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Original poster

Are horses just giant puppies then?

130 replies

WillowtreeHouse · 05/05/2023 19:46

I have found a new route to take my dog for his evening walk, river on one side and a field on the other. There is a massive and I mean massive horse in the field and almost from the first time we went, he comes over and walks along the fence with us making little noises. Ddog is a gentle old lab with arthritis and has clearly fallen in love with said massive horse (I've decided his name is Major) and won't move until he's over at the fence and walks with us.

Tonight ddog dropped his ball over the fence and Major the horse picked it up, ran away with it, kicked it around for a bit absolutely living his best life, then brought it back and gave it back to ddog. Honestly never seen anything like it in my life, he actually gently gave it back to ddog. I have now also fallen in love with this horse. 🐴

So my question is, how do I keep a horse in a small house with barely any garden?

OP posts:
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DonttouchthatLarry · 05/05/2023 22:04

We had one who we called a giant labrador 😄. He loved to play with horse balls (yes you can get balls for horses) and loved amusing people and playing to the crowd - he would pick up road cones in his mouth and wave them around, doing it more if people laughed at him (this was in the field, not on the road 😉). He also liked to lick my face and pull zips on coats up and down - everything had to go in his mouth! He would lick the dogs along their backs and make their hair all wet and sticky uppy 😂.However, he was also a murderer horse and would kill rats in his stable. Here he is trying to lick chickens.....

Are horses just giant puppies then?
Bovrilla · 05/05/2023 22:07

Big horses are lovely, generally.

Maybe excepting through red mares......

Shitlands, however. They are Beelzebub himself in small, chubby short legged equine form.

DonttouchthatLarry · 05/05/2023 22:08

Oh and when I poo picked the field he would grab the handle of the wheelbarrow in his mouth and tip it over so I'd have to pick it all up again 😠 - I adored that horse 💔

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Horses
AdamRyan · 05/05/2023 22:10

Justathrowawaycomment · 05/05/2023 19:48

That is LOVELY!

The thing with horses is that they're smart enough to have real personalities - and some are very puppyish.

Others are total wankers, I had a horse as a teen who would purposely go under low branches, or perilously close to a mill pond when I was riding him, because he knew I hated it. He didn't dislike being ridden, he was just an asshole.

I had one that did this. She also used to fart voluminously when you picked her back hooves. And bang your legs into gate posts as you went through them.

She was generally lovely though.

rickandmorts · 05/05/2023 22:12

Does Major have any other horsey friends in the field? He might be lonely 🥺

Twofurrycats · 05/05/2023 22:24

As a teen I had patient old horse. Put a complete beginner on him he'd be an angel. However, anyone he considered bossy/experienced he'd bite them on the arse as they mounted. Particularly my instructor.

Original poster
WillowtreeHouse · 05/05/2023 22:25

Bovrilla · 05/05/2023 22:07

Big horses are lovely, generally.

Maybe excepting through red mares......

Shitlands, however. They are Beelzebub himself in small, chubby short legged equine form.

I'm trying to work out if 'Shitlands' is my favourite ever typo or a pony I haven't heard of. 😂 Major does have plenty of horsey friends in his field, most of them seem to stay towards the other side though.

OP posts:
Undergroundovergroundwomblingfree · 05/05/2023 22:26

I love this post . Major sounds adorable, our big lad would be exactly the same, loves people, loves toys and loves dogs. Our cob would eat you alive, trash any toy and traumatise you both. That's horses for you 🤣🤣
And I would never have any problem with you photographing either of our boys as long as you acknowledged they were utterly gorgeous

gwenneh · 05/05/2023 22:26

WillowtreeHouse · 05/05/2023 22:25

I'm trying to work out if 'Shitlands' is my favourite ever typo or a pony I haven't heard of. 😂 Major does have plenty of horsey friends in his field, most of them seem to stay towards the other side though.

Show quote history

Not a typo, it’s a pretty common description of the breed.

coodawoodashooda · 05/05/2023 22:28

Justathrowawaycomment · 05/05/2023 19:48

That is LOVELY!

The thing with horses is that they're smart enough to have real personalities - and some are very puppyish.

Others are total wankers, I had a horse as a teen who would purposely go under low branches, or perilously close to a mill pond when I was riding him, because he knew I hated it. He didn't dislike being ridden, he was just an asshole.

That is so funny!

