Can horses identify different people in their lives? (Owner, Riders, Trainers, Barn Help)

[RMJacobs]

My horses would come when called by my husband (food guy). They would wait for me to walk out to them to catch them, because I was the one who made them work. They were good about doing their jobs, and one was downright enthusiastic (“Take me! take me!”), but they still let me come to them, and would not come when called, even when I was feeding them.

I had an interesting encounter one day on the bike trail near where I lived in Colorado. I was riding my bike at night, alone, no lights, with a full moon. I heard something big crashing through the bushes next to the trail, and was getting pretty nervous because we’d had some bear sightings in the area. I was heading toward my car, and turning around wasn’t much of an option as I’d never get home that way. Plus whatever this thing was, it was keeping pace with me. So I kept going, and where the bushes stopped, a large animal jumped out at me. It was a mare, and one I’d known quite a few years before. She evidently was on pasture board now (the trail went through several pastures). I’d known her at a barn where I briefly took lessons and boarded. She thought I was still the treat lady. Of course I didn’t have a single treat with me, but she got a nice ear and neck scratching, and I got some nice nickers in return.

I was so glad it wasn’t a bear.

Rebecca

[Burbank]

Oh they definitely can get attached to people, the two stories that I can think of off the top of my head

1. A former trainer of mine had a former student that when she retired her horse and got a new mare and then later moved her retired gelding had to stay near the trainer because if he didn’t see the trainer often enough he would go off his food and colic

2. My husband use to be a trail guide and one of the horses who he rode often became attached to him, if the horse saw him riding another horse he would make an angry face or try to kick the other horse. If you happened to be riding him and he caught a glimpse of my husband riding another horse then he would get upset and crow hop

[Holly_Jeanne]

Well, in my experience, my horse can be at the fence line hanging out right until I pull in and get out of the car. Then she wanders to the far side of the field. I’m pretty darn sure she recognizes me as work.

I used to tell people (I had my own farm) that when I returned from vacation the dogs would go “We are so happy you are home! We LOVED the sitter but we missed you!” The cats would say “How dare you leave us. We are going to snub you for a few hours as punishment.” The horses would say “You were gone?”

[arabhorse2]

My long departed ‘heart horse’ definitely knew who I was. I boarded him a majority of the 21 years I owned him, but he always knew who I was and would make a beeline for me. He learned to recognize my vehicle as well, so would race to the gate and wait.

He had a very soft, almost imperceptible whicker that he only did for me. Everyone who handled him said they never heard it, as it was reserved just for me. I was also told by one BO that, “He’s a nice boy, has good manners and never acts up with the the staff, but as soon as you show up the rest of us could drop dead in a pile and he wouldn’t even notice.” :lol:

He was definitely a once in a lifetime horse, and I will always miss him. Did he ‘love’ me the way I did him? I try not to put human emotions on animals, but he DID know who I was and appeared to very much enjoy my company and prefer me to other people, so I’m content that he loved me in his own way.

[PushersBlue]

My “heart horse” was a very prideful late cut gelding who kept his cards close if you will. Don’t hug him, stop with the petting, definitely don’t braid, you’re too slow with the putting on the bridle you amateur. Never did get nickers or much affection at all except for when I went away for close to 3 weeks. When I returned, I was leading him up to my tack shed, he leaned over and nuzzled all through my hair as we walked then sighed. It was brief, but definitely a “I missed you” gesture and huge for him. We had this turnout in the arena routine where I’d just stand in the middle and ask him to pick up leads, change direction, all by voice in this huge space etc like some sort of circus act. He wouldn’t do that for anyone I asked to watch him when I was gone. He’d apparently just ignore them and stand there.

[Zevida]

I’ve only had my two for 6 months, but they do recognize me. Last night when I was getting ready to leave the barn of the 12 or so horses in the barn there were only 2 heads hanging out of their stall watching me - my 2, because they know I give them cookies before I leave. My mare whinnies for me when I get to the barn every day, because I’m the cookie lady. I hope over time our bond grows a little deeper than that, but I’ll take it for now. :lol:

[Pookah]

I used to have a charmingly demanding gelding who was my FEI schoolmaster and then retired from age 27 until he passed away at 34. He was a bit of a princess and expected to be catered to. His last barn was a partial self care barn, and several friends pitched in on meeting his needs as I was starting a career at the time and often traveling for work, etc. He was very cold-natured and always wanted to blanketed a smidge warmer than anyone else, so if you tried to take his blanket off too early for him, he would very politely take a step backward when you went to unbuckle it. He was in a 5 acre pasture with other horses, but he got to know every car that I or my friends would possibly be driving, and if he wanted something (a snack, a blanket change, to come in, etc), he would see one of those cars at the top of the driveway, and be waiting at the gate by the time you got to the barn. Other cars he completely ignored. And he had no issues communicating exactly what he wanted - he would grab a blanket with his teeth, etc. He was quite a character, ran the show for sure.

