bite.
Well if you aren't going to give him food what's the point of you?

It's sad to see.
 
I don't like the term either but I suppose it means that feeling of trust you get when you know a horse inside out and the horse knows you.
It's not something that I dwell on i can work with them whether or not I feel this special trust but it's nice when you get it.
 
I don't ever use the word bonding but it's when your horse knows you are his person.

He puts up with and even seems to like it when you kiss that lovely soft side of his muzzle.

He calls to you when you arrive at the yard

He comes to you with happiness in the field

He gets annoyed if your chatting when you are supposed to be doing something with him

He enjoys "hanging out" with you

Ok so I feed my horse a lot of treats but it works for me :D
 
I think its when you just know the horse inside out, what they are going to do without thinking about it and when it become less like riding and more just an extension of thought processes.

I have this with my Veteran, I know what hes gong to do before he does it and when im riding him for all the sore falls hes given me over the years when we are out and about either hacking, pleasure riding or common riding i dont have to think about riding him or aids, we just are :)
 
I'm not a fan of enforced bonding activities, but I think we all bond with our horses to some extent whether we like to call it that or not!

My mare is not overly cuddly, and I'm not too bothered depending on my mood as long as she looks vaguely happy to see me, which she does and usually comes to meet me when I go see her. She quite often comes over when I am poo picking and dozes or even lies down, I like that as I feel she trusts me to keep watch for her, and her little companion who she picks on (and I tell her off for doing so!).

I've only had her a few months and I feel she has started to look to me for confidence and respect me, and I feel quite ready to get cracking with ridden work, which makes me glad we didn't start off in the summer when I might have gotten impatient.
 
One of mine (the appy) is a miserable sod who doesn't like fussing, close contact or sheath cleaning. Attempt the latter and he'll knock ten bells of shetland out of you... but we have a mutual respect and we trust one another. He'll stop and wait if I fall off even if it's because he shied at a yapping german shepherd, he has my back and I have his, just no cuddling and absolutely no sheath cleaning. He knows what I'll accept and won't too, it's taken us 3yrs to get here but we made it and now I wouldn't swap him for the world.
 
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