Anyone heard of a horse like this?

[SuzieQNutter]

We have one that could be like that. He went through a few ‘good horsemen’ and was given to me when I lost my heart horse who was over 30 years old and my current riding horse the next day to snake bite.

He is a very good looking horse which is why he was picked out by ‘good horsemen’, he did not excel in their environments.

At the riding school he bit a mother standing near his yard. He kicked out at a staff member who flicked a lunge whip at him in a paddock.

I explain him as having a very big sense of fairness. If he thinks you have done something unfair he will retaliate.

I have taught this horse everything. I don’t just mean to walk to lead, but HOW to walk. It was like he was a fake horse and I had to teach him how to be a horse.

In the beginning I did flick the lunge whip at him wgen he was free and he retaliated. I calmly explained to him that I had flicked it for a reason. That reason was fair and there was no reason to retaliate. Thank you very much.

One ride on him and I knew he was not the horse for me. He was too quiet under saddle. He is a wonderful school master, he has no buck. There is no excitement for me to ride him.

So I trained him for my hubby. The horse was a lot easier to train than hubby!

From Day 1 I have said : DO NOT FEED THIS HORSE BY HAND.

DO NOT FEED THIS HORSE WITHOUT A HALTER ON UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN.

I can do anything with this horse with a look or my voice. He is a bully to the other horses, however really he was unconfident. He needed confidence in his handler/rider and bonded to me. I can control him at liberty. He is not allowed to eat until a hand on his neck. With this horse everything like that is followed 100%. I never skip.

I go into the laundry. 2 feed bins on the washing machine. Sim’s neck and head extended with his muzzle reaching to just near the feed bins. Hubby, one carrot to Sim, one carrot in a feedbin, one carrot to Sim, one carrot in the other feedbin, one carrot to Sim, and so on.

DO NOT FEED BY HAND. HE WILL GO YOU ONE DAY. DO NOT FEED HIM WITHOUT A HALTER.

He feeds him carrots from the ute when he gets home after buying carrots, then complains he can’t get the feed off the ute because Sim is there. Well don’t train him to come to the ute when you get home. DO NOT FEED HIM BY HAND. DO NOT FEED HIM WITHOUT A HALTER.

10 years this happens for. 10 years of do not do what you are doing. This horse will go you.

One day I am carrying a feed bin and I trip and fall into Sim’s back leg and stifle. He had a reasonable reason to kick me. He never moved. He is the perfect horse. Oh was he praised.

Until I go away for work for 3 weeks. I was not there to keep Sim in his place.

I get a phone call from Hubby at the start of the 2nd week. Sim charged him. Hubby is over 6 foot tall and solid. Sim is 16,2hh tb, he knocked him down and gave him a black eye.

What were you doing?

I was feeding him and told him to back off. He came at him from 6 feet away.

I told you he would go you if you did not feed him with a halter.

He did not have a go at me. He went for me.

I did not say he would have a go at you. I told you he would go for you. That is 2 completely different things. What did he do afterwards?

He backed off into a corner and said he was sorry.

Oh so he did not really go for you then.

YES HE DID HE FULLY WENT FOR ME.

No he did not. If he had had a full go at you, he would have reared and come down on you and/or he would have turned and double barrelled you in the head. You would be dead. He would not be sorry. You would not be making this phone call.

PUT A HALTER ON HIM TO FEED HIM. DO NOT FEED HIM BY HAND. (No sympathy from me.)

Hubby did that for 2 weeks. He was afraid of him for a couple of days. Once I am back, hubby has reverted back to his old ways. It has been another 5 or so years now.

I have not given him those instructions for any other horse here only Sim. I havecstill not said he is able to feed him without a halter. He feeds him without a halter.

People do not think of horses as being aggressive and attacking. Even though I told him every day for 10 years he could not see it. Sim is a lamb for him to ride. He puts his ears forward and butter would not melt in his mouth. He is so lovely. People come here now and see a correctly muscled dressage horse and fall in love with him. Hah I have tricked them, he now looks and acts like a horse, not faking to be a horse. People do not think of horses as attacking people, they think of them like kittens and unicorns. They are not all kittens and unicorns.

