Who's horses don't gallop joyfully to them when called?!

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A1fie

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Anyone else have horses that don't happily skip over to them when their name is called, or is it just mine?

I spent 3/4 hour last night in the dark and fog looking for my lad. I had a torch but it was useless because of the fog. I walked all around the perimeter of one massive field before realising that all the horses had gone through a gap into another huge field.

I then walked around the whole of the next field calling sweetly, rustling mints etc without any sight of him. By this time I was cold and miserable and because I had spent so long looking for him was determined to find him!

After I completed my lap I started walking up through the middle of the field and about half way up saw my lad who was standing head up, ears pricked, looking at me as if to say 'hello, what are you doing here? how nice to see you!'

He must have seen and heard me walking all around him and I just don't know what he was thinking. I think he must have thought that he should stay where he was until I found him!

This is just not a promising start to the winter! The girls at the yard will bring him for me earlier but I like him to stay out as long as possible.

I think I will have to start calling at the gate and if he doesn't come leave him and try again the next night. But I would love him to hear me and run joyously over to me! Anyone else the same?
 
Mine came running joyously over to me the other day. It was lovely- like something from a soppy horse film.


Then I remembered I had a haynet in my hand.

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Your horse is clearly not hungry enough! In the summer my mare will stand and stare at me as I walk all the way across the field to get her...in the winter she comes running to the gate at the mear sound of my voice, that is if she's not already waiting at the gate!
 
My boy does, although sometimes he has a sense of humour about it.. like last night.. all the horses were at the FAR corner of the 5 acre field on a hill.... I called.. and called... and called.... got fed up with waiting so started walking... got half way up the hill and Phoenix pelted past me at full gallop, screeching to a stop back at the gate and waited for me to get back down the hill!

hmmmppphhh
 
My horse doesn't gallop joyfully to me. I call him, he looks up, and wanders slowly over to me, meandering across the field, and stopping for several mouthfulls of grass on the way for sustinance. But he does always come to me, given time.
 
Mine do - although they are all waiting at the top for me anyway. It is nothing to do with the fact that they are on starvation grazing, and I bring feeds, hay and haylage - I am sure it is love alone.
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Mind you, if I turn up during the day unexpectedly, Chavpony screams with a pitch that would shatter glass and she and the other youngster run to me (but my old girl knows better
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Mine might trot over if I have a feed bucket in my hand, but if its a head collar he tries to ignore me.
Now he's started to come in at nights he's started hanging around the fence waiting for me but I still need to walk over to get him.
I also bring in my friend's horse some nights and he does gallop over - but only I suspect because he sees most of his friends have gone in.
 
In winter, if she isn't stood at the gate, she trots over making whinnying noises at me, bless her. Normally she is at the gate though.
In summer she will look up and watch me until I get up to her
 
all of my youngsters (owned since weanlings) come racing across to see me- no food involved either!!

my older horse who i bought when he was 10 just raises his head and watches me as i trek across the field to him
 
In the summer she isnt bothered at all! sometimes I feel like im dragging her in! but in the winter when she sees me she will call then come trotting over!
 
My boy doesn't gallop over more plods in a depressed "why did you leave me now can you please do my dinner!" way! My mare and shetland couldn't care less!!
 
I've had mine 12 years and he still doesn't make too much of an effort. He'll come to the gate because the others have, but will generally stay just where he is, thanks! And I have to kid him into being caught, with a couple of treats and approaching from the side, sidleing up to him - walk straight towards him and he's off! My OH says he's - well, lots of things! - but I reckon that having been born wild, and not leaving the moor until he was a yearling, he's still not convinced that humans are a good thing - 17 years old and still doubtful, gah!

The two year old which we bred never leaves you alone though, obviously over-socialised, hopefully a few months in a massive field with other youngsters will send her slightly feral!
 
when he knows he's coming in for dinner then my pony will call then gallop over its great for winter as my field is huge and pitch black so would be looking for hours!!! In the summer he will walk over to me but not so much gallop!!! Ponies are so fickle!!x
 
Mine will normally plod over to the gate to meet me, with her head down, looking a bit "Eeyore-ish". Unless it's raining, when she does an impression of "Eeyore in His Boggy Place" and pretends she's too cold to move. Or if she thinks I'm late and she should have been fed hours and hours ago, and she's starving and I am the worst owner in the world. Then she gallops joyfully to the gate, skids to a halt, and snorts at me until I put her headcollar on.

Sadly, she often thinks I'm late (late is 5 minutes after she would have liked to come in, so anything from lunchtime onwards depending on weather!), so we regularly have the "Oh my God, how many shoes has she got left" panic. Yes, it's nice that she comes to me, but I'd rather she did it at a sedate walk or sprightly trot. Not a flat out hoon with leaps and rears and bucks, followed by passage-ing all the way up the very steep hill and squealing at me to tell me I walk too slowly.
 
unfortunately mine does.....unfortunately because he will run at any other horse that gets in his way in the off chance that I might bring them in instead-which isn't great if other horses owner is at the gate!!!
 
Both do come wandering over, speed of this depends on how hungry. Very hungry and i get whinny and canter, sort of hungry is usually a sedate plod over. The gelding knows my car now and in winter stomps and squawks at the gate to let me know i'm late
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Monty ambles over at a snails pace if I'm early...............Weaves like a bitch in the corner if I'm late. Seriously, he has a nervous breakdown everytime I'm 15 minutes late!

Also, if ride Zoom in the morning, Monty will the bugger off and won't come for his breakfast. He will stand there until I'm about two feet away and then look suprised. 'Oh, you mean ME.....I thought you meant the other Monty, oh wait there isn't another Monty'.

It's punishment for me riding Zoomy. She on the otherhand always breaks into at least a trot
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Nope i don’t see it that they don’t like me that they are content in the field. The only time mine come to call is if they are hungry or there is something wrong, both mine have brought themselves to the gate when they had a cut.

I like the idea that they are not waiting for me.
 
My boy's paddock has a hedge splitting it halfway on a hill so I have to walk down the hill to the gap (at bottom of hedge) and then back up the hill where he will be waiting at the furthest point for me to catch him. He is a lazy g!t though!!
 
Mine sometimes comes when I call but usually waits until he can see me which means walking about 50 yards and round the corner (L shaped field). He then usually trots up to me and follows me back to the gate with no headcollar.

I'd love to say it was because he loves me, but I think it's because he's worked out no matter how quick he gets to the gate, he's got to wait for me to open it so he can get to his feed bucket so there's no point wasting energy and galloping up to it only to hang around for me to get there.
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He always waits for me to go before he walks away though - probably just making sure there really are no more carrots.

If the other horses are having a mad 5 minutes and I'm around he'll choose to stay with me rather than joining in, he even hides behind me if they get a bit close. Like I can protect him from 6 tons of galloping nutters.
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George doesn't, he always looks up and seems to look pleased, sometimes he meanders over if the mood takes him! But when I came back of my 2 week holiday, he looked up, whinnied and trotted over - he was like 'yeah the carrot lady is back'!!
 
I always call mine when I'm getting his headcollar from the storage (you can see the field from there) he'll throw his head up and depending on what mood he is in, he'll walk or trot to the corner where I just pop through the fence and get him. 9 times out of 10 he'll come to me...plus the other 2 who are in seperate fields.
 
mine did, when she was unhappy with the yard/field arrangement she'd be waiting for me at the gate and screech as soon as my car pulled up at dinner time. now she is happy she makes me go down to get her, but atleast shes happy.
 
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