# Teaching a horse to play tag



## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

Might get a pretty good game going if you enter a field with a territorial stallion and his herd of mares.


----------



## Silent one (Aug 22, 2011)

Really bad idea


----------



## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

I suppose the first question would be why you would think this would be a good idea


----------



## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

I think the first thing I would do would be to make sure your health insurance is paid up.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Samstead said:


> So I've recently made one of my life goals to teach a horse to play tag...all I need is a horse...anyway any ideas how I would/will go about this?


Can be fun, if you had a horse.


----------



## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Samstead said:


> So I've recently made one of my life goals to teach a horse to play tag...*all I need is a horse*...anyway any ideas how I would/will go about this?


If all you need is a horse then your question must be how do I get a horse, and in this market that will not be to difficult.


----------



## AmazinCaucasian (Dec 10, 2010)

If you'd settle for a donkey, I'll sell you "AttackJack". He'd be a very good tag player for you. 

Pretty sure this is just somebody messing around to see what kind of responses they can get, but I have heard of people doing this. 

If you do it, please post vids


----------



## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

It was one of my 'life goals' to kick crutches out from underneath someone with a broken leg. Now thats happened, tag sounds good...

:rofl: But then who would write the tales of Attack Jack D:

Honestly, what would your horse 'tag' you with o.0
And who is the referee?

And what about no tag back? 
all things need to be considered.


----------



## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Do you mean play tag with other riders on horseback or actually play tag with the horse?

My sis and I used to play tag with one of our geldings. Looking back, it's amazing we weren't hurt. He was a very sweet horse, very even tempered. We didn't teach him really, he'd play with the dogs too, we just got in on the game. I wouldn't recommend it, not nearly as much fun as it sounds. Having 1200lbs of horse thundering after you isn't all that great. :lol:

Mounted tag is a blast, basically you need to have very good control of your horse and very good balance. Don't play with people whose horses kick. ;-)


----------



## KatieQ (Apr 4, 2011)

My yearling colt loves to play tag. One of MY goals is to UNteach him. It's not as much fun as it sounds.


----------



## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

When I was younger, I used to play tag with my mare. Until the day her back hoof went flying about 10 centimeters from my face.


----------



## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

Horses 'play' with their teeth and hooves.


----------



## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

bubba13 said:


> Might get a pretty good game going if you enter a field with a territorial stallion and his herd of mares.


:rofl: We did once. Unforgettable experience, although I was quick enough to grab a big tree branch to tag back when he tried to "tag" me. Definitely got his respect. 

But seriously I agree it's a very bad idea.


----------



## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

dang...and it seemed like such a good idea...does anyone think I cold train the horse to only use their nose?....maybe the goal should be teach a horse to play tag SAFELY...


----------



## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Samstead said:


> dang...and it seemed like such a good idea...does anyone think I cold train the horse to only use their nose?....maybe the goal should be teach a horse to play tag SAFELY...



I think the general consesus is playing tag is NOT safe with a horse, any horse.

I am not a horse, therefor I do not got played with as one, I am the boss and my horse will touch me IF I want him too, and when and how. I doubt you could train a horse for just a nose contact, however.


----------



## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

I should also mention my friend taught her mare to play tag and never had any safety issues


----------



## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

In which case your friend is very lucky that when she has 1200ilbs running at her it stops in time.


----------



## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

DuffyDuck said:


> In which case your friend is very lucky that when she has 1200ilbs running at her it stops in time.


I'm starting to realize that. perhaps I should have worded the orginal question as "is it safe to play tag with a horse?"


----------



## Saranda (Apr 14, 2011)

I play tag with my gelding, but he has been taught to stop about 5 meters before he'd be able to touch me - tagging the borders of my personal space counts as the only tag I allow. As he loves tag, I came up with this idea.  However, every horse-human pairing differs and it can turn out to be very dangerous, so I'm not advising anyone to do this or to teach this to their horses! I'm just doing it on my own risk.


----------



## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

Saranda said:


> I play tag with my gelding, but he has been taught to stop about 5 meters before he'd be able to touch me - tagging the borders of my personal space counts as the only tag I allow. As he loves tag, I came up with this idea.  However, every horse-human pairing differs and it can turn out to be very dangerous, so I'm not advising anyone to do this or to teach this to their horses! I'm just doing it on my own risk.


