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One day I was out at the barn just walking by the turnout. I decided to stop by the gate and watch my horse Raini for a little while. Raini was apparently a little high strung at the moment because she was strutting around bucking, farting, and rearing. I laughed a little while at her playing thinking she was going to be fun to play with that afternoon. Then she and another horse Robbie did something really weird. I’ve never seen or experience anything like it since. She and Robbie stood facing the other side of the turnout. Raini looked at Robbie for a moment then they both burst out in a full gallop. My jaw kind of dropped since it appeared they were racing each other! The other horses in the turnout were all watching them in what appeared fascination. As Raini reached the other end of the turnout first she turned to Robbie and let out a low nicker. Then she kind of groomed him a bit and turned and walked away. I was amazed because Raini is usually the boss mare and will only let the other mare and her “boyfriend” touch her yet she actually groomed Robbie! Ever since them I have kind of thought that she was telling him good job. -Sarah

just recently got my first horse, Riyad, a black Arabian Gelding. Out of all the silly things he does, my favorite one is that whenever he gets bored he chews on things. He chews on EVERYTHING except wood which is a good thing. He';s tried to take my dad's sunglasses before, h's tried to eat peoples cell phones, he even tries to eat cameras when we take pictures. Even when I'm riding or showing him in performance classes. Whenever he feels like it he'll grab the reins and chew on them, then they get stuck in his mouth and I become the laughing stock of the class when I try to dislodge them from his mouth. Literally anything he can reach he will try to chew on. He's picked up other horses blankets off their holders, he chews on lead ropes, broom handles, pitchfork handles, you name it he' done it. He's even chewed on my hair, if its in a ponytail he'll grab it and chew it or play with it, depending on his mood. I could go on forever about all the silly, and unusual things he does but this is probably the one that occurs the most. - Allison W

 

This happened to me on my old horse Danny, on his last trail ride with me last year, before we retired him. We were riding along our favourite trail, with my mum, her friend Channie and my friend Melissa. It was the end of a warm summer day, and despite the heat, there was a gentle breeze behind us as we rode. We rode along, chatting to each other, until we reached the last part of our trail, where we had to cross a dry, but steep creek bed. I volunteered to cross first on Danny, as he was easily the most quiet and placid horse with us at the time, and we knew we wouldn't have any problems getting him through. So down I went, not feeling at all nervous about our steep decent. We got three quarters the way down into the creek bed, and my placid old, quiet Danny got so excited over something, to this day I'm not sure what, but his headwent right up, his eyes were wide and he started prancing down the slope. When we reached the bottom, instead of taking off up the other side of the creek, Danny started literally cantering on the spot!!! It was so weird! He then proceeded to gallop up the side of the creek, and all the way up the track, to the road! I was lucky, as I managed to slow him to a trot as we reached the roadside. My heart was racing all the way home. I would never have thought that my quiet, old ready to retire Danny would EVER bolt on me! We like to believe, that because Danny did high level dressage before we rescued him, he was attempting a 'canter piaffe', just for me. -Eliza-Jane Carlson

 

I own an older Morgan mare, Sheba. She has been part of the family for 24 years. About a year ago we had gone to the pasture to feed and all of the other horses came running to the gate except Sheba. I knew something was terribly wrong so we fed the others and headed out across our huge pasture. As we got closer, I was in the lead in a near panic when I noticed that she kept looking over her shoulder at us then back to the bushes. Stopping everyone I approached cautiously not knowing what to expect. Lo and behold, next to her in the bushes was a set of newborn fawns, SHEBA WAS BABYSITTING YES!! BABYSITTING THOSE FAWNS. No one could believe it! My friend stated that if he had not been there he would have never believed it! So I fed her there and she stayed next to the fawns until the doe returned. This is just one of the many things that fantastic mare has done. My son just reminded me that she used to open the backporch door and he would awaken with Sheba standing in his room many many mornings. Everyone who loves horses at one time or another if they are lucky gets to live with a horse like Sheba, I feel very very lucky. - Sarena Gaham

I've seen horses do alot of things, but a friend's mare is one of the strangest. My friend would let her mare graze in the yard, when Shelby (the mare) would hear the clothes dryer come on, she would scurry to the dryer vent and inhale the hot air ... we never could figure out if she liked the smell ... ie Bounce Dryer Sheets, mountain fresh scent... or the hot air... (the air was already hot.. it was 95 degrees) .. or if she just was a silly mare. As long as the dryer was running, you knew exactly where to find her. - Karen Sue Taylor

 

A few years ago, my now 26 yr old gelding, Askim pulled a fast one. I went into the barn one morning to feed breakfast only to find his stall empty--with his stall door still latched. In a panic, I ran outside looking and calling for him to no avail. When i went back into the barn to call a friend for help, I found him. He was in the next stall, with my thoroughbred mare, Megan. I had to stop for a moment. How did he get into her stall? Did i put him in her stall last night? I could have sworn I didnt. Still pondering, I put his grain in his feed tub, grabbed a halter and went to get him. Then I saw my horse lay down on the gound--on his stomach, and start to scoot himself under the wall between the stalls. A few months earlier, Megan had kicked the 2 bottom boards down and the lowest board left was about 3 feet from the ground. I quickly grabbed Askim, pulled him to his feet and led him to his stall--the proper way. How was i supposed to explain this to people. I doubted anyone would believe me. But sure enough, i found a line of chestnut hair on the edge of the bottom board--scraped off his back. I had to have someone come down to the barn from the shop just to show them the hair, and to make sure i wasnt losing my mind. Luckily Askim didnt injure himself, but he managed to scrape enough hair off his back that he couldnt be ridden until it grew back. Now, whenever we build anything at the barn, we have to consider whether or not Askim can get over, under, through, or open it. You really have to watch those smart ones. It&#39;s really tough staying ahead of them - Carla Cianelli

 

 

x: We once owned a more than typical cob – wide as he was tall and eyes bigger than his stomach. However, he was also very speedy. Our favourite way to describe him would be “A stomach on legs with a rocket shoved up his a**,” which proved to be more than accurate. He would eat anything. Anything being an understatement – he’s eaten stones, mud, hits of his hoof, his chestnut, dead flies. But this story is going to be about a time when he outdid himself. Now we go to shows fairly often, two or three times a month, we used to show jump a mare whilst putting him in the coloured class. They both did rather well bring home many rosettes and championships. Jacob, however, was not as quietly natured as his jumping companion, Willow. He needed something to keep himself preoccupied. So we used to fill a 50 litre bin (the type you get for your rubbish by your house which gets emptied once a keep) and filled it with hay. This way he wouldn’t eat his whole hay net whilst waiting for Willow to jump. One day, we got his bin out after Willow had already jumped her first round – a clear in the one metre open, because there was plenty of grass for him to tuck into first. Within fifteen minutes all the knee high grass was gone, so we gave him his bin, as his class wasn’t until the afternoon. We left him, for half an hour at the most, as I was to jump third last in my class. I got on her, warmed up swiftly, and jumped a fast clear going into the lead. We waited for the last to, we won it, got the rosette and trophy, did our victory gallop then went back to the lorry. The bin was on its side, Jacob was shame-faced standing next to it. One look at his face, and we knew it. We checked the bin, and indeed, in 30, 20 minutes, he had consumed the entire bin worth of hay. Jacob went on to win many titles as a hairy coloured cob and had many more times of stuffing his face, but that story will stick in my mind forever. - Josefien Snijder