The 'Must Know' Basics of Petting Your Horse

4:15 Touch him with your heart and do it in a way that feels good to the horse. Then the horse turns his head and looks at the camera "Are you people hearing this?" And don't do it for to long. Horse turns again "Yeah ,learn what I like and leave me wanting more."

Pretty much the bottom line is to know your horse and realize that petting is not all about you.

I don't own a horse, but if I see some at a county fair or something like that, I like to go over and say hello to the horses. I watch their ears and general demeanor to see if they want to be touched, and if they don't, I leave them alone. I never slap a horse's neck. Some people get confused about animals and think that they're like humans, but they interpret touch very differently from us. Especially important to remember around a large animal!

I once leased a gelding who hated any form of touching and would pull away from it. At the end of our time together, I went to groom him one last time. I began to cry as I thanked him and said goodbye and he stood perfectly still, looking at me with big soft eyes as I gave him a kiss and hugged him.

The type of videos I look up after beating Red Dead Redemption 2’s story

I don't own horses, never am around horses, but I watched the whole video. What a nice, calm video it is, good knowledge and nice vibe.

I get so happy when someone actually understands what the animal is thinking......Loved the explanation 😊

My contact with horses has been minimal, but rewarding -- I am in awe of these animals -- and your video struck a chord with me. Animals do not choose to be domesticated; they are at our mercy. And the least we can do, for horses and other animals we live with, is to be kind and respectful and to take our cues for interaction from them. Thank you, Mr. Jacobs.

Thanks for educating people. This also stands true for most animals that if you overstimulate a pet it can turn on you to warn you off. Always treat animals with respect.

There was a horse I used to ride when I was younger, barn name of Mikey. He was a Morgan/Connemara grade gelding, and a sweetheart. He LOVED having his neck stroked. Just palm on his neck, thumb along the jugular groove a few times. He would just show I had his attention, and relax into the touch. Such a sweet boy. He was about 25-26 when he moved away to Maine...not sure if he's still alive or not. But he was a darling. Another thing he did when he could tell I had a bad day is "hug" me. He would put his head over my shoulder and pull me to his neck, encouraging me to hug him around his neck and let me cry into his mane.

This man knows what he is talking about. What animal wants to be "slapped" or "smacked" on the side of its head? It doesn't even make sense. Or what animal wants a "vigorous scrubbing", anywhere on its body? I don't know much about horses at all, but I intuitively know that they love a "gentle and loving" touch from a human.

Lovely video, you are such a sweetheart, and so's the mare, so patient. I wanted to say that there's a difference between patting/petting and "scritching". A sweaty horse will love to be scritched under his bridle, behind his ears, girth, all those itchy places. But that's not "petting". And you gotta watch out raising foals, cuz they love to be scritched all over which is easy when they are little. And they always want more! And then they get bigger and will wear a person out. Least my last fillys were like that. they turn their heads up and wiggle their lips, it's so funny. I think one thing about petting is to always go with the grain of the hair and let the horse tell you with his ears and switching his tail if he likes it or not. You really made me think about this. subed, happy trails

Omg! You are like the queen of no hands! You’re SO good at it! I actually never went no hands yet! The closest thing I got to no hands was a pat in canter!😂

Thank you for this clear and insightful explanation. It is very helpful to have this understanding from the perspective of the horse . In the end, our aim is to send a positive message to the horse with our touch , rather than annoy or irritate him/her. Many thanks once more.

I have an autistic son who doesn’t like being touched. Caring for him helped to to understand this point. So when we got a dog who also HATES to be touched I was able to understand a bit. It is very difficult not to touch my son and dog but they will let me every once in a while if I respect their boundaries. I get what you are saying.

My gelding finds petting irritating most of the time... It's hard to resist because he has the shiniest golden coat! Then, other times, when he gets an itch and I scratch it, he'll position and move himself depending on where he wants to be scratched. If I move on to another spot that's not quite as good, he paws the ground to tell me 'GO BACK GO BACK!!' xD Or he'll walk behind me and use my back as a scratching post for his face... He's ALWAYS hated hugs though... except after our first prelim test - I got a bit emotional, and he knew it was a hugging moment - he stood good as gold, ears pricked, almost looked as if he was smiling! I think a lot of it depends on the mood. He's quite a character!

I like the comparison to non huggers, I'll have to use that one, it's a great example. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. I just rescued a mini mare from a Kill pen and I’m gathering information because I want the best for her. This kind of information is greatly appreciated.

Very useful tips there Ross. I used to own horses in the early 1960's (northside of Brisbane), but these days I just give somebody else's horse a pat over the fence. Wasn't really aware of ''overpatting'' a horse, so that was a practical piece of advice.

THANK GOD IM NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT SEES ALL THESE PEOPLE SLAPPING THIER HORSES AS THOUGH THEY LIKE IT. COME ON PEOPLE ITS NO DIFFERENT TO A FLIPPING CROP OR WHIP, HOW IS THAT NICE