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What makes your horse special and totally yours?

3K views 17 replies 16 participants last post by  DealingJacks 
#1 ·
I want to see from you guys what makes your horse special to you and uniquely yours. :)
 
#4 ·
I think it's the things you go through with your horses that make them special. Less than a year after I got Koolio, he cut his leg badly, and nicked his tendon sheath. The time I spent treating and bandaging his wound made the bond between us much stronger. Shortly after his injury, I had foot surgery and so I was in a cast as well. We were two of the same, helping each other limp around on our casted left legs and careful not to cause the other to stumble or trip. Since then, he almost always whinnies when he sees me.

We had our guy Sam for around 11 years before we (reluctantly) sold him to friends. In that time, we went through a lot, including having two children and moving three times. Sam was always with us. When we found him again this past summer and bought him back he not only remembered us, but the bond we had was also still there. He's special because he is family. It just feels right to have him back home with us again.
 
#6 ·
Victor is my honey because I've had him so long and we know each other so well. You know that feeling you get the first time you see your heart horse? Well, I get that feeling every time I see him. It just never gets old. :wink:
 
#7 ·
Thats the feeling I got when I first spotted my horse in a herd of 30 standing there staring back at me.
He was 6 months old and you would have never have thought that it was the horse you had been looking for.
 
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#8 ·
Vanna is my horse simply because of who she is. I knew her when she was just a young horse on the race track. I worked with her and I was one of the only people she completely trusted. I could do anything with her and she would depend on me to take her to and from the track, harness her up, groom her, turn her out, and care for her. When she moved to a different barn, I lost track of her.

Twelve years later, I managed to locate her and was given the opportunity to purchase her at a very reasonable price. I showed up at the farm with a trailer and the moment she saw me, she appeared to recognize me. As soon as I took her lead line, she pushed her head into my chest and just stood there. When I go to the barn to see her now, she always meets me at the gate, nickers to me and licks my hands. She trusts me to keep her safe, and I trust her with my life. We understand each other, I don't try to change her past and she doesn't try to test me. Together, we're a solid duo. She's aloof to everyone else and is very choosy about who is allowed to touch her, but with me... her playful, curious side comes out. It's a very common for her to take my brushes and hold them just above my head, and then fling them across the barn aisle. If I glare at her, she'll lick my cheek and rub her muzzle against the wet spot, smearing dirt across my face.

She is my horse, and I am her human. That's what makes our relationship so special. We belong to each other and the bond was still there after a 12 year absence.
 
#11 ·
Before I married my husband who was in the military, I had a horse and b/c we moved frequently it was best to sell her. My husband promised to buy me another one when I was ready. Well, 9 years ago, it was time! Jazmine was my first. She was 4 months old, she is fun and my kids helped raise her. Tonto was #2. I got him knowing he needed surgery. My husband who lives in pain every day understood the horse's pain and said yes to the surgery and now the little horse can walk and run without pain, my non-horsey husband says Tonto is his. Then I bred Jazmine, and she gave me a filly-Shelby. Then I adopted Dodger, a BLM mustang colt. He came as wild as can be, never trusting a human. I have earned his trust. I love them all. BTW my husband reminds he said he'd buy me one. My reply to him is, " Yes dear, I have one herd";)
 
#12 ·
Zanna is in a lot of ways a dream that was almost 10 years in the making for me. I used to own her half sister and from the time I saw her half siblings, I begged the breeder, my boss at the time and friend to this day, to cross Jack (his young stallion) on Patriot (the appendix mare that is Zanna's dam). He finally tried the cross only after the old stallion passed away.

I went to see the foal crop only 2 days after she was born because I was planning to get one of the youngsters since I was finally ready to have a horse again. I had decided before I ever went that it had to be a filly for me because I just seem to get along better with mares. There she stood at her mama's side, just as tiny and cute as could be and a filly to boot off a cross I had wanted to see since 2001! And then she moved! All grace and float like a little ballerina. :D I knew I finally had my dressage QH off of my favorite bloodlines.

I had to jump through hoops at every turn to get her paid for and then moved and finally moved again. But it is oh so worth it when I open my back door and she whickers at me or when I pull up in the drive after work and she comes running from the back of the pasture and stands near the fence all perked up and prancing.
 
