How you know that you have chosen the right discipline for your horse!
Feb 12 2010
Now this is a horse who LOVES what he does!
You know, this is something I think about a lot. I really don’t want to start a big discipline war here, but I genuinely feel that there are disciplines horses LOVE and disciplines horses TOLERATE. It’s like the difference between the job that you do to make good money and the job you love so much that you’d do it on a volunteer basis. I’m not saying it’s cruel to make a horse do one of the “tolerate” disciplines, it’s not, but I can’t imagine that a horse ever enjoys something like western pleasure or dressage the same way they enjoy, say, foxhunting or cutting or team penning. And I say that as someone who has a western pleasure horse! But I admit I think of it as “something he has to do to earn a living” (aka the right to breed) and we just have to get it “over with” and then we’re gonna spend the next twenty years doing fun stuff, aka fun shows with games, team sorting, jumping little wimpy jumps, bombing around bareback, etc.
It is entirely possible that some of this is me projecting my own feelings about the comparative fun levels of these activities, LOL! So I ask YOU the question…what do YOU think horses truly enjoy doing? What does your horse love to do as opposed to things your horse tolerates because they are well trained and you are asking for it nicely?
205 comments to “How you know that you have chosen the right discipline for your horse!”
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Vaulting is anpother discipline that I can’t see an single horse loving.
“Oh yippee! I get to canter in a circle when freaks run towards me and jump on my back. Lets GO!”
I’ve met a lot of former foxhunters who hate being retired, same for racers and polo/gaming ponies. One the flip side, a lot of show hunters seem to HATE their jobs…. I think it depends on how much their riders love what they do though. I rode a lesson horse who supposedly hated jumping but she was always raring to go when I hopped on. Really how exciting is flat work for most people? We love to go fast and jump so I think our horses pick up on it and get as excited as we are.
my own mare is a vaulting horse. She is always content and relaxed as it happens, and very good, especially towards the younger children, although they vault on another horse there, Chrissy. But he died yesterday, unfortunately. I’ve been riding on him for 8 years
My Arabian-Saddlebred mare LOVED to jump. She would even jump little fences on her own when she was turned out – it would always draw an audience at the barn. Of course, the mare also loves attention, so that may have something to do with it!
I want that horse please. Really. Please.
We love to play polocrosse, (our main sport) event(my kids), dressage, and trail ride. However my gleding who is WP built and has been around polocrosse since he was 2(he’s now
hates to play the game. If he even thinks that he will have to play he will shut right down. However he will practice and umpire, just don’t expect him to particpate in a real game. Now trail ride, pony green horses, give lessons, he’s right there for you.
My daughters OTTB dressage horse(plays polocrosse too), he just melts when asked to get in a frame, he loves it. But he isn’t a trail horse at all. He likes his ring work. Her retired jumper still jumps the crosscountry jumps while playing in the feild. Her paint mare loves everything we throw at her. The busier you keep her the better. She competes in reining, dressage, eventing, polocrosse, and is her ponyclub mount.
My son’s 2 OTTBs love trail work to get fit for polocrosse. Throw in a little dressage in the side, and they’re happy. His main polocrosse horse could play the game without him, he gets her grrrr on and goes to work.
If they tell us that they don’t like something we try to find another outlet for them. Right now they are all sooo bored with the terrible weather we’ve had, that they keep destroying feed tubs, water tubs, blankets,ect.
I really think it’s horse specific. Horses that are braver and more independent, in my experience, tend to love things that are new and challenging like trails, cross country, jumping, gaming, etc., whereas horses that are more timid tend to have a better time doing predictable, non-scary work in an arena, like dressage or WP. It’s the difference between my friend’s mare, and my mare. My mare is forward and confident, and loves nothing more than a good gallop across an open field, or a challenging trail, but she puts up with arena work when she has to. My friends mare on the other hand, is naturally more reserved and doesn’t have a lot of competitive drive. The kind of mare who jumps at her own shadow, basically. My friend can’t take her out on a trail ride, because her mare totally loses it. She just turns to jelly. Rolling eyes, rearing, total panic. This horse LOVES her western pleasure career though. I think some horses just like things that include body work better than things that include brain work.
