Quirky Horses!

[Potato2001]

This is a just for fun post! What unusual, odd, funny, annoying, etc. quirks do your horses have?

For instance, I have a ottb mare that will suddenly throw herself down to her knees when she’s overly upset/frustrated/overwhelmed by something and stay there with her bum in the air. I’ve come to recognize it as her way of saying “too much” & shutting down. (FWIW she’s never done it under saddle & it’s becoming less frequent as we continue developing our partnership). I certainly don’t encourage it but it’s odd enough to make me stop what I’m doing & laugh enough to remind me to take a step back & re-evaluate how she’s interpreting the current situation

[HPFarmette]

My mare has a “frustration face”. When she is annoyed she sticks her head out straight and twists it around.

[danacat]

When I was a kid I had a mare who could hold a soda can in her mouth and drink contents straight down - she could also do this with a bottle.

[Finding_Serenity]

He snorts at everything. I mean EVERYTHING. Treats, excited, scared, worried, happy, scolding… if it can be snorted at, we snort.

If he’s really worried he’ll press his nose into my face and just stand there breathing on me. Like cover half of my face with one of his nostrils. Steams up my glasses. It’s like DUDE I can’t SEE when you do that. :lol:

[Arelle]

My gelding incessantly flaps his lips when he’s bored - making that “POP” sound over and over.

Standing waiting in the cross ties? Pop pop pop pop
Tied in his stall? Pop pop pop pop
Standing in a lineup waiting for class results? Pop pop pop pop (:rolleyes:)

The funniest part is that I also do this. At one point, two years after having him, my coach commented that we both do it. I don’t know if I somehow taught him or if we’re just soul mates. Whoops.

[MissAriel]

[QUOTE=danacat;8970185]
When I was a kid I had a mare who could hold a soda can in her mouth and drink contents straight down - she could also do this with a bottle.[/QUOTE]

I had a gelding that would do this. Pepsi was his favorite. He also loved to grab whatever he could find and run around the field waving it. His feed tub, sticks, pretty much anything.

[Holly_Jeanne]

I have a mare that always has an itchy forehead. I couldn’t figure out how she managed to always have mud on her forehead up by her forelock. Came home one day to find her on her knees in the pasture with her butt up in the air. She was scratching her forehead in the mud.

[Princess_Sparkles]

My horse has a favourite water bucket. She has two in her stall, a purple one and a blue one. She will drink the blue one empty and will only switch over to the purple if blue is all gone.

Don’t know why, she’s done this for years. Guess I should have bought her a second blue water bucket, but there is nothing wrong with the purple one, other than it is apparently an offensive colour. . .

She as a fluorescent orange feed tub, though, and that doesn’t bother her at all!

[Crazy4aOTTB]

Mine licks EVERYTHING! my hands, tables, my farriers neck when he is shoeing her lol. And when I go to get her from the pasture or her stall she has to sniff my face as a greeting.

[MissingASock]

Ohh I’ve had a few odd balls!
Gelding- Love to have his tongue held, he would stick it out while you were grooming him and put it in your hand.
Gelding- used to suck on treats. Give him an apple and after chewing it a few times he would stop and suck on it with his tongue sticking out just a wee bit. (No, not related to the goof above haha) This guy would also try to steal your beer.
Another gelding- looooooooved having the inside of his ears scratched, inside/outside/all of it. I’ve never had a horse so easy and willing to have his ears clipped!

My current mare right now has a weird way of showing you her itchy spot, instead of making faces she will lift up her hind leg like a dog peeing and wiggle it. She also has a talent of scratching her face with the same back leg, doesn’t matter what we are doing or where we are- if she’s got an itch she will scract it! Happened at a show once, I was riding her around near our ring before our next trip and she suddenly stopped and reached around to scratch! I’ve never seen so many people stop what they are doing to stare at me…some were horrified, some were confused and others couldn’t stop laughing! My coach on the other hand just stared at us as if to say “really?” :rolleyes:

[BigBlackDog]

My old man is an angry treat hound. You give him treats and he’ll pin his ears and pinch his nostrils and stand as tall as he can. My interpretation is that he’s trying to bully you into giving him more, but really it’s more likely people in the past have given him more treats to mollify his grumpiness when he pulls that face. He’s very sweet and doesn’t try and bite anyone, just makes a fearsome face!

[ChasPonyCat]

My horse loves licking DH’s back.

[SugarRush]

My OTTB squeals like a pig (not a horse squeal, a pig squeal–for several seconds at a time) if anything exciting or surprising happens near him, and every time he rolls. He also picks up sticks and throws them, farthest I’ve seen so far is at least 20 feet. Has also picked up a crop once and whacked me with it.

[ChasPonyCat]

[QUOTE=SugarRush;8970419]
Has also picked up a crop once and whacked me with it.[/QUOTE]

“How do YOU like that, Mom?” :lol::lol::lol:

[downen]

I have a big goofy warmblood who makes the craziest sound when I appear with his feed bucket… it’s sort of a cross between a snort and some sort of sinusy rattling noise. I’m pretty sure I heard the same sound in the movie Jurassic Park! He also tilts his head for treats: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207751623365449&set=a.1584415807187.2078448.1139500127&type=3&theater

[IPEsq]

Mine occasionally stops mid-ride to chew on his front chestnuts. He goes down for a nose scratch and then is like, ooh, gotta chew this. This is one of his many, many quirks.

[LawsofMurph]

My guy will only do super cute picturesque things when no one is watching. Never runs around in the pasture if you’re watching. Never plays with his friends if you’re watching. Nothing.

Except one time I walked out of the barn and saw him standing stock still holding a jolly ball (the kind with a handle) in his mouth. We made eye contact with each other and he slowly opened his mouth and let it fall to the ground.

To date this was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen him do (Outside of his begging for treats antics). I just can’t get over the look on his face as he let it fall to the ground :lol:

[specifiedcupcake]

My chestnut mare doesn’t like geometric shapes- road signs, manhole covers, dressage letters… will purr-snort at it. But usually a cluck and she’s like “oh yea we were going forward!”

Gets super clingy for about 3 days before going into heat. If she’s in my pocket, following me around the field… gonna be a wet stall and some squealing soon.

REALLY likes routine. Like if I pick her feet out in the wrong order she gets upset and then acts a bit sarcastic. “Okay mom, you must be drunk to go for my left back foot first! SIGH Yank it off the ground lightningfast” This is probably my fault as I tend to be a creature of habit.

[SmartAlex]

I had a horse who would amuse himself in the cross-ties by putting his lower lip up over his teeth and sucking on his tongue until he blew bubbles.
I taught him that somehow not knowing how annoying it would turn out to be. At least it stopped his nippiness.

[adelmo95]

I have one that follows me around like a dog. He also likes to untie himself whenever tied with a quick release knot. He is not a spooky horse but likes to announce anything that has the potential to be spooky by snorting at it even though he doesn’t act on it. He relaxes more the busier his surroundings. He used to announce his displeasure about anything (noseband done up a hole tighter, different bit, different saddle pad etc.) by bucking. The list goes on he is a fun little horse but certainly a character.