[Jess!]

I trust my horses to an extent. I don't trust Porscha much because of her past, she has been known to strike out when frightened.

Kandee, I trust more.

However, they are horses like has been said. One time I came up behind one of my fillies, touched her haunches, and she double barreled out without warning. Prior to that incident, I had had no issues with her. But, I could have been another horse, or something else.

So when it comes to trusting my horses to do their job, behave in the crossties, etc - yes, I do. And while I may do "stupid" stuff like go behind them without letting them know, crawl under them, etc - I do not trust them at all and I'm just putting myself in danger.

[aBreeze]

Originally Posted by huntseat

I trust Melody completely. That does NOT mean that I don't think that she can and will hurt me (never intentionally, but they are thousand pound prey animals with hooves and teeth and minds of their own), but I trust that I know her well enough to anticipate her next movement before she knows it herself and avoid danger. She has not hurt me in a LONG time, and I feel completely COMFORTABLE around her, but that doesn't mean that I need put myself in situations that I know are unreasonably dangerous.

Exactly. Well said.

[ejforrest]

If I didnt trust my horses, I wouldnt have them.

[doublebarr]

If my kids "trusted" their horses as much as the first few posters, then they wouldn't be here anymore (the horses). They would be sold in a heartbeat and I have owned horses all my life (40 years). There is trust and there is lack of common sense with a 1000 plus pound animal that relys on instinct. I pray you all never get seriously hurt

ETA: this thread reminds me of that "famous" naturalist that "trusted" the bears he lived with "peacefully" for years. They invited him for dinner one day and he paid the ultimate price for that "love".

[Amber.Molly]

I have 3 horses... and 3 different trust levels.

Ali - I trust the most. I mostly trust my reaction to her... as I know what makes her tick and I know what she will do if frightened, hurting, grumpy etc, and so I am always prepared for whatever she throws my way. I put anyone on her, but always tell them that although she is a 'babysitter' she still has her own ideas sometimes.

Pablo - Haven't had him that long... we're still getting used to each other. On the ground he's wonderful, never offered to do anything bad, but undersaddle I am consistently riding him the whole time, JUST incase Doesn't mean that I don't trust him.. just means that I will be there to assist him if he is unsure.

Molly - is young and shouldn't be trusted ! LOL

ETA: Even tho 99% of the time a horse will be 'itself' and allow you go do all these... 'unsafe' things, there is still the chance that something WILL spook them. Please play safe.

[HUS_WP_lovr]

I trust Jackson but Felix not as much lol. I go up behind Jackson and grab his butt muscles, ride him tackless, lay in his stall, lay on him, go under his belly,play around with him and I know he wont intentionally hurt me.
Felix, well...... we need to work on it

[dixygirl]

Accidents happen even with the most trusted horse. Once while walking with my girl, she stepped on my toe and just stood there on it looking around as if nothing was wrong. The agonizing pain felt like all the bones in my toes were crushed. A half an hour later, I realized they were not and a few days later the pain was gone.

Another time as i walked away from her, she kicked at a fly and landed a good hard kick on the back of my bare thigh. It sounded like a baseball player smacking a ball straight out of the park. By the way, it felt like I had been hit with a baseball bat too!

Another cold morning she didn't care to be groomed and she grunted and bucked up her rear to kick me into next year. Thankfully i got out of the way unscathed. Another time she did the same when i was walking around her in her stall while she was eating breakfast and did not want the intrusion. When it is really windy or a cold morning, she will run around bucking like a wild banjy. If i get in the way i would be toast. And once I did rush to get out of her way, just to hit the back of my hand on a corner. Blood burst out of the back of my hand like a spraying geyser! My blood continuously shot across the field. No hospital for me. I patched it up myself.

Then again on another occasion, a treeless saddle and i rolled under her belly and i landed on the ground. She came back to me consolingly and licked me. That time I landed on my rump and my tail bone had a dull throbbing pain for nearly a week.

So horses are very dangerous. You can feel close to them but should always think preventively when around them and look out for every possible danger.

[Berlunz]

the problem with sneaking up behind your horse and grabbing their tail or hugging their butt is that one of these times its really going to scare them. Think about it.. if you were standing in your yard just doing something and someone snuck up on you and grabbed you by the shoulders and shouted BOO. I would jump even though I am not intentionally trying to hurt anyone I would still react by instinct.

I trust my horse completely, I trust when I take him up to a jump and ask him to jump that he will do so.That doesnt mean I will trust him never to react on instinct or be scared of something that jumps out at him. At the last show two kids were messing around just outside the arena with their ribbons. It was windy and one let go of a ribbon and it flew through the panels right into Bon's face. He naturally snorted, flew the side and did a little hop. If something came flying out of nowhere and latched onto my face I would have done much worse. But I know he wouldnt ever do anything to intentionally hurt me.

When I ride him bareback I carefully test certain things and expose him to things so I can prepare him for any weird things that may happen. I have carefully stuck my foot in his right stirrup and stood up just in case someone tries to mount him improperly. I have carefully dismounted from the right stirrup. But still I would never stick my face under his hoof just to prove how much I trusted him.

[horseyfrk145]

I agree that trust and forgetting how dangerous horse are can sometime be mistaken for each other. I trust my horse, but I still have to be careful. He's gentle and all that, but not only is he a horse (read: as posted by huntseat - prey animal with hooves and teeth and minds of their own), he is young. I trust him to an extent, but not 100%.

[Native Winds]

I trusted my late mare about 95% of the time with that 5% element of suprise. She was a very level headed, laid back, been there done that mare. Every now and then she gets an idea in her head and will casualy partake on that element of suprise. I NEVER trust an animal 100% of the time. There are some animals I can trust more that others. What is so funny though is that I trust NO human being none of the time.