I’ve seen this video before and I love how the horse gets wayyyyy better distances with no rider! 
10 Likes
I have seen a pair of horses doing dressage in a field together during turnout. But I’ve only seen that once.
I have a weird mare. If she had opposable thumbs she would tack herself up and then roll her eyes at me derisively for how long I was taking to put on my boots.
Until having seen her in the flesh, with her tacking up routine, no-one believes it. Once having seen her shove her head into everything, jaws generally drop a little “Boots! Good! Put them on! No, over the head first! … excellent, saddle pad! Yay! Over the head! … ok, this is hilarious and all, but you can slide it back over my neck onto my back, now. No, wait, is anyone here to watch because I will stick my snout out and look extra cute with my saddle pad hat!” And finally, “OMG It’s chew toy time!!! Gimme the bridle! Gimme gimme gimme!” 
Does she love every minute of every ride? No. Does she sometimes want a shorter ride? Yes. Does she sometimes want to carry on when I am done? Also yes.
Very busy monitoring everything, very tuned into her surroundings, exceptionally affectionate, her sales ad read, “Needs a job” It probably should have read, “Needs an indentured servant” LoL
2 Likes
My first horse was a saint. Even when I was truly an elementary level rider he would let me catch him in the 30+ acre pasture (except for 4 times a year, to put me in my place.) One day I forgot to pick up his halter or any baling twine, realized it over half-way to my horse, looked at him, and I kept on walking. When I got there I greeted him, touched his neck, told him to walk and I headed for the barn with him following me. We had to open and close two gates, he went to his usual grooming spot and stopped. From then on I did not bother with a halter, why insult my horse?
But he never came up running to me, if I wanted to ride him I good and well had to earn it by walking across that big pasture greet him and touch his neck.
Other than that I am not sure. But one time, during my loooong undiagnosed MS attack, I got the urge to ride my Paso Fino mare. I had not ridden for a year, she had not been ridden even longer.
She was at the other end of a longish paddock, tucked back in some trees. Exhausted I called her name and asked her if she wanted to ride.
She exploded out of the corner, galloped up to the gate, cooperated totally with grooming and tacking up. She wanted to have some FUN since she was sort of bored in the paddock.
But that is it. My horses let me catch them, they liked being groomed, and they sort of enjoyed out WTC on the trails. I think it was a relief from the tedium of their everyday life, something to think about later when everything got boring again.
1 Like
I once stood in my bedroom window watching one of my mares canter figure 8s, with flying lead changes, in her paddock just for her own entertainment and pleasure. I still don’t believe she liked to be ridden, but she did enjoy the grooming and attention.
3 Likes
The rider did a good job of trying to stay on, big effort and then hit hard, ouch!
Seems one of those times where everything happens in slow motion and feels like it takes forever to end.
Some of those jumps without rider show the horse’s ability well. 
2 Likes
Seems like if folks had turned their backs, or backed off and “ignored” that jumping horse, he would’ve stopped sooner and been easier to catch.
I don’t know if horses like being ridden. Mine have not shown evidence that they want me to ride. That said, they do often enjoy when we’re doing something. Does that make sense? We have friends who ranch in seriously rough, rocky, thorny country, with pastures that are several thousand acres each. Occasionally I’ll day work for them in spring or fall. There have been times where we, as a group, kind of come together to push cattle through a hole or a gate in a fence. We fan out to nudge the bottle neck along, but these are wild cattle who don’t take direction easily or well. The horses very much know and understand the task. They’ve tromped and loped and scrambled for miles to get to this moment and the energy that comes off of them is intense. They almost hum with the intent to get them through this opening, to turn back the ornery ones, to chase down one that slips away, to make the restive cows stand still. Often, it is the horse itself that is making the decisions of where to go and how fast. And then, when they are all through, the horses appear to feel satisfied in a job-well-done sort of way.
So, none of them have asked to get saddled. Yet once we’re out there, figuring out together where the cows are hiding and taking them from one pasture to another, and even though the work is physically quite taxing and difficult, they totally, totally dig it.
4 Likes
I have one horse that I would argue really likes to be ridden. He is very affectionate and somewhat needy. He thrives on praise and is quite proud of himself when he gets it right. Under saddle he tries harder than any horse I have ever ridden.
If this horse hasn’t been ridden in a while he will follow me around the farm and bump me with his nose. After a ride he is relaxed and happy and walks away to hang out with his pasture buddy. I swear he likes to be ridden, probably because he is a bit insecure and he really craves the reassurance of praise.