[George_T_Mule]

Some scary stories, really makes me glad that my crew are civilized beasties.
Maybe somebody has already mentioned this, but You Do Know that horses aren’t strict herbivores?
True story; they are Omnivorous, they have an Omnivores digestive system, and can process animal protein just fine.
And there are stories throughout history about carnivorous horses. Even today, the Icelanders feed their animals dried fish in the winter . . .
Don’t believe it? Try a Google . . .
(edit to include link:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K4KeExDfRo

[Angela_Freda]

1968 Hambletonian - Nevele Pride

[B_and_B]

I’ve known two.
The first, I think in retrospect was probably riddled with ulcers and would have been much happier if he had more turnout and more exercise. He was very, very territorial of his stall and his food bucket, both with his front feet and his teeth. And he was very, very fast with those front feet, That made him a nightmare. But, out of his stall he was edgy, unsafe, but not what I would consider a pyscho…just dangerous. Ironically, though that horse was extremely dangerous (those front feet), I have sympathy. I believe that with a lot of time and a different lifestyle that horse would have been alright.
The other was the barn owner’s pride and joy, but oddly…in 6 years I never saw him ridden and he never went to shows, he did have a nice paddock all to himself though. He bit at the slightest provocation. As in pick you up (teenage girl) by the shoulder bite. I think he had a screw loose. Very pretty mover, but yes a pyscho.
He once very calmly, all four feet nice and still, standing on the cross ties, reached over and bit down on my upper arm. Winter jacket and all and he drew blood, I had to pound on his head and eyes to get him to let go. He also picked up one girl by the shoulder and shook her like a rag doll. The first horse was hurting and defensive. Horse number two…maybe he also hurt, but there seemed to be a different mindset. You never, ever could tell with him, but it was always an aggressive attack.

[Warmblood1]

Did that guy feed the horse a cigarette?

[Equisis]

We had a horse come in for training when I worked for a very well-known BNT. The horse was well-bred, very popular stallion, and by a reputable breeder. There was just something… off. He was aggressive, but in a very unpredictable way. It’s like he never read the manual on horse behavior. He would attack anyone in his field, he would attack in the stall, it took two people to tack him up- and this was a program with a lot of very fit UL event horses, some with short tempers, and very experienced, competent handlers. He never really displayed any warning- it was as if he thought it was normal behavior- which made him even more dangerous around people who didn’t know him, or who didn’t believe the warnings. I’ve handled plenty of rank stallions, feral 2yos, and otherwise unpleasant animals, and this horse stands out in a big way. He wasn’t bad to ride but wasn’t very talented so he was moved along. I hope I never come across a horse like that again- it was unnerving.

[endlessclimb]

My late mare would try to kill anything small that was on the ground, including children.

She nearly killed the barn dog, and would attack the barn cats. She did not kick, she was a full frontal attack type of gal.

Someone had their kid at the barn, and I and my mare were far enough away (10+ feet) that I wasn’t concerned about the kids safety with my mare, but I was watching her - she absolutely was sizing up how to and when to grab ahold of and kill that child. I warned the parents right then and there that their kid was NOT to approach this horse without being in someone’s arms.

That was the weird thing about my mare - if you picked up whatever was small and near the ground, she lost her blood-lust for it. She was curious, sweet-ish, and her normal self. Put it back on the ground, and she was trying to figure out how to end its life.

I am nowhere near a perfect horseman, and I will admit right here - the time she reached down and tried to kill the barn dog while she was on a leadrope walking next to me is a time I lost my temper with a horse. I probably backed her half the length of a football field with periodic smacks in the chest for good measure. She wants to try and slaughter something when she’s loose in the pasture, that’s fine (though obviously not ideal) because she’s not under my tutelage, and I get that it’s instinct. But to out-and-out turn to savage mode when she’s on a line with me, over a dog who was lying on the ground minding his own business, that we were just walking past - it just tripped my trigger. No, NO, NO, mare. You will NEVER do that again, EVER.

