That’s all I keeping seeing when it comes to people looking for a horse, specifically AA’s. What does safe mean to you? Is there anyone, even a top professional rider, that wants an unsafe horse? Can you call the horse you are riding safe? Is there a difference between safe for AA and safe for a pro? If I were to sell my horse, I would not feel honest to call her safe, because to me that means the horse won’t dump you no matter what. Everyone wants a horse with no spook, no buck, no rear, no bolt, and safe. And yet, these horses seem to be plentiful, because when somone posts that that want one, they get a lot of replies. Some of those replies include young horses. Are there really that many safe horses out there or are there just a lot of dishonest sellers? I think I know the answer. Another thing is that what is safe for one rider is not safe for another. I have no idea how any of my past and present horses would react if ridden by someone with lesser skill than me.
Yes, it’s relative. No, you wont know until you ride the horse not just in the arena but on the trails and at a show.
i wouldn’t personally put that in my own ISO ad.
I feel safe on my horse, have from the start, even when she was giving me some pretty annoying behaviour, even when she bucked in canter transitions. Even when she was green.
So feeling safe on a horse is more a matter of feeling they aren’t going to throw anything at you that you can’t handle, as opposed to it being a constant quality of the horse.
When I am looking for a horse I say I’m looking for safe, sane and sound. Safe to me means that the horse is honest. They might spook (I actually want to know how a horse will spook) but, as a general thing they don’t do it every 5 minutes. If I’m looking for an amateur rider I want the horse to be safe in that they will take a mistake of the rider’s and roll with. For example that if the rider loses their balance and falls forward the horse will not take off like it was shot out of a canon. A safe horse will take care of the rider. Let’s say there is another horse in the warm up at a show having a melt down they will not decide to join in the melt down.
I don’t want any horse to be absolutely non reactive. I think there are times that is necessary. It doesn’t have to cart a total uneducated rider around but I want it to be appropriate for the rider who is looking to buy it.
This is very well put. My lease mare by your description was safe. But ask her to actually do work and she turned into a fire snorting, charging blindly around the arena devil (especially if she knew it was dinner time). That is not a beginner horse, but a horse that showed her true colors when someone asked her to work when she didn’t think she should. One thing I found interesting about her was that she would be fine right up until she saw other horses going in to the stalls, or heard buckets banging around. Some horses get too ‘institutionalized’ in barns that keep a strict schedule. She was one of those mares. Outside of “her time” was fine. But try to get her to do anything when she was outside the barn schedule…forget about it.
I don’t get the explicit “safe” desideratum/listing keyword, either.
I ride a horse that is not safe for all riders in all conditions (e.g. gets frustrated when she doesn’t understand what’s being asked of her and/or isn’t ever allowed to go truly forward, and can be explosive in those situations). I would never market her as “safe”. But 99.99% of unsafe behavior she’s ever exhibited has been a reaction to rider error or true fear, and her reactive behaviors are easier to control or sit when she’s kept in front of your leg and balanced. I can work with that, and feel I have a fair amount of agency in keeping myself relatively safe while riding, even though nobody who knows her would describe her as a “safe” horse.
A barnmate was recently looking for something a little fancy currently showing 2nd-3rd with room for advancement … and more importantly SAFE. But the thing is, she didn’t feel safe on any of the horses that appealed to her for movement, training, “prettiness” reasons. She looked for a long time for the unicorn that could put in a 3rd level test with pizzazz while making her feel 100% secure in the saddle, and ultimately had to change her search parameters to find gaits she could ride confidently, and trade a little less in the way of scores/potential in exchange for a compliant personality and a been-there-done-that worldview. Even still, she wasn’t convinced the horse she bought was safe enough for her to ride until after trainer had put a few months on him and eased her into riding independently over the course of even more months.
I once sold a horse that had been used without incident in beginner lessons, about 1 hr per day, 5 days a week. He was a gem, IMO, in terms of being a bit of a kick ride by default but having potential to be really fun if you quickly established the forward and got him tuned in to the aids. He was totally straightforward to ride and very tolerant of rider error. I can’t think of another horse I’ve ridden that comes closer to “safe”. But the woman who bought him put him in a stall with no turnout, rode him one weeknight in a lesson and once on the weekend, and didn’t think it was worth vet intervention when he started getting stiff in the hind end. Under those conditions he developed a habit of bucking in canter transitions with her and got labeled “unsafe”.
