The dumb vs the insanely smart

[Spotted_trail]

So this is meant to just be a fun post. But I wanted to share funny or eye opening horse moments you’ve had with either your own or other horses you’ve worked with.
I had a thoroughbred colt I aquired who I swear was one of the dumbest animals I’ve ever met but he was a blast to be around. He managed as a 2 year old to get himself caught in a flexible rubber made water trough. We ended having to cut a hole in it to break the suction cup affect it had so we could get him out. Surprisingly enough he didn’t panic or struggle during the ordeal. Another memorable moment was getting a call from my barn owner about him drooling and she said it didn’t appear anything was wrong other than he was drooling. It turned out he had an affinity for the electric fence and he would stick his nose or tongue to it till his face went numb. After that we kept him in a non electric fence to avoid any further brain damage we were sure he was going to cause . I dubed him the nickname my adorable idiot.
My Appaloosa on the other hand I swear I’m looking at a human sometimes and he works just as hard trying to figure me out as I do him. He has some impressive moments as well one being we were attacked by my old barn owners dogs shortly after I bought him while riding down the driveway bareback. I came off him and hit the pavement hard enough to bruise my hip bone and skin myself up good. He had superficial injuries that jealed up fine but the most impressive thing was he didn’t bolt and leave me he came right back to me and kept himself between the dogs and I till the barn help grabbed the dogs. I had only owned him for about a month at that point but I was shocked he didn’t bolt. Needless to say he still isn’t a fan of dogs and will kick at them or bite them any change he gets.

Share some of your most memorable horse moments I love reading other people’s experiences

[Bluey]

Fun thread this.
I can’t remember a really slow minded horse, but some crazy and a few way smart ones come to mind.

Little cowhorse was way too smart for a horse and had a work ethic like no other.
Many stories how he was figuring what we were doing and just did it, human stay out of my way, please.

Once we drove a couple dozen steers into a corner.
I left him to keep them there, walked thru the fence and way around so as not to spook them back into the brush, opened the gate and got out of the way.
As soon as the gate was clear, he by himself pushed them thru and then waited for me at the gate to close it and get back on.
Horses tend to have a one track mind.
Another horse may have done that, but most would have kept on going driving the cattle on to the pens, myself forgotten there.

When we were running cattle thru the chute, I first tied him to the fence and opened the tail gate, ran one in, closed the tail gate, opene the front, caught it, treated it, let it loose and repeat.

After several, he untied himself, I didn’t see it and when I opened the gate, he walked back there and pushed one in.
I opened the front and he pushed it forward.

After that, I just opened the tailgate and was ready to catch them at the front, he brought one at the time in to me and the work went much faster.
Also, when you opened a gate, as soon as you had unfasten it, he would push it open for you.

I think he thought humans were just too slow for him, he could do things better and faster.
He was the result of an accidental breeding, a farmer bought from a very good breeder two siblings, a yearling filly and weanling colt.
He kept them together all winter and by the time he went to geld the colt as a yearling, well, the filly had a foal next year.
He was that offspring and we used to say, he must have been so lucky as to have inherited a double dose of smarts.

[Obsidian_Fire]

I had an Arab mare years ago, best trail horse ever. I headed out on a trail we used all the time. We got ‘so far’ and she just stopped. Would not go. So I sat there on her, and finally I saw what she already knew: There was some guy walking thru the old road ahead of us. I don’t know who he was or why he was there (this was a private area off the beaten path). As far as I’m concerned she kept me safe.

Another incident with this same mare: She was tied too long (stupid things kids do) and got a front leg tangled. I saw this and went to fix the issue. She didn’t seem to be in any distress - wasn’t panicking or anything - but as soon as she saw me, she started limping and carrying on like her leg was broke!

[SuzieQNutter]

OMG Bluey and ST, those are 2 horses I would never part with.

I , too have had a terribly smart horse. Andy. Off the track tb and he surpassed me in one month to the day in dressage. He was in total trust with me and seemed to learn over night.