My old mare enjoyed running barrels, didn’t care for the pole bending, loved the flags but her absolute favorite was trail riding she loved to lead the way, she loved finding new trails, loved being part of a group or just the two of us. Now at 38 she tries to head down the road to the woods but it’s just too much for her any more so we walked our own small trails around the property just so she feels useful. She always hated being kept in a stall and loves to stay out in pasture 24/7 which is how her pasture is set up now with a large open shelter. She LOVES the rain when it’s a bit on the stinging side she stands in the open with her eyes closed and I swear a smile on her face. I’ve tried putting her back in her shelter on days like that, she just walks right back into the downpour. She’s always loved the rain even back in our boarding stable days she would be the only one standing in her outside run, with her mane dripping water and her eyes closed. The trails she just loved, we always found new trails and she always knew the way home no matter how turned around and lost I was. She was a role model for the younger horses in our groups, she crossed water like it was nothing so the young horses did too, a scarey noise in the trees you stand and face it so if it needed to be stomped and killed you could be ready…LOL That one always cracked me up. Some of her most favorite things are to teach lessons, like what happens when you don’t ground tie your horse when you use the porta potty. If you leave the reins over said horses head then that is an unspoken and binding agreement on your part for the above mention horse to leave your ass and head home. AND when you add insult to inqury and put jingle bells on said horses saddle and breast collar than YOU get to hear the sound of bells ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BARN, which you get to walk there under your own power, the brat stayed just ahead of me all the way back, just out of reach in case I needed protection from something but she sure as hell wasn’t letting me back on…LOL She allowed me to catch her just as we reached the driveway up to the barn.
My pony loves eating, sleeping in the sun and rolling in the mud. He is early in his training yet but so far I see nothing that he enjoys enough to “put a smile on his face” when he notices me walking out there with his tack. He enjoys, at least a little, anything that has me spending time with him. He will walk away from food to come say howdy to me. But his reaction to work of any kind is like a petulant teenager who seems delighted that someone is paying him attention but annoyed that it means he has to leave his friends for a while and get told what to do.
Maybe some day he will find something besides eating, napping and filthing himself up from head to toe that he really enjoys but for now he just does it to humour me.
Q: What does your horse love to do as opposed to things your horse tolerates because they are well trained and you are asking for it nicely?
A: Run!! Just for the pure joy of it!
My leopard spot Appy loves to jump! He could give or take the flatwork, but point him at a jump and the ears go up, he gets energy, and starts prancing. He’s not much of a hunter, but we rock in the Jumpers!! Of course going for a gallop on the trails is pretty awesome, too.
And I do personally know a horse that loves Dressage. He lights up and transforms into a whole new horse when under saddle in a comletely different way than when he was ridden h/j.
I had high hopes for my horse becoming a lovely little show jumper; I couldn’t imagine her eventing (she’s not the balls-out brave sort), but I figured she’d like jumping well enough. Once I started incorporating jumps into her groundwork, though, it quickly became apparent that she HATED it. I do think she’d enjoy working cows, because she likes pushing them around on her own time, but I’m hoping to get her into dressage. Oddly enough, I think she’d enjoy it; though the repetition and arena work seems like it would be boring, she’s the sort of horse that thrives on predictability, and she enjoys mental work more than physical. Sort of like how some people really LOVE base jumping and skydiving and some people really LOVE spinning their own yarn and cross-stitching.
Once I’ve got her really going under saddle I expect to do a lot of quiet trail riding and I’m currently working on teaching her to drive, but neither one of us are terribly interested in competitive or speed events, so I think we’re well-matched at least. 
I have a 14.1hh black and white Paint gelding named Jigs who actually loves Western Pleasure! The lady I bought him from had originally gotten him for a barrel horse, but he was just not interested in going fast! When he was three and (very) green broke (as in no canter yet) I rode him to my high school prom! There was a fire truck, boats being pulled by tractors, a band, etc. and this little horse blinked twice… if that. He’s just got a great mind. At age 4, a twelve-year-old girl showed him in 4-H and he did extremely well in the western pleasure/equitation classes. He’s the type of horse that even when alert, his ears never stand straight up
I wouldn’t call him lazy, however, as he is nice and responsive, he just chooses to be a lil’ Western Pleasure guy. He’s great with kids, beginners, and a super easy but fun ride for people who know what they’re doing.
No one ever told her that she is small, and she believes that she’ll be the next Teddy O’Connor!
On the other hand, I have a little Princess of a Morgan named Kiara, who will let nothing on 4 legs be faster then her! She is only 14hh (both parents were over 15hh, she just decided to never grow) but a super talented little creature. She is a beautiful jumper, loves barrels and poles and super athletic and agile. She’s my girl
First time poster but long time visitor! I definitely think that some horses enjoy certain tasks more so than others. My arab, was shown halter as a young horse (wasn’t that great because he’s not very typey but he loved to show off) before I got him and then I showed him performance in 4H: showmanship, western, huntseat, saddleseat, trail you name it we did it! I wouldn’t say that he loved going slow and collected, but he put up with it, if only just to make me happy. Haha! Then my last year of 4H we decided to have fun and show gaming after we had done our performance stuff, and let me tell you he loved it! His passion is going fast! We even went to Regionals two years ago and they had a fun keyhole race so we decided to enter, and ended up getting second! I was so proud of him! It was kinda funny watching some of those people on their pleasure arabs letting their horses go fast for once and most of the horses didn’t know what to do with themselves! Then we went to a fun benefit show this summer, and after doing performance all day and getting the senior horse hi-point, we turned around and won the barrel race they had. Gotta say he is a jack of all trades and truly versatile! However, he definitely loves running and going fast the best. Partly because he’s such a show off. Well anyway thanks for lettin’ me brag a little about my horsey. Absolutely love that guy. Now he’s enjoying being partly retired and used lightly for a girl to learn to ride on for 4H. He’s the type of horse that would be completely depressed if he didn’t have a job.
