little cute quirks,

[Charlene]

such personalities! i know you guys must have specific little horses that do specific little things that set them apart from the herd.

rebel follows me around while i'm doing chores. he will follow me until i stop and scratch his back with the manure fork. it took me a couple of days to figure out this was what he wanted. i'm pretty sure he thought it would be a pleasant thing because he saw me do it to my biggie. now, whenever he sees me with the manure fork, he trots right over for a back scratch.

red hangs at the gate closest to the feed shed to beg for one more treat before he heads across the lot to join the others at the round bale feeder. as long as i am within sight of him, he won't walk out to the hay. if i'm right there and i can pop a little marshmallow into his mouth, i do. if i take time out to water flowers or clean the stock tank in the corner, he will wait for as long as it takes. sometimes, he will just stand there and nicker at me and i cave. OH!

 

[TN Belle]

Twix likes to suck on his tounge when you give him a sweet treat.

His tongue goes over his upper teeth, under his lip and then he starts sucking on it. You can see his cheeks suck in, his head slowly drops, his eyes close, and he enjoys every drop he can get. Several people have seen him do it and even the vet can't explain why. It is like he gets a sedative from it, it calms him immediately.

Twix is also the perfect scratcher. He tells you where he wants it. You can hold your hand out, and he manuvers himself to get to the spot he wants. Even while you are actively scratching him, he will move his neck up and down or turn his butt to you to scratch those butt cheeks.

My Donkey, Amos, greets me at the driveway. He sees a car or truck, people, my husband even, and he could care less, but when I step out, he brays to say hello. And if I take too long in the barn w/o seing him first, he also brays to let me know about it.

 

[whitney]

Trystan chases the broom when I sweep his mats

Dusty FREAKS at the garden hose when I run in through his stall---TOTALLY AN ACT

Tweet swings her head when she is WAITING for good things

 

[Laura Leopard]

Toby is always right under foot whenever I'm out in the pasture with him.

Logan always bugles for his food as soon as he hears me come out of the house. He will run circles around me while he squeals and nickers. He reminds me of a little kid that can't contain his excitement.

Laura

 

[Slinkky]

All my animals are Sweet Tea junkies! I can never set my glass down. Too low and the dogs drink it. Up on the fence post, the mule gets it. Anywhere in between and the mini gets it. Try to hide it and a goat will find it. If I hold it, the Llama reaches around me and grabs it.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Baby Lola recently developed a very naughty habit that I've been trying to correct. She nips my butt--intentionally. It's hard to keep an eye on her when I'm working with other horses in her herd, but she feels she should have constant attention and has learned that by giving me a little nip on my rear she gets an immediate reaction. Not a "cute" quirk to me, but everyone else thinks it's funny.

On the subject of garden hoses, Tissy likes her water fresh from the tap and will drink from the hose when you are refilling her bucket. And it is "her" bucket--they have automatic waterers, but she's made it clear she expects her drinks to be served to her.

Most of the other horses' quirks involve dinner. Miracle for instance will put a leg in her trough and start banging if she thinks you're taking too long, and the yearlings in runs will put their heads through their gates and look into the barn to see how their dinner is coming.

 

[stacyeking]

Bockie steals things. She is a little thief. Cells phones, gloves, hats...anything she can get and run off with is fair game. She stole my daughter's doll once and it was a merry chase to retrieve it.

Stacye

 

[targetsmom]

I don't have time to list ALL of them, but here are a few:

Princess also sucks on her tongue when you give her treats so I learned NEVER to give her a treat in the show ring! She also rubs her teeth across the top of her stall door at feeding time for attention - and has taught Sox to do the same thing! Her biggest quirk though, is that she will try to stand on anything to be taller - salt block, flipped over feed tub (or the harness container), trailer dividers (we have special ones for her) and up to the middle rail on the round pen fencing.

They will all untie shoelaces - even double tied ones - and will pull on any elastics they can find on clothing, and then let go. Ouch!!! Cowboy will steal a handkerchief out of your pocket and run away with it.

Mira bows every morning when she sees me coming out to feed (she is one of three that stay out all night). Head between front legs, very deep bow - I just need to get her to do that on cue.

Just this afternoon I disovered that we have been showing the wrong horses all year. I was trimming legs on the "broodmares" so I could take some new pics for the website, and they stood perfectly still - without even being haltered! The show horses have to be twitched to do their legs!!! The mares even crowded around to see who could go next. Go figure.

