Question...

[LoveLongManes]

Hi everyone! This might be a strange question, but I am curious as to attitudes of your horses. When you go to see your horse does he/she come running to you or is your horse one that have to go catch and really does not look happy to see you?

Sounds silly, but I was wondering how most people's horse react to them. I know all of my horses are easy to catch and easy to work with but lack that quality where they look like they are totally excited to see me (unless I have food or treats!). :lol:

I know this is kind of an odd question, but I was just wondering if most horses are like this or if it just the way the horses react to me? Maybe I am just getting over tired and putting way too much thought into this! :lol:

Anyway, would love to hear your thoughts on the subject. :)

[Come Shine]

Oh gosh! I wish I had a picture of my three. The grey is usually the first one to see me coming up the driveway and you can see her little face saying "Here come the treats!!" and she can't get to the gate fast enough. Then this gets the pony coming because, by golly, no one is getting treats unless she is, too. Then when the bay sees the other two, she, of course, has to be in there like a dirty shirt "Whatcha got there?". So I don't know if they're as happy to see me as they are to see what usually comes out of my pockets. :)

However, we did end up buying the grey when she came in to our barn as a sales prospect because she came to my husband when he went to get her in the field. He brought her up to the barn and said "Oh great, we have another horse now, don't we?" "Yup". :lol:

[Mariequi]

Dublin always assumes (rightfully so) that I have treats. She's always aware of where I am or my car is if I'm driving in or out. She usually comes over. Sometimes she seems to prefer to "graze" with me than others of the herd. We've been pretty good buds since she was a year and a half. I imagine those who have them even longer have a better chance of being close. However, I think horses like other critters tend to be aloof, indifferent, friendly, overly friendly, etc. Dublin pretty much likes everybody 2 or 4-footed, only acting like a brat in the pasture if she thinks someone may be in the vicinity of being treated by me (which I wouldn't - I don't like fights and fusses). Of course, I'd like to think she loves me without the treats, but I don't give her much time to prove differently. I expect as the little greenies come up more and more that all the horses will come begrudgingly to the gates to come in or will have to be gotten.

[randomequine]

Depends on what time of day it is and how long it's been since he's seen me.

If he has food, I might as well be a pesky horsefly.

If he is bored, I'm the most amazing thing EV-AH!

If he hasn't seen me in awhile (I'm away at school), he generally will lift his head when I call, but just stare at me until I come up to him.

If he's in consistent work, he pretty much runs up to me. He, for one reason or another, ADORES being in steady work....

I love my horse :D

[Ainsley688]

Mine will walk up to me in the field if she sees me, and will stick near me if I sit in the field with her. I went and sat in the pasture with her the other day, and she stood near me snuffling my hair and "guarding" me the whole time.:D She won't run, but then again, she doesn't really run for anything, lol. :lol: She also knows her name if she's called, and will look to see who is calling her.

[cnvh]

I have yet to meet a horse that I would honestly say is motivated by love rather than treats; they just aren't like dogs in that regard.

With that being said, my OTTB is happy to be around people, and his favorite place to park his nose whenever we're just standing around is against my cheek or on my shoulder. Is it because he loves me? Probably not, but it's still cute as heck. :)

[flea]

One of each. My little event mare is very stoic, does not want to be loved on, moves away from petting, pretty much thinks we humans are all rather dimwitted. She is easy to catch. My little up and coming event mare is alert and curious, loves to be petted and loved on, thinks humans are good sources of entertainment. She is hard to catch. Go figure.

[Parker_Rider]

All three of mine come to the gate if they're in the pasture... it's a wonderful thing! Probably not because they love me they just love what I bring them! If they're in the barn, the filly and the mare couldn't care less if I'm around (until they're sure I have come bearing gifts), but my gelding is always happy to see me, cookies or not! at least, that's what I tell myself...

[dbadaro]

usually i yell my horses name when i arrive and yell, "romeo my little pumpkin!" he comes right to the gait with no treats. he loves me and i love him too!