When I was last buying horses I had a sequence of questions I tended to ask about what to expect w.r.t. reactivity to environment, rider, and other horses in lieu of saying I wanted “safe and sane”. I know asking more questions annoyed some sellers who listed their horses as SAFE and expected that to be self-explanatory. But it seemed like a better way to explore risk associated with that horse in those activities and environments I might put him in. Especially given that horses are inherently unsafe, and given how many sellers I’ve encountered whose SAFE horses were anything but (e.g. the safe horse that double-barreled the owner in the torso when he went into the field to catch him, or the “kid-safe” specimen that went bonkers on longe line while demonstrating gaits and knocked owner over before running through a fence).
Of course, nothing is really safe around horses! But viewing it as a relative term, I interpret is to mean that the horse is straightforward, uncomplicated, without big quirks, and is generally a push ride. I would expect very different temperaments from a "safe’ beginner pony than from a “safe” Second Level dressage horse. But within their category, I would expect the “safe” horse to require less management and be generally less sensitive and demanding, given decent care. For that, you may sacrifice pizzazz and upper level potential.
I think it’s so rider-dependent. Much like @x-halt-salute I had a young old Appaloosa that was the definition of safe. I rode her alone on the trails when she was about 60 days under saddle. One of my instructors pointed out that she would be good for a young pony clubber, because she would jump, but never attempt anything the might not make it over. Just basically a born kids horse. Last I heard from the new owner, she was jigging everywhere. Not sure what they did to cause that, but I don’t believe she ever did anything “unsafe” despite the jigging.
Currently, my 6 year old, who was marketed to me as so safe a 10 year old was riding her in a halter at 4… well, she can have a hair-trigger when she is stressed out in new surroundings, and I would not market her as “safe”. Maybe in a few years when she is better at coping with show atmospheres, but she can instantly dive, bolt, and get out of control enough to fall down. However, she appeared “safe” to people observing her in her home arena. Could have been a disaster if she’d been sold to a beginner who wanted to show.
My 3 year old, I believe I will feel safe on, but not a horse that I would market as safe. She’s on her way to 17 hands, and has a bit of an attitude. But she is bold, not much scares her, and being big, she’s not as quick as the 6 year old. She just doesn’t have that hair-trigger explosion tendency, even though on the surface she can look “unsafe” and could very well be for an inexperienced handler (witness double-barrel kicking at the lunge whip this morning before deciding to move out at a trot :lol:). With this horse, I guess my feeling of “safe” is that she does not get overreactive to the point that she will bolt blindly or generally continue to escalate an exciting situation.
Overall, for a horse to be honestly marketed as SAFE, it should be pretty bomb-proof in all situations, and defuse very quickly should it spook. The kind of horse you can carry a flag in a parade on.
I mean, the caveat is that what is a safe horse is a different horse to different people. However, in context to these ads I always assume that the ISO poster is looking for someone to read the details they provide and post horses that the seller believes would be safe for that poster.
It’s an oversimplification to put it this way, but it really illustrates the point at the same moment. What is a safe horse for my trainer (whose background is in starting and retraining young, OTTB, or problem horses), is different from what constitutes a safe horse for me (as an amateur with quite a bit of experience with difficult or challenging horses), is different from what makes for a safe horse for another of my trainer’s other adult amateur clients who came into riding late and have only ever ridden well trained school horses and bought a well trained ex school horse. Riders who have a skill set that allows them to ride through questionable moments (spooking, when a horse is saying no for some reason or another, etc) have a different threshhold for safety than riders who are too timid, unexperienced, or physically incapable for one reason or another - and that isn’t inherently good, or bad, but I think a well framed ad with a self aware poster who addresses safety is looking for sellers to post horses that could be a good fit based on those parameters.
And of course, ads that emphasize “safe” over other things (if looking for a competition horse where safe is a priority) then maybe competitive, flashy, or expressiveness of movements/gaits is a compromisable component, so long as the horse itself is a good match for the rider in regards to safety.
Ultimately, “safe” is a bit of a catch-all and an oversimplification in its own right. That said, I can see where people are coming from when they post about it - though it is only as helpful as the person is, self aware and capable of communicating within reasonable expectation, their skills, limits, and expectations. Unfortunately that’s really the limiting factor in most ads (both ISO ones and sellers’).
It is so dependent on the rider, I would say it’s a “useless” term.