I can’t say my OTTB loves dressage all the time, but he definitely seems to enjoy it! Fly’s always been a bit silly when turned out, but when I evented him, “silly” meant galloping around and having Momma worriedly watch nearby. A few months after we switched to dressage, he trained galloping in for a superb lengthened trot, something I wasn’t getting under saddle. Shortly after he began “practicing” in turnout, his trot under saddle became beautiful. He absolutely puffs up when comes to medium trot, and gets a bounce in his step afterwards. He just about ready to show Third, schooling Fourth, but is currently sidelined with an ethmoid hematoma that won’t go away.
I got my first pony as a very green six year old (and I was turning eleven. I have no idea what my parents were thinking, but I do remember after months of searching, she was the only one I wanted). Since I was at a dressage/hunter barn at the time, that’s what I did for a while until I left the barn. This mare would always have a “I’m concentrating” look when jumping, which usually meant ears flicked back. There was one exception: cross country. She had a hard time cantering because her Morgan side gifted her with a mini-park trot, but outside she knew just how to balance herself. If you ignore my soppy teenager editing, you can watch this video. I would like to believe this is her happy, since she never had her ears up that much! The picture of her and I galloping has to be my favorite picture of myself riding any horse, even though it’s not that impressive. Oh, and yes, she squealed. Usually to say, “Hey, genius! I told you that we’re going to take the ditch early! Didn’t you get the memo?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVuvc-PrkFg
Fly’s staying with me forever. The people who bought Tansy from me recently sold her, but I am planning on snatching her up the next time she’s for sale. I just re-bought my second pony…I just can’t let them go.
Have you tried formulin for the ethmoid hematoma? I have a couple of friends who had good luck with this treatment.
Yes, finally. About three years ago, I had to rush him to UCD because he was gushing blood, and that’s when we discovered the hematoma. However, when I took him back to get it injected, it was gone. Fast forward to September ’09 and the bleeding started again. When he was scoped, it looked a little off, so the vet opted to biopsy it. It bled too much to inject it that day, and biopsy didn’t tell us anything.
Recently, the bleeding came back with mucus this time, so when I took him in, the vet scoped him and injected it. However, it’s swollen since the injection last week and it’s affecting his breathing. So until next week when he gets Formalin Round Two, he’s off riding.
I don’t think it’s fair to make most generalizations that are made about horses because they are all so different. I don’t think that you can really say horses probably don’t enjoy dressage or western pleasure, particularly because I have seen horses that very clearly enjoyed both. But it does seem that they are more likely to enjoy things like cutting, XC, etc….however I think it really does depend on the horse. I think there are probably plenty of horses who don’t enjoy every discipline there is and would rather be doing something else.
With that said, I haven’t done very much with my current horse yet but I already see signs that he is more interested in dressage-type things than jumping. He is a trained jumper, but when I got him he’d be a bit of a ball of nerves at faster gaits and over fences. He’s always an angel, but just wouldn’t be comfortable. That’s probably mostly credited to his training, but still…
I’ve been heading more in the direction of dressage with him and have been working on getting him calm and back in thinking mode and he seems to be much happier and calmer when working. Now when jumping, even calmer he seems to get back into “I’m just doing this because you told me to” mode…
But I’ve still only been working with him for awhile.
My previous horse I had for years and he was a very well-rounded horse who would easily do anything I pointed him to, but he was a born trail horse and was tolerating anything that wasn’t trail. He was always much happier out there than in the arena (whereas I prefer the arena) which was one of the deciding factors in my sale of him. He’s a lot happier being practically retired at my good friend’s house and coming out for trails here and there…
Anyway, I’ve gone on enough
I think my horse genuinely enjoys Dressage. Turn him out in the arena and he trots around in a lovely extended trot without any help. He lengthens and collects, and seems to just enjoy himself.
When I got him we were going to do 3 day eventing, but he made it clear that he didn’t like that job. Stopping in the middle of the course, spinning around, running backward, not even close to a jump, but he always did great at the dressage part. So we’ve taken the part he seemed to like and he’s excelled at it.
I think a horse will certainly show you what he likes and doesn’t like, and sure you can get horses to do something they don’t enjoy, and I did manage to beat my beast around a course for a year and a half, but really it’s not fun for either party. And although I had wanted to event, I’ve found I absolutely LOVE dressage, and it fits both our personalities wonderfully.