Virtually by himself and with me on a loose rein. He brought up a cow and one day calf by doing walk canter sideways to bring them back to the fence and then walk canter sideways to stop them going the wrong way to the fence and anyone will tell you it is impossible to bring up a cow and one day calf alone without bringing in the whole herd.

Dumb I will have to give to Sim sigh. Walked into an electrified gate I was closing and then did it again minutes later. Even the cattle wouldn’t do that!

[cayuse]

When one of my minis get tired of being led, he will twirl the lead rope around his nose several times like someone twirling spaghetti around a fork. Once he gets it wrapped around to his liking, he tries to leverage the rope from me head off into the sunset. He is super quick with this maneuver and I still can’t quite figure out how he gets it to stay wrapped. Unwrapping his snout can be a challenge, he turns it into a game of halter tag if he thinks he can get away with it. The first few times he almost got away from me because of the surprise factor, but now I’ve got his number :-).

[Foxglove]

Vet and I had a discussion about “genius and really mentally defective” horses b/c I had an OTTB that I could.not.train. After three years at my barn, the horse had learned nothing. He never learned where his stall was; he never learned one thing more than he knew the day he came. He knew how to walk, trot, canter. Period. He was difficult to bridle (sometimes); other times, no problem. He (sometimes) reared when being mounted --other times did not. In three years of trying all known training methods, he never progressed beyond ground poles. He would jump --but then–he wouldn’t. So I asked the vet --is there something wrong with his brain? He said that in SBs (what he bred himself) there was a “crazy” line —these were all geldings and stallions, from the same stud, who when they hit 5 or 6 became incredibly dangerous to handle. So why were they bred? Because until 5 or 6, they trotted in the money. He said it was consistent and predictable. As far as he knew, there were no exceptions. He didn’t know if the mares passed the same crazy gene. They were generally good trotting mares. His suggestion was to sell the horse to a non-jumping facility. So I did that and made enough to buy our great event horse Hail Caesar. The mentally slow horse (as far as I know) continues to this day to walk-trot-canter at a college equestrian facility where they all say he’s wonderful.

Right now I’m dealing with a horse genius. His latest way to entertain himself is “cutting” the barn staff. He waits until they bring hay out, then he uses all his cutting skill to keep them from going back through the gate. I’ve been away and he hasn’t had his usual work --I think he’s doing this to entertain himself. “I don’t know what to do, Miss, Every time I go left, he’s in front of me. So I go right. He’s right there. I shake the whip at him and he moves, but as soon as I start to walk, he’s back in my way.” He’s a great ride --seems to think of things before I do . . .hummmm.

[Spotted_trail]

I am loving these stories guys! It’s so funny to read what other people experience whether it be a mentally slow horse or one that outsmarts the people handling them.

[lifeishorsesarelove]

My own chestnut mare is far smarter than I was prepared for when I bought her as a scrawny, neglected, feral 3yo. Now that she trusts me, it mostly works in my favour, but at first it was super frustrating. A few months after I started her, she worked out that she could do her best tree impersonation when I was riding alone and refuse to move, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. She had a full winter coat at the time and clearly it didn’t sting very much when I went to my stick.

She’s not afraid of anything, but she knows that a spook can get her out of things, mostly with other people. She’s leased out right now and has spent the last few months training her lessee that she’s afraid of plastic bottles, bags, etc… I came for a visit and they were all stunned when I threw a giant tarp over her head and sat on her back with water bottles crunching in both hands. She’s not afraid, she’s bored and seeing what she can get away with! She’s smart enough to not try it with me.

Dumbest thing I’ve seen her do is eat fake flowers. She does it consistently, can’t be trusted with them. Not just sniff/lick and give up, she will rip them out and actually try to eat them. 50/50 on whether she spits them out or swallows it.

