A basic horse care test?!

Nudibranch

Nudibranch

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I propose there should be one. No, I haven't a clue how it would be administered or monitored, and I'm sure the suggestion will cause annoyance to some. However in this test I would suggest the prospective horse owner should be able to do the following things before they are able to buy - all of which can be learned like many of us did, the old school way by having lessons and handling different animals by helping out at places with a variety of horses:

Ride at all paces, in a balanced fashion and with sufficient command to hack out on the road safely.

Be able to assess whether a horse needs a rug, and if so the difference between light and medium weight.

Understand the need for a forage based diet, and to assess whether hard feed is needed.

Understand the need for turnout and exercise.

Be able to apply basic first aid, and know when to call the vet.

See and feel under saddle lameness or discomfort.

Those would be the essentials imo - and I think they'd make a difference to the quality of life for some horses. The ability to bring your horse on with schooling would be a benefit, but it seems these days a number of people value this over basic knowledge.

*Ducks and runs for cover*
 
Lol!! Totally agree but what about those on full livery? I'm an ex groom and ex DIY-er but many round me are clueless and leave it all to the very competent yard manager. So yes they can ride but no idea about general care and that's what they pay money for. Completely alien to me but they are well looked after horses 😁.
 
The more sensible new owners will probably be able to tick all of those boxes or have the horse in a good livery yard, the less sensible will continue to do as they please because there would be no way of running such a scheme, licensing livery yards could be the way to get something started but will not cover everyone and who will decide on how the standard is applied, we all have differing views on many aspects of care , even the PC no longer seems to be consistent in its approach to anything outside of the tests or competition.

I have turned away potential buyers in the past because they were not, in my opinion, ready for a horse but equally have a pony here at livery whose young riders could not manage to tick many of the boxes but they are learning and have improved far more since having the pony than they ever would at the very expensive but totally useless RS where they were having lessons, pony is on full livery but they are doing some jobs when they are here.
 
Fluffypiglet said:
Lol!! Totally agree but what about those on full livery? I'm an ex groom and ex DIY-er but many round me are clueless and leave it all to the very competent yard manager. So yes they can ride but no idea about general care and that's what they pay money for. Completely alien to me but they are well looked after horses 😁.
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I'll add a caveat then - if the horse is on full livery then not an issue. What I was thinking about is the high number of people who have to make those decisions for their horses yet seem entirely unable to do so.
 
There used to be an NVQ that broadly covered these kind of points. I had a couple of friends do it when it was funded by one of the government bodies some time ago. Probably fits into an apprenticeship course these days. I did pony club tests when I was a tiddler and I seem to remember being quizzed on stuff like this - is that not still the case?

Although I think we're all entitled to have a moment of self doubt even when we've looked after horses for 40 years. I'm having a rugging wobble at the moment with one of mine - never had him drop weight this early on into winter - and I've probably over-rugged the other one this morning given what the actual weather is turning out to be today. Might start another rugging thread :p
 
Can we add in basic basics? DIY yard, horses still out, in a herd, I was third, possibly fourth down to the field yesterday morning and none of the delightful co-liveries before me had thought to crack the frozen trough as they walked past it. Fed up of numpties.

Edited to add, none of the liveries thought the fence being down last week was anything to do with them either, so left to me to prop back up and then report to the farmer for proper fixing.
 
I know people who have a very high standard of care who either don't or can't ride.
Perhaps we need two tests; one for horse ownership and one for riding on the roads
 
I don't like the idea of a horse test to keep one, I can envisage self important people judging others... It would turn into a right racket, taking ££££s, lessons that you would need to do to 'get in' with the examiners. I could see it being impossible to implement. There are many ways to keep horses.

What I would think is a good idea is a licence to keep horses. That would be quite easy to gain such as do you have somewhere to keep a horse, but if convicted of neglect, cruelty or recklessness, then it would be removed. Possibly a test/exam to re-gain it. 3rd party insurance to also be compulsory.

So, no testing unless there has been a problem.
 
