# Horses picking up on weakness



## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

I have had hyper POTS (hyperadrenergic postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome....a type of dysautonomia or malfunctioning autonomic nervous system) since I was 9. My syptoms come and go in intensity, but lately I have been fainting fairly frequently. Last night as I was checking the geldings I started getting numb, having tunnel vision and that vague underwater sound in my ears. I went out for a split second and when I came to, I realized Chief had ducked his head under my arm ad actually kept me from falling all the way down. I was amazed, he truly seemed to sense that I was not 100% right then and somehow knew what to do.

Has anyone else experienced their horses picking up on your weakness when you need them?


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

I haven't heard of it with horses but I have with dogs.
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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Quite a few years ago, I was hand grazing my horse in early spring. There was still mostly ice on the ground and just a little grass showing. I was standing on the ice while my horse worked on the grass. I lost my footing at on point and started to fall. He blocked my fall with his body, waited for me to recover my balance, and then went back to grazing. I didn't even realize he saw me standing there no less be so tuned into what I was doing next to him. It was a very eye opening moment for me.


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## Customcanines (Jun 17, 2012)

I also have a nervous system disorder - CIDP. I amEXTREMELY weak and clumsy, and walk like I'm drunk. My 3 year old filly walks next to me and lets me use her for support. I grab her mane and she helps me walk. I have fallen between her front feet, and she just stands there and nuzzles my hair. When other people get on her, she has a tendency to walk off, but when I'm mounting or dismounting, she's like a rock. Even with a mounting block it takes me forever to climb on. I used to be a good rider, but the other day I just about cried, then thanked God for Nibbles. I was dismounting and myjacket got caught on the saddlehorn, and my foot would't work to get out of the near stirrup, I hung there like an idiot, thinking about what would happen if she spooked,but she was perfect, eben though I know it was uncomfortable for her. I know she knows how weak i am, but she's neber taken advantage. She's my angel.


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## Ninamebo (May 25, 2013)

One summer I was having some bad fainting spells. I would usually hand walk my horse after a workout for this reason- I'd keep one arm near his neck just to be safe. Every time I started to fall he would stand there and lift me up. If I actually did fall down he wouldn't move a foot, and usually was blowing and nuzzling my face when I came to again.
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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Once when I was a child I was walking barefoot on an excursion on the farm I grew up on. I hit a patch of hot black sand and got prickles in my feet at the same time. I was sitting down on the ground in the shade picking prickles out of my feet wondering how I would walk home on my sore feet, when an old mare my family had, that I'd learned to ride on, came running up to me out of nowhere. She and her companion horses were free-ranging at the time on about 60 hectares of land. How she knew to look for me I don't know, but she seemed to sense my distress. She walked right up, sniffed me, nuzzled me. I got myself upright holding on to her neck and then, as I was standing there, she looked at me, then dropped her neck down right in front of my waist. I leaned over her neck, and she slowly started elevating it, and me, until I could slide on her back. This was a 17hh mare! Once I was on her back, no reins, she took me straight back to the farmhouse at a careful, but ground-covering trot, delivering me onto the front lawn. I remember sliding off and hugging her. I've never forgotten this experience. I ride her great-grandson now.


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## Gossalyn (Sep 12, 2013)

this is the best thread ever, i love all your stories...!


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