What does "quirky" mean to you?

[PolarSkye]

Kali has been described as "quirky" . . . he takes a while to trust the rider, he's quite sensitive and insecure, under saddle he has the attention span of a gnat and he does require a certain amount of "iron fist in a velvet glove" . . . if you rattle him up or are too aggressive or full on with him, he just shuts down, but if he gets even a smidge of an idea that you are a soft touch he tries it on and will walk all over you. Although he can go beautifully once he trusts the rider, he isn't a particularly easy horse to get on side. Every person I've let sit on him has used the Q word to describe the experience - even though he hasn't done anything particularly naughty (most of the time).

He's quirky on the ground too . . . he is the nosiest horse I have EVER met - everything has to be investigated, sniffed, picked up, turned over, chucked, etc. I can't leave ANYthing in his stable - he will chew/play with/chuck it out of his box. At a previous yard his stable happened to have anti-weave bars . . . he developed a great game of picking up the centre grill (the bit hanging down) in his teeth, letting it go and a) really enjoying the satisfying sound it made; and b) watching it rock . . . repeat ad infinitum. We removed the grill. He has chewed every headcollar he owns. If I leave rugs either on his wall or on his door he plays with them (shakes them with his teeth or sucks them) and then as a final flourish tosses them onto the floor outside his stable. Feed skips left in his box get similar treatment. At our first yard we had lockers built into the stable - I quickly learned to keep the door shut otherwise he would systematically empty the locker - just grab and toss . . . buckets, first aid supplies, mugs, boots, spare girths, my hat - you name it. I mistakenly left my hat hanging outside his box one night - came back the next morning to find he had played football with it and removed most of the velvet. At our first yard the grooms used to leave spare bales of shavings on top of the locker in his stable (so within reach for Kal, but definitely a stretch) - they had to stop doing that when Kal started taking the bales down, opening them (with what I don't know) and spreading the contents around his stable. Given a hay bar full of hay or haylage, he will treat it like a large toy and systematically empty it by tossing (and I do mean tossing) all of the hay/haylage over his shoulder. When given his hard feed he alternates between lifting up his right fore (like he's begging) and kicking out with his left hind (although I can stand right behind him and he won't kick me) - we call this his dinner dance.

To me, he is quirky . . . but not insane or dangerous (and I've heard the euphemism used in that way). What does the word mean to you?

Just curious.

P

 

[Toffee44]

I think samba is quirky. She neighs all the time at me, the tractor, the dog, the cows, my car turning up. She won't get her precious toes wet on hacks but happily splashes about in the stream in her field. I am the only person who can catch her without a head collar. We race each other to the stable but sometimes other peoplewont be able to get her in without her flying backwards. She carries plastic chairs about the yard. She loves the feel of the clippers on her muzzle yet I can't clip her neck lol. Can't leave stuff in stable goes every where! Is that what you mean? She's hackney x Welsh

 

[be positive]

Kal sounds rather intelligent, possibly also quirky, but he obviously has the need to use his brain and enjoys getting a reaction when he finds a new "game". He probably has never really been stretched in his ridden work, from what I can remember of previous posts, you have had various issues with him and this has meant he finds other ways to channel his energy.

Most of the horses and ponies in my yard have quirks or odd traits, I think of it as personality one nods his head waiting for his feed, if I am slow this builds up to squeals and mini rears as if he is half starved, there are door kickers, bucket throwers, rug trashers, but not his own just his neighbours.
I have one that likes to make a wet mud patch in the field then roll in it, he gets so muddy it is difficult to find the rug, then looks at me as if it is my fault he is uncomfortable.
Ridden I think all horses are different and have preferences, riding many types I never expect them to go in the same way, but basic manners are not negotiable. Often the more they do the less quirky they become as they are stretched more mentally.

 

[WandaMare]

Quirky to me means a horse with an interesting and slightly amusing character, not straightforward and takes a bit of getting to know.......not nasty or unwilling, worth perservering with & will form a special bond with an owner who takes the trouble to understand and appreciate the horse's unique character.....