I really like to think that Sugar, the QH mare I have, enjoys barrel racing as much as I do. While outside the ring, she naps until it is her turn. We walk through the gate, over to the starting line, and this is when she starts to get revved up. We make out run, walk out of the ring, and she goes back to sleep outside the arena (I use an eggbutt snaffle on her while barrel racing, and she listens fine). On trail rides, she is the most relaxed thing ever, but when we unload at a horse show she is ready to go whenever I ask her. The day that she stops acting excited about showing is the day she will be done. I will let her decide and I will be 100% happy with whatever she wants to do.
That’s exactly the kind of barrel horse I’d like to own again one day. I had a mare exactly like that. She ran in one of those fuzzy-lined, short-shanked “pony” hackamores. No tiedown. She was awesome! Dead quiet…would run and then go back to sleeping. Those are worth their weight in gold!
I agree; there are some horses who love what they do. There are some horses that put up with their work to keep getting their hay from a fair owner.
Personally, I have two horses and a pony. My oldest gelding, Buzzy, loves his work as a part time dressage mount and part time trail horse. He always put up with the hunter pleasure, never truly enjoyed jumping, and western pleasure wasn’t ever going to be his thing.
My other gelding, Force, only feels comfortable in his skin doing western pleasure. Granted, Force is built to do Arabian western pleasure easily; the positions he has to carry himself in are natural. I’ve tried hunter, dressage, and I’m beginning obstacle trail training with him to see if he can feel confident in other disciplines. Who knows!
On a note of a natural performer, my horses share a barn with three cutters. I’ve never seen more natural Arabian cow sense than these three, and they love what they do! It’s really fun to watch them work.
Really, horses are no different from us (or other domesticated species) in that some of us find decent employment that we aren’t unhappy with but are basically doing it for the paycheck, others really hate our jobs but are stuck and either tolerate it while looking forward to retirement or become angry at the world, and some of us find the right combination of mentors, trainers, teachers, parents, owners, whatever, that we find the job we love, where our talents blossom, that we are truly meant to do.
I compare horses who are happy doing dressage or WP with people who are into jobs that involve research, thinking, number-crunching–like a surgeon or an accountant. A trail horse might be compared to a park ranger, cop or EMT. An Eventer, if they were human, might be a test pilot—a leadline horse, a teacher–a herding dog or cutting horse, a manager.
My horse is content doing dressage/western riding. Relaxed, happily going about in 20-30m circles. Doesn’t like too much change in her routine, like jumps or such, she’ll do that but you can tell it’s not her happy place. She’s just so happy just going about the arena. It’s easy and she doesn’t have to think much, and she likes that. She’s not a dominant sort of horse.
Until she gets on the cows.
Because while she’s content in the schooling ring, she’s a maniac on the cattle. LOVES them. Vibrates with joy. Wants to get closer. Wants to see them move.
Her half-brother, he’s content on the cows. Surly but complacent on the flat. Relaxed but sleepy on a trail. And the happiest horse you ever saw over a jump. Any jump. Inside, XC, doesn’t matter, he’ll do it. He loves it.
My mare’s favorite thing to do is to go FAST. She used to run barrels before I got her, then made the transition to the jumpers and eventing. She LOVES to jump, when we were showing she would get so wound up that it took two or three people on the ground to get her in the arena. Now that she’s almost 25, we don’t jump anymore beyond the random cross rail every now and again but I can tell she still likes it. She tolerates flat work, is terrified of cows (i like to say she is the worst quarter horse ever). I don’t know if she likes trails, she is good in a group but she is definitely a barn rat, so I think she’d rather not go too far from home.
It varies from horse to horse. My current horse is the “golden retriever” of horses– he is absolutely thrilled to do ANY job as long as he’s getting attention (like that email that goes around with the diary of the cat vs the diary of the dog, and the dog says “yay, my favorite!” about everything that happens that day). Our main discipline is dressage, which I do think he enjoys because I see him practicing it by himself in the pasture. When we first learned medium trot, there he was in the field, turning the corner, balancing, and OFF HE GOES lengthening across the middle. When we first learned collecting the canter for pirouette prep, there he was in the field the next day, cantering, and then balance, sit down, slowwwww, quarter turn, and then back into the working canter. I also see him mentally playing around with bend, flexion, and other little technical details that we work on. It always makes my heart flutter to see him practicing like that. It’s absolutely adorable.
The horse I had before this also enjoyed dressage, but only because he was chicken little and experienced severe anxiety from anything else. He was like that when I bought him and I tried to take it slow and work him through it and he never showed any improvement AT ALL. I finally decided that even though I enjoy trail riding and jumping, it just isn’t fair to this horse who obviously has anxiety issues and just dreads those things, so I stopped pushing it and he became happy as a clam.
