# What fun things do you do with your horse?



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Since someone in another topic suggested I don't have fun with my horses, I thought I'd start this topic. Here are the things I do with Maia when I need a break from "all the collection-this and flexion-that" - I would love to hear what everyone else does to have fun with their horses!

- I spend about one in three rides bareback and in a halter, just moseying around
- sometimes I will sit around braiding Maia's mane and tail while she grazes
- I sit on her feeder and just listen to her eat, talking to her
- I nap on her back while she grazes
- I go for gallops in the quarter sections across the road (and don't care if the horse is above the vertical  )
- I go for walks (in hand or riding) down the road and let the horse graze on the patch of grass at the end of the lane
- when I just need to talk, I'll take her for a walk 

alright I think that's my list for now, my brain's too pooped to come up with more... your guys' turn!!


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## shona&Fizzi (May 31, 2008)

- i tend to let my horse take me where she wants in whoteva gait she wants 
- go n run arwnd with her in her field or go to sleep with her 
- canter thru 7 foot grass (thts reli cool when mee ponys onli 13.2hh)
- sing&dance to her 
canter her bareback with just her headcollar n lead rope 

there is more but cant reli think of them at this moment


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## sempre_cantando (May 9, 2008)

I do Parelli stuff with my horse. I don't totally agree with everything he does, he still has heaps of fun stuff you can do.

some ideas:
- make an obstacle course
- jumping/polework
- novelties (bending race, sack race etc)
- use your horse for transport (eg posting letters)
- 'bombproof' your horse, expose him/her to as many different situations/objects as possible (safely of course! I"m not suggesting taking him for a trip down the highway to get him used to trucks lol)
- teach him tricks (my horse shakes hands, high fives (with nose) & fetches (i taught her that to prove horses were better than dogs lol)
- trailriding (my favourite pasttime!)
- camping (even if its just next to his yard, its fun!) I'm going to sleep a night in the horses tack shed this holidays... if I can brave the spiders lol
- obedience training (on the ground) lol again i was proving that horses are better than dogs

thats all i can think of for now!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

How funny JDI very productive response :wink: 
I'm afraid I don't do any work with my horse, guess I should. So its all pretty much for fun. I respect everyone who shows or works on improving their horse. Guess I'm just a lazy horse owner :lol:


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## horsey*kisses (May 12, 2008)

-I play tag with my horse...yes tag... :lol: 
-we race from one end of the pasture to the other...i've never won...lol
-i hop on bareback at random times when hes in his pen with no halter or anything and i talk or he takes me around his pen at a walk 8) 
-he gets a bath every week and i do his mane up all pretty and his tail and take LOADS of pictures :shock: 
-i take him over to our nieghbors house for a visit, he likes the mare they are training heehee


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## AngelGurl (Jan 22, 2008)

Leader loves playing in the hose.
So that's something fun we do =)


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## brittx6x6 (Mar 4, 2007)

I go down a trail to an open field and let her do what ever. If she wants to run than she can run, if she wants to eat than she can eat. I will also turn her out in ring and we will play tag, its really cute. I also just ride her bareback and let her run and do everything she wants.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I play tag with my horse.  She loves it!
I also let her 'chase' me around sometimes haha she likes doing that.  Sometimes I will just walk her around...or I'll walk side-by-side with her on a trail. I do a lot of fun things with her!
I also do some Parelli. Nothing major, though.  Sometimes I'll just talk with her as she's grazing. Or I'll braid her mane or tail for practice, as I'm not the best at that lol. :lol:


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

It's great to read all these responses!! Keep 'em coming!


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## Jubilee Rose (May 28, 2008)

I love playing around with Jubilee! My favourite thing to do with her is to first lead her around with the lead rope and then carefully unhook it but keep it poised in the same position near her. She has no idea she's free! Haha. Then I drop the lead rope entirely. She'll follow me wherever I go, it's so cute!!  If I stop, she stops, if I turn she turns with me, no lead or anything. Its adorable. She'll come to me if I'm standing in front of her too. I also like working on her coming forwards to me and backing up without me having to touch her much. I also love just sitting on the edge of the fence and letting her sniff me or rub up against me or nose for treats. :wink: She's such a cutie. Some people just tack up their horse and ride but I love just spending time with my horse. She is a pet too, not just something to jump on.  Haha... I sun-tan on her back too sometimes, haha. Or just sit in the grass with her while she eats. That's all I can think of for now. Something else will come to mind though!