Hopefully you never sell this horse.


----------



## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

You're it!


----------



## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

Love that video Bubba, it's a perfect example. 

To the OP the idea of a horse chasing you is a bad one. The idea of a horse making contact with you, is even worse.


----------



## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

When I was 14 we taught the cutest little perch/qh colt to play tag. It was so adorable. You could tap him on the flank and he'd take off, then he'd turn and catch you. We had a blast with him for almost 2 years!! It was great.

Then HE GREW UP! He figured out he could "tag" you any time he wanted, and if he tagged you hard enough, he got out of working. It took another year to break him from tagging people. His owner did it with a 2x4. He got tagged one to many times with no whip or crop handy, but that board was.

I have very seldom ever regretted anything as much as teaching Homer to play tag. We totally ruined one of the sweetest horses I have come across. When he wasn't playing tag that is.


----------



## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

Did i mention I still have scars from a game of tag? He picked me up by the arm while running by me. It took 18 stitches to close that flap of skin.


----------



## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

idk about you but i would NEVER want my 1300lb gelding with GIANT teeth and hooves to chase me or vis versa i personally enjoy living and not being manhandled by a horse....


----------



## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

Playing frisbee might be safer. Maybe fetch the jolly ball. Tag is out.

Years ago somebody gave me a 3 day old jersey calf. My intention was food. But I'm soft and little Sammy Sirloin lingered on. I had a goat with twin kids that sort of took care of him. I would play king of the mountain on a big rock in my pasture with the kids. Sammy would get all excited and attempt to play goat games too. Wasn't a good thing to have a 3/4 grown steer attempt to knock me off a rock even if a jersey is a small breed.


----------



## Saranda (Apr 14, 2011)

Walkamile, I understand your opinon completely, and, in other circumstances, would agree with it. But, just to make myself clear, I'd like to add a detail - he never does that in pasture and he knows completely well, that he has to respect my space at all times. We play tag only when working at liberty and only when I start it, never the other way. For us it is more like a fun exercise for practicing body language. And, again, I would not reccomend it to anybody else, as such things are entirely individual to decide and can be dangerous.


----------



## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

please do not try this or become a horse owner anytime soon.


----------



## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

MN Tigerstripes said:


> Mounted tag is a blast, basically you need to have very good control of your horse and very good balance. Don't play with people whose horses kick. ;-)


If you don't have good control or balance, it teaches you real quick or you fall off
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Mstar (Nov 26, 2011)

There's ways to play "tag" without actually "tagging". I used to play with one of our racehorses. I'd take him to the roundpen every morning and have to wait there until his time was up to come in. I noticed he would follow me when I walked around the outside of the pen (which had very safe fencing). So I would jog, and he would jog after me. Then I would turn around and run towards him and he'd squeal and run off. When I would stop and run, he'd chase me again. Since there was safe fence between us, we could play safely and he never got remotely close, but we both had a blast playing this way.


----------



## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

How about teaching your horse to play fetch instead? 

Winston fetches - YouTube!


----------



## Allison Finch (Oct 21, 2009)

Tag! You're it!






The problem with teaching them contact games, sometimes they forget where the line is. That funny fetch video even shows some dangerous kicking action, IMO.


----------



## ShinaKonga (Jun 24, 2010)

Once you get a horse, walk out into the pasture with a bucket of grain.

You'll be it and get some cardio in for the day!

Or you could do what I did and have a socially awkward cow chase you out of the pasture... That was probably a scarier game of tag, though.
'NO, I DON'T WANT TO PLAY, OH GOD, _OH GOD_'


----------



## pintophile (May 18, 2011)

I don't play with my horses. No matter how quiet they are, no matter how gentle they seem, they are very big and very strong, and it's so easy to teach a horse something that takes a lot longer to teach out of them. Once you teach a horse something, that never leaves their head. So if you want to teach a horse to play tag, then be prepared to keep it for life because I can't say I know a whole lot of people that appreciate being chased by a horse. As someone said a few posts back, sometimes horses don't understand the line between work and play and that's when a harmless game of tag becomes a surprising chase where you can get hurt.

I just don't understand why you would want to do it. I have horses to ride and work. I have dogs and cats and other pets to play with. If you want to play tag with an animal, get a dog or something that doesn't weigh 1200 lbs and have a brain a 100th the size of that.


----------