Personally I love quirky mares

 

[Shantara]

To me, it means "can be silly, but not dangerous if you know what you're doing"
Ned is certainly that. Had I not fallen in love with him and taken the time to really get to know his quirky behaviour, I'm sure I would be terrified of riding him. I don't get along with many quirky horses, in fact I rather like plods with an 'extra gear'. Meaning, I like slow and steady rides, but ones where I can also blast across the fields and know they'll come back.

 

[JFTDWS]

My youngster's quirky. He stalks visiting horses and jumps out of the field for no apparent reason

Quirky is like "not a novice ride" - means many things to many people - sometimes an excuse for poor schooling, sometimes an indicator of intelligence, sometimes an indicator of psychopathy...

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

I think Harvey is quirky. It doesn't help he has been mistreated at some point in his past.
To ride he needs to be kept interested and is capable of going well if he's in the mood. Jumping he will have days when he jumps everything first time others when everything is scary. There are some fillers he will not jump. Last week for example he jumped all the high x poles first time yet the week before he hated them. Yet he suddenly stopped at a simple upright yet was on good stride.
Like above posters you can't be aggressive with him yet if you mollycoddle him he becomes more hysterical.
Some days he decides he won't go out (he's on part livery and they do turn out in the morning) and they can't catch him as he will spin and snort. I can always catch him in stable though. Other days he won't be caught in the field.
He also likes pulling all his rugs off the wall and burrying them.
He is also scared of random items eg his hair on the floor after I've trimmed his legs, bits of mud in the road, a divot in the field.
However agree with the above and he is not nasty in any way and has never shown aggression.

 

[Bikerchickone]

Quirky to me means some strange habits but nothing nasty or dangerous, although if I saw it in an advert I might be a tiny bit wary lol! A horse I used to share dunked all her hay in her automatic water drinker before eating each mouthful. I'd call that quirky, mind you it was never fun unblocking the blasted things!!

 

[Javabb94]

Kal sounds a bit like my horse!

He has been described as quirky too.
He is extremely nosy and stares at everything, in fact he stares even when there is nothing to stare at!
After riding i normally leave saddle bridle and headcollar etc over fence whilst I make their teas etc and he takes the headcollar and dumps it on the floor he as tried to chew the saddle (its new and expensive!) so that's quite annoying and he plays with the bridle.
We left his rug over the fence and he pulled it down, dragged it to the muddiest part of the field and started stamping all over it in the mud! Horse was not in the good books.....

When ridden he is very spooky, eg he can ride past the same tree everyday and then one day decide it's to scary! Although he doesn't spook when hacking??? Only in the field.
He whinnies

 

[Javabb94]

Phone wouldn't let me finish..

He whinnied at everything and at shows he takes a particular fancy to any grey horse and tries to nap to them even if he has never met them!

Inside his stable is a door to our tack room and if we close it to he continually keeps opening it
He has a habit of licking people to ???
And he doesn't box very well either
Definately quirky!

 

[POLLDARK]

Quirky to me means a horse that is a thinker, sometimes coming up with strange answers, but an intelligent animal.

 

[noblesteed]

Yep I have a quirky horse. He is half spanish which I believe causes him to be rather unusual! He is very intelligent and sensitive but also can be sharp and difficult, takes a very patient and understanding person to get to know him. He is fabulous to ride but will try every evasion in the book. Once he trusts his rider he will go anywhere and do anything, but if his rider shows any area of weakness they will be exploited, he will spook, buck, nap, snatch, evade contact etc etc. I find people either love him or hate him, as do other horses! He is always getting bitten in his field but continues to wind up the others. In many ways he comes across as mildly autistic. He is also very friendly, affectionate and loyal and would never hurt anyone deliberately, though he may squash or headbutt the less aware humans!

i would say a quirky horse is not a first horse, is a 1-1 horse, requires consistent handling, is not completely reliable in competitions although talented, and often has had several owners!!!! I bought my horse at 9 as his 4th owner since being broken by his breeder... So were I to ever sell him I would have to be VERY careful about who I sold him to, so as to ensure his welfare.

