What are your horsey idiosyncrasies?

I don't share blankets, saddle pads or bridles.

My stirrups are pulled up in a certain way and I go insane if someone tied my noseband and chin strap when putting my bridle away.

I don't feed before riding and I don't ride near the time they go in for stabling otherwise they lose concentration.

It is not okay for me to ride with a wrongly fitted saddle even if it is for a short while.

I believe in the necessary vaccinations, deworming, teeth floating and chiropractor checks.

I reward the horse with a handful of molasses after riding and I refuse to get on or off or even open the pasture gate if they are not standing still.

Stallions are stables before the mares come in.

My horses MUST wear flyfringes and fly spray and there has to be some sort of source of shade in their area.

When the weather gets bad like lightning or heavy rain, they must be stable. Light rain or a few drops are fine.

Allow them to walk without blankets the first two weeks of winter to allow them to grow a winter coat.

There are so much more actually hahhaha!

Not sharing blankets or grooming items is more than an idiosyncrasy, Kendall. It's COMMON SENSE. There are lots of infections which are transmitted by sharing personal grooming equipment, blankets, and saddle pads between horses. Everything from ringworm to sarcoptic mange to rain rot to scratches or "greased heel" can be transmitted that way, in fact. I don't share my mare's personal equipment either, for the same reason. I also avoid sharing things like water and feed buckets when I'm at shows or in other places away from home. You never know which horse is carrying or just getting over an infection.

As for feeding before riding, where I live we generally feed early enough in the day that this isn't a problem. I work full time, and if I feed in the morning, my horse has plenty of time to digest before I come home in the evening and ride her. On weekends, the same thing applies, for the most part. I don't work weekends, but again, the horses get fed early in the morning and I generally don't ride until later in the afternoon. The exception to this is if I have a show or something.

Our horses live outside 24/7/365 too. Normally, they only come in to work, eat, get their feet, teeth, shots, and worming done, and once in a while to see the vet when this is warranted. We do bring them in overnight during periods of extreme cold in the winter, or cold accompanied by heavy rain and/or snow. But otherwise, they're outside. They've got sheds they can stand under to get out of the weather, and we feed them lots of hay and fiber feeds like beet pulp. We never blanket anybody if we can help it where I live. The horses have full access to water troughs outside- we use tank heaters and heat tape to keep them thawed and open so they can drink. During extreme cold snaps, we drain our hoses and put them in the barn bathroom, which has a heater. That way, they don't freeze when not in use.

I pick feet before I ride. Common sense right? Not everyone does it though.

I hate seeing horses tied way too long. I live in ranch country and a lot of folks tie their horses with like crazy 5, 6 feet of rope and let them kinda roam around the end of the line tied up. I hate that. It's an injury waiting to happen.

Everything mentioned so far is really just good, common-sense horse care, as Starlight1 said.

But I do have a couple idiosyncracies. All my horse's stuff (grooming implements, halter/lead, blankets, casual schooling saddle pad, bandages, etc.) has to be hunter green -- just because I think that's what looks best on him. I also don't remove his saddle until I've loosened the girth, run up the stirrups, swapped his bridle for a halter, and led him into the indoor arena where he can get a good roll.

I scrub my horses water buckets every day, total overkill. I sweep all of their shavings out of the corner they eat their hay in. I scrub the water tank each and every week. I give each of my horses a hug every morning or when I go into their stalls. It makes me itch and get upset if I don't brush them each day. I have to put up a bridle in a certain way, cleaned after each use, with the reins looped over the headstall and the throatlatch buckled in a figure 8 pattern. I do my chores first thing every morning and setup their stalls with their evening feed in case something happens to me during the day at least they are fine if someone opens the gate to let them in. I call in my horses by name each night and wait for them to come to the gate and stop and stand before opening it. I am a fussbudget about whoa meaning whoa and stand meaning, all for feet glued to the ground, they aren't allowed to move a muscle or we have to start all over again. I have emergency phone numbers listed all over the place. I have at least five emergency backup people trained to take care of the horses in an emergency. They know how to feed, clean stalls, and put the horses in/out for the day.

Gosh, I'm starting to sound very neurotic --time to stop thinking about this.... I really am nuts.

Two of many... 1) not pushing the stall door latch back, on an open stall door ...leaving it sticking out to impale a horse or get caught on tack as the horse enter and leaves the stall. 2) Not leading the horse all the way into the stall and then turning around...instead I see many people barely walk into the stall then whip the horse around and they call the horse stupid for smashing its hip in the doorway.

I go nuts when people anthropomorphize their horse's behavior.

Horses do not "act", people act.

Horses do not "pretend" people pretend.

I insist on handling being consistent every day.

Feed at the same time, in the same order, it seems to make them more secure.

I don't allow them in my living room.

But I like them enough to cherish their dung for my garden roses.