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## amightytarzan5 (Mar 20, 2008)

Hmmm....awkward.

Anyways, I like to free lunge my horse over jumps and stuff. Also bareback riding, which I am in love with. I love riding bareback without a bridle or halter. I feel totally out of control, and I love that! I also love to just sit with my horse in his stall and brush him until he shines like...well, I can't compare it to anything! I just like relaxing with my horse.


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## Jubilee Rose (May 28, 2008)

What is awkward?


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Bareback..ahh, gotta love it!!


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I know it's kinda stupid, but... My paint LOVES to be kissed (my qh equally HATES that  ). So she brings her nose to my face and wait for LOUD kiss in the end of the nose, then she moves nose back a little and bring it back for the next one. She can go with it for long time (I'm limited to 5-7 kisses though lol!).


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

In the winter when we are feeding big round bales and the bale gets low I like to get in the middle of the feeder and just sit there. The horses are all around me and breathing their steaming breath. All I can hear is munch munch munch snort munch munch. :lol:


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## Dumas'_Grrrl (Apr 2, 2008)

Awwwwww... I do that too VIda! I LOVE sitting on their hay while they are eating...

I have an old chair out by thier pen...sometimes I just sit out there watching them. They usually come up to treat me like a human sized kleenex and wipe boogers on me.....I love it though.........

I really like letting them graze in the yard though...after they have been out for a while my husband and I (usually after dinner) will go and sit on the porch...the horses usually come up like they want in on the conversation and hang out with us. Well, not on the proch of course...lol....they just come right up to the house and hang out.


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## Jubilee Rose (May 28, 2008)

Vida - Haha ... I do the same thing! 

Kitten_Val - That's really cute. I love horsey kisses.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Aww that's so cute!!


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## kickshaw (May 7, 2008)

i share food with mine. (granola bars, doritos, small bits of bread off of my sandwich, gatorade, root beer, coke, etc.)

..not every day, but it's fun


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Oh yes I do that too! People (well most non-horsey people) think that's gross...but it just makes our bond stronger! LOL!


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## amightytarzan5 (Mar 20, 2008)

Ahhhh! I share carrots all the time! Carrots, apples, and PB & J sandwichs! My horse is so wierd. There's this one horse I know that LOVES FunDip! It turns his lips and teeth blue and it's so funny! I also get a 6-pack of Mountain Dews each week that I keep in the barn and I give my horse a bottle after I ride sometimes. We like to drink Mountain Dew together! 

Oh, and Jubilee Rose, I wasn;t talking about anything with you being awkward. I was talking about something else!


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## Jubilee Rose (May 28, 2008)

amightytarzan5 said:


> Oh, and Jubilee Rose, I wasn;t talking about anything with you being awkward. I was talking about something else!


Haha ok. I was worried. I was like, what did I say??


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

LOL @ the fun-dip!! :lol: I should try that, ahhaa!


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## Dumas'_Grrrl (Apr 2, 2008)

I love the fun dip stix... I don't like the powder though... I'll have to see if the horses do! :lol:


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## amightytarzan5 (Mar 20, 2008)

Yeah, Vada loves it. When you start to walk away, he flips up his upper lip like "I want more! Don't go!" He's such a funny horse! He'll eat anything, and I mean anything. We gave him pop rocks and he didn't even notice them popping. He just looked for more!


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## Horsen' around (May 14, 2008)

i know a horse that if you leave a cup of coffee around he will drink it. At the stable where i use to ride there was a hackney (sp?) who would rub her teeth against your hand for hrs, a horse that if you asked it a question would bob it's head up and down. I know it did it for everything but i just LOVED saying, "do you love me?" and seeing him nod. Then tony another horse would stik his tounge out for you to grab and then would try and pull your hand back into his mouth and chew on your hand. Not bite, never bite just gently chew. He was a weird horse.

So yeah, fun things. My friend has a ginormas draft horse and she will go out to his feild in her bathing suit and take a book and she would lay across his back comfortably and read and sun bathe, they were cute!! :roll:


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Horsen' around said:


> So yeah, fun things. My friend has a ginormas draft horse and she will go out to his feild in her bathing suit and take a book and she would lay across his back comfortably and read and sun bathe, they were cute!! :roll:


Too cute!


