I know my horse loves (loffs!) me 'cause...

[mvp]

While I'm grooming him, he points his left front toe when I get around to that leg. It's bait. When I move my body around to face his head more or leas and bend down to brush the leg, I take the bait and then he grooms my back.

Yours?

[Fixerupper]

My horse loves me for food :lol:

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[00Jumper]

When I leave her in the crossties to dry after a workout, I put her cooler on, make sure she'll be toasty, and head either to the tackroom to clean my tack or the ring to help with jumps in the lesson. When I come back, she zeroes in on me and whinnies. When I get close enough, she starts blowing in my hair and nibbling, ears up the whole time. It's very much a "Where have you BEEN?!" response. :lol: Of course then she gets pats and love and maybe a little handful of that delicious Senior Feed that she is oh-so addicted to (she went through withdrawal when we switched her off of it back to regular sweet feed after her colic surgery - she would sniff the sweet, lip at it, and then eat the Senior around it. If given straight sweet, she would sulk.). :D Spoiled, maybe a little, but she knows who's doing the spoiling, so it's all right with me. :winkgrin:

[amastrike]

My gelding often nickers when I come in the barn. I pretend this is because he's happy to see me for me, and not because he wants to go outside and he knows I'll be putting him out. Although, even that is a bonus.. he used to not like being outside and would beg to come in after an hour or two. Now he LOVES being out and I usually have to go hunt him down.

I've been busy the past few days and the extent of me seeing him has been doing his stall, giving him his beet pulp, and leaving. While doing his stall today (with him in it), he was practically on top of me the entire time (trying to eat the cord for my headphones :rolleyes: --but we'll pretend he wanted to cuddle). Which was endearing for about 3 minutes, but I got sick of accidentally whacking him in the head with the pitchfork and made him leave me along. I miss cuddling with my pony :( .

[HalfArabian]

He always lets me catch him!:D(I have just jinxed myself) He calls to me. He will come when called. He does 99% of what I ask him. He used to(when at other farm) run up to the gate when I drove down the driveway.(either in my car or my truck).

Karen

[IslandGirl]

He literally gives me a kiss on the lips when I ask him "do you love me?" :yes:

[Noctis]

Because when I get to the barn Shiver starts screaming and runs up to me! And its not even when she eats! woohoo! Might be the grooming though...filly is addicted to the curry!

[2boys]

When I read your title, my first thought was "Oh of course, because I scratch their itches!" So I am with the OP. I can't muck my paddock without two of them standing on top of each poop, hoping for-no demanding a scratch. :winkgrin:

[Creaghgal]

my horsiekins whickers every day when I take his bridle off the hook and go to put it on.

[Proud To Be Spotted]

She calls to me every time I walk out the back door. Of course I am the "food lady".

[Angela Freda]

As he eats his nightly alfalfa mash I bring him, he has to get a kiss on the cheek from me ever 3rd or 4th bite... he keeps lifting his nose out of the feed tub, turns towards me and does that nose forward not-quite-a-nudge in my general direction thing that says 'Oh good, you're still here'

*Sometimes* he hugs me.

[zagafi]

I'm the carrot dispenser, of course he loves me! :D Seriously, I don't know that we can say they "love" us, but I do believe he and I have a bond. He always comes to me out in the pasture, he'll follow me like a puppy, and if he's in his stall and hears my voice, he always sticks his head out to look for me. But I'm sure it's because of the carrots. LOL!

[arabhorse2]

Mine love to see me come home, because that means food will be forthcoming! :lol:

Do they like me? I'm just mushy enough to want to believe that, but I think respect is more important than love.

It's not kyoot or funny when a horse invades your space, or uses you for a rubbing post. It means they consider you lower in the herd pecking order than they are.

[talkofthetown]

Because as mean and grumpy as he pretends to be, he still likes his cuddle and play time. I might have to cut back on the play time, though...he's started to take it a little too far:lol: I'll go out in his pasture, and I'll love up on him, he'll "hug" me, nibble at the back of my jeans, you know, just messing around. I'll bounce around like a boxer and "punch" his neck and shoulders; just lightly tap him. He loves it, he'll bob his head up and down and follow me around in circles. He pretends to try and bite at me, but he's never once laid teeth on me. He KNOWS that teeth are not allowed. Anyway, the other day we were out playing around, and he starts tossing his head up and down, and I'm grabbing his face in a bear hug, and we're having fun, and all of a sudden he REARS. Like, all the way up, hi ho silver, standing 3 feet from me. It was a little intimidating:lol: I jumped backwards and hollered at him, and when he came back down he looked at, like "What? We're playing wild stallion!". I know that I'm very lucky that he's just playing, and that I really should be better about setting boundaries...:rolleyes: :lol:

[equineartworks]

I get kisses and snuffles and nickers every time I am with him...I love my Dumplin', he is my heart and soul. :)

[FindersKeepers]

Miss Bailey comes up to the fence whenever I get to the farm, and follows me along the fenceline, into the barn. She's perfectly content to just hang out near me, rest her chin on my shoulder, and just likes to be close by. I like that she'll ditch the herd to hang out with me when I visit :)

There is also a gelding (well nothing's hanging there, but I really have my doubts...) regardless, he was orphaned, and I have been loving on him for about 18 months now. He's a jerk, but I find something about him really charming. He has been known to bite and kick at people. Never made contact or caused injury, but he's bad. It got him attention though, and negative attention was better than none, in his opinion. But he has stopped being so rude since we've bonded, and he never acts aggressive towards me. He actually gives me kisses and nuzzles me... of course he always looks around first to make sure no one is watching, don't want to ruin his reputation. :winkgrin: I wouldn't say he loves me, but I think he appreciates the positive attention he's been getting.