 

[jeeve]

we have a few quirkies, they have their moments, these kind of horses can get sold on quickly, but if you can handle their differences, or odd moments they can be gems.

Our grey mare - when we first bought her home just reared and napped, in the end we left her to settle and started again with her about 6 months later, she is a great kids pony, but she still reverts to rearing and napping when she has an occasional moment

Our gelding can get very stallion like in his behaviour and a bit protective about his mares. he lays down while he is being ridden, if he is having a druther moment, and also can exit a show jumping arena mid round to get back to his friends, my son has worked with all this and now they have a great partnership, but it took about 18 months and lots of patience

You have to want to live with their quirks I think, but both ponies perform and win at jumping, eventing and sporting events, plus the kids have a lot of fun at home puddling around on them

 

[Pocket_Rocket]

Quirky = Psycho!!

Only kidding! My Andalusian gelding is most definately quirky he needs a very quiet and understanding rider. But once he's learnt to trust his rider he is amazing will do anything for me it just took time to build a bond and trust each other. I like steady safe horses generally but I would never say I feel unsafe on my boy though he could become dangerous in the wrong hands I'm sure. He's one of those horses that is very quick off the mark but I can read him well before he has a chance to be silly e.g. attempting to take off for home! Lol equally he is so tuned into me it's amazing if I think trot he's already trotting, etc. The down side is that he can very easily be taught bad habits with out you realising so I have to be a step ahead all the time but he's fab live him to bits never ever ridden a horse like him. He's out of work at the moment as he decided to hang himself in his stable back in November really miss riding him but I'm just do lucky to have him hopefully be back in the saddle soon x

 

[ThePony]

Wow, you have just described my mare to a t!!!!

Others describe her as quirky too. She is mega safe on one hand, but she isn't above shamelessly taking the mick and depositing a rider that has rubbed her up the wrong way! Iron fist in velvet glove describes the approach you need to make with her absolutly perfectly. She isn't easy to get a tune out of, but has everything in there! I would disagree with the above poster that suggets such 'character' is down to not being challenged in their work. Def not the reason in our case. We think she just has a pony brain!! Too many brains, and not enough compunction to always use them for good!

I was suprised when people described her as quirky as is so many ways she is wonderfully safe, I guess I hadn't looked at the careful approach you have to take with her. You do have to be very careful that you don't inadvertantly teach a wrong lesson though as she picks things up very quickly. Eg, she often has a mentalist in the lunge pen similar to another poster mentioned recently. If after she stopped I called an end to the lunge session then you could bet your bottom dollar that she would pull it out of the bag every time she wanted done with lunging! Instead you just have to wait for her to finish and then work her exactly as planned, no less because she has tired herself out with bad behaviour, no more because she has been bad and you want to use tiredness as punishment. Just very calmly carry on - though she does push you and make it hard sometimes to keep your cool, she does reward you with lovely work too!!

I think quirky can be used in so many ways, much like 'not novice ride'. Always needs further explanation I think!

 

[FanyDuChamp]

OMG Kali sounds very much like Captain, he is definitely "quirky". To me it is a horse that is intelligent, who has opinions and who has a definite, strong personality.

Caps is mega intelligent but more importantly is a problem solver, if he accidentally finds the answer to a problem, he will remember and use that knowledge later applying it to other situations. He has very definite opinions and you are allowed to hear about them! He has a defined sense of humour and very definite ideas, for example he will not turn out in the winter, if you turn him out he will remove the gate and bring himself in, he learned how to do that by accident and now does it when he sees fit! So now he has learned how to open his kicklock, he has always know how to open his sprung lock safety bolt! He lives in an American style barn and has taken to letting himself out and wandering the barn, but not leaving it, remember he doesn't turn out in winter? He will stick his head out of the door to watch you though! He is now tied into his stable door, but has already unknotted the rope once. However he can't reach the kick lock rope, yet. That to me is quirky.

He is the nosiest and most curious horse I have ever met, he lulls people into thinking he likes them but actually all he is doing is being nosey, once he has them sussed he will often completely ignore them. Everything has to go into his mouth to be explored, everything. And God help you if you ignore him!

