Yes it does! She was pretty special and needed to have more of a job than we could give her. There were two owners between us and Troy, but it seems she landed in the perfect spot with him! A bonus that we had known him for nearly a decade beforehand.
I've talked to people before about how when we're selling horses... (or having them put down)... how the horses KNOW, and oh, they let us KNOW they know! People seem pretty surprised by the idea that horses understand such complicated feelings and would consider 'the future'... but I think most people who have only been around dogs and cats can't imagine having animals with long memories. Parrots also know when they're going to change hands! Not just reading *your* feelings... but having a lot of their OWN worries!
Those that have never been sold can be pretty confused, but others definitely know what is going on! Dogs and cats generally don't get passed around nearly so much as horses to in a lifetime. We were at least the third (or more) owner for several of ours, second for a couple, and only for two, but I've seen some registration papers that have seven transfers on a horse under 10!
I'm not sure how much horses project into and think about their future, but they do have incredibly long memories and things that were significant to them definitely stick. I imagine they remember and some go "Not this again, I just got comfortable!" or "Thank heavens, get me out of here!" Seen both and variants between!
A: they had a whole herd.... so there were ALWAYS good friends to be found. B: all summer long was work (dude ranch)... but each night from May to September was total unabashed freedom *as* a herd... they got rounded out into 10,000 wild acres for grazing and were rounded up every morning. They. Absolutely. LOVED it.
I spent a lot of time in the stockyards as a kid, just... hanging out while mom handled purchases/sales... there are a lot of personalities going on (in the people AND the horses) in the stockyards, but anxiety is a big one for BOTH species! Lots of sadness, too.
I can see why they loved it! I wish I could give my herd thousands of acres to roam on!
I absolutely hate selling horses. I avoid it if at all possible, but sometimes they would have a better life somewhere else and I'm not too proud to admit that.
When I was very little, we only had about 6 horses.. (ONLY! HA!) and then when my mom bought the stable, we spent about a year getting our herd... that stable ran for 7 years, and then it probably took another 7 years to sell them off because mom *also* hates selling horses.
The best method ended up being her Pony Camp,... using horses/ponies that she knew really well as riding lesson horses, really gave her a chance to match owners to horses that worked out really well for a couple of the pairs. One of our horses became a National 4H champ!
Having an existing relationship with the horse definitely helps facilitate a good match! It can be hard to decide from just one test ride if it is going to work out
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I'm not sure how much horses project into and think about their future, but they do have incredibly long memories and things that were significant to them definitely stick. I imagine they remember and some go "Not this again, I just got comfortable!" or "Thank heavens, get me out of here!" Seen both and variants between!
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A: they had a whole herd.... so there were ALWAYS good friends to be found.
B: all summer long was work (dude ranch)... but each night from May to September was total unabashed freedom *as* a herd... they got rounded out into 10,000 wild acres for grazing and were rounded up every morning. They. Absolutely. LOVED it.
I spent a lot of time in the stockyards as a kid, just... hanging out while mom handled purchases/sales... there are a lot of personalities going on (in the people AND the horses) in the stockyards, but anxiety is a big one for BOTH species! Lots of sadness, too.
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I absolutely hate selling horses. I avoid it if at all possible, but sometimes they would have a better life somewhere else and I'm not too proud to admit that.
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and then when my mom bought the stable, we spent about a year getting our herd... that stable ran for 7 years, and then it probably took another 7 years to sell them off because mom *also* hates selling horses.
The best method ended up being her Pony Camp,... using horses/ponies that she knew really well as riding lesson horses, really gave her a chance to match owners to horses that worked out really well for a couple of the pairs. One of our horses became a National 4H champ!
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