[Mendin Fences]

Sophie will follow me in from the pasture without a lead line, but I have to walk over to her first. If I stand at the gate calling for her, she just pricks her ears and stares at me until I walk over to her.
She also lets me groom her and touch her butt. She's very sensitive about people touching or gesturing towards her hind end and will kick out if they try. She lets me do almost anything to her, it's her way of showing affection :lol:
One day I came up with a creative way of feeding treats and she played along nicely. Treats (http://photos-f.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v1968/246/81/65900789/n65900789_31383525_3054.jpg)

[tpup]

My horse will come running when I call him, and walk back to the barn with me without a lead line. He's like a big dog! When you are having a bad day, nothing beats calling your horse from acres away and seeing him look up, turn and just start cantering toward you. It is THE best.

[Trevelyan96]

Rico used to nicker and come to me every time I opened the back door, but after he kicked me and we started working on personal space he stopped. :cry:

But he always nuzzles me from shoulder to shoulder when I'm standing near him, and he's not treat greedy, so I know he just does it because he likes the way I smell.

One day, when the trainer was working with him in the indoor, every time he came around the turn where he was facing me he'd let out a nicker.

Trav followed me everywhere until one day he decided that DD was his person, then he started following her everywhere.

[BBowen]

My filly always comes when she sees me, even if she is eating.

[BoysNightOut]

....He always comes when I call or when he sees me! Maybe it's cause he knows I always have a treat for him. :)

[Punkie]

The pony whinnies at me - and ONLY me - whenever I call him. And the pitch and duration of that whinnie is directly proportional to how long I've been gone. When I came home from Europe after being away for a month, he open mouth SCREAMED at me for a good 15 seconds and then pinned his ears back and stood in the corner sulking. He's trained me never to go away that long again without taking him with me! LOL. He also watches me leave the barn and when any of my cars pull into the driveway (he knows 4 of the 6 by sight/sound) and he's out in his paddock, he'll stop whatever he's doing (even if it includes playing "chew toy" with his neighbor!) and come bounding to the gate to say hi. With everyone else? He literally won't give them the time of day (it sometimes takes people up to an hour to catch him...I can typically walk in there, put my hands on my hips and say "LB!" and he's there in a second). Sure makes me feel wanted at the very least!!

My Hanoverian is by far the biggest snuggle bug I've ever met in my 20 years with horses. If he could bounce up and down when he sees me, he would...in fact, he's tried to! He'll lean all of his weight against his gate trying to get closer to me and as soon as I'm in front of him, his head is burried under my arm and his licking my side. He'd stay like that for hours if he could! Whenever I'm grooming him, he leaves his face on my body (literally straining the crossties to reach me) and gently grooms and licks me every so often. He LOVES to have his face and neck hugged and he will curl around you and stay there for as long as you let him. He'd rather be touched than be fed (no joke, it's a little scary!) and if he's eating and I'm standing at his stall, he'll take a bite and then come up for lots of scritches before he'll even think of going back! And this was the horse that I used to have to TEAR away from food and I could barely get more than a drop of personality out of.

I know my Thorobred loves me because he gives me the time of day and doens't make faces when I touch him, lol. Hey, at least it's a start!!

[classicsporthorses]

Many of mine love me demonstrating some of the things others have posted. But, my younger stallion, whom I raised from the day he was born (orphaned) well he actually HUGS me.

Yup, wraps me up and pulls me close to him with his massive neck. He's about 17 hands and 1500 pounds but he is SO gentle.

He also comes to a whistle, so do the others in that pasture too. They associate it to food. But Miracle will leave his food even if he just sees me walk into the pasture to come to me.

I adore this stallion.

[VAHorseGurl]

I can't say it's because of the carrots, Pete is a carrot snob. He won't touch them with a 10' pole. :lol:

And while we've only been together since this past July, he looks up at me and winnies when I call his name. He's started coming to me when I go to fetch him from the pasture and he loves it when I spent time grooming him.

And honestly, it's taken bringing Harriett on to realize just how good a relationship Pete and I truly have. Even though he's dumped me a time or 3, once I hit the ground he never moved till I was ready.

He's started paying attention to me when he sees me with Harriett too, and he'll make his way to the fence line and he winnied at me the other day, as if to say, "um, who the hell is that?" :sigh:

[fordtraktor]

....he thinks I am his peppermint dispenser. No rose-colored glasses here!

[Buffyblue]

...she hasn't killed me yet!

[sneederstb]

I know my horse uses me for food :lol: but i know my horse loffs me because he hates being groomed and flicks his tail non-stop as i am groom until i move to his butt...he stops so he wont flick me :) (at least thats what I like to think)

[Sdhaurmsmom]

1. He gives me horsey hugs when I'm grooming his neck (presses me on the back with his chin)

2. He zips and unzips the cell phone pocket on my vest, very gently (well, I concede he is probably just amusing himself with this)

3. After I turn him out, he will often stand and hob-nob with me at the gate for quite a while before heading to the round bale (as will the pony, too.)

*sigh*. It's love. He is the friendliest horse I've ever met.

[Mariequi]

Because since she was a young 'un I've been consistent and consistently there. Yes, with many goodies, lots of scritches. But through different girlfriends, I'm still there and my actions and reactions are the same. She seems to rather want me there or in her herd than for me to be elsewhere or nonexistent. I appreciate it! Spoiled? You betcha!

[Hunter Mom]

Mine gives me hugs - whenever I lean over to take off her front boots, she leans down with her head and wraps it under me and hugs me. She also follows me around like a puppy if I let her have naked time in the arena while I'm putting jumps away.

[FancyFree]

I can be talking, out of sight of my horse, she hears and will whinny and whinny. I've been her second mama since she was born, so I know she loves me. Plus the treats I bring help. :lol: