Do you take your horses for a walk?

[maplegum]

I do!

Bailey has quite the fan club in the area I live. It's warmer weather so I get to go on walks with him after work and on weekends. Once Willow is weaned, she will be coming along too.

He loves going for walks and gets excited when he sees his lead rope and halter. Just like showing a dog his lead and collar! (Bailey has an identity crisis...am I a horse, human or dog?) He stands under my feet and lifts his head up so I can halter him.

The neighbours come out to say hello to him and one girl girl often brings out carrots for Bailey. It's a great outing for him. He is no longer afraid of cars or barking dogs. His 'girlfriend' Licorice often comes along for the walk too. The 2 of them really capture the communities heart.

So, do you guys take your horses for neighbourhood walks too?

 

[Jill]

I don't, because we live on a fairly busy (yellow line) road. I do walk the young ones around the yard and practice setting them up in the yard sometimes, and I drive in a field accross the street. If we lived in a place were it was safe to take them for walks, I definitely would

 

[Katiean]

Yes. I take my horses out for walks. We will take them out in the hills and we visit and talk to the horses like we were out on a trail ride. The horses get a great chance to bond with us and it is excellent exercise for both them and us. We can go out one way and it is all back streets and the other are busy streets. We will go both directions because they need to learn traffic and how to behave. Our mare that is trained to drive has not ever had any traffic or obstacle rattle her including buses, semi-trucks, back hoes and jerks that drive by and honk.

 

[angel_cowgirl]

Yes! Well I use to more than I do now. Haven't been able to much being away at college and now getting my own place and such, will be away from them even more. Plus, we have more loose dogs than we use to, UGH!!, and we're even under a leash law!

But anyway, yes love taking them for walks. It is a lot of fun. And when I was showing my gelding years ago it REALLY helped him in the beginning get over the fear of some things.

 

[LC Farm]

My Harley goes out and gets my daughters mail with me and he just loves it. Then we go and put it in the house he goes right up on the porch and we unlock the door and throw it in. I have taken him in a few times if i need something that is right by the door. Most people think i have a dog until they get close.

 

[Alex]

I dont. I cant. Theres too many drag racers, zipping down the street at all hours of the day. Ive been temped to bring them on the bike trail. Theres a sign that says NO HORSES, but it doesnt say no minis! Dogs are allowed!!

 

[Rebecca]

I do!

With my two girls, and living on a dead end dirt road, it's a lot easier than I assume it may be for some of you guys.

I've walked them to the general store in the center of our town a few times, 4.4 miles round trip and they LOVE it! They're allowed to graze in front of the general store and we get lots of people who'll go in just to buy them a carrot!

Just about everyone around here is 'horse smart' or has horses (or cows, or pigs, or sheep, haha!).

I've heard so many comments and seen so many hilarious things people do when they see a mini horse, I couldn't post them all! My favorite was this scenario- I was walking Kassie home after a parade and small town fair, my friend had Covergirl. Across the street was a very tall man, and he was definatley a body builder or something, very intimidating look, absolutley huge muscles! He crossed the street and asked me if he could 'pet my pony' I said sure. He got down on his knees and start sweet-talking to miss Kassie.

He scratched her neck for her and when he was done gave her a hug, thanked us and walked back to his side of the street.

Anyway, they love their walks, we love the walks, and everyone else in Chester does too! Just wait 'til the snow comes, when I have to tell te girls they can't go out to graze or go on walks all winter!

Edited to add- Sorry this post is so long!

