Sweet horse

[Kelly]

Both Breezy and Stormy are such sweet and friendly horses. They both get along with my dog Lacy and all the barn cats. Neither one of them have a mean bone in their little bodies. I know (and have had) a lot of horses who aren’t very tolerant and would chase off dogs and cats. Here’s a picture of Breezy and Gray Kitty drinking from the same water bucket. Breezy gave her a little nudge so she would share the water, but he was very gentle with her. This is just one example of his sweet and charming personality.



Do you have a sweet story of your sweet horse towards other critters? We need pics too

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

I can’t think of any but your mini and cat is so cute!!

 

[1roadtoad]

My 2 boys aren't nice to me, so they sure aren't going to be nice to other critters!!

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

My 2 boys aren't nice to me, so they sure aren't going to be nice to other critters!!

What do you mean when you say their not nice to you? Do they bite or something?

 

[Kelly]

Why aren’t they nice to you???

If mine weren’t nice to me then we would have a “come to Jesus meeting”. If they dont agree with me or see things my way, then they can just be on their merry way to another place. This is suppose to be fun and if I’m not having fun then they probably aren’t either and I would find ones to have fun with. Life is way to short to have “not nice” ponies plus I want to enjoy, relax and have some fun. There are too many GOOD ponies out there that need good homes!!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

My 2 boys aren't nice to me, so they sure aren't going to be nice to other critters!!

Sounds as though you may be trying to be their friend instead of their leader. This happens to me. I just want to go out and love on my Dapper Dan, or sit beside him for comfort sometimes. And he moves away, or nips me.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Pepper and Dapper Dan have a rapport. Pepper can hardly wait to rush out to see Dapper Dan. He is surprisingly tolerant of her; I think he likes her licking and patting his nose. I have a couple of little videos but they won't upload.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Pepper and Dapper Dan have a rapport. Pepper can hardly wait to rush out to see Dapper Dan. He is surprisingly tolerant of her; I think he likes her licking and patting his nose. I have a couple of little videos but they won't upload.

That’s adorable

 

[1roadtoad]

I should explain my flip comment about my horses not being nice to me, so how would they be nice to other critters? First, I should say that they are not mean animals. They don't lunge for me or come at me baring teeth, but yes, they do try and push me around, yes they have nipped me a couple of times and I definitely know that they don't see me as alpha anything (btw this happens mostly when I bring them treats). As I've mentioned on other posts I adopted these 2 minis from a rescue. I have grown to love them both but they are very challenging for me. They play with or fight (not hurting) with each other all the time. When I try to interact with them in the paddock, they don't stop their play fighting with each other, so I kind of get caught between them. If Cooper, the 5 year old, has been nipping at Rocky, he will turn and nip at me. He's not being mean, he's just hasn't yet understood that he shouldn't nip at me. I don't think either of them had any training before I got them. Once a week all summer, I have had a trainer come to my place to teach the boys basic manners. She continues to come every other week or so, when the weather is warm enough. They have come a long way. I can now halter them up, take them for walks, brush them, pick their hooves (Rocky sometimes, Cooper always), but they still have much to learn (so do I). Previously, I have owned only middle aged, well trained horses, so as I said, this has been challenging for me. I should be clear, when they do something inappropriate, I do correct it immediately, but it seems to have almost no affect, again mostly with the 5 year old. I know people with horse experience will say what I say next shouldn't matter but it does: it doesn't help that I am 69 yrs. old, 4'11" and weigh 100 lbs., I'm the size of a 10 year old! That may sound like a cop out, but it's not. Taller individuals have no idea what it's like to be small even compared to a mini horse This isn't a boohoo moment, and I'm no weakling, I'm just saying what's true. I'm not giving up, I will continue to work with my boys and hope that someday I will get them to the point where they actually pay attention to me. Maybe I'll actually get to take a photo of them all dressed up with pyramids of cats on their backs!

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

Oh! Well now I see what you mean. And it makes sense if they're not nice to you ( for now) that they wouldn't be nice to other animals either.

 

[Kelly]

I am about your size, 5‘1” and weigh 110 lbs, a wee bit younger than you at 45 and you’re right, smaller people have a harder time gaining respect. My neighbors 10 year old is bigger than me! At least now we are into minis so that makes it somewhat easier. When I first got my big horse, I new nothing about horses. He was 8 years old, 16hh, a bully, extremely challenging and he knew I was a newbie. Now he is 24 this year, still a bully just not towards me, we have had to have several “discussions“ over the years …. SEVERAL….. I had to learn how to discipline him and my trainer had me carry a whip with me anytime I handled him and she told me to not be afraid to use it.

When my little boys are playing and rough housing, I don’t even go in there, I know they wouldn’t pay attention to me either and I would rather set myself up for success.

If correcting/disciplining has no effect, then I would try another way. Use this forum as a resource, lots of wonderful people are on here who have years and years of experience, wisdom, and knowledge. Everyone has different ideas/ways of what has worked for them and what doesn’t, how to correct certain behaviors, how to get their attention, and how to be boss mare. You can vary it up, try a variety of things, each horse is different and we just have to find what works for them.

It sounds like you are making such wonderful progress with them both, keep up the good work! Cant wait to see the pyramids of cat picture!

 

[1roadtoad]

Thanks for the encouragement and wise advice. I do appreciate it.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

One reason I only have two horses and not three is because I got caught in the herd dynamic conflict one time. I was a horse in their herd and the two dominant were vying for control. We were just walking toward a gate, not even for food. The #3, low-man horse, was shoved, and he almost knocked me down to get away. As soon as the conflict began I shouted and moved for control. But in the split second that it happened I would have been badly hurt if the horses had been larger, or if I had lost my balance.
I've had several horses over the years that vie with my permanent gelding, Dapper Dan, for dominance. It is not a pretty sight, as it is not play. Those horses move on, because I don't like the conflict and I am afraid Dapper Dan will get hurt.

 

[1roadtoad]

You're a good horse mom in the way that you look out for Dapper Dan. Believe me, I didn't want to be in the position of managing 2 young mini horses with no or very little handling. I was committed to getting ONE middle aged mare from a rescue. I didn't want to just go buy an animal from a good situation, I wanted to help an animal. I had lost my 27 year old mare Lady to Cushings. There is only 1 equine rescue in my area, which is still over an hour away. I was at that facility every week for almost a year before they found what they thought would be a good fit for me. I actually saw many horses over that time frame that I wanted to adopt, however the rescue personnel found some reason as to why it wouldn't work out. They finally found me 2 young boys that they thought would be perfect. They said that they would rather I take 2 instead of just 1 as it would be better for the horse, even though I have 2 mini donkeys which Lady had lived with for 10 years and she was the only horse. I was so tired of looking for another wonder horse (Lady) so I said ok to Rocky and Cooper. I am still glad that I adopted them and overall don't regret it, I just hope I won't allow myself to be coerced to do something like this again. I ended up paying over $4000 for their adoption fees and had to put a $6000 addition onto my barn to boot!! Previously my barn had just 3 stalls. I used 1 for the donks (they are sisters and don't like to be separated), 1 for Lady and 1 for my grain room. With 2 adoptions, I had to convert the grain stall back to a horse stall, so the boys could have separate stalls and put a grain room addition on. Overall, I love the new look and functionality of my barn, I wish I did it years ago.
Anyway, that's how I got 2 unmanageable animals, that I'm a bit timid around. Sorry to have hijacked this thread through my original flip remark. I would love to see adorable pictures of mini horses being sweet to other critters.