I once asked a horsey-but-timid friend to ride my been there done that old gelding with me on my first trail outing with a new OTTB. When I say BTDT, I really, really really mean it. The horse took me through my teenage years and all the stupidity that comes with that. He had been everywhere - Petsmart, schools, a manufacturing plant, lakes, streams, EVERYthing. Put any kid on him and let him go. The cats and the dogs rode him. I tried to scare him by wearing one of those 9 foot t-rex costume things, he didn’t even flinch for a second. Broke, broke, broke.
She couldn’t get him to go near a haybale in a hay field we were riding through. He was spooking and snorting and trying to spin. I got the OTTB right up to the bale, and my old gelding was having none of it. My friend had a white knuckle death grip on the horn and was incapable of getting him forward.
I got off, got on my gelding, and he walked right up to it.
Safe is a function of the rider, IMO.
I also feel like it can be a function of the rider. I feel that both of my horses are super safe, I wouldn’t ride them if I didn’t feel safe on them.
My mare is very hot and a large mover. She was born in front of the leg and ready to work. She’s never done anything naughty or dangerous. I’ve put a timid rider on her once or twice and I don’t think it would take very long with that type of ride to get her to shut down. Relatively inexperienced but fine with go doesn’t bother her at all.
My gelding was easy as pie as a 3 and 4 year old—I even let a friend ride him to get her confidence back. His 5 and into the beginning of his 6 year old year had some adolescent moments not for the feint of heart. Now that he’s 6 1/2 he’s getting back to his easy self. I’ve never felt unsafe on him, but I have the benefit of having started him. I feel like he’ll be one to put anyone on as he gets a little older.
I recently warmed up a client’s horse at a show and basically stopped and said, ya know, I’m not sure what else to do, she’s going to be totally safe, her worst behavior is going above the bit and calling to other horses. Client was not totally convinced that this qualified as safe.
And then there are the horses described as totally safe that I’d never swing a leg over.
I believe as the above posters do, that safe is relative to each rider, their ability, and their confidence in their abilities. What is safe for one person, is not considered safe for another. As for myself, whenever I have advertised a horse for sale, I never use the word safe. I do explain what they do well, what they don’t do so well with, etc. For example, I may be confident that a beginner can ride a certain horse in the ring, but perhaps couldn’t handle spookiness out on a trail, just for an example.
Whenever I read “safe” I still ask all kinds of questions. Because, safe means different things for different people. For ME, safe is anything that doesn’t flip over backwards, or bolt when spooking. Perhaps they have other quirks but they are manageable and something I can work them out of. Safe for my daughter means, kind to the riders errors, no buck, bolt, or rear. She can handle those things, but I wouldn’t want her to HAVE to deal with those things on a regular basis. Safe for one of my trail riding friends means spook in place, rides on a loose rein, and is a kick ride. So it’s all relative to the rider/horse combination.
My definition of safe is that horse does not mentally shut down when scared or have a streak of intentionally trying to dislodge the rider.
I’m riding a green as grass one right now and I’d consider her super safe. She’s spooked, she’s scooted, but every time it was an authentic response to being startled. She immediately came back mentally and within a few seconds her brain was back in the game. As a result, I don’t care if the spook is over wind in the trees or a dog barking because she is very sensible and stays underneath you.
The types that have a small spook and then want to be blowing and stay a curled up mess for minutes afterwards are not safe in my book. A nasty buck in response to the leg is also not something I feel is safe. My final category are the exploding types. The ones where they lock down and then tune out the seat, leg, rein and the tension builds until the blow up in the front, spin, or bolt. Those are a one strike and you’re out for me.
Ultimately, a safe horse is a horse that thinks and listens to the rider even when scared.
This definition works for me, but for many riders looking for safe, a scoot startle response isn’t considered safe. My mom’s mare prefers halt to any gait, and was as safe as we could get for her final riding horse.
My young horse is my second safest horse in my mind. She’s mellow, great on the trail, etc. She is, however, also around 16.2 and powerful with huge gaits. That would feel unsafe to many. The time she almost somersaulted on me because the loose toe of a shoe caught as she was trying to lift her hooves up in canter, she felt like she was going to roll and I went to bail. She skinned her knees and.mouth up crawling around to keep under me when she felt me going, not knowing I meant to. Once she was sure I was staying on, she stood and walked off as if nothing had happened despite blood on mouth and knees. To me, that is as safe as you can get - but many people would be terrified of her size and power. I don’t believe you’d get much less safe with a beginner treating her unfairly - she is just that type of horse. I’m not willing to find out, but it’s my suspicion.
