Whats the most annoying thing your horse does?

[Vickijay]

Hi,

So I am now fully in love with my baby x racehorse project pony (who was meant to be sold but isnt going anywhere!!) She is the far right one of my sig.

I am obsessed about riding her, she is just awesome. We went to our first dressage where she came 2nd and won!!!! She came 3rd in a young dressage horse qualifier. She is turning out to be amazing at jumping and is quite obsessed. We went XC schooling for the 3rd time and even popped some pre novice jumps and 1 or 2 novice fences!!! She is just brilliant and is such a lovely mare on the ground. I feel very lucky to have her.

But I also dislike her, its more annoying things, like she is stressy in the field, she isnt very good at eating and when shes excited she shakes....alot!!

Now its not a big problem. She is happy and healthy and I do expect her to get better with age and experience and tbh even if she never does I would forgive her those things and so much more as shes so mega to ride.

But it got me wondering.....

What do you put up with from your horses just because you love riding them?? Whats their good points Vs bad???

Then Ill know it is not just me!!!!

Vicki x

 

[kez1001]

i read your post and had to reply!
everything about mine is annoying at the moment lol thats her issue! She is 10 and raced til she was 6 and at this time of the year when the grass comes in she is a nitemare! wont eat, charges off and spooks at everything in the arena, cant concentrate and basically seems a pile of nerves, bless her!
though come mid july its like she exhales! she chills out and concentrates again! very very frustrating when you are trying to get the competition season started!
but when shes good shes very good! loads of scope, very brave xc and careful at sj! nice paces in the DR too! so other than she has rotten feet, she is just a typical chesnut TB mare! lol :L

 

[JustMe22]

Another ex-racer here

Start with the good things. Heheh..he has lovely big paces for DR, plenty of scope over jumps. He's never struggled really with soundness. On a good day he'll jump anything off any stride. Aaaand he's just awesome I love him to death..really really do, he's fantastic.

THe bad points. He's got a rear. And a bronc impression..and has a weird ability to spin/twist at the same time, whilst fly leaping. On stubborn days he'll stop/run out of jumps randomly just to test me, and can literally stop in mid air. About a month ago he came up to a jump..didn't stop, but didn't jump either. Just demolished the whole fence, fell over, and scared himself half to death. Oooh..and if I'm honest, he tends to kick out with his back legs or strike with the front ones whilst rearing in hand if something scares him.
But as bad as that sounds, he's much better..that behaviour is getting less and less common. My uncle managed to get three photos a while ago which half show what he gets up to

 

[shivpryke]

just reading that has made me feel so much more normal.
do you ever wonder if its jus u that has that effect on horses!
i love my horses to bits otherwise i would've brought a different one by now.
hes lovely, reli gd dressage paces, placed or wins every time out but then spooks in 3 different places at nothing in an arena he's been in lots and things he's gone past 100 times.
jumping he will do grids or jus poles all day long but then stop at a trotting pole or fence wiv a filler. yet he jumped 4'6 in puissance wiv scope to burn.
xc he will do drops, water fine, not too bad wiv ditches but will stop at a plain log he's jumped 100x before or tyres, a plain fence!
sometimes i really wish i cud get into their head. . . . then again i'm sure he'd b saying who's this silly girl trying to make me jump this! i'll chuck her off!
oh yeh forgot 2 mention the ultra quick spin he does away from the jump. 17.1hh is a long way to fall!

 

[NicoleS_007]

another exracer hehe we got him as a 4yr hes now 7 ... well i just love him to bits best horse EVER nice wee jumper and is now schooling elementary dressage

But he is a nappy bugger to hack alone, when hes very fresh he will buck vertically, h8s xc reared and fell once lol and the most annoying thing is that he grinds his teeth when you groom him oh and he will bite :/ but i hope to keep him until the end

 

[leanne1988]

Bad bits: My mare bites, has no stable or ground manners, doesnt really enjoyed being groomed, hates being stabled!! does not like being tied up & 'left alone' even for a second...is a nightmare when she is in season, spooks at anything, hates drains, milestones & alpacas! has serious ponytude! Will jump & barge through any type of fencing, and then gorge herself silly on anything that is in her path!

Good things: she is amazing to ride, I feel 100% safe on her - even when she plays up! great to hack & jump, behaves brillantly when out at shows, she really enjoys them, she puts her all into it, bless her. Loads & travels well, perfect to shoe etc...great on the road (unless she is in season). she is very vocal, we always have a good old 'natter'! - she is such a funny character. She has taught me how to be (very very VERY) patience! and always makes me smile.

 

[Vickijay]

Its nice to know that other people feel this way too!!! Although Im slightly saddened to see its mostly x racers!!!!

Those are pretty impressive pictures Justme!! Naughty pony!!

 

[Stoxx]

What's the most annoying thing about my horse?

There is constantly something wrong with him!

Other than that... if and when I can ride him, he is stunning, moves beautifully has a fabulous attitude and has the potential to go to the top. That's IF I can ever ride him!!