Once ended up working for a woman who needed help as she had fractured her spine. Had always had her own land, never liveried. The field was full of ragwort and it turned out she didn't know what it was. Grudgingly allowed me to pull what i could of it (if you must) then wanted the dying plants left in the yard ... Also thought was fine to feed extra buckets instead when she ran out of hay. Wouldn't listen to anyone (many tried) as she had been keeping horses all her life and knew all about it.
 
Hmm I'd fail your test in that case.

I can't ride competently in all paces...due to nerves as opposed to ability.
My ridden ability does not impact upon my ability for care for my horses.
So I'd not see the ridden points as being as important, depending on what the proposed use for the horse would be.

However I agree in that basic care should be able to be independently provided without assistance.
 
HorseyTee said:
Hmm I'd fail your test in that case.

I can't ride competently in all paces...due to nerves as opposed to ability.
My ridden ability does not impact upon my ability for care for my horses.
So I'd not see the ridden points as being as important, depending on what the proposed use for the horse would be.

However I agree in that basic care should be able to be independently provided without assistance.
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Yep, I'd fail the riding test too I'm sure. There's some horses I just can't ride one side of, there's others that we rub along OK (yup, at least I know that and act upon it, but that ain't gonna get me an exam pass is it?)

One concern that I'd have is how do you actually decipher the 'correct' way of dealing with horses who have different jobs - I have an understanding of how to keep ponies in ridden work, and I've seen enough cuts, hot legs, abscesses etc over many years to have an idea on how to deal with them. However, how I keep ponies would not be right for breeding stock, or heavy horses or sportshorses. In these cases even a fundamental such as a forage-based diet has nuances that make the difference between a horse thriving and getting into trouble.
 
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hmmmm...
I think some of the ridden comments are a bit pompous, you don't need to be a perfectly balanced rider to be able to ride a horse safely and have fun. What would happen to all of the small ponies out there which are owned by parents who's kid's love and are learning to ride one. What about the likes of me who owns a horse, knows she inst the best rider and has lessons every week? what about people who are nervous.

What about all the different styles of keeping horses? I know my horse would walk all over a an old school BHS type owner who thinks shoving and elbow in his chest and smacking him on the shoulder will keep his attention on you, same is if you took a BHS very proper owned horse to a cowboy type ranch.

What would you need to pass in terms of being aloud to ride a horse out on a hack, basic road knowledge obviously but any horse can have a wobble even the most unexpected horses can unseat a very capable rider and sod off into traffic (i have seen it with my own eyes)

I agree basic care would be beneficial but to be honest even if i had done a basic care test when i brought my horse i still would have been out of my depth with all the things he has thrown at me in the last couple of years... I dont think finding caffeine pills in your horses hay would be in the hand book, nore schooling whilst guns and bullets suddenly start to be shot from the field next door.
 
Same could be said for having a baby and bringing up children!! I was very surprised that I was just allowed to take such a precious wee thing home! Some shocking parenting out there.

I do believe this forum provides a valueable wealth of knowledge, especially when googling things. The trouble is not those seeking answers, but think they know better.
 
Great idea OP....

I think red's idea of a license is possibly the most workable :) and I would see a test for horse care as much more important than a riding one.

Could the riding and road safety test be made compulsory for those who ride on the road though?

Fiona
 
A license was being considered when the compulsory passports came in but it was not feasible as the cost of running it would far outweigh the income and as we know the bad owners would slip through the net, dog licenses were stopped for similar reasons.

Riding and road safety could be compulsory to an extent but it would probably be insurance companies that could start it up as a required part of the insurance we take out, cyclists have no requirement for tests or insurance and I don't see how it can easily be monitored other than by insurance companies offering incentives.
 
I agree - I so wish there was a licence system for all animal ownership. I'd pay well over the odds because people who really want to be with animals already do pay over the odds for almost everything and would do anything for them. You have to have a licence to shoot, to drive, sell alcohol etc... there must be a way to make it work and I'm so sick of the "it's not worth it" excuses... why does everything have to be about money? The licence should cost enough so that it can be administrated and I'd happily volunteer my time to stop the endless suffering of dogs and horses (not to mention illegal wildlife trade.... and a licence to be a parent is discussed at many units that deal with abused children) at the hands of the cruel and incompetent.

It should be done to protect, not for profit.
 