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## americancowgurl31391 (Jul 9, 2007)

Lets see having fun with my horse consists of:
1) Trail rides...most of the time ill just let Dude pick the way that he wants to go...Trust me any trail horse knows their way home
2) Riding on the beach...Talk about feeling Free!!
3) Bareback...great practice fro balance and is very relaxing
4) Just laying with my horse while he grazes
5) Taking him on walks...just leading him
6) Just having a playday...Me and a friend will just let our horses play all day while we hang out!!


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## mlkarel2010 (Jan 27, 2008)

hehe, i like just sitting on my mules back and playing with his ears, they're soo much fun, and his poofy little forelock

also, i'll just stand by his stall gate and he'll put his nose by my hand and just stand there..... it's like how you see the horses in the pasture nose by nose and it's a bonding thing....

For fun, not with the mule, I practice natural mounting, like an indian, it's tons of fun!

Trail riding is always fun

ok, so I haven't done this, but I want to.... night riding!!

also, there was a friend who's horse would drink out of an itty-bitty dixie cup, it was cute..... except then there was grain and dirt in it, but my friend just filled it up and drank it again, a little too gross for me.....


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## HooverH (May 17, 2008)

Nice suggestions! I'm still trying stuff with Hoover.

- We go for walks on the trail or down the road, so he can eat the long grass.
- I sit while he grasses in the yard and talk to him.
- I like to lean on his door and talk to him while he eats, or lean against his side while he grazes.
- I bareback.

I want to try the tag with him, and I've been wanting to spend more time laying on him, but I'm afraid he'll take off with me. :roll:


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

I loove this topic its giving me a ton of ideas on what to do with chance!

these are somethings I do
- Some parelli things
- when I go catch her I'll run beside her half way across the pasture cause sometimes she gets excited and canters and i cant always keep up with that 
- In the round pen Ill let her off the line and walk away and sit in the middle and just go into my own world I guess and sometimes she will just come up to me check me out and sometimes just stand there head low. I love it cause It shows that she must have some loving for me lol
- After a work out and after shes cooled down ill just kinda let the lead rope have slack in it and let her graze and take me for a walk.
- If I have a apple for her [shes food mezermized SP?] She will do anything for it so I tease her Ill raise it up really high or real low I try and get her to bow but she doesnt get it lol lol its so funny then I finally give it to her.
- This isnt really a fun thing i do but it is funny I was rubbing MTG on her face and I let her smell it and she put her uper lip sooo far and stood there for like 4 mins hahaha
- Before i ever do anything with chance I love to just take 45 mins and just groom and make her shine. Shes always itchy so Ill scratch her like crazy as well  she always trys to groom me back  ANd if I get a really itchy spot she will raise her head up and stick up her lip 

sorry it was so long!


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## myboydoc (May 12, 2008)

I ride him(Doc) bare back and just usually just talk to him! He(Doc) also loves to gallop on the trails! And I also spend alot of time with Chika. (a horse that is boarded in our pasture) She loves to play tag and hide,n,go seek!  Especially since she is not even a year old!


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## geewillikers (May 4, 2008)

I take Willy out bareback a lot, and take him for walks to fresh, long grass. I paint his hooves, and try different treats with him. After a bath I throw his blanket on, and let him out in the turnout to roll. He can get his kicks and still stay clean!


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I need to add another  I scratch a lot of butts :lol: My niece was asking why I keep my nails done. I told her it so you can't see the dirt under them from scatching horse butts. :lol:


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## mlkarel2010 (Jan 27, 2008)

Vidaloco said:


> I need to add another  I scratch a lot of butts :lol: My niece was asking why I keep my nails done. I told her it so you can't see the dirt under them from scatching horse butts. :lol:


haha, i forgot to add butt scratching too!! my mule LOVES to have his butt scratched...i'll be petting his face and he'll turn around and put his butt in my face (don't worry, he's not being aggressive, just a hambone) he loves having his tail massaged


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

mlkarel2010 Glad I'm not alone  Vida will always turn her butt to me to be scratched. If some horse expert saw it they would probably say "oh that horse is being disrespectful!" She will stand for hours if I will keep scratching.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Oh, another thing (this may make me out to be a little OCD, but hey) I have this little routine I do while grooming her... I don't ever just do a quick groom; I first spray her mane and tail with ShowSheen (detangles it), then let that sit while I do her feet and rubber curry her. Then I groom her with 3 stiffnesses of brushes, then go and do her mane and tail.
Yep, OCD.. but it's my special maia routine.


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

no wonder shes so pretty


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