 

[ironhorse]

Ha! Where do I start?! Well, stopping and weeing when within 20m of any male horse for 7 days every month is pretty annoying. She has a marble inserted, but looks like its not working and I've got to go back to spending £150 a go on Regumate
She also bites and if x-tied to stop her biting squeals and cow kicks if you groom her or rug her up.
Oh and she's got this great F*** off expression often accompanied by a cow kick if you ask her to do something she's not keen on
But on the upside, she tries so hard at everything you ask her to do, is a wonderful horse to take to a show, has bags of stamina and is very beautiful. and she's never dull!
(not an x-racer, an American Quarter Horse!)

 

[lillie07]

I own my dream horse, he is amazing on the ground and amazing to ride. His only downside is his list of ailments and lameness issues!

 

[dieseldog]

Mine isn't an ex-racer - but does have a bit of TB blood - maybe that is the problem. She is very well behaved to handle but once you get on her she is a 12.2 trapped in a 16.2 body. Remember when you were a kid and you really wished your naughty little awesome pony could grow a few hands so you could keep it - that's her and it isn't always fun. The only time she is not a PIA is actually in the ring - every where else And to draw attention to her bad behaviour she breathes very loudly.

 

[JVB]

Good - very talented and a sweetie
Bad - Spooks all the time

 

[CrazyMare]

I love mine to bits, but she is a pain to catch - The current record is FIVE DAYS.

I've had her 10 years and shes always been the same, shes 18 now, and I doubt she will ever change!

 

[MagicMelon]

There's very little wrong with my boy (I'm extremely lucky I know!). He's slightly quirky but the only thing that is slightly annoying is going to the XC start box - he will ALWAYS suddenly turn round to face the wrong way and refuse to turn round again! He's always done it but normally he will soon get back round the right way, however two outings ago he really did refuse to turn round to go into the start box as they started to count down!! I was panicking but as soon as they got down to 5 seconds to go, he seemed to realise this and instantly whipped round and through the start box. Its not a nappy thing as he is not nappy at all, its just his little anxiety thing (when he's round the wrong way, he like steps from foot to foot). He adores his XC and shoots out of the start box fast enough!

 

[RomanyMayday]

My hose rides like a dream and usually doesn't put a foot wrong .. However its a different story in the stable! She bites and constantly pulls faces and is a totally different horse!

 

[RuthnMeg]

My mare is amazing to ride, I can even laugh at her when she spooks at 'pale patches, upside down leaves and drain covers' - she will walk past the biggest scariest tractor combination going!
BUT she is a pain for the farrier, she fidgets and barges through you and has the look of 'don't want my nails done today,- f off'. I can't tie her up either, but it really is a small price to pay for a superb ride.

 

[goldengryffindor]

Good points: moves really nicely and has a fantastic character on the ground, i also enjoy riding him ... most of the time.

Bad Points: stupidly spooky sometimes, can be rather frustrating when he is in one of his stressy moods.

 

[stacey_lou]

I love my mare to bits, she dosen't really do anything to annoy me just silly little things which she just needs to learn.

She is polite in the stable, when grooming, when actually in the horse box, well behaved at shows and always trys her hardest.
She trys to wind me up when I ask her to come forward to the horse box, if she decides that this is the day she wants to mess around she will rear about 2 or 3 times to get a reaction and when she dosent get one shell behave and load thats annoying beacuse its pointless lol but other than that I have nothing to moan at her about.oh shes a gannett and is always after food lol

 

[Firewell]

My old horse (Tb Mare!) was quite annoying. She was a pain in the arse for the farrier and could be very stressy to handle. E.g if she was the last one left in her stable or fields she would go bonkers and get herself in a right state. She was just generally very highly strung and required a lot of tact and patience! If she had a cut that needed cleaning forget it. Her little pins would come flying at you in all directions! She needed sedation once so the vet could hibiscrub a tiny piece of mudfever! Like your mare she was brilliant to ride, brave and genuine. I never fell off her and she always kept me safe, even when she was bouncy and fresh.

current horse is very very easy. To jump and school and handle and do everything with, he is a chilled dude. You can leave him in his stable while all the others go out and he won't even look up from his feed bucket.
The only annoying thing is that he can be a bit spooky to hack especially alone. He's not spooky with objects or spooky things but with invisible noises! He will supposedly *hear* something and either shoot off at a million miles an hour with his gob open or he will whip round and dart off in the opposite direction, again with his gob open! I think its just a youngster insecurity thing because he is getting better. I anticipate his spins now and I usually catch him before he does it. He will pause and then decide against it! He'll trot forwards with his head and tail in the air, snorting instead

 

[dibbin]

Dylan likes to wind himself up for no apparent reason, spoiling perfectly good rides and he has recently developed a habit of headbutting me when I try to groom the right side of his neck. Freak.

 

[KatB]

Mine is spooky, opinionated (if left in her stable when she thinks she shouldn't be, she will run backwards bucking) incredibly sharp, and can be grumpy.