And… she didn’t. I’m not proud of myself for losing it for a minute, but that lesson stuck with her.

[DawgLady]

I had one. The weird thing is that he didn’t seem angry. It wasn’t an ear pinning/teeth bared situation. He was a striker. Sometimes when you led him, he’d spontaneously strike at you. If you tried to lunge him, he’d come right into the circle and try to strike at you. God forbid you tried to chase him around the indoor – that was asking for it. But he was super easy to ride and a very fancy hunter.

Then he learned that he could stop at the jumps…and spin…or run you into a standard. He once ran over my trainer standing next to the jump. Then he learned he could stand up and dump a rider, and go running around the show grounds. Ah yes, good times.

I was 21 at the time. My parents came to a show and watched him throw me into the middle of an oxer, then take off and try to take out people at the gate. He was gone soon thereafter. That horse really shook me. Maybe he had ulcers, maybe he needed a different turnout situation or different program. I’ll never know. Sometimes, as an amateur, you just gotta cut your losses and put your safety first.

[Angela_Freda]

Yes, according to an article I found, he ate cigarettes, and a couple odd things… Hot dogs?
I live near-ish to the Nevele resort, so he’s of particular interest.

[Ghazzu]

Way back when, tobacco was used as a dewormer in livestock–the nicotine is toxic.
When I was a kid, I occasionally saw old timers feed an unfilterred cigarette to a horse.

[lenapesadie]

I had a Shetland that was raised in the backwoods that would steal cigarettes.

[findeight]

Surprised War Emblem was not on that list. Even when returned from Japan, gelded and pensioned at Old Friends in very large, double fenced paddock with 4’ alley, he’d allow handlers close one day, try to kill them the next. BB often shared it was the only horse he felt would kill him after WE went after him in his stall, really scared him despite growing up on a breeding and racing farm. Regardless of your opinion of BB, him being that scared carries considerable weight,

Can’t say if he passed that along, he didn’t like or actively hated mares, even in season. There was something about grey mares but cant recall if he would not even tolerate them within sight or they were the only ones he would cover. Anyway, they tried everything but failed to get many offspring from him.

I’m sure his Japanese handlers were glad to see his butt on the trailer going down the driveway. If you’ve ever had a horse you really did not like, you’ll appreciate that sight and feeling.

[DawgLady]

@findeight

If you’ve ever had a horse you really did not like, you’ll appreciate that sight and feeling.

100% absolutely! AND it gives you great appreciation for the ones you do like.

[Warmblood1]

@Ghazzu

Way back when, tobacco was used as a dewormer in livestock–the nicotine is toxic.
When I was a kid, I occasionally saw old timers feed an unfilterred cigarette to a horse.

I met a guy that use to work with horses in Hollywood and they would inject nicotine as a sedative. He told me may horses died from it.

[skydy]

I remember this guy, and his handlers carrying a big chunk of wood.

[skydy]

Calif. Farm Owner Injured in Stallion Attack

[skydy]

A change in management can help.

https://paulickreport.com/news/bloodstock/hes-very-much-improved-spendthrift-farm-takes-steps-to-manage-bolt-doros-aggression/

[Jealoushe]

That’s so interesting about War Emblem. I had a horse by the same sire and he was super sweet.

[carman_liz]

We had one at my barn when I was a kid that went into a woman’s purse, the outdoor Arena was in The Big Field and there was a picnic bench or something right outside the arena. She had left her purse sitting on it, this horse went in her purse got her cigarettes and ate the entire pack!!

[Hightale]

A friend’s horse savaged a sheep to death and bit chunks off it whilst kneeling on the body
He was lovely with people but it turned out that anything on four legs other than another horse that was in his field was fair game to him.