[MistyBlue]

Mine are trained to come when called. Most of the time they look eager enough to come over when called...but there have been times when I call them and both get that "Good Lord, what does she want now?" look and then amble slowly over dragging their feet, LOL!
Mine are home...so are used to seeing me many times per day. Most of the time at least one hollers to me if I walk out of the house for any reason...they miss getting fed though. I like to pretend they're happy to see me...but I know it's only because I'm the Treat Keeper.

[thatmoody]

Mine come when called (and know their names) but they are definitely not enthusiastic about it unless it's feeding time. THEN they are happy to see me. The two stallions I work with, however, adore all three of us who take care of them - they are very interactive and inquisitive, no matter whether we have treats or not. The friesian is particularly cuddly - he'll cradle your body with his head and neck, and would rather be petted than eat. He's a sweetheart and EVERYONE loves him. No one loves my gelding but me, but I can see his eyes light up when I'm around, and that's enough for me.

[equineartworks]

Dumplin' makes this really deep and BIG sounding nicker/neigh when he sees us and just comes running. He loves people in general and seems to smile when anyone comes to the house. He's such a sweet cheerful little man!

[sublimequine]

If my mare's in a dry lot, she will stand at the gate and wait for me the second she sees me.

If she's in a grassy area, she either watches me come over but doesn't approach herself, or will make her way over to me with frequent grazing pit stops. :lol:

[twofatponies]

Hm. It really depends on what else interesting is going on, and the time of day. Mine always look up when my car comes up the driveway. If I get out of the car and stand around talking to someone near the fence, or stand and lean on the fence, or go into the paddock to fix something, they will always wander over to visit.

When I go out with a halter, they both will look up, then go back to whatever they were doing. :D Or sometimes, if they are far from the barn, they will wander vaguely in my direction.

If we haven't been there in several weeks, which is rare, my older one in particular will head right over and greet us. She even nickered once! (I've had her 8 years.) She's the type who would stick her head in the bedroom window to wake us up each morning, if she lived in our backyard!

I've never had the kind who come running!

I go to the barn for a couple hours every day. I only rarely feed treats, and only in the crossties or in the food bucket, not out in the pasture.

Interesting to see everyone else's behaviors.

[S1969]

I boarded an elderly (30+) QH at my private barn [who sadly died last year] but he was the BEST...always a great loud whinny that you could hear for a mile every morning when I came out. Now, I know it was all about the breakfast but it made me smile EVERY time!

My TB mare never "speaks" to me except when I'm scooping her food. She is interested in me but not overly affectionate. She is easy to catch but will refuse petting, grooming, etc. She will follow me around but just likes to be *with* me, not more than that. I think that is the best I can expect from her. When the QH gelding (above) was ailing she was very lonely and I recall one time when she grazed while I mowed her pasture and continually put herself in the middle of my "loop" as I mowed along. Just needed some companionship, I guess. She would probably have prefered horse companionship but I was the best "grazing buddy" she had that day.

[slc2]

I expect my horses to act like horses, not little children or puppies. I don't think a horse owner should expect a horse to leave grass or other horses in his herd and come over. THat's not natural to expect that. My horses do, but I would not be concerned if they didn't, nor would I use that to judge how well someone else deals with their horses.

[Mags]

Depends on what time of day it is and how long it's been since he's seen me.

If he has food, I might as well be a pesky horsefly.

If he is bored, I'm the most amazing thing EV-AH!


This is how my mare is. Though I can walk up to her in the paddock give her a paste wormer and she still sticks around.:confused:

The gelding thinks anyone who comes near is a giant candy cane. He is very put out if he gets wormed instead.:lol:

[arabhorse2]

I truly think a lot of it has to do with the breed of the horse.

Conny always greeted me, even if he'd just been fed. He would even leave his food to come see me, and would follow me around the property like a dog. Why? Because Arabians are bred to be people oriented, and I was his person.

