Do horses really enjoy things such as jumping and dressage?
admin on March 11th, 2010
If so, how do you tell?
The horses you see performing well are breed to want to work and please their rider. When they get something right they are praised, even if it’s a small thing and only gets a release on the contact they are quite satisfied with it. Besides, if they were in pain or aggravated they would hardly perform at all. They would pin their ears, shake their head, swish their tail, act as though they would kick, and a number of other things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdb7qAtTLbc This horse is so happy with it’s job it is jumping even though it is not forced to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eet-Vbg-YJ4 This horse is currently the world record Grand Prix Freestyle holder. He is absolutely content in the ring.
Some horses absolutely love their jobs as long as they are good experiences. If their rider confuses them whenever they jump and they argue with their rider all the time they won’t enjoy it as much. it has to be fun and happy for them to like it.
I used to ride a reining horse, but at the time i wasn’t able to take reining lessons on him. I knew how to pivot, control speeds, and lead change but i couldn’t slide stop or roll back. When he was out in the pasture by himself we would see him run really fast and do a sliding stop by himself then roll back. it was really cute
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Some horses really love their jobs. If you have ever read ‘Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover’s Soul,’ there are a few stories where a horse that loves their job will throw a fit if you use a different horse. Some horses have it in their blood. Not always Arabians either. There is a horse at my barn that most people think is insane, but really she just just needs to "move her feet." She would LOVE to have a job, but no one rides her, because they think she is insane. I feel bad for her, in a way, because no one gets to know her to that point. Hope this helps.
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Personal experience, and I have been horse crazy ever since I can remember, which is pretty far…
Lemme find this Fugly blog I read a little while ago… It has a really cute video of a cutting horse cutting cattle without a rider.
http://www.fuglyblog.com/2010/.....our-horse/
Though watching the video again… I’m really not fond of those saddle sores on either side of that horses withers. Look at 15 and 16 seconds…
If you watch some horses, you can tell that they enjoy what they’re doing, because they really get into it. Then, there are horses that go through the motions like a robot, because that’s what they’ve been trained to do.
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Some do, some don’t. It really depends on how well and fairly they are treated.
In dressage and jumping, these can be high dollar (expensive) competitive disciplines….and the horse’s mental well being isn’t always at the top of the list.
Some dressage and jumpers, and other disciplines might include:
too much stall time……people tend to overprotect high dollar horses….not allow them to be horses. They’re not allowed to hang out with other horses, be in the sun or get any dirt on their coats. They’re stuck in stalls for hours and develop neurotic behaviors like cribbing, weaving, and crabbiness toward people.
gadgets and gimmicks to force the horse into uncomfortable positions…..
BUT all that said…there are people who truly care about their horses and have learned to combine their training with healthy horse life….time spent in huge pastures, playing with other horses, sunshine, and no gimmicks or gadgets….
So, those horses who are treated well all around….yeah, I’m sure they don’t mind being ridden and just see it as part of their life. They accept it and are true willing partners.
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My horse loves to jump. He’s a barrel horse so he doesn’t jump often, but you can tell he likes it. He’ll put his ears forward and very willingly moves forward towards the jump. On a couple of occasions I have dropped the reins and let him lope around the arena and he went over the jump 3 times without me steering him.
So yes, horses do enjoy things. Not all horses love their jobs, and sometimes it can be hard to tell. Some horses simply like to please people, so they do what they are told to do willingly. Others become stubborn or harder to control when they are doing things they don’t like to do.
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They do.
My horse loves his job (Jumping). We have shown the last couple years in the 3′6 equitation and medal classes and I can definatly tell that he loves it. When he enters the ring he just kind of lights up, he doesn’t get ‘hot’ at all, he knows he needs to listen to what I am asking him but he is just so happy. At every show tons of people always come up to us and comment on how happy he looks doing his job. If we leave the barn with the trailer and leave him home he gets really really sad and almost looks like he’s depressed
And I can also tell the difference with him regarding the flatwork part. haha. He hates dressage and flatwork. He’s not as responsive and he also sweats up really fast (like within 10mins) whereas for jumping he can jump a bunch of rounds and not break a sweat at all.
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I believe many do enjoy jumping and dressage if you are doing it correctly. One of the horses i ride, Braveheart, is an oldenburg and all he has to do is see a jump it the arena and he will jump it. Once i was just trotting him around, getting him warmed up for a friend, and she was setting up a course on the other side of the arena, and he saw it, took off and jumped one! I was very proud of myself for not falling. I guess that one group jumping lesson i had taken had paid off. It was scary though!
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Of course! Just like you like it. An you can tell by the way they carry them selves or act. They will usually have there ears set a certain way, and they will be excited and into not lazy and crabby. Like one of my horses. He is a barrel horse but LOVES to jump. He is lazy when we ride and work on the barrels but when I throw the English saddle on he is all hyped up and ready to go do some jumpin. But not every horse likes them. Cause mine doesnt really care for dressage. He is crabby and doesnt want to do what I want.
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The horses you see performing well are breed to want to work and please their rider. When they get something right they are praised, even if it’s a small thing and only gets a release on the contact they are quite satisfied with it. Besides, if they were in pain or aggravated they would hardly perform at all. They would pin their ears, shake their head, swish their tail, act as though they would kick, and a number of other things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdb7qAtTLbc This horse is so happy with it’s job it is jumping even though it is not forced to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eet-Vbg-YJ4 This horse is currently the world record Grand Prix Freestyle holder. He is absolutely content in the ring.
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Some do, yes
My horse loves dressage the most, and if he does it he perks up his ears, prances around and just GLOWS. There is no way you could mistake it for anything other than enjoying it
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lol……….if they didn’t,they wouldn’t be doing it. & certainly not well or safely..
PS=why would you care?
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