History Main / HorsingAround

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''{{The Mask of Zorro}}'' Alejandro tries to summon his horse, Tornado, with a whistle, so he can jump out of a window onto its back. The horse comes at the whistle, but is having none of this "leaping onto his back" stuff, and steps aside, causing Alejandro to land with a painful set of AmusingInjuries. This is also a throwback to an earlier scene where the previous Zorro did it without a hitch.
* The horse ridden by Chon Wang in ''ShanghaiNoon'' has a mind of its own and rarely responds to his wishes unless it wants to.

[[quoteright:253:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Stubbornhorse_2376.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:253:[-This horse is not going anywhere.-] ]]

-->''"Riding is the only thing a King learns how to do right, since a horse is no courtier and will just as soon throw a Prince as a stable boy."''

* The ClassicDisneyShort ''How To Ride A Horse'' is built entirely on this trope.

* The palamino ridden by Chon Wang in ''ShanghaiNoon'' has a mind of its own and rarely responds to his wishes unless it wants to.

* In ''SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron'' has an entire sequence where soldiers attempt to "break" the resistant Title Character. Fittingly enough, the background music is "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2NjhCnun3Q You Can't Take Me.]]" Later in the movie, Spirit is just as resistant and rebellious to a kinder Native American, but eventually warms up to him.

* In BlackBeauty, a horse revolts when the bearing reins are drawn too tight to bear. This book was so close to RealLife that bearing reins soon fell out of favour--except as safety equipment.

Horses can be real bastards. Tensing up as you fasten a saddle only to relax and leave the rider upside down, biting hands, "spooking" and riding off with their rider, kicking anyone stupid enough to get south of their arses, and [[OhCrap if they lie down suddenly...]] get off quick, they're about to roll. And as for [[ThePesci camels...]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Stubbornhorse_2376.jpg
[[caption-width:253:This horse is not going anywhere.]]

-->"Riding is the only thing a King learns how to do right, since a horse is no courtier and will just as soon throw a Prince as a stable boy."

Horses can be real bastards. Tensing up as you fasten a saddle only to relax and leave the rider upside down, biting hands, "spooking" and riding off with their rider, kicking anyone stupid enough to get south of their arses, and [[OhCrap if they lie down suddenly...]] get off quick, they're about to roll. And as for [[ThePesci camels...]]

Horses, both in fiction and [[TroperTales real]] [[RealLife life]], are living creatures, and come with their own personalities. They lose their tempers, they get scared, they react like you'd expect an animal to react. Often suspiciously like you would expect [[AllAnimalsAreDogs a dog to react]]. {{Sapient Steed}}s are liable to be this if you treat them badly... or possibly just because, [[HumansAreBastards like humans,]] they have a mischievous streak.

[[AC: {{Comic Books}}]]

[[AC: {{Film}}]]
* Toothless of ''HowToTrainYourDragon''.
* The scene in the ''Pecos Bill'' segment of Disney's ''Disney/MelodyTime'' where Slue-Foot Sue tries to ride Pecos' horse Widowmaker. Watch it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB8_THAyd5o here, starting at 4:00]].
* Pegasus on ''{{Disney/Hercules}}'' is usually gentle with Herc. Megara, on the other hand...
* The Prince's horse in ''SleepingBeauty'', who until the climactic scene was very stubborn and had to be bribed by carrots to do his master's bidding, and even then the horse bungles it and charges straight into a puddle.
* Phoebus' horse from ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' when he was told to "sit". His face seemed well smug. Self-satified maybe?
** Disney in general seems in love with this trope. Horses acting up are, of course, a good way of getting laughs out of parents and children alike.

* The palamino ridden by Chon Wang in ''ShanghaiNoon'' has a mind of its own and rarely responds to his wishes unless it wants to.

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

* In ''TheElenium'' novels, Sir Sparhawk's horse Faran. Faran is infamous for his bad temper and a tendency to bite strangers (such that Sparhawk always has to warn handlers about it). In one of the later books, the child-goddess Aphrael tells Sparhawk that Faran only has a bad temper because he is trying to please Sparhawk by matching his personality. Much to Sparhawk's annoyance, Faran has a habit of prancing whenever Sparhawk rides him with his formal armour on. The horse is also remarked upon to be unusually intelligent, to the point of understanding Sparhawk's speech and having memorized the ritual entry into a Pandion Chapterhouse as well as Sparhawk has.

** Multiple Companions are described in passing as doing this as well, either due to disagreements with thier Chosen or a taste from low humor.

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Appa of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender''.

[[AC: RealLife]]

*** Actually, usually the difference in girth size between when it's put on and after is caused by the horse clenching their muscles in anticipation of pain due to past rough handling when having their girth cinched. Many/most (maybe all) girths are placed in relation to the lungs such that the horse can't make himself bigger there by drawing breath.