The horse before that one hated dressage but LOVED jumping. That was back when I was eventing, and then due to his serious hatred of the dressage portion, I switched to jumpers for about two years. While I enjoy jumping, it’s not something that my heart is passionate about and I ended up giving him to a pony club barn to be used as a lower level event horse (he didn’t mind the beginner level tests that are basically just general flatwork) and for the upper level kids to use in the jumping rallies. We kept track of him and he was very happy with his new lifestyle there.
Well, my irish sports horse mare hates jumping. It’s what she’s bred for, and what both her sire and her dam excelled at. But if anyone tries to take her over a jump that’s bigger than about 2’6, she point blank refuses, crashes through it or, her personal favourite, gets a pole caught between her front legs. She’s been checked out by the farrier, the vet, the dentist, the saddler and the chiropractor, they tried jumping her at shows indoor and outdoor, cross country jumps, show jumps, out hunting, following others on a hack. Better riders than me have tried to make her jump and failed, and some of the country’s leading trainers apparently. She’s never had a bad experience in her life, to do with jumping or otherwise, and the owners were so disappointed because she was supposed to be this big prospect and the amount of money they paid for her is staggering! It’s a bit of a mystery really. But it’s a great thing for me because it means I get to loan this beautiful, well bred, talented mare for free! We do some schooling, hacking and some sponsored rides, which she adores as long as she gets to go at her own pace. So it just goes to show it’s not all in the breeding!
All my kids ponies were Arab/TB/Welsh, bred as as all rounders with an ability to jump.
They loved it, every minute, from the first steps under saddle to the day they had to reitre….well, that actually never happened as there was always another kid coming along, so they just got asked to do less, each generation!!
You don’t really have an equivalent of Gymkhana, but they were Gymkhana ponies non pareil, bred form a Prince Phillip Cup “A” team pony who was in the premier team in the country. Those ponies could have run barrels all day and I actually did cut and herd cattle on them more than once.
They could jump, to, and hunt, and did, regularly.
No way to retire a pony like that, even though they all of them had a year out here and there to drop a foal for the next generation.
I really miss having them around!
Wonderful, hilarious video.
I had a mare that we raised from a 3 day old orphan. Little bay quarterhorse. She was a tad Arab in physique though- slightly dishy head and fine nostrils- rather short coupled.
We moved to a new farm when she was two and my stepdad immediately started removing this top strand of wire on the board fence in the field.
He got a phone call and while he was in the house (no cell phones then) she jumped the fence where he had been removing the barb wire. A piece was sticking up and she cut her chest on it and we had to call the vet.
Thing was- the fence was 4 ft. high.
We stalled her till he got the rest removed the next day. Put her out 4 days later and boom- over the fence she went.
He put another board up – and she ended up jumping that too. She would jump anything at any time.
So she found her vocation. And I found a new discipline for myself, and we both got some professional assistance in the hunter/ jumper world.
So it was a wonderful experience- I had my trail appy (winning for 2 yrs at that point) and expanded my knowledge working the little mare into a jumper over the next 4 years.
Mine loves trail riding and lives for pushball – when we play with the ball I often drop the reins and just watch and grin as he keeps going after the ball for as long as I’ll let him. He just loves it. I often use playing with the ball as a reward-break between ‘serious’ riding and he has a hard time keeping himself focussed instead of watching the ball all the time.
I know quite a few endurance horses that love the rides. They just want to go and go, and there’s something so content and happy about them during the rides.
My 19year old Morgan gelding likes being in harness. I ride him english and western on trails and for Medieval games. He’s a good trail horse and seems to enjoy the games. He flat out hates ring work. He gets really up tight in a ring and then very un-responsive and bored. But hitch him to the Meadowbrook and he becomes Mr. Perfect. His ears are up, and he’s alert. It takes very little to get him to respond and do what every you ask. And nothing bothers him when he’s in harness. Things that make him stop and look or startle or just irritate him don’t even get a second glance. He is so much fun to drive, mostly because you can tell he’s having fun.
My retired 25 year old Morgan/Percheron gelding loved the Medieval stuff. To the point that I had to fight to keep him away from the ground fights and frat fights. He got so into it that you could really believe in reincarnation. He was either a Knight or a War Horse in a previous life. He still gets excited when he sees the jousting arches or when we get out the Saracen head game or quintain to play. I did a photo shoot with him in his Medieval gear a couple months ago without a rider. You could tell he liked having his “armor” on. He went into his War Horse pose as soon as we got the camera out. And he pranced around the ring like he did before his injury forced his retirement. I still take him along to the occasional event so he can visit and watch.
Firstly, that horse working cutting cattle was so cool and a what funny way to start a Sunday, thanks.
Our young Appy is not with cattle, but he is with his paddock mates and I have watched him work the oldest boy the same as the horse in the pic , so who knows he may have a hidden talent LOL. He also loves playing around with the sporting gear, he is only just turned 4 for nothing more then play, but he does love it.