Horsekaren it's hardly "pompous" to suggest someone should be a balanced rider before buying a horse if they plan to ride it. That's what lessons are for. If you can't ride with an independent seat then learn on a school horse until you can. I didn't say grand prix standard. If nerves are holding someone back then riding a schoolmaster type, as opposed to a green horse, is probably a good idea until they feel confident enough to do more than circle in an arena.
As for small children, well, I have one and he is not allowed to hold the reins yet although he can happily sit fairly well balanced. Again, that's what lead rein ponies are for.
It's fair to say some people would benefit from more experience with a range of different horses before they jump into buying one of their own. That's hardly pompous, knowing it all or whatever, is it? Common sense I'd have thought.
 
It has to at least break even, the main issue with horses is if they are seized someone has to move them and keep them while the legal case goes through, far more difficult than keeping a few dogs in kennels, if the owner wins they get the horse back with a huge bill to pay if they want it, if they lose who will pay the bill and how will the horses be disposed of, charities pick up the worst at the moment but cannot take over running a license.

It is not just about money but someone has to pick up the bill, I would not be happy to pay an annual fee in 4 figures, I think we would be looking at at least £200 per year per horse to finance it, to allow me to keep my horses on my land and I expect I am not the only one who would object to it, I would give up some time but still cannot see what would happen to the equines that are not licensed and how the owners would be dealt with, there are laws in place to cover fly grazing but they don't seem to stop a certain type of owner breeding more every year.
 
Being honest I can see the merits of this. It would be a fabulous thing in terms of horse care and accountability.

However I can see the issues that would arise from a little bit of info/experience making people think they are mark Todd/Mary King/insert professional of your choice here ;)

Already see enough of that going on without creating these types deliberately.
 
This is a great idea in theory, but would be near impossible to implement as others have said. What would be possible to implement would be a simple license to own animals. Similar to that that you need to own goats and sheep. You would have to buy online and fill in a form and pay a small fee then wait a few weeks for your license to come through. You would need to present this to the seller to be able to purchase the animal, if you were found to be owning animals without this license then you would be fined a ridiculous sum of money and the animal could be removed from your possession without any other reason needed, and if you were to sell an animal to someone without one then you would be fined even more. You would need a different license that took longer to approve to breed from your animal. This would apply to horses, cats, and dogs.
This way people would be discouraged from buying and breeding without thought and planning, it wouldnt solve all the problems but would be a fast way to shut down unscrupulous breeders (puppy farms, gyspy cob inbreeding) fast and would be a win for animal welfare.
 
I've had 2 years on a full livery yard being shielded from the nonsense that is Other People... back on DIY this year... omg I'd forgotten... riding issues are not a concern though as no-one actually seems to ride...
 
It's impossible to implement, of course, but in principle, I agree. Some of the riding you see is shocking, and the lack of knowledge and basic care can be astounding. I do think that the riding and road safety test is a good thing - but making it compulsory would be pretty difficult to enforce - and then you'd still get idiots doing stupid things in the arena or off road.

The nuances of care vary depending on the type of horse, but there are people out there buying horses with no idea how to put on a rug, or tie up a haynet, or even what they're meant to bloody eat - and they're not putting them onto full livery either. I wouldn't believe it possible if I hadn't seen it...

alainax said:
Same could be said for having a baby and bringing up children!! I was very surprised that I was just allowed to take such a precious wee thing home! Some shocking parenting out there.
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"Sometimes I really think people ought to have to pass a proper exam before they're allowed to be parents. Not just the practical, I mean." ;)
 
Why would new owners/riders need a test in this day an age of social media? It is (apparently) perfectly acceptable to go online to Facebook or horse forums and there you will have a myriad of experts more than happy to tell you all you need to know about horse care, veterinary problems (who needs to pay for a vet these days?) basic riding, producing youngsters, competing from pony club to the giddy heights of top notch competitive riding.

All you need is half a dozen lessons and the internet experts will happily guide you through the rest of your horse owning career, they will even help you choose your new horse so you won't need to take a real life expert to viewings with you, or a full vetting, the internet experts will tell you if you have buying a good 'un or not. :oops:;)
 
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