[shiloh]

A friend of mine had a Dutch gelding from a line that is well-known to be quite the personalities and very naughty. One day she was in her house eating lunch when she heard the lawn maintenance crew all shriek “No caballo no!” She looked out the window as they all ran towards the pasture where her gelding was. There he was standing with the HOT wire in his mouth biting down on it til it shorted out, then he quite calmly walked thru the fence, pulling the whole thing down and trotted off down the driveway. The poor lawn guys nearly lost their minds, some chased him, others tried to fix the fence, and one guy got into the truck and would not come out again til they left. Horse thought the whole thing was hilarious. He would lean against the fence til the wire shorted out - he just did not care. He did this so much she started to think he thought that seeing puny humans running around in panic was entertaining. He was like a bad child - the pranks he pulled. I always told her he needed a monkey.

[Woodsperson]

My big Irish guy was being clipped one night. He was done with it but I pushed on. I just had to finish his head. So he grabbed the clipper cord in his teeth maybe two feet from the clippers and started swinging them back and forth. He got them moving in a big arc He then opened his mouth and my brand new clippers slammed into the barn wall and were never the same again. He laughed at me

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I had a very smart Morgan, a long ago. Came home from school one day, went to the barn, only to find him in the tack/feed room with his head in the metal trash can that stored bran (this was 1979, before we had fancy horse feeds).

First, he had to get out of his paddock - the paddock literally was attached to the main aisle of the barn. So somehow he’d gotten the large 5’ long 2X6 board pulled out of the 2 closed brackets that held it in place.

Second, he’d figured out how to get the tack/feed room doorknob turned to open the door.

And third, he figured out how to pull the top off the metal trash can that stored the bran. He’d also pulled the top off the can with the crimped oats, but went for the bran instead.

He was so pleased with himself. He was fortunate that he didn’t eat enough to founder. We had to put a lock on the tack/feed room door and instead of using the 2X6 as a barrier, we had to just close the barn door when he was in the paddock out back.

[shiloh]

@4LeafCloverFarm - what is it about Morgans? They are so smart. At one of the barns I was at we had a cute little Morgan gelding and he, too, had learned to let himself out. And the gate had a latch that you had to flip up a certain way and slide. I found him out one day, put him back, he trotted to the rear of the stall and just flipped it all up and off he went, giving me the most gleeful look of triumph as he passed me. Couldn’t be mad, he was too funny, just caught and had to chain his doors shut after that.

@Woodsperson - you KNOW he did that on purpose, right? :lol:

[511]

@Spotted_trail

I had a thoroughbred colt I aquired who I swear was one of the dumbest animals I’ve ever met but he was a blast to be around. He managed as a 2 year old to get himself caught in a flexible rubber made water trough. We ended having to cut a hole in it to break the suction cup affect it had so we could get him out. Surprisingly enough he didn’t panic or struggle during the ordeal. Another memorable moment was getting a call from my barn owner about him drooling and she said it didn’t appear anything was wrong other than he was drooling. It turned out he had an affinity for the electric fence and he would stick his nose or tongue to it till his face went numb. After that we kept him in a non electric fence to avoid any further brain damage we were sure he was going to cause . I dubed him the nickname my adorable idiot.

I want to hear more about this horse. He sounds like a sweetie.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I don’t know @shiloh, I only had experience with the one Morgan (no one else I knew had one). But he was just too smart for his own good sometimes. I ended up having to put electric top wire along all the fence and the gates too. I’ve not interacted with or owned another pony or horse that was as smart as he was.

[OuttaShape]

Ugh, I had a Morgan who could (and would!) also let himself out of both his stall and his field. He ended up with a double latch on the stall, because one night he let himself out, got into the just-filled trash can of sweet feed, ate ~20 lbs worth, opened up the stall where the hay was stored and ate/peed on some, then put himself in the outdoor arena and stood there until the morning barn workers found him, quite pleased with himself. He somehow did not colic or founder, although he was quite put out that the vet insisted on pumping him full of mineral oil and mandated that he go 2 WHOLE DAYS without additional grain.