Our Arab loves jumping cross country jumps, doesn’t really get white poles etc
For the question to even be asked now “what does your horse enjoying doing” really shows how much horses owners have evolved since humans first discovered the horse, well done to those that consider the horses mental well being as well as their own.
I used to ride my horse saddle seat, and I have no idea if he liked it. If I put his double bridle on at home, he would actually be more energetic and trot bigger and I’d have to hold him back a bit. But in a snaffle, he’s pretty much always been a plug. I don’t know if he perks up because he likes going saddle seat, or if it’s just because he spent his formative years (and many subsequent years) being trained to go like that for the show ring. I’d guess it’s the latter, but if he really disliked it he’d probably be sour about it.
I’m not sure about saddle seat in general. I’ve ridden saddle seat horses who seem to just really want to power around the ring (no firecrackers or bag whips necessary.) That’s just what they’re bred for, like that cutting horse in the video, I guess.
I don’t ride my horse saddle seat anymore, and I honestly can’t say what he enjoys. He’s really well-trained (not taking credit for that…I bought him that way), so he does pretty much anything asked of him. He does really perk up on trail rides because he likes to have new things to look at, but at times it’s hard to say for sure whether he’s energized or a little freaked out. He also likes to gallop, I think, because he’s probably never been allowed to do that. I use the term “gallop” loosely…he’s pretty slow, even at his fastest.
I can understand why some horses would HATE dressage, but I personally ride a little Appendix mare who loves it. She has a pretty sketchy past, but as I hear it, she was purchased at five years old from a farm that was training her as a hunter. Well, after the purchase, we quickly discovered that she not only hated jumping any type of fence, but she was TERRIFIED of the idea. We have no idea what they did to her on that old farm, but despite our care and training, she dislikes fences to this day. Get her out for some dressage work, however, and she perks right up. She’s not extremely talented, but she does pour her heart into it. Jumping is something that she now simply tolerates, but she does love dressage. There are some horses that were just born for the sport.
Jack LOVES dressage. Ever since he’s started he gets SO excited when I tack him up. I mean, he turns into perfect manners and everything. Every horse has their “niche” in my opinion…
Ill give you a little back round info on Sky my grade QH pony that i actually found in an auction barn(couldnt afford to buy him there at the time, actually, i was so upset that i couldnt have him that i had to go behind the barn and get sick, then went and sat with him in his holding stall and cried for hours. hes the spitting image of the first horse that i considered mine as a child). a horse trader picked him up in the carolinas from another auction where he had just came from yet another auction just to be taken to one in GA where i found him. hes a cremello, butt high, somewhere around 8y/o then, now is somewhere around 16. so i got him at my age of about 24, im 32 now.
the trader that had him traded him for some tractor equipment, the auction owner said that he would keep an eye on the horse should he become available again…… well, within a year, the people didnt want him, he wasnt working out, i was contacted by auction owner and he asked if i still wanted that pony(14.2)? I jumped at him, and brought him home, been with me ever since. hes not trained for anything but trail riding, does not know his leads, doesnt neck reign. has NO desire to learn to do these things, and i mean NONE! I found that if you ride him in a bit he does nothing but fight you and throw his head(which is very annoying, lol) so i used a hack, he LOVES it.
He absolutely LOVES to trail ride, will go anywhere, cross anywhing, not scared of anything, nothing, ever…. also LOVES LOVES LOVES to go for a trailer ride. you pull up with a horse trailer and he will stand at it if he can get close enough and not leave it, or if in the pasture he will stare at it for hours just wishing he could go for a ride. funniest thing ive ever seen. this is the most safe and trusting horse ive ever been around, i dont care if you 2 or 92, my buddy will take care of you, calm, sane, sweet… i just love him to pieces, i kinda feel like Elmira from the tiny tunes with him, lol. “I’m gonna love you and hug you and squeeze you till you die”. over the years ive had so many people ask to buy him, to which i reply, there is no amount i would sell this horse for, you couldnt afford him, this one will die with me, hes my buddy.
couple weeks ago he and my little brothers horse made a prison break and went up to the gas station and back, guess they were tired of looking at the same thing and wanted to take a trip. thank goodness i live in the country in a not busy neighborhood where the gas station is only like quarter mile away(never had to get on a main road). i think they went up there cause i usually stop to get a drink there while riding and usually bring him out some of those peach gummy rings as a treat, maybe he got a craving?
i wish i knew why he was passed around so much, he is absolutely awesome. oh i also know when he isnt feeling 100% by looking at his lip, usually it kinda just hangs there, when hes sick he tucks it up.
I think it has a lot to do with the individual horse and the training received.