 

[susanne]

I love all of these...

We call Flash the "Horse Whimperer" because at meal time he sounds soooo pathetic, moaning and making nearly inaudible sounds as his upper lip quivers.

Scarlet likes to back up to you and wiggle her rump...I trust that she only wants to be scratched!

Thelonius loves to lick my knees...

Mingus is nothing but one big quirk...my favorite is when he lies down for a nap. Normally he is best described as majestic and egotistical, but just catch him when he's snoring...He lies flat out on his side with belly pushed up in the air, ears all catywampus and teeth all exposed...yeah, downright elegant!

 

[Matt73]

Teddy is obsessed with the muck bucket. He LOVES chewing on the rope handles (he's a BIG chewer!). Of course, it's really annoying when the bucket's almost full and he's tipped it over...Aaaaarrrrrgh. I almost want to just pick one up and leave one in his stall to play with. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll do that...

 

[Casnos Minis]

Bell, Smarty, and Honey all whinny the minute they hear my voice. Bell unties shoelaces, smarty likes toes, and Honey bows in the morning.

Our big horse Drew licks my daughters hand 11 times when she asks him how old he is. He also likes any thing you can give him to eat. He had some Capri sun yesturday after CAssidy rode him. She just squirted it in his mouth.

Christy

 

[Bonny]

ShyAnne throws her feed bucket around until I feed her. Then she tosses it around again when she is done. The rest of the day she leaves it alone.....

Bonny raises her upper lip and gets a good wiff everytime she smells something. Even if its your hand....a treat etc..

Bonny also likes to play with our dog. They chase each other, Bonny always starts and stops it....Bonny stalks the dog...

 

[Rebecca]

Kassie loves to help herself to anything anyone might be eating or drinking, especially if she licks the side of the bottle and realizes Ohhhhhh it's soda!!!! OH! She knows how to drink out of bottles and cans and likes to show off.

Covergirl looooves to lick people's hands, especially my mom's when she's just home from a run.

Kassie likes to tip wheelbarrows and 'help' with any chores she can, last week I taught her to put her jolly ball in a bucket, then I went to work with Covergirl. Kassie got upset because I wasn't giving her attention so she tried to get my attention by putting her ball in the bucket, then a halter, lead, and a ton of sticks! When I STILL didn't pay attention she got mad and dumped the whole thing over and scattered everything all over the place!

 

[MBennettp]

Little Man starts talking when you walk in the barn and doesn't shut up until you feed him.

Legacy sucks her tongue too. She will also sit in your lap if you sit down in a chair in the barn.

Maggie opens everybody's stall doors, unties any visitors shoes, goes through everybody's pockets and generally is a nuisance. If she gets out of hand for any reason, I can say "Maggie, time out" and she will toss her head and go into her stall. She will shake her head, stomp her feet, and generally throw a fit. A few minutes later she will come back out and be good as gold.

Dawn is also a thief, doesn't matter what it is, if you have it, she will take it if you set it down for an instant. We had some visitors from out of state that were visiting the horses and the lady set her purse down, Dawn had it in a flash and when we went around the barn, she was looking through it.

Joe will stand and lick his lips until his feed is poured.

If Lady sees you pick up her halter she runs to the pasture gate and waits for you.

Dandy will shake his head and buck until his feed is poured.

I swear you would think we never fed them the way they all act at feeding time.

 

[Valentino]

VallyBoy when he is set on grazing or eating mulberries, when you try to pull him up and away he pulls back and will sometimes lie down and continue eating.

One time he was completely flat on his side head and all eating grass out of the side of his mouth.

 

[rockin r]

Dillion loves to sit on your lap when you are sitting in chair, he will back up to you, sit down and lift and swing his back legs! Cricket likes to play tag your it! Miranda likes to lean against you and go to sleep.....

 

[minimoesmom]

I don't know if its cute or not, but Henry won't pee anywhere but the grass. He won't pee in the trailer, or the stall, or even in dirt-it has to be in the grass! I don't know if its so it won't splash on him or what!

Chloe taught Tucker to lay down when she lifts his front leg, when he was a yearling. It's really cute until the farriar tries to trim him and he lays down! I had to fill him in on his "trick" as Chloe calls it.

Chester likes to bite me in the butt whenever I'm around him. It used to be a little nip, but now its more of a bite-not too funny when he leaves a bruise!!