[RMJacobs]

My smart pony just died last week, and he will leave a huge hole in my life. I got him from a rescue about 15 years ago, when he was in his teens, and quickly found out he was smarter than most of the humans around him. He opened gates, untied knots and stole dog toys (just to torture my poor dog). When I was grooming him in preparation for going for a nice drive, he would play with the panic snap on his halter until he got it undone, then just stand there laughing. He never went anywhere; he just felt he should be allowed to stand untied.

He didn’t like my other pony, so he figured out if he trapped him against the electric fence, it was a good way to abuse him.

He was always amusing and I miss him a ton.

Rebecca

[ChestnutArabianMare]

I let my terrifyingly smart Arab mare out to graze in the barnyard (fully fenced in) while I went to help my friend catch her horse. My grooming kit and a half-full bag of baby carrots were also out there. See where this is going?

In the roughly 5 minutes it took me to help my friend, my horse found the bag of baby carrots, unrolled it without ripping the plastic, ate all but one half-chewed carrot and was peacefully grazing across the barnyard by the time I came back. Apparently she knows that plastic is not edible!

She also knows how to pull this trick with the bag of treats and will shake hay bags until the hay falls out so it’s easier to eat.

She takes off blankets without undoing any straps – her record is 15 minutes. Her nickname is Houdini. She also knows how to open gate latches, stall latches and the sliding door to the indoor arena. Thankfully she hasn’t learned to untie herself yet.

My favorite feature? She is incredibly gentle around all small children—super careful on the ground, doesn’t spook at anything they do and freezes when giving a leadline ride if she feels them slide the slightest bit off center.

[Bluey]

@RMJacobs

My smart pony just died last week, and he will leave a huge hole in my life. I got him from a rescue about 15 years ago, when he was in his teens, and quickly found out he was smarter than most of the humans around him. He opened gates, untied knots and stole dog toys (just to torture my poor dog). When I was grooming him in preparation for going for a nice drive, he would play with the panic snap on his halter until he got it undone, then just stand there laughing. He never went anywhere; he just felt he should be allowed to stand untied.

He didn’t like my other pony, so he figured out if he trapped him against the electric fence, it was a good way to abuse him.

He was always amusing and I miss him a ton.

Rebecca

So sorry you lost your little fellow.

They leave a big hole in our lives.

Hugs.

We got an old horse from a bad situation.
He was on a big bale of some sorry hay and starving because, in his mid 20’s, he could not really eat that.
He was not getting enough nutrition from the little he managed to eat.
We hauled him off and directly to our vet, afraid he was so weak he may fall in the trailer.
Vet ran blood and all was fine.
He did find his mouth was ulcerated all over, worst he had ever seen.
He washed it well, floated a little bit of the worst for now and gave us a protocol for refeeding he could handle.

Once home, we were afraid to put him in a stall and he go down, so we left him in our wide aisle, a corner bedded.

We found him next morning in the hay stack, eating alfalfa on his own.
We assumed someone had not closed the people door well into the hay part.
After finding him back in there later, we finally watched him around the corner and saw him walk over and turn the door knob with his lips and let himself in there.
Mistery solved.
Some horses can watch people and figure how door knobs work.

[RMJacobs]

Thanks, @Bluey. He had a good, long life and I’m glad he was part of my life.

Rebecca

[4LeafCloverFarm]

Also sorry to hear about your pony @RMJacobs . I don’t know what it is about ponies that makes them so very lovable, and yet, so very bad at the same time. I have a hard time even getting mad at mine (probably a good thing I have no human children), because even when he’s bad, it makes me laugh. Maybe that’s why I love him so much.

Here’s a perfect example - pony finishes “breakfast”, tries to steal brothers’ breakfast and when he finally sees me, looks at me like like “What? I didn’t do anything!”. :lol:

[video]https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/kGFykJ2Zfpp8ASkuOgN80QyySJtfZPwFgTmkpMd9q5i[/video]