I did really low level 4-H and open shows with my mare riding saddle seat (and hunt seat, briefly) for years and she always was well behaved but just kind of ho hum about the whole thing. We did usual 4-H club BS… parades, trail rides, hours long arena practice… She got lots of variety in her work, but she didn’t really like any of it- she was bored, fussy, etc…
She never seemed to really enjoy her job until I started working for a show barn, and got a feel for what a saddle seat horse is supposed to look/feel like. Though the work became more demanding for her, my became more technically correct. But beyond that, it was like she was finally engaged by what we were doing. She wasn’t sure that she was ok at first with bags, popping a whip up a head of her, etc…. but we made it such a positive for her- lots of praise and petting for being bold that pretty soon my timid, bored little mare became quite the adrenaline junkie! She loved her job and would start right out cruising!
She’s retired now and has been for several years, but she still likes to come out and be snorty. If you turn her loose and pat on your jacket, she trots a circle with this slow motion boingy trot, her tail up over her back, then stops, parks out a little, and snorts, then walks up and looks for a treat, praise…. whatever she can get.
My gelding…. he’s been a saddle seat show horse his whole life… He had a less than fantastic first five years of his life with an egotistical trainer who drank too much…. Got pushed too hard for his mental maturity level, and when he didn’t keep up to what he looked like he should have physically been able to do, things really started to deteriorate…. He returned to his stall regularly with whip marks, didn’t get his grain if he didn’t work well…. and finally the owner was told to just sell him to the amish. Those first five years definitely left a mark on him for life. He’s emotional, can be bad tempered, occasionally has a complete meltdown and getting him to like doing anything that we do is pretty challenging, and he’s so fricking smart that this all can just snowball like crazy…
Have tried trail riding him and doing general fooling around stuff (as much as I can… I had back surgery the year after I bought him so my riding life stays pretty tame nowadays) and that never goes well….
But if I am careful with how I ride and we don’t make him air up much and instead focus on the little things, he settles in and his temperament and performance is a lot better. There are times he comes back to the stall obviously pleased with himself.
It’s funny because what makes him happy in this discipline is the exact opposite of what made my mare happy.
This is my little pony exactly, loving his sport. He’s 11, 14hh, POA and was retrained over the summer after being of work for a few years. We basically took it from square one, not knowing what he had done before. At first he was so out of shape he could barely trot around the ring without being exhausted and it was a big ordeal to pick up a canter at all. So we worked on getting him fit again and eventually, I wanted to see what his oppinion was of my love of jumping. Well it turned out he loved it! We were jumping 2’6″ coures like it was nothing by the end of he summer, along with some cross country here and there. When you turned him out in the ring, he would run himself around the jump just for fun a few times before chilling out and eating. Just recently, I put him outside to let him get some energy out before a ride. He was jumping snow banks! I love this pony, and luckily for both of us, we have a great bond and a shared love for a sport. He is quite showy, and has a VERY cheeky personality, ground mannners were bit of an issue for us at first. He has a bit of knack for dressage as well, when he’s in the mood for it; just like me- we’d both prefer a nice trail ride to hard dressage work, but it’s necessary so we tolerate it. Anyway, my goal is to be eventing with him by the end of summer and I’m really excited to see how it goes! I definitely agree that horses shoud do a sport the enjoy, not be forced to work at something they really don’t like. I could just see my pony throwing lesson kids off left and right when they make a mistake- he would not be one to appreciate random jabs in the side and yanks on his mouth. lol. At the same time their are several lesson horses at the barn who simoply love kids, and love what they do. I guess it really just depends on the horse.
Off topic:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/outdoors/7155542/Horse-riding-Learn-how-to-ride-the-cowboy-way.html
Interesting perspective on Western riding.
Uno is an eight year old TB that raced a few times and then was used as a rehab horse at a prison. A friend of mine, who is my instructor’s daughter, picked him up while she was at college and brought him back home to have as a project horse. As soon as she pointed him at his first cross rail, he couldn’t stop jumping. Now that I am finishing him off, I can tell that he will love eventing. He is fast (but not fast enough to race!) and loves jumping. The sport that I think he “tolerates” is dressage, as he is good at it but it’s rather dull. =]
Well… my horse is a barrel horse, but he and I do everything. We do barrels, western pleasure, reining, lots of trails, cattle work, and soon we are going to be learning HUS! I love my little cow horse, and I like to keep him well rounded. So he doesn’t get chase cans all the time
Barrels are his main thing, and he’s dang good at it. He loves it and gets very serious about it. He thinks he can turn on his own, and thinks he can do the whole thing without my help, which is not true ha ha. He get so happy when I set up the barrels, he even helps me roll them out (I lead him while I roll the barrels out, and he pushes them with his nose to help, it’s the cutest thing)!
I make him do reining so he maintains correct movement and balance. And I make him do western pleasure so his mind stays sane. He just tolerates these things.
