This is Hughey.
He is cranky and ornery. He nips and kicks. He will purposely step on your foot while you are trying to tighten the cinch and then reach around and take a bite out of your butt when you deftly move out of the way of his heavy hoof.

Not too many people (or horses) like him for these legitimate reasons. I was scared of him at first. And yes, they do smell fear. He tends to act up more the more angry you get when he acted up the first time. (get it?)
But I like the way he rides. He's attentive, and almost always does what you ask of him. He wants to be good. He just got screwed up somewhere on the way.
He's a lot less nasty to me now, and while I'm riding him, he's very tolerant of my ineptitude.


I'm not as fit as I once was and thus my riding skills (and Hughey's back) suffer for it. This was taken in 1980-something on a very nice but boring mount called Lady.

See his ears are back a little? He's saying "Get this tub off me and let me go graze or something."

But despite his irritable personality, I love him like he was mine. Probably because he's just like me. I'm cranky all the time and would always rather be napping.

Hughey's not very handsome or popular, but if you stick around and get to know him, he's an alright guy.