#13 ·
Every time I am with my horse, we look out for each other.. he's my equal. Like when he's in the cross ties and the blankets start flying everywhere, he could bolt but he trusts me in knowing I would kick their butts if they came near him, so he relaxes and stays. I can hug his back legs and pull his mane and tail without him fretting. He let's me clip his bridle path and loves to smell his saddle every time we go riding. He asks me politely for cookies when he feels like he deserves them by nickering softly and turning his head. When we walk, no one drags the other.. we walk in unison and stop in unison without being asked.

When I am on his back, he trusts me that even though I may not be the best rider in the world, I will keep him safe. When I am not so sure about a hill or a small fence path, Sky keeps me safe and he relaxes under me reminding me to breathe. He makes me laugh by opening gates with his nose when I have my hands full or when other horses aren't brave enough to let their riders open them up. He always stops eating and looks happily my way when I go to grab him, even if he is with his best friends and it's too nice a day to skip sunbathing.

He gives me one look and I feel like the luckiest happiest person ever. And every time I see him or think of him, my heart soars because I am proud of who he is despite everything he has been through. He never ceases to amaze me, and I am his for life.
 
#14 ·
If I had to narrow it down to one thing, it would be this: she makes me feel safe. I'm never scared when I ride Baby Girl. I never feel in danger. I trust her, which seems silly until you've had a horse that you can say you trust. She protects me... Takes care of me.

If I get off balance, she shifts her body just right to help me regain balance. She gives me only as much as I can handle. For a long time, I thought she was the slowest horse ever. When I raced her with my friends, she always lost. It turns out she is unbelievably, impossibly fast (acceleration of a QH, speed of a TB, and endurance of an Arab, as I like to say). She wouldn't run full out with me until recently because she knew I wasn't ready. She felt my panic and lack of balance and refused to go on. Again, it sounds silly until you've experienced it.


There are just so many times I knew I would have hurt myself if I was riding any other horse. She looks out for me.
 
#15 ·
Huey and I had a connection from the first time I ever rode him. Before I rode Huey I had only been on professional lesson horse (with the trick of stopping at the gate and such) or on professional trail-ride horses (for public trail rides). Huey spent most of his life as someone's one-and-only, and he wasn't doing too well at becoming a professional lesson horse. Too confused by all of the bogus signals we novice riders give out. But when I got on him, he gave me his full attention, and he really *listened* to me, and listened to my seat. Riding him was the first time I felt like I was part of the horse, or the horse was part of me, instead of us being two separate things. And he always does *exactly* what I ask him to, even if it makes no sense, and he's really helped me stop sending out bogus signals! It is like, whatever I want, he's ready and willing to try. And he gives it his best shot, and that shot is usually jolly good!

My trainer told me, before she decided to sell him and before I decided to buy him, that he really seemed to like me (even though I am not a great rider (yet) and he is used to having a great rider...she did not say this last bit, just the first bit about him liking me, but I know I am not a great rider). She said he was not that willing to work for just anyone. Now he is mine, and I am his, and I am so happy! Even when I see all these other great horses at shows and such, I am still totally satisfied with my boy. I do not want any of those other horses, because they would not be Huey.
 
#16 ·
hahaha i like this thread.

well my family has 4 horses and techincally only 1 is mine. but considering i do almost everything for all of them i consider them all mine.
i know there quircks and what will push them or not. what will agrivate them and/or when they are trying to tell me something.
and they know the same for me. if i am in a bad mood they relax and become cute monsters and make me laugh. if i am in a mood to get something done they are ready to get the job done. we have mutual understanding with some issues still to conquer.
thats why they are mine :) they are way to special and have worked hard and will see retirement in our large field. :)
 
#18 ·
Jack is my boy because he chose me. I was on the hunt for a horse, when there was already one at the barn I was volunteering at. His owner found out I wanted to buy a horse, and offered to let me try him out and give him to me if she liked us together. Well, my whole spring break was spent riding, grooming, and messing around with Jack. The first day I went out, his owner warned me he was almost impossible to catch. She had to chase him for hours. I found him in the field and sat down. Without any trouble, he came right to me. He walked to me every day that week.
I was also warned that he was very difficult under saddle and would refuse to stop or back up. We stopped and backed up without a problem.
By now, his owner was in shock, and needless to say, he became mine. He follows me like a puppy, and I love him to bits. He does everything I ask, and protects me. He lifts his hooves for me to pick them on command, all I have to say is "lift." I've never felt such a strong bond with an animal.
Of course, the fact that I pay the feed bills makes him mine before any other reason(;
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