If you are interested Parelli have the Horseanality test.(I do not believe in everything they do but have found this extremely accurate for my 2 neds) which confirmed what I thought that most "quirky" horses are left brained extroverts.
http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/horsenality-horses/

ETA Caps is now more or less retired, but he has worked all his life as a Pro CDE/ carriage horse and as a ridden horse, so is not down to boredom. He has always been like this! Caps is also an extremely sharp and sensitive ride, prefering only to be ridden by my daughter,he is a rearer and will do so if upset. But the thing that makes him most quirky is his extreme intelligence, you have always to take it into account.

FDC

 

[PolarSkye]

OMG Kali sounds very much like Captain, he is definitely "quirky". To me it is a horse that is intelligent, who has opinions and who has a definite, strong personality.

Caps is mega intelligent but more importantly is a problem solver, if he accidentally finds the answer to a problem, he will remember and use that knowledge later applying it to other situations. He has very definite opinions and you are allowed to hear about them! He has a defined sense of humour and very definite ideas, for example he will not turn out in the winter, if you turn him out he will remove the gate and bring himself in, he learned how to do that by accident and now does it when he sees fit! So now he has learned how to open his kicklock, he has always know how to open his sprung lock safety bolt! He lives in an American style barn and has taken to letting himself out and wandering the barn, but not leaving it, remember he doesn't turn out in winter? He will stick his head out of the door to watch you though! He is now tied into his stable door, but has already unknotted the rope once. However he can't reach the kick lock rope, yet. That to me is quirky.

He is the nosiest and most curious horse I have ever met, he lulls people into thinking he likes them but actually all he is doing is being nosey, once he has them sussed he will often completely ignore them. Everything has to go into his mouth to be explored, everything. And God help you if you ignore him!

If you are interested Parelli have the Horseanality test.(I do not believe in everything they do but have found this extremely accurate for my 2 neds) which confirmed what I thought that most "quirky" horses are left brained extroverts.
http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/horsenality-horses/

ETA Caps is now more or less retired, but he has worked all his life as a Pro CDE/ carriage horse and as a ridden horse, so is not down to boredom. He has always been like this! Caps is also an extremely sharp and sensitive ride, prefering only to be ridden by my daughter,he is a rearer and will do so if upset. But the thing that makes him most quirky is his extreme intelligence, you have always to take it into account.

FDC

Caps and Kali DO sound alike. Will go and look at the horsenality thing but the thing that does confuse me is that I wouldn't describe Kal as an extrovert . . . he can be quite insecure in certain circumstances (being left in the field without company . . . even if there are still horses out in fields either side of him, for instance). He is definitely a quick study . . . like you I have to be very careful what lessons I inadvertently teach him - he has a loooooong memory. Kali can also be very sharp and is also a rearer if rattled up too much (I've always attributed this partly to having been ridden harshly in draw reins in the past - left him with nowhere to go but up) . . . he has an impressive scar right behind his left ear/on his poll so I imagine he's done it before and hurt himself.

However, if you get him on-side and he trusts you, he will do ANYthing for you . . . he makes me smile every day, even when he's being his usual individual self. I found out this morning that he's learned how to open and shut the window in his stable . . . he's only been at this particular yard since Saturday! You have to pull a catch down vertically and then pull the top of the window towards you . . . shutting it is easy - that's just a shove with a nose, but I watched him open it this morning. Wonder how long he's been working on that one?

Is Caps also quite vocal? Kali is one of the most talkative horses I've ever met . . . it's like you said about "voicing his opinion" . . . he does like to get his point across and will not only use his body and his face but his voice too.

Interesting to read about all these quirky horses. To be honest, if Kali's ad had said "quirky" I would have assumed "nutjob" and would have ruled him out straight away. As it is, even though I've had a steep learning curve with him, I wouldn't be without him. As my instructor has said to me more than once, if he were straightforward (as straightforward as horses can be) I'd probably be bored.

P

 

[PolarSkye]

Wow, you have just described my mare to a t!!!!

