Cross Breeds

Do horses "Want" to run? Do horses "Want" to win?

I have a retired race horse and she appears to love to run and she seems to get the other horses around her to run laps. A "horse person" told me horses don't "want" to run nor do they "want" to win. What's your opinion?

Public Comments

1. well, they run in the wild I think, but that might be because they get spooked a lot. I'd say they like it as much as humans do, but they probably get tired of lugging ppl around on their backs lol
2. its all in what you train your horse to do i ride pacing horses and they just pace but a trotting horse or a running horse will want to run
3. well...........it depends in vich circumstances this horse grows up.personnely i think they do like to run.
4. Yes, I have had lots of horses and some love to run. An old mare name Lady lived to be 25. She ran for the fun of it. Even in the last year of her life.
5. I say they want to run. They have no concept of 'to win'.
6. Yes, if they have the heart for it they will always want to run.
7. I grew up with horses, and they all had different personalities. Generally speaking, I would say that in my limited experience, they all loved to run. They never needed any encouragement from me. :-) And, they seemed to enjoy being the "first". but then again, that could have just been the personality of my horses.
8. They want to run. That's one of the ways one horse shows superiority over another horse. Good trainers take advantage of that competitive nature on the race track. Experienced horses seem to get an "understanding" of the winning concept (John Henry comes to mind). Some horses like to run in the pack, which is why some racehorses seem to finish second or third or close to the front but don't win all that often. They all have their own personality just like (I hate saying it this way) like people.
9. I have a show mare that gets really mad when she doesn't ribbon, and steps high when she does get one. I am not sure the brain process behind it but I interpret it as her wanting to win.
10. They want to run and I think some of the want to win. I used to work at a summer camp and we had horses there rented from a local stable. This one horse looked to be part thoroughbred, but she wasn't that fast. Any time I rode her with someone on another horse, and that horse passed us, her ears went back and she immediately started running faster. She did not like to be beaten, she was competitive. I also volunteer at a stable, and some of those horses run at the slightest touch of your heels and they would run till they dropped if you asked them to. Others won't. Its just like people. lol
11. I have a 23-year-old Arabian gelding. He has always been very fast, and can beat anything he has raced against. (Backyard ~100 yard races against my siblings. He used to run in barrels, but he didn't trust worked up dirt not to slip out from under his feet). That horse LOVES running. He always has. Just teaching him that he could run improved his personality unbelievably. He will try his heart out to beat other horses. In fact, while he will run all out for me, he will only run all out for someone else if they race him against another horse. As for them having no concept of winning, I would agree that is true initially. However, when I race my horse against my siblings and he wins, I am happy, and I praise him. Thus he learns just like anything else that is what I want, and I believe at that point they can start to enjoy it themselves as well.
12. I have looked after racehorses for many years and they have to want to run to be good race horses. If they don't want to some little guy (or girl) with a little stick is going to make them. The ones who become great horses want to win. When they don't win you can tell they are upset by it. Many times I have had one lose in a photo and they can't understand why they are not going to get their picture taken or going to the test barn. I know many will think we are nuts but they really do know when they win and are very full of themselves as a result.