However, I absolutely adore her. She is affectionate, clever, and incredibly single minded. Once she has worked out and accepted what you want her to do, she tries her hardest to do it for you. It's just getting her to accept it without arguement thats the issue She also thinks she is a JA pony, so is SO much fun to jump

 

[AandK]

absolutely love, love, love my boy to bits BUT he can be such a spooky tit sometimes it does drive me mad.. especially show jumping!! plus he is accident prone too - the joys of having a TB!
aside from that, he is the easiest horse to do, so laid back, very clever and such a lovely person and i love riding him, he is great fun XC and is also a very honest horse to jump - good job when he has me as a jockey!! he generally has a fan club where ever he goes as he is such a dude

 

[milliepops]

I love my mare to bits, there aren't many things that are annoying about her. I wish she would let me fuss her sometimes though She's a bit too independent I have to get my cuddles off her field companion!

I think I annoy myself more tbh - she knows how to push my buttons sometimes when we're in the school and I just have to learn not to let her! It's all in the mind

 

[ecrozier]

Lol, like this thread!
My older boy, there isn't much he does thats annoying tbh, he's awesome to ride (well suits me totally anyway). He's also lovely to handle but can eb naughty to catch! Eventually lets me get him either with a scoop of food or by catching my youngster - then he feels left out and comes charging over to the gate whinneying!

Youngster - again really quite good to handle, spends a LOT of time begging with a foreleg tho which often send his feed bowl flying, which is annoying. I also gets very bargey and stroppy for the vet or anyone who wants to do anything with his mane! Got a real issue over his neck which is going tohave to be dealt with as will need to plait at some point!

 

[_Rach_]

Twizzy is just a little monkey, super fun to ride when she is listening and busy. If I start to think everything is going well, she will spook and go nutts!!!. If you jump a fence and then put a filler under it she will jump the fence as if she has never seen one before, but if the filler is there all the time she wont even bother about it.
She runs her teeth up and down the mental on her stable door, outside her stable

& on the jockey door in the trailer.

But I LOVE her
Shes great

 

[frostie652]

the only thing that is slightly annoying is going to the XC start box - he will ALWAYS suddenly turn round to face the wrong way and refuse to turn round again!

could you not stand the wrong way around in the box in the first place? then hed point himself the right way?
hehe thats the kinda brilliant thing id decide to do, get really wierd looks for it, and then feel quite dissapointed when my genious idea didnt work

 

[Alibear]

He occasionally teleports, no idea how he goes it but quick as a blink either we're both many feet away from where we were and accelerating fast, or I'm sat on my derriere and can see him at the opposite end of the school still gaining speed.

He very good at home but feels the need to teleport more often away from home.

Apart from that's he's a total sweet heart a doddle in hand, bath, load, shoe etc clipping is OK but a work in progress as he's only been done 3 times in his life.

 

[vam]

At the moment he drives me nuts by standing still. He will just plant him self and not move unless someone gives him a poke up the backside. Not ideal when you on your own and he wont walk though a gate.
I think it is a bit of an insecurity thing as he will now walk from the field with out stopping every 5 seconds. If i bring in another horse with him he will either keep stopping or walk so close behind them he's got their tail on his head. It drives me crackers!
He can also be a bit spooky when riding easily solved by a few pony club kicks when he stops and wont go near some thing. Its a shame its always the same log or branch
Oh and scrapping in the mornings when he wants to go out, except he knows its wrong so he does 1 scrape then stops looking like nothing has happened.
Other than that he's not to bad really,

 

[vallin]

Loving this thread...and mine definitely is not an ex-racer...though the vet did once ask me if she was...not 100% on his sanity given the mahooosive belly and clear lack of any TB in her! lol
So anywho onto the point of this post.

Good Points: She loves XC and jumping and providing I'm not being a numpty will clear any thing I ask her too, and providing she is in the right mood will ride a semi-respectable dressage test. Will also hack out alone and in company, again providing she's in the right mood
Bad points (of which there are considerably more!): Absolutely trashes the stable and bed within 5 minutes of being in it, pisses all over the yard every time she comes in (regardless of time of year), if she doesn't want to do something you have no hope of her doing it (hence <50% dressage score on our first outing ), and she likes to throw me into buses when she's having a nappy moment and thinks spinning, mini-rearing and bolting in the opposite direction is oodles of fun! Oh and also not being caught and jumping electric fencing is great fun...

...remind me why I still have her again?

 

[Django Pony]

I love this thread! It's all too easy to assume that everyone else's horse is perfect and it's just you that has problems!

I &#9829;&#9829;&#9829; LOVE &#9829;&#9829;&#9829;Jasper to pieces, he's really good to handle, loves being fussed over and groomed. He enjoys anything that will make him look nice - farrier, clipping, bathing, plaiting etc. and even lets me hair-dryer his hairy legs!! He is a lovely forward going ride, and is very comfortable. He comes when called and will follow me around. He loves a cuddle and is really soppy!

On the down side he is very one-sided (stiff on right rein) and hasn't done much schooling so gets confused and bucks if he's not sure what to do or objects to what is being asked of him. It's difficult to get him to try new things, but once he's done it once he picks things up really quickly. He's also broken to harness so he finds canter difficult, he just trots faster! He can also spook over nothing.

Having said all that I wouldn't change him, it'd be boring if he was perfect and there was nothing to work on! He's done me so much good, as he's forced me to think about me and the way I ask things of him. It has to be super clear to help him out.