Others describe her as quirky too. She is mega safe on one hand, but she isn't above shamelessly taking the mick and depositing a rider that has rubbed her up the wrong way! Iron fist in velvet glove describes the approach you need to make with her absolutly perfectly. She isn't easy to get a tune out of, but has everything in there! I would disagree with the above poster that suggets such 'character' is down to not being challenged in their work. Def not the reason in our case. We think she just has a pony brain!! Too many brains, and not enough compunction to always use them for good!

I was suprised when people described her as quirky as is so many ways she is wonderfully safe, I guess I hadn't looked at the careful approach you have to take with her. You do have to be very careful that you don't inadvertantly teach a wrong lesson though as she picks things up very quickly. Eg, she often has a mentalist in the lunge pen similar to another poster mentioned recently. If after she stopped I called an end to the lunge session then you could bet your bottom dollar that she would pull it out of the bag every time she wanted done with lunging! Instead you just have to wait for her to finish and then work her exactly as planned, no less because she has tired herself out with bad behaviour, no more because she has been bad and you want to use tiredness as punishment. Just very calmly carry on - though she does push you and make it hard sometimes to keep your cool, she does reward you with lovely work too!!

I think quirky can be used in so many ways, much like 'not novice ride'. Always needs further explanation I think!

Yes, this is Kali . . . interesting isn't it? I was very surprised by how many people described Kal as quirky - I hadn't seen him that way - to me he was just full of personality (which I like).

P

 

[PolarSkye]

Yep I have a quirky horse. He is half spanish which I believe causes him to be rather unusual! He is very intelligent and sensitive but also can be sharp and difficult, takes a very patient and understanding person to get to know him. He is fabulous to ride but will try every evasion in the book. Once he trusts his rider he will go anywhere and do anything, but if his rider shows any area of weakness they will be exploited, he will spook, buck, nap, snatch, evade contact etc etc. I find people either love him or hate him, as do other horses! He is always getting bitten in his field but continues to wind up the others. In many ways he comes across as mildly autistic. He is also very friendly, affectionate and loyal and would never hurt anyone deliberately, though he may squash or headbutt the less aware humans!

i would say a quirky horse is not a first horse, is a 1-1 horse, requires consistent handling, is not completely reliable in competitions although talented, and often has had several owners!!!! I bought my horse at 9 as his 4th owner since being broken by his breeder... So were I to ever sell him I would have to be VERY careful about who I sold him to, so as to ensure his welfare.

Everything you've written above describes Kal . . . I'm not sure I could ever sell him as I'd be too worried whoever took him on wouldn't understand him or take the time with him and he'd get passed around even more. It's not that I'm particularly special - I've had lots of help with him - but I feel like I know him so well now and know how to handle him. You made me smile with your description of your boy unwittingly squashing and/or headbutting less aware humans - that's Kal. I don't think he does it deliberately, I just think he's not aways aware where he is in relation to other people/things. I can always sense when he's about to suddenly swing over now and correct him with a simple "stand" command, but if I don't stay on top of him, he can totally forget his "manners."

P

 

[Puzzles]

To me, 'quirky' means a funny little habit or character trait that a horse has, that might be inconvenient or annoying or a little risky at times, but is in no way a vice or otherwise dangerous. I love quirks - the quirkier, the better for me!

 

[ellie_e]

Kal sounds just like Zu to ride and on the ground, he chews, holds, shakes, bites anything and everything!! When ridden only now after almost 1yr has he just started to trust me when riding and get any sort of decent work out of him! Ive been told by many that the 'decent' 'clever' horses are quirky!

 

[kaiko]

I have one of these!!

He's a pleasure and an embarassment at times. When he's good, he's soooo good and when he's bad, he's a pain in the arse. *cue spilt head last weekend as he forgot i was there and span round knocking me head first into concrete!* Thankfully my instructor sees his potential (and rides him occassionally which is good for him and me as i see what he is capable of) and his sweet moments always win me over.

Quirky is hard work but never boring My boyfriend says all my animals are so maybe it's me!!!