 

[tifflunn]

Yep- usually there is a dog or horse that accompanies us on walks to the mail box - but we are a very quiet rural road

 

[minie812]

YEP, I usually take Fiesta for a walk around our property or down the road a bit. Sometimes he will get distracted but he is always looking around he really does enjoy it. We did have a issue when John put my concrete horse statue out front and it was almost dark (I won't say what happen next) but Fiesta thought it was a real horse and got very excited (I will never look at theat statue the same now)

 

[targetsmom]

Yes, we walk ours too. We either take them over a trail that I cut onto the back of our property that connects with a regular horse trail, or we walk them down the road and onto some nursery property with lots of trails. One thing we notice is that the ones that go with us never have a problem leaving the herd and the ones that stay home want to come! We can hear them whinnying for quite a ways. They all love to explore and are reluctant to come home.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Yes, I try to walk mine several times a week. I can take two at a time if we are out strictly for excercise. After a few walks, they learned to go with me nicely, one on each side. When I take just one, we practice turns, whoa, and back. It is farming country here so we meet lots of heavy equipment, some strolling dogs, coveys of quail that explode in your face, snakes.

Sometimes I pack a litterbag on the horse to tidy up on the way. Playing Kick the Can with litter or flapping a Wal-mart bag you find on the road helps with desensitizing.

I don't think horses think about going for a walk the way a dog does though--just for the pleasure of being with you.

Sure sounds as though people have some lovely and interesting places to walk with their horses!

 

[Shari]

I used to take them for walks down the road. Now it is just short walks around the place.

 

[shoeboxstables]

Always! I love doing it too!

I take my mares everywhere- on the trails, on the road, around town, you name it. We even go driving in the school parking lot!! I bring the stallion with me to feed everyone every night, and that's running alllll over the property! Plus he goes with me for daily inspections of the fence lines and such

He loves it!!

As a matter of fact, we even walked our first ever mini from the previous owners' house to ours!!!

 

[Lynne360]

Yes, I take both of mine for walks. They seem to really enjoy it, and it helps keep them (and me) in shape as well. My driving mini drives well on the road now since he is so used to cars, trucks, barking dogs, and stupid kids on motorcycles. Plus, all the neighbors love them and bring them treats.

 

[MiniHunterHorseFan]

Yes I have.

 

[Buckskin gal]

It is wonderful to hear that so many do get their minis out because it is so good for them. We too will take ours out for walks before they start training for driving to get used to dogs barking,people approaching them and even seeing other animals they will never see while in their own pasture such as llamas, cows, etc. They do seem to enjoy seeing the sights and soon become accustomed to the cars passing and everything else. Mary

 

[Fancy Me]

Yeppers! Fancy and I walk on the street/sidewalk all the time. The barn is in a rancho area so a lot of horses are out. And Fancy says hi to all of them. Yesterday I went walking with some friends and Fancy tagged along and we were out for a few hours, she had fun but at the end you could tell she just wanted to eat!

 

[mininik]

My Classic Shetland "BG" loves his walks to town which is about a mile from his pasture. Along the way he's exposed to all sorts of vehicles, people and animals. There have been tarps flapping in the wind, backfires, people in wheelchairs, children and dogs running up on him, etc. One day there was a football team in the park and the little kids got him so excited he couldn't stop "talking" to them as we passed by. He has no problem navigating over lines in the road, or on sidewalks. He has even been IN and behind the bar of a tavern. Lots of people stop us to ask questions and are shocked to learn that he is an American Shetland.

Soon we'll be ground driving to town.

 

[Hosscrazy]

Yes, I also take my minis for walks. We usually go down to the equestrian trails and walk along the river, or I will take them around the neighborhood and visit the other horses.

Last time I took Gracie out, however, we encountered someone who was jump-roping and I have so say, Gracie who is rock-solid level headed, completely lost her mind!!! Between the hissing sound and the movement of the jump rope combined with a person jumping up and down in place, Gracie decided this was not something she wanted to get to know! She went straight up in the air, came back down and couldn't stop jumping around!! Luckily I was able to get her out of the area quickly - pretty funny!

Liz R.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

absolutely! in fact Ozzie and I both need to walk for exercise to lose weight so i have been taking him...the only problem is, someone always wants me to stop so they can pet him

and we don't get much exercise chatting OH!

when we lived in town we used to ride our big horses down to the Texaco for a soda... talk about

when people saw us crossing the main street in the crosswalk LOL