My older mare has smaller gaits, and her spook is a halt. Also super safe to me. However, she absolutely would be dangerous with the wrong person handling her. Her breeder knew we would be a fit, and that not everyone would match well with her. I feel safe on her, but would not call her a safe horse in general, because of her sensitivity/reactivity.
LOL - no wonder you like Saddlebreds. 
Same as above. “Safe and sane” to me means that when sh*t gets real, things get scary, stuff gets hard/complicated… the horse will still try its damndest to behave and to listen. No matter what level of rider is on its back.
THIS! “Same as above. “Safe and sane” to me means that when sh*t gets real, things get scary, stuff gets hard/complicated… the horse will still try its damndest to behave and to listen. No matter what level of rider is on its back.”
It’s very relative. My current horse and I have a very clear understanding that there are times she cannot help but lose her marbles. She lets me know and I get the hell off for a moment. I consider this totally safe*. Others might have varying mileage with this arrangement.
I’ve ridden other horses that I’d consider safe for their ammy owners who one day out of the blue decided to have their very first shoulder dropping, spinning, running spook at the age of 8 or 9 while doing something totally normal.
And, I’ve worked with the truly screw-loose type that lose marbles in most dramatic fashion with zero warning and frequently. Those ones can really mess a person up 
*now that I understand there is no riding through it 
- took being launched into orbit FROM A HALT a couple of times to learn that lesson
I think it’s best if the buyer just tells the seller what exact behaviors they are worried about, what their level of experience is, and what they’re hoping to get out of the horse. I shopped recently and wanted a safe horse, in the context of I’m experienced but I also had scares from a prior dangerous horse and not in the mood to go to the hospital these days.
To me, “safe” is defined as the opposite spectrum of decidedly “unsafe” - “unsafe” being a horse that will buck or bolt like a bat out of hell, without warning and with all of its force, trying to throw you off, including bucking while mounting, a horse with no sense of its own self-preservation, like galloping at a wall, stuff like that. Also, a horse that rears. The kind of “unsafe” that would be unsafe for any rider, pro or amateur. The kind of thing that is so obviously what you want, you barely think to mention, but I think it’s still worthwhile to say. If I tell someone “I want a safe horse” then we can have a conversation about what the horse is typically like to ride, what kind of warm-up it needs, etc. I can gauge based on their replies if it’s worth trying out. It’s about as helpful as asking how hot the horse is, scale of 1-10. I don’t think “safe” necessarily has to be a horse that has never bolted or bucked in its life, just one that doesn’t tend to lose its mind or get really aggressive.
As it is, I ended up with what I consider a very safe young horse - she is on more on the “lazy” side, but I’m willing to deal with that. Is she so safe that I would confidently let a child hop on, or even a beginner? No. She’s not a school horse. But she’s safe enough that I don’t feel like I’m actively asking for a head injury.
I was listening to a podcast today that included a police dog trainer. He said, that in his state, officer/dog PARTNERSHIPS are certified to work together. NOT individual police dogs. So if either member of the team is retired, the remaining member must recertify with a new team mate.
That makes a lot of sense. Many horses are ‘safe’ for certain people but can become unsafe when paired with others. Even the ‘safest’ car is unsafe with an irresponsible driver.
Horses are not safe. And riders need to take more responsibility for holding up their part of the partnership in making a ‘safer’ partnership.
I old enough that I want to minimize falling off. But at the same time, I dont like or want a push/kick type of ride. Much perfer an easy go button. I’ve been blessed w/ two in my “seniorhood”. The first was a TB, the current is Lusitano. What they had in common the temperment department I would describe as brave/curious/ unflappable. Both would want to go investigate rather than turn and leave. I have had to turn the Lusi around when he badly wanted to meet a pair of Sandhill Cranes, similar with the TB on his first sighting of speckled longhorn cattle in the next field.
And what Isabeau says is so true - I have a friend, who back in her riding days, could climb on just about any horse and chill it right out. It was amazing.
Oh, and then there was the day in the woods when a big spider landed on my shoulder. I screamed, dropped the reins, threw my whip in the air waved my arms and nearly pulled my shirt of trying to eliminate the offender. The lusi went from a walk into two trot steps and halted, clearly confused over the “aids” . Bless his sweet heart.
Maybe “honest” is a better word than “safe”.
