Would it surprise you that my favorite part of owning horses might not be the riding?
Although I love riding…I love even more the chance to get to know these quirky, amazing creatures!
I’m sure he had his reasons…but it was still a funny sight to see!
Horses make me laugh.
Sometimes it is a facial expression, other times it is something I catch them doing.
Like in this photo…when I walked out and caught Popcorn sitting on a bale of hay.
I don’t know about you…but most of the time when I catch them doing something silly, the moment ends before I can pull out the camera.
So most of these moments are recorded in my mind.
Popcorn has been with me for almost 14 years now…and there are many more strange and silly things that he has done.
Like the year he spent stuffing any bucket in his stall full of hay. Or the time he was supposed to be ground tied…but he left my property at a full gallop! (thankfully he returned moments later…at a full gallop!)
The list goes on and on.
I’d love to hear your strange or silly horse story!
* * *
Now, as we approach Christmas I have teamed up with Equithrive to run a contest ending with one of YOU owning your very own Popcorn model. Entering is easy.
There are three ways. Simply answer the question (What strange or silly thing have you caught your horse doing?)
either 1) in the comments below this post, here on my blog
2) on Equithrives FB page or
3) on my Facebook page
…or in all three places!
There will be a new question every day between now and December 19th.
The winner will be announced on December 20th!
I’m excited to read your stories! (and if you have time…reading what other people have posted is really fun!)
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Ever since Logan was a yearling (now 23) the funniest thing he does when he has a peppermint treat he will come back to you and look for more — if you do not have another he will lick your hand for a long time –minutes! if you let him. But if you leave and watch him, he will lick the latch to the stall door! — for a long time too! What a hoot!
My horse doesn’t seem to be into “silly” very much. He acts like he is above all that fun stuff. I don’t know where he got that because I love being silly. Probably the silliest stuff is when he spooks at his own shadow or other voices coming down the trail. I don’t get THAT one either as we trail ride quite a bit and he isn’t a young horse by any means!
When I go to bring my yrlg. filly in, she helps me undo the latch on the gate. Fortunately, she cannot undo it by herself!
One day when I was in the hospital, my (non-equestrian) sister was sent to take off Ginger’s turnout blanket. She found Ginger resting on her belly in the paddock, enjoying the sunshine. My sister clucked to her to get up so she could take the blanket off. Ginger did nothing. My sister then fetched a halter and lead, put them on Ginger, and tugged. Ginger rolled over onto her side, closed her eyes, and allowed her lip to droop…. I don’t think my sister (who, in all fairness, was rather pressed for time at the moment) ever got that blanket off that morning, But Ginger was none the worse for wearing it a bit longer than necessary, and clearly had no objection to doing so.
I once saw a lady blow air from her mouth into a mare’s nostrils when greeting her. It stood out to me because I thought it was strange. Several years later I acquired my own mare, Brownie. One day Brownie raised her nose up and placed it very close to my lips. I dutifully began blowing air. So, if anyone every catches me doing this please remember it was Brownie’s idea not mine ?
Strangest or funniest thing would be watching their reactions to the first time i introduced the big ball to them . Some wanted nothing to do with it, one thought it was a big blue horse eating monster, & the youngest would pick it up & chase the others around with it .
My stallion likes to throw his toy over the fence for you to retrieve so that he can throw it back over the fence for you to throw in for him so that he can throw it over the fence…. etc. etc! And my junior stallion decided to take his jolly ball and try to drown it in the water tub.
My youngin’ has always been a character, but very bright and observant. We have spring gates on some of our fencing. JJ watched us as we would pull slightly toward the post and lift the insulated handle to let down the electric braid. He figured out how to do that with his mouth and my husband witnessed him take not the top, not the top two, but all three strands down. Yes, he was quite proud of himself.
Pompera was learning to choose which hand (both held behind my back) held her treat! She was pretty accurate! And only played the game with me. She’s the best!
My horse used to be very mouthy when she was younger… EVERYTHING went in her mouth! A couple of times I would go into the tack room to put my saddle away and come back out, and she would have my muck boot in her mouth. Not the whole boot but you know how muck boots have that little tab on the back to help you pull the boot on?! Well she would grab that with her teeth and swing it or rub her nose back and forth on it. Or she would grab my helmet like the strap that goes under your chin and play with that. But the funniest part was she knew she wasn’t supposed to do that so every time I came back out of the tack room, she would drop whatever she had, immediately. Thankfully she outgrew that mouthy stage but that side of her still comes out every once in a while!
When my horse drinks he flicks both his ears. He will also splash. He is also curious. I have seen him approach owls who were on the fence and he would sniff them. He once found an old halter and was twirling it like a lasso. Also, my horse and my donkey will play fight and when the boss of the paddock looks at them they stop like they are saying “what we weren’t doing anything”. When he looks away they go back to their fighting.
My horse makes an expression that looks just like an annoyed mule. She stretches out her lip to one direction, lays her ears off to both sides, and squints at you as if saying, “So, what are you looking at?”. She does this when she’s relaxed and sleepy, so I think it’s her “half- awake” pose. I’ve also caught her rinsing her mouth out in her water tank, and running in her sleep when she’s laying on her side. In all reality, she doesn’t do much more than all other horses. She just acts like a horse!
Our mare loved reaching over her stall door, grabbing her halter and lead, then throwing it across the aisle as if to say “time to let me out know!”
Two things that my mini horse has done to give me an extra smile. He and my dog played tug of war with a stuffed animal which I thought was super cute. The second time was when I gave him an exercise ball. He rolled using his whole body. He liked playing with it so much he brought it into his corral. He stopped with his body over it still and started eating as if it was a comfie bed.
I love a goofy gelding!
Texas has a few funny things he does. One is that he loves to dip his hay in his water. Every bite, goes in the bucket first if he’s inside. He also is very curious so its often a game of “Tex touches ten things in ten seconds”. This one is just a suspicion…but I think he is a blanket biter too. Unless it’s really extreme conditions I tend not to blanket – so I think maybe he thinks all the ponies should be naked like him LOL