Undergroundovergroundwomblingfree · 05/05/2023 22:28

Several times on our yard parents have volunteered to bring in their daughter's horse and got the right colour but completely the wrong horse so I'm not sure that they are that recognisable unless to their actual owner 🤣🤣🤣

userxx · 05/05/2023 22:30

WillowtreeHouse · 05/05/2023 21:34

This is ddog looking particularly marvellous ... 😁

Vampire dog.

sobeyondthehills · 05/05/2023 22:33

When I was a child, my gran use to take my up to the farm nearby, where they had a shetland, I loved that horse and we would run about happily together.

I could never understand the owner, who seemed very ill at ease, I cant think of the right words to describe it, about this pony. I found it odd, because she was so loving of her (at the time) 20 foot giant horse.

It was only since I started reading on MNs the terms for "my" horse, I shall not hear a bad word against them. ;)

Lesina · 05/05/2023 22:35

I look after a normally very fiesty Highland pony. He is usually an arse. I recently fell fr another horse breaking my collarbone and a few ribs. Since then the highland has been an utter angel, even bowing his head so o can put his head collar on. They are just remarkable gorgeous things.

squidgybits · 05/05/2023 22:38

My friend had a horse who was a bit of an arse, she then got a wee dog who kept nipping at the horse, one day the horse unloaded right over the wee dog who had to be slunged in the river

Greenfairydust · 05/05/2023 22:46

''@justgettingthroughtheday · Today 20:54

Why? Because the owner hasn't consented! ''

Daft.

Nobody needs your consent if they walk past a field on a public footpath and your horse happens to be grazing there in the open where everyone can bloody see it.

It is not like the OP climbed into your garden, sneaked into your private stables and took a picture of your horse that way.

Where I live you can see horses grazing in fields all over the place. No one has a fit if someone walks past and takes a picture....

gwenneh · 05/05/2023 22:53

Greenfairydust · 05/05/2023 22:46

''@justgettingthroughtheday · Today 20:54

Why? Because the owner hasn't consented! ''

Daft.

Nobody needs your consent if they walk past a field on a public footpath and your horse happens to be grazing there in the open where everyone can bloody see it.

It is not like the OP climbed into your garden, sneaked into your private stables and took a picture of your horse that way.

Where I live you can see horses grazing in fields all over the place. No one has a fit if someone walks past and takes a picture....

I don't understand why the mindset applies to horses. You wouldn't walk up to someone and take a photo of their dog without asking, even though it's right there and on a public footpath. The only difference is that the owner of the dog is present to object, and the owner of the horse isn't.

tailinthejam · 05/05/2023 23:00

squidgybits · 05/05/2023 22:38

My friend had a horse who was a bit of an arse, she then got a wee dog who kept nipping at the horse, one day the horse unloaded right over the wee dog who had to be slunged in the river

This has given me a right fit of the giggles 💩😂

powershowerforanhour · 05/05/2023 23:08

GDPR doesn't apply to animals so you can snap away if you want. I couldn't care less if anyone takes a photo of my nags in the field. Or the chickens. Or the sheep. I don't expect my neighbour would mind people taking photos of his dairy cattle either.

Ylvamoon · 05/05/2023 23:12

I had lessons on one of the arse horses.

Instructor would advised that wide fitting pullovers should be worn when riding a particular horse, because if you tried to lead the horse into the school/ stable, he would "grab" your jumper to hold on.
If he got your arm instead, the horse bit just hard enough to leave a lovely impression of its teeth!

justgettingthroughtheday · 05/05/2023 23:31

@Greenfairydust not daft! My property my rules! I don't want people taking pictures of any of my animals. And you have absolutely no right to!!!

Itslookinglikeabeautifulday · 05/05/2023 23:31

Oh, what a lovely experience OP. Hope you and your ddog have many more with Major

Filde · 05/05/2023 23:37

@justgettingthroughtheday they do have every right to take a photo though - you can’t police what people take photos of. What a strange reaction

rickandmorts · 05/05/2023 23:40

Glad to hear he has friends!! I hate seeing them on their own. And no Shitland isn't a typo, the majority of them are pure evil 😂

Bloodyhelldog · 05/05/2023 23:48

gwenneh · 05/05/2023 22:53

I don't understand why the mindset applies to horses. You wouldn't walk up to someone and take a photo of their dog without asking, even though it's right there and on a public footpath. The only difference is that the owner of the dog is present to object, and the owner of the horse isn't.

Show quote history

Loads of people have taken pictures of my dog without asking me. People love dogs on the Tube and dogs swimming, both of which he did regularly.

It's a completely baffling stance to say someone can't take a picture of something that you have, essentially, dumped in a field.

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