** Actually, you probably will make it past the first jump: about ten feet past, depending upon terrain and atmospheric conditions.

----

Horses can be real bastards. Breathing in as you fasten a saddle only to breathe out and leave the rider upside down, biting hands, "spooking" and riding off with their rider, kicking anyone stupid enough to get south of their arses, and [[OhCrap if they sit down suddenly...]] get off quick, they're about to roll. And as for [[ThePesci camels...]]

* The inevitable TroperTales aside, horses are still animals. Very big, powerful animals. Aside from the obvious danger of a kick or a nasty bite (which can be severe enough to disable or even kill) some horses can have a nasty habit of lying down suddenly when you're riding them... to roll in the grass while you're still on them. The results can be fatal. So if your horse goes down suddenly... ''get off the horse IMMEDIATELY!'' They can also spook if they're stung or scared by something, riding off in a panic with their rider still on them and vulnerable to low branches and the like.

*** An experienced equestrian will tell you that you never just "fasten the saddle." You tighten the girth slowly, one hole at a time and preferably alternating sides to make sure the pressure is even and not pinching, until it is tight. Then you check and tighten if necessary immediately before mounting. Then check right after mounting. It's generally a good idea to give it another check once the horse is properly warmed up. The horse will generally tense up when being girthed (it will sometimes hold its breath which causes more tension) causing the girth to loosen, then the rider's weight pressing down on the saddle can cause it to loosen again, then the warm-up will loosen and relax the horse's muscles, necessitating that last check. (This is particularly true for well-balanced riders, who may not notice that the girth is loose only to go flying when the horse decides to throw a buck. It is not unheard of for a skilled rider to take a light day and not work any fancy tricks, i.e. rollbacks or jumping, only to discover that - oops! - their girth was three holes too loose, and if they ''had'' gone for the fancy stuff, injuries would have happened. And not to the horse.)

*** An experienced equestrian will tell you that you never just "fasten the saddle." You tighten the girth slowly, one hole at a time and preferably alternating sides to make sure the pressure is even and not pinching, until it is tight. Then you check and tighten if necessary immediately before mounting. Then check right after mounting. It's generally a good idea to give it another check once the horse is properly warmed up. The horse will generally tense up when being girthed (it will sometimes hold it's breath which causes more tension) causing the girth to loosen, then the rider's weight pressing down on the saddle can cause it to loosen again, then the warm-up will loosen and relax the horse's muscles, necessitating that last check.

* In BlackBeauty, a horse revolts when the bearing reigns are drawn too tight to bear. This book was so close to RealLife that bearing reigns soon fell out of favour--except as safety equipment.

-->'''Hank''': If there's anything worse than pretense, it's reality. And anything that weighs 200 pounds and bites and kicks and stomps ''must'' be considered reality.

** Beyond this, they can be sneaky devils as well. A common one is them breathing out as you fasten their saddles, so that when they breathe in again... the saddle becomes loose and you end up riding upside down. They have lots of tricks beyond this... like grabbing the bit between their teeth and flatly refusing to follow anything the rider asks of them.

Horses can be real bastards. Breathing out as you fasten a saddle only to breathe in and leave the rider upside down, biting hands, "spooking" and riding off with their rider, kicking anyone stupid enough to get south of their arses, and [[OhCrap if they sit down suddenly...]] get off quick, they're about to roll. And as for [[ThePesci camels...]]

** Beyond this, they can be sneaky devils as well. A common one is them breathing out as you fasten their saddles, so that when they breathe in again... the saddle becomes loose and you end up riding upside down. I'm sure they have lots of tricks beyond this...

* The inevitable TroperTales aside, horses are still animals. Very big, powerful animals. Aside from the obvious danger of a kick or a nasty bite (which can be severe enough to disable or even kill) horses have a nasty habit of sitting down suddenly when you're riding them... to roll in the grass while you're still on them. The results can be fatal. So if your horse goes down suddenly... ''get off the horse IMMEDIATELY!'' They can also spook if they're stung or scared by something, riding off in a panic with their rider still on them and vulnerable to low branches and the like.

** As an old refrain says "Mas sabe el burro que quien lo monta"("More knows the donkey than the person that's riding him"). Well, horse.

Horses, both in fiction and [[TroperTales real]] [[RealLife life]], are living creatures, and come with their own personalities. They lose their tempers, they get scared, they react like you'd expect an animal to react. Sometimes fiction reflects this. Averting AutomatonHorses. {{Sapient Steed}}s are liable to be this if you treat them badly... or possibly just because, [[HumansAreBastards like humans,]] they have a mischievous streak.