Cattle work though is just for fun. I do turn back for the cutters; all the old cowboys. My horse is bred up the ying yang for cutting, so he has a lot of cow sense. He’s also stalled right next to his sire (who is still a stud, and they are the best of friends. They both have runs so they gallop up the fence with each other all the time), and his sire’s characteristics and attitude have definitely rubbed off on him (in a good way!). My horse loves to play with the cows, but he loves barrels more.
I believe a well-rounded horse is the best horse. And I will stick by that till the day I die. So I think it’s important for every horse to do a bit of everything (or at least more than one thing). Love it or tolerate it, it’s good for ‘em.
I ride my 6 yro Dutch Warmblood mostly for Dressage. If he could talk, I think he’d say, “Forget the contact, lady! Give me all the reins and let’s just walk along.” He does seem to come to life when we do a little jumping. Just cross rails.
My mare LOVES showmanship. If you frame yourself up for it, you better be ready to go because she is! She does it all like it’s something she could do in her sleep….she’s one of those that makes you LOVE showmsanship. Just don’t practice the pattern before the class because she will anticipate too much and you will just have to keep up. She has no need for the exhibitor after you practice the pattern once lol….I have just learned that if I practice the peices and then stay out of her way during the pattern, she’s golden. She’s good a horsemanship too, but showmanship is her thing!
Not too terribly long ago I met a little polo mare (little being a relative term–she was probably 15.2, which isn’t little, but her rider was a 6′ something or other string bean) who LOVED her job. I was watching them during a match, the two of them broke loose chasing the ball, and those cute little ears and little taped-up tail went straight up in the air.
Midfield to the goal and the neon sign over head said, “Yippee!” the entire way home.
I knew a retired polo pony. He had exemplary manners, but he loved to chase things if given a chance. He was always interested in horse trailers and was enthusiastic to get into one because he apparently thought he was going to a game. There are well mannered horses who get in a trailer because they know their job, but this horse was happy and interested in a trailer like he was anticipating a game.
My QH mare was western trained and was incredibly nimble and agile. She was trained to be a cutting horse, but her heart wasn’t in it They switched her to jumping and she enjoyed it. I never rode her western, Her gaits were smooth and graceful. Western, she would have been a good all round ranch horse. I think she would have been a good field hunter because she was very calm but always ready to go when given the cue; she was trappy and liked to jump.
Who knows if she would win prizes, but she always gave a good day out and I’d rather have a nice all rounder.
I agree with you on this. There are disciplines a horse loves to do, disciplines a horse does just to please their rider, and disciplines that a horse doesn’t like. I’ve ridden barrel horses, endurance horses and gaited horses. My first horse was a barrel horse and she loved to barrel race. She was sixteen years old and had been barrel racing for many years… and she was never ever arena sour (she and a friend’s horse are the only older barrel horses I know who truly love their sport). She always was really happy to get in the horse trailer and head to the races. I’ve also seen endurance horses who love to trot, and the horse I’m training now for endurance doesn’t really enjoy it. She won’t extend her trot effortlessly like other horses I’ve ridden, and she’s the type of horse that gets bored trail riding. All the gaited horses I’ve ridden don’t seem to enjoy their jobs as show horses. The one I’m riding now doesn’t like to keep in gait without you having to round his out so much that you feel like your making the horse uncomfortable. He also tries to run out of the arena. I don’t think he’s ever been ridden out on the trails in his life (I would if I were his owner, but I’m just working for the elderly gentleman who owns him). Whatever discipline of horse I’m riding I do all types of things with my horses. One day we practice barrel racing, the next day we ride bareback, then we go for a trail ride, then we do some jumping the next day, then maybe we’ll play tag the next day… That I think makes the horse able to choose what they love and really want to do.
My daughter’s horse loves anything that’s new or different. Her schedule needs to be shaken up. She also loves having a bit in her mouth. She’ll pick it up off the barn floor if given the chance. So far, my daughter has tried gaming, sorting, dressage, jumping, pattern work, rail work, reining and trails with her. All of it seems to come easy to her horse. I think, however, she loved jumping the most. It definitely held her attention.
My mare… Just loves attention.
And she LOVES feeling ‘good’ or useful
Dressage- As soon as we come into do our dressage test, its ears forward and super- responsiveness. Oh, and she also learns the dressage test- Not good.(Ironic, because she is a teke, and tekes cant do dressage, right?)
Jumping- As long as its not too high, she loves it. She’ll go over ANYTHING i ask her.
Cross country- Cantering forward, water AND jumping? Please, more!
Racetrack- We have one outside our stable, and if i’m going for a walk by it, i swear she turns into a magnet. I go inside, and go ‘Ready…Steady… GO!’ And let me tell you, she GOES.
Cameras- Will do anything for them
Gymkhana, games, anything.
I’d love to try doing some western, but unfortunately its nonexsistent where i am
GREAT vid.