Quirks

Any time you get a new horse, you discover their little quirks.  Some are common, some not so common, and sometimes they get you into trouble.  V had plenty of them.

I discovered pretty quickly that he was a little questionable about tying.  Unfortunately the barn where he lived had heavy chains for cross-ties and he decided to test them one day.  I was halfway across the barn when it happened, and he actually went down in them and hung there until the crownpiece of his leather halter finally broke.  I tied him with twine after that, if there were no safety snaps available.

There was also an area where you could straight-tie a horse to get him ready.  Since it was a lesson barn, there was often a need to get several horses ready at once, so they tied them wherever they would fit.  There was always a pile of hay available, and the horse's lead rope was looped and tied around a post.  I left V there one day and went to get something from the tack room.

Child boarder: "Hey, your horse was loose.  He was wandering around back here.  I caught him and tied him back up."
Me (thinking I must not have tied the knot securely or something): "Oh!  Sorry!  Thank you!"

Several minutes go by, and I go back to the tack room to get something else.  I come around the corner to find my horse wandering loose again, dragging his lead rope behind him.  Apparently he kept untying himself and went looking for something more interesting to do.  At this point one of the cross-ties had opened up so I stuck him in there instead.  I found out later that he didn't straight-tie to the trailer either...but that reaction was slightly more violent.

He was great about baths (unlike my mare), having been on the track; and very little spooked him.  The flip side of this was that he didn't stand still when mounted and would jig sideways next to you when you led him to turnout.  He was also a cribber, but I don't think he'd ever worn a collar until I got him - we purchased one pretty quickly, and as long as it was properly adjusted it was very effective.

He was not much of a food horse when I got him.  He was definitely thin and unfit when we brought him home, and the grain that they fed at the boarding barn was less than appetizing (not moldy or anything, just bland).  The day that I saw him take three bites of his feed and then go stand in the corner, I realized we needed to change something.  Knowing what I know now, there's a good probability that he had ulcers, but hindsight is 20/20 and if I saw the same thing today I'd be running to order GastroGard.  Instead, I changed him to a feed that he couldn't resist (Omolene 200 and all of its molassesy goodness) and he started to eat like a champ.

I know there are more - but I've become so used to him and all his little habits that I can't think of any right now.  Over time, he developed a bit of a "cold back"...but that's a story for another time...