[RantyvilleHorror]

@furlong47

From working in various barns I can say they definitely know who the food lady is :lol: Some horses that were impossible to catch in the pasture for their owners to ride would come right up to me and all but bury their head in the halter.

Similar to this, they also know the ones that make them work hard! I was a groom at a yard where a friend kept her pony. It was full livery and she didn’t drive so the only time she went there was to ride him. After a few months of owning him he became impossible for her to catch. Not a problem for me or most of the other grooms! He had just associated her bringing him in from the field with then going out for a few hours riding and coming back tired. With us, he was just going back to the stable to eat some hay and dinner! I know which person I would be more willing to walk up to haha

[2DogsFarm]

Glad to see this thread still lives.

Made me remember the lesson pony at my trainer’s barn.
Impossible for trainer to catch, he’d ask one of us to go get him from pasture.
Easy Peasy the first few times, then pony recognized we meant work too & he’d bugger off. :mad:

One of the younger girls once got on him bareback, halter & lead, to ride back to the barn & he walked nicely almost to the barn, then took off bucking. Dumped her & ran right into the barn.

I borrowed him for a bareback trailride when my TB was recovering from an abcess,
He was so fat no pad needed, I sunk right into his back.
We were crossing a shallow stream and just as he stepped in, a huge fish leapt out of the water.
Pony stopped, then launched himself over the stream.
No monsterfish was gonna get him! :eek:
His chub held me in place like thighblocks!

Another time he got out of his stall & was trotting down a path that led to an open gate to the road.
It was Winter & I knew I couldn’t run after him, so was walking slowly, when pony hit a patch of ice.
He did a perfect Bambi On Ice impression, all 4 legs splayed out & waited all bug-eyed until I caught up & snapped a lead on. Then walked back with me like a perfect gentleman.
I always wondered if he thought I had been responsible for that suddenly slippery footing. :lol:

[cannoli2425]

These are great stories. Thank you all for sharing!

[Ajierene]

I got my first horse from an auction and the only place I could keep him immediately was a bit far from where I lived and some weeks between college and work, I could only go out there on the day that I was cleaning stalls (pay off part of my board). If I did that for 2 weeks in a row, the horse was acting colicky by the third week. He always perked up when I got there. I think he was tossed on the back 40 and ignored when he was no longer useful (he was about 18 when I bought him) - he was a former racehorse that seemed to have been a big time show horse and I he definitely did like attention. So, since I was the one that took him out of the auction, he recognized me as his person and when I didn’t show up for a while he started to feel neglected and actually got depressed. He would always saunter to me in the field, to the day he died.

I am DEFINITELY my current mare’s person. She is out of my previous mare so I have known her literally her entire existence and I am the one that put all the ground manners on her, broke her to ride and have done all her training. Other than my trainer walking her around the cross country course twice when I had two horses to ride that day, she’s not had anyone else on her back. Other people have commented on how she behaves around me as well.

Some cute things she does - when I’m getting another horse from a field, she will always look at me over the fence, like she’s trying to let me know that I’m in the wrong field.

When she was a baby, I rode another horse she was in the field with so she doesn’t come up to me in the field, but she stares at me with ears pricked as if to say, “Oh, are you getting me? coming for me, ma? Oh, I hope it’s me but I don’t want to walk over there and be disappointed.”

If she’s on the cross ties and I walk away, she is always watching me and if I’m talking within about 10ft, she will nicker.

On the few occassions she has been in a stall overnight, she starts acting up and nickering when she hears me.

Not so cute - she will stand on a parked trailer all day long…unless I talk within a certain distance, then she’s been known to take trailers apart and since I do not own my own trailer, I have not been able to work on that. So, either I don’t talk until I’m ready to take her off (at a show by myself, I quietly go check in and come back) or I take her off immediately and tie her - she ties just fine (at a show with someone else or people start talking to me when I get there).

[16_Hands]

I sold a mustang mare to a pony clubber and when I showed up at the barn one day, Zephyr came running over across her paddock to greet me. This was a horse who was known to be a little standoffish, but that day, you could see the happiness in her face at seeing her old friend. I regret to this day selling her but she lives like a princess in a horse mansion.

[jebabacus]

What fun stories here!

I’ll just add, of course horses recognize people. I believe they all do, but some are “pickier” than others. Some show definite preferences and dislikes… some are very watchy and suspicious of strangers. Many will bond with a specific person (and they all have a large place in their hearts for the FOOD person;-)

I doubt they really miss us much when we are gone, especially not if they have a horse herd. But I’ve had many that are demonstrably happy to see me when I’ve been gone for a while.