My other gelding is happy to just hang out and do nothing every day - unless I hook up the trailer. If he sees the trailer out he will come to the gate and wait for me to get him. He loves a trail ride.
2 Likes
My horse very clearly has an opinion on this. Trail riding is fun and he enjoys it. Everything about his expression and body language says, “I’m happy.” Flatwork in the arena? Nope. He doesn’t give a pain response, he’s just lackluster and sort of passive-aggressive. Even leading him up there to the ring is a bit of a struggle. He does clearly enjoy jumping…he just really wishes he didn’t have to do the flatwork that goes along with it.
But in general, I think he’d be happier not being ridden and just being a horse. IMO, horses “want” to eat and be safe from danger and pain. That’s pretty much it.
4 Likes
Note that all but one of those fences were on the wall where he had no choice. The only one outside of that he jumped had two side by side with no way around…
1 Like
my daughter’s horse would just knock down any fence he though little of … she was always mad at him when doing stadium jumping and he would plow through the jump, he preferred the challenge to show off as it was effortlessly for him to clear five feet
Ok. That’s not exactly what this topic is about though.
Nah. I don’t think so. I believe he likes the cookies and attention, and he is honest enough to tolerate being ridden, but if left to his own devices I believe he’d choose the herd life.
But that is the trade off for living rent free, eating expensive food, and having a luxurious life with all the hay, turnout, bedding, and creature comforts he’d like.
Horses have it made. I wish I was my horse sometimes instead of a human drudgery drone working 40hrs a week.
6 Likes
Agreed with that, for sure! I’m by no means saying “don’t ride horses”. The topic came up in another thread talking about something we do that’s unnatural to them that they don’t like.
There are folks mixing two completely separate questions here.
The question posed is “does your horse like to be ridden?” But there seem to be a lot of people conflating that with “would your horse choose to be ridden if given the option to do something else?”
The problem with both questions is it looks at what a horse “likes” or “doesn’t like” through the lens of a human. I wouldn’t choose my FT office job if I had other choices, but overall I find it satisfying and enjoy my work. But a horse doesn’t think like we do. He ultimately is going to seek things that give him comfort and make him feel safe. If you have such meaning to him, then yes, he’ll seek you and will enjoy working with you and even being ridden because he values what you can offer him.
6 Likes
You know, if we watch horses, they will tell us how they feel about all things, including our management.
Some may be shy and not say much, you have to know them well to tell, others have very loud body language and is clear what they want or when they just go along with what we want.
No, their motivations are not those of humans, neither are their choices of action.
We may not know exactly why they feel how they do or why they act how they act at times, but that they have definite opinions about what is going on is clear.
Some of those opinions may at times be if they really want to go be ridden or not.
7 Likes
No, it’s really along the same lines. He could find that security in ways that he prefers, yet we force them to learn to be ridden. He wouldn’t choose that if given options on how to find security.
They’re not going to volunteer to go work hard and endure a game of pressure and release. We train them from jump that “yes they will” and there’s no other options.
Again, I’m not saying don’t ride your horse. But don’t think that riding/working/learning new lateral work/whatever with them is something they actually seek out and enjoy. They would seek out something that is mutually beneficial to them, and riding is not in the top 5 of that list, for sure.
3 Likes
If we didn’t do what we do with domestic horses, there would not be domestic horses.
They are bred and trained and cared for our uses and some of those for many is to become riding horses.
We owe our horses to do what we do considering their inherent horse nature up to a point, we don’t want to abuse them into a miserable existence, of course.
We care for them best we know how, for the horses they are.
Then we demand they accept their purpose, for many to be riding horses, the trade-off for their existence.
Humans also live in whatever conditions we have to live, not necessarily what we would choose in an ideal world.
The more successful species are those that adapt to their circumstances, for horses, to do whatever humans do with them.
2 Likes
Agreed with everything you said here.
You reminded me of something my horse does in the winter. If we have a good weather day on a weekend I will ride her outside. When she sees her blaze orange riding blanket come out she perks right up. “Yay! Outside!” The next couple of nights when I tack her up and go to turn her towards the door to the indoor, she hesitates, staring obviously at the door to outside, before she turns to come with me. She definitely has preferences about where and when she prefers that we play.
We are at a new barn now and we have to go outside to get to the indoor. In the pitch black freezing cold she looks back at the outdoor mounting block as we approach the indoor. Cold, wet/icy, pitch black, nope. Suck it up, indoors it is. And she is fine and keen and happy once we are inside, it’s just not her first choice. My choice of safety and comfort override her preferences though lol
