Hey everybody, I just thought it would be fun to share stories of how your horse shows you that he/she "loves" you. Sorry, if this has been done before. I'm new. :)

 So many years ago when my little Arab gelding, Ghazal, was still very young and I had just started training him he made me feel like the most special person alive. I had been riding him exclusively for probably a month, as well as lunging him, just working on basics. One day I decided that I missed riding my old lesson horse and went ahead and tacked her up that day for a lesson and gave my horse the day off. The riding arena was adjacent to the paddock where my gelding stayed during the day. It took me a while to figure out what he was doing but halfway through the lesson I began to notice that Ghazal was following me up and down the fence as I was riding my other lesson horse. He was also chasing his paddock mate and making a little bit of a scene. I thought, "ahh, that is sweet." (No horses were harmed!)

So after the lesson I brought my lesson horse, Kharisma back to the barn and started untacking her. This happened to coincide with feeding time. The barn manager at the time used to let the horses just go on their own to their stalls (perhaps not the safest thing in the world but that's the way it was back then). Well Ghazal, instead of heading straight to his stall where his grain was waiting, trotted over to where I was untacking Kharisma in the adjoining lot. He came right up to us gave this huge snort and then whirled around and went back to his stall. Okay, so now I felt really guilty. I put Kharisma up and went to Ghazal's stall and literally when he saw me coming he stopped eating his grain and turned around and put his butt to the stall door. Can you say jealous???  Now I know that I shouldn't delight in making him jealous but truly he made me feel like the most special human being on the planet that day. He was telling me that not only did he enjoy our training sessions but he didn't want to share me with anyone else. To this day when I think of the times when I've been the happiest that is one of the first I think about. He's going to be 21 this year and I don't get to ride him nearly enough since we're military and move so much and I've decided moving him across the country every other year or so, sometimes more often just isn't good for him. I miss him tons, though.  

This is Ghazal and I at a Competitive Trail Ride several years ago. Yes, my riding attire looks completely retarded, lol!!

Thank you! I've always though Ghazal was/is gorgeous too!  He's always had a ton of personality. Thanks for sharing, also. Those quiet moments when your horse is content to just be with you are super special too.  And it is definitely not a bad thing for a horse to love "all people." It just shows that she's been treated well her whole life. If only all horses could say the same!

Aw, how sweet!! And your riding attire doesn't look retarded!  It looks like trail attire, the kind I like! (of course my judgment doesn't mean much, my fav riding pants are tie-dyed capri pajamas...)

Rascal (24yr old Morab gelding) loves everybody (he acts like a dog...) but he is partial to me, and my mom is a close second...

Mojo (28/29ish Mutt (official term you know...Draft, Tb, maybe warmblood, app...) gelding) is a rescue, and he really shows no interest in anything or anybody in the pasture except me, when he sees me he comes right up to me and says "hey, feed me, and rub all the right spots" with pure love...

Bailey (9 yr Tb mare) hasn't been home long, I got her at the end of September, but she is already the first to yell at me when I walk out of the door.  Of course, I am not sure how much of that is love, and how much is her demanding-ness, but I choose to think it is love (we are still having a few scuffles over who is the boss on the ground, I have met her head and she has met my elbow quite a few times, but we are getting there)

Ta'ceyewi (8 month old Tb/App colt)  I am sooooo proud of him! He already knows I am his mom.  He is very people friendly and not scared of anything (except my pet hog...).  When I first got Bailey I almost sent her right back bc she literally tried to kill Ta'c, but he ran straight to me for protection (which was sweet but made me nervous as this mad 16 hand (female dog term) of a creature was coming up the pasture after him (I seperated them and that was Bailey's first 'come to Jesus' meeting at my house....) The other day something made him nervous and he came up to me and got behind me like I was going to shield him.  Even though he is only 8 months old he is already 13 1/2 hands and thick, so he wasn't hiding very well. It just makes me feel good to see he already loves and trusts me so much.

Sorry this is so long, believe it or not this is super-condensed, I have a lot of critters!! And yes, bc they all come up to me when I go into the pasture I have a 'dog' pile of 4 horses and a pig on me immediately!

Flake: Lily is such a sweet girl! 

Our barn manager is always joking about how Star won't let him do anything with her, but she'll let me do anything.  She's definitely bonded with me, and now she's bonding with my husband (he's non-horsey, so he's not quite sure what to do when she lays her head against his chest)

crittergirl:

Aw, how sweet!! And your riding attire doesn't look retarded!  It looks like trail attire, the kind I like! (of course my judgment doesn't mean much, my fav riding pants are tie-dyed capri pajamas...)

 How do you pronounce Ta'ceyewi? He sounds adorable and a lot like Ghazal, tons of personality. This was before I knew him but the lady I bought Ghazal from told me that they use to call him the purse snatcher. She used to have a girl scout troop come and take lessons when he was a weanling. She let him have free reign of the barn and barn lots and all the Mom's would leave their purses in the barn while the kids were riding. Apparently Ghazal would come charging out of the barn with a purse or two swinging from the straps in his mouth. He would intentionally shake his head so they would hit him and then he would jump straight up in the air and take off running like something was chasing him. I guess this happened several times. Got to love a horse with personality plus, lol. I just wish she had gotten some pictures.

 What cute stories!  I will never forget the time that I fell off my friend's horse when Rizzie was on "maternity leave" and had to get stitches.  When I got back to the barn after that, I went out to see her and she saw me with a huge ice pack on my eye.  She must have known something was wrong because she walked right up to me (away from her hay and friends), which she never does, and stood there and just let me rub her face.  It was the defining moment for me, and I knew I made the right decision to buy her at that point.  :)

Aw! Ghazal sounds too cute! 

Ta'ceyewi is pronounced tak-eye-wee  the vet pronounces it tak-a-ewe-ee....it's weird I know...it is supposed to be Nez Perce (the tribe that developed Apps) for Good Peace (ta'c eyewi)  It fits him though...he is one of a kind!  He chewed up my bf's truck seats, attempts to flip my huge-o-mongous wheel barrow full of poop(he isn't quite strong enough yet) steals the poop forks, chases balls...there is no lack of personality!!

He sounds like lots of fun. I know it can be hard when you have a horse with a different name. There was one girl at an old barn I boarded at who insisted on calling Ghazal, Jayzel, no matter how many times I corrected her. It was really irritating. And at a show once the announcer tried to say Ghazal a couple of times and then just gave up and called him Vanity. (His full name is Vanity's Ghazal.) So whenever I showed after that I would put a little pronunciation guide beside his name on the sign up sheets.

asharri:

Jayzel

It's pronounced gazelle (like the deer/antelope).  

 Then I guess I should have said 'oh deer' haha...sorry, corny joke for the day..

I really like that, it is very cute!  I would've guessed more ga-zal than jayzel, but either way I wouldn't have gotten gazelle, he looks like he could out run one too!