I’m not experienced with horses. I know many are trained to work for just about anyone. They were used in wars and police still use horses this day and age for crowd control, so I guess they can stomach a bit of violence and chaos. But most domestic animals behave differently with people they’re familiar with vs random strangers, so I presume horses would follow suit?
My question is inspired by countless movie/videogame scenarios in which there are a bunch of random horses tied, and a character just picks any, hops on and rides away.
Or, there’s a fight, horse owner gets killed and the thief rides away on the horse.
Regarding horse behaviour only, are these realistic scenarios?
How likely is that a horse would resist being mounted by a random?
Wouldn’t they be scared or angry if their previous rider just got killed right there?
Is it possible for an experienced person to tell at a glance how obedient a horse is? (How?)
These are my sudden horse questions. TIA
I only know a few smatterings of horse facts having spent just a bit of time around them (let me know if you know Bulldog Hanover) but I can judge the basic mood of a horse at a particular time.
The danger sign is when its ears are fully back, means it’s stressed, pissed, or scared. Likely to kick, buck, try to bite or be disobedient around a stranger trying to ride away on them.
Ears perked up facing forward (known as pricked) generally means the horse is alert, attentive, worried or curious about something in its surroundings. Hearing a nearby gunshot might startle and tense a horse up and prick their ears toward the noise, or hold their ears out to try to figure out the noise and why it was so loud.
Ears up but facing out in either direction is a horse’s neutral, calm and relaxed position. In this state it would be the best opportunity for a stranger to get a ride from the horse. Doesn’t mean it would accept giving a ride without issue, each has its own temperament and training of course.
Source for a full list of typical ear positions
Pictoral guide