Casper willingly leaves his food to be scritched and petted, and will also follow me around. However, if he's hanging out with Mack, he sometimes prefers the company of his own kind to me. That's cool. :cool:

Mack will mosey over to see what I'm doing, but isn't willing to leave his food unattended. He also doesn't come when called, unless he knows it's time to eat! :lol:

Cloud won't stop eating, nor will he leave his herd buddies. However, he doesn't run away when you show up with a halter and lead line. He's always stood quietly while being haltered.

[Sansena]

My horse will meet me halfway in the field, stand as I approach the other halfway, then trot slowly away, just outside my reach, once I try to lay the leadrope over his neck.

This is followed by a quick free lunging session (of his choice and doing, not mine). Usually by 5x around me, he's ready to have me catch him.

It's a ritual. It's happened nearly since day one of ownership. The only way I can assure a quick catch is to bring treats... which I will not do now since he's in a herd of 6 and I don't like the idea of being pony tag 'it'.

[MyGiantPony]

Now that mine's retired, she comes right to the gate when she sees me. And immediately starts nudging me for treats.

When I was riding her, every time she saw me heading towards the field, she'd take off for the farthest end and had no interest in coming to me. :lol:

[2DogsFarm]

Interesting question.
My horses' attitudes have changed since I moved them home.
It will be 5 years this August.

When they were boarded, my Senior horse "allowed" me to bring him in from pasture and rarely nickered to me from his stall.
He would not come to me, but didn't run away either.

Now he nickers whenever he sees me and comes over for nuzzles.
Doesn't matter if I have a treat or not.

My other guy has been with me for only 6 years this year.
When he was boarded, he was still warming up to me - he had had an abusive past.
So he let himself be brought in from pasture w/o much bother but there was no real interaction.

Now he is a lovebug. He'll always come over and ask for head-hugs and when he sees me come into their pasture with a halter he's always the first to volunteer :winkgrin:

Senior horse still tends to wander the other direction when he's in pasture and see the halter, but he will generally come into a stall to watch me work if I'm riding #2 in the indoor (they have free acess to stalls and can see the indoor from the stalls).
He'll also arrange to graze in the pasture nearest to us if I'm riding outside.

I try not to anthropomorphize their actions, but they have clearly changed the way they react.

[glimmerling]

My old appy gelding had to be brought in even if I was getting a different horse out of the pasture, he would run other horses off if I was around. If he was loose he was within 2 feet of me if he could be.

None of my current horses will come if I call. They will look, that is all. However, we have the most wonderful pasture so I can't say I blame them. I wouldn't come if you called me from a gourmet meal!

My TB gelding is generally left to wander about the farm if I'm there. If I'm in the arena he is most definitely up against the arena fence making nasty faces at the other horse I am riding. If I am in the pasture he won't let any other horse come near me.

My TB mare only seems to notice me if she's in the barn and I am not. At that point, she screams until I return to the barn. Very annoying.

The paint filly loves attention and will hang out with you for hours in the pasture and chase off any other horse that comes near. Her and the TB gelding are in separate pastures thank God, I'd hate for them to get into a fight over who gets to whuffle my hair and eat the grass directly under me.

[PaulaK]

Per BO and fellow boarder my mare starts nickering at the sound of my SUV pulling into barn yard. By the time I get to her stall she has stopped nickering and is acting disinterested. BO bought the same model SUV and for a few months mare also nickered when she drove in but she has since quit for BO. Never any treats when I arrive - only when we are finished for the day. Seems to be aware of my whereabouts and comes to the gate when in turnout (grass or dry lot). Will follow me around if I'm in the turnout. Actually is a pain in the rear if I'm trying to fix anything.

[jubilee43]

All 17 horses know my truck at both farms. All heads come up in all pastures if I drive by at less then 40 mph. If I stop and get out of truck, immediate movement to gate. This happens at all times of the day and I never give treats since I would rather they just come for attention. They all have good hay or good pasture 24/7 so they aren't hungry. Horses are aged from 1 year to 20. Some are in work, some are not. I do not look forward to buying a new vehicle and retraining them....:lol: