advice/opinions please

[HeidiBoo]

I need your guys opinions please.

I was riding out this afternoon and for some reason or other, I can't even remember now, I didn't take my crop.....

Beebs (my gelding) was being a complete and utter prat, really playing up, to the point of being dangerous, so I decided to cut it short, taking a shorter route home rather than turning him around and rewarding his behaviour. However, due to him slamming on his brakes and trying to run backwards we weren't getting too far.

Realising part of (if not the majority) of the problem was that I didn't have my crop, I broke a stick out of the hedge.....and after a couple of swift, sharp smacks we were off again.

However, I got jumped on by a couple out walking their dogs, calling me cruel, this that and the other, I shouldn't be allowed horses, they were going to report me, blah blah....

So what are your views? I feel that my actions were more thn justified, surely it was better to use a temporary measure, ie the stick, to back up my aids and to get him safely home, than it was to placate the fluffy bunny lovers and have him potentially cause an accident??

 

[Nickijem]

I fear we are going down the 'am I cruel route' again!
However, I think you were quite right to do what you did. I would have done the same. I always ride with a crop and I very rarely use it (it can get Jerry more wound up than necessary!) but I like to have it to reinforce my leg when absolutely necessary.

 

[Nari]

As long as the stick was to back up a leg aid then I'd have no problem with what you did, I've done it myself in the past & don't feel at all bad about it. You have to deal with the situation you have, maybe the dog walkers didn't notice that a horse is a lot bigger than a dog & can't be carried or dragged if it doesn't behave?!

 

[HeidiBoo]

[ QUOTE ]
I fear we are going down the 'am I cruel route' again!


[/ QUOTE ]

Oh no, not at all, s I said, I feel my actions were justified, and I know I'm not cruel, I merely wanted others views and opinions of what they'd do in a similar situation....

 

[YorkshireLass]

Once upon a time a stick was just that, a stick! I have some very nice driving whips made out of holly sticks.

Does it make any difference if it is literaly a stick or a fiberglass, nylon bound rod?

I bet you lot are too young to remember Faulty Towers... the scene in which Basil's car won't start and he ends up beating it with a stick.

 

[_Libby_]

I would of done the same and ignored the dog walkers, assuming you just gave your horse a tap to back up your leg and no a full blown whack?

A girl posted similar thing recently- i feel a debate coming on

 

[Mavis]

I'd have done the same. Better a couple of swift slaps with a stick to focus his mind than reverse under a car/lorry/whatever!

Could have been worse. I got caught beating my car with a branch once, after getting it stuck at the bottom of a muddy field. Since the incident, the couple in question have always smiled nervously and crossed the road whenever they see me.

 

[HeidiBoo]

[ QUOTE ]
I would of done the same and ignored the dog walkers, assuming you just gave your horse a tap to back up your leg and no a full blown whack?


[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't overly hard, no...it left a small mark, but I feel that was due to the rain/dirty stick than the force used.

[ QUOTE ]
A girl posted similar thing recently- i feel a debate coming on

[/ QUOTE ]

She'd had the same problem as me? Or had she witnessed a similar act and had a problem with it?

 

[fruity]

I have had to to the same thing before too. i.e) get a stick from a branch and back up your leg with a couple of quick smacks,i havn't done it for a few years but the pony i had when i was a teenager was a bit of a nightmare out hacking when she was younger, i found it woke her up and switched her out of the 'zone' she was in.I'd rather do that than be tossed around and dumped by a half tonne of horse! It was witnessed once by walkers that gave me a very odd look and i felt like saying 'you sit on it when it's trying to kill you and see what you come up with!' I am very anti hitting with horses but i will smack if i REALLY have to,especially if my life depends on it,after all they are wild animals in heinsight!

 

[_Libby_]

can anyone help me out and provide a link to Miz Elz (i think) post something along the lines of "my horse looks like an rscpa case"

 

[mollymurphy]

Here you go:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/sh...rue#Post2361170

 

[MizElz]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I would of done the same and ignored the dog walkers, assuming you just gave your horse a tap to back up your leg and no a full blown whack?


[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't overly hard, no...it left a small mark, but I feel that was due to the rain/dirty stick than the force used.

[ QUOTE ]
A girl posted similar thing recently- i feel a debate coming on

[/ QUOTE ]

She'd had the same problem as me? Or had she witnessed a similar act and had a problem with it?

[/ QUOTE ]

right, I made a vow not to weigh in on any topics like this again, but such was my disbelief at the bland responses here, I felt I had to......

when I made a post along similar lines, I was slated majorly by almost everyone here. True, i posted under a comparatively sensationalist heading, but the gist of the post was the same.

This OP has admitted to forgetting her stick - I do not normally carry one. She resorted, in an extreme situation, to using a branch from a tree - as did I. She admitted that the branch left a mark on the horse - as did I. can somebody tell me the difference here, please, as to why I have been branded a horse beater, but the OP is considered to have been perfectly within her rights, even though passers by blatantly considered her practice unfair to the horse?

 

[_Libby_]

misunderstood? were u miz elz?

i am confused

 

[MizElz]

[ QUOTE ]
misunderstood? were u miz elz?

i am confused

[/ QUOTE ]

indeed.....sssh!!!!! dont tell anyone.....

 

[Mavis]

yes....curses.... I made a vow not to get involved in any of these protracted and pointless 7765 reply posts....I have been duped!!!

 

[_Libby_]

ah right

secret safe lol

 

[HeidiBoo]

[ QUOTE ]
misunderstood? were u miz elz?

i am confused

[/ QUOTE ]

You're not the only one who's confused. I merely wanted peoples opinions on a situation that left me curious as to what others responses would be in the same situation, I get three or four interesting replies, you go off looking for someone elses posts, some other ranting from someone else, who may or may not be the person whose thread you wanted in the frst place?

Am I right so far?

 

[_Libby_]

lol yeah right so far. now just sit back and watch for the fireworks, but in answer to your original post dont worry i think most people would of done the same thing! ..... no doubt i will be wrong though lol

 

[HeidiBoo]

[ QUOTE ]
yes....curses.... I made a vow not to get involved in any of these protracted and pointless 7765 reply posts....I have been duped!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I beg your pardon. I joined this forum as I felt, from what i saw, that it was an informative and worthwhile place, however, my opinion's rapidly changing.....I'm sorry for posting what I felt could answer my genuine curiosities, I shall sttick to merely ooohing and aaaahing over peoples pictures of their ponies then shall I?

 

[Cahill]

right then,mselz,misunderstood,tranterer and heidiboo.
same person????????????
this is getting silly now.
yawns

 

[MizElz]

[ QUOTE ]
right then,mselz,misunderstood,tranterer and heidiboo.
same person????????????
this is getting silly now.
yawns

[/ QUOTE ]

correct on first two counts.....but it was only a simple name change - i have the 'admin approved' email to prove it. quite why you have managed to link the other two yet again, god only knows. christ, this p155e5 me off!!!!

 

[MizElz]

Cahill......

if i joined as 'Heidiboo' I must have had amazing foresight, seeing as she joined on 16th feb 07......blimey!

 

[HeidiBoo]

Excuse me?? I can assure you I'm NOT the other 2, or 3, or whoever it is I'm meant to be!!

Why can't I just get answers like I originally asked for in my OP? please feel free to go back through my threads, I've introduced myself, my animals, I've even spoken on several occasions to Kerilli (sp) as she lives 10 minutes down the road from me.....Jeez you lot are paranoid!

Are you saying then that no one posts similar posts to one another? Coincidences can't occur?? I really can't believe this place, it's shocking....

 

[lucemoose]

QR- why are some people dragging up other posters previous posts and then advising the OP to "sit back and watch the fireworks" , how juvenile and unhelpful.

In response to the OP, I think what you did in the eyes of a horseperson or anyone with an ounce of self protection was correct and justified. He may have learnt a lesson today but also you got yourself out of a sticky situation. Job done.

 

[_Libby_]

Sorry I did answer the original post and try to help, and didnt mean to offend. I was simply stating that a subject like this is likely to cause controversy - which is has!

 

[alicedove]

Hello there Ethel! Nobody likes my posts today.

sob

sniff

No I haven't ever beaten my car, but I have used a stick from a hedge/tree before and 1) swished it around a horse to stop horseflies settling OR 2) slapped horse with it,

but I never hit more than once in a row, or I reckon that could be misconstrued as an angry/out of control act rather than a fully controlled correction. Do not lose your temper with a horse under any circumstances, or it leads to lesser things... you'll never achieve anything good.

 

[lucemoose]

^^ sorry, post seems a little snarky at you Sophie, think I should go to bed and leave the night owls to this post!

But dont think this post should be controversial, if anything should reinforce that as horse riders we are liable to be blamed and misrepresented by members of the public more often than most- and that the OP should be told she had done the right thing. If she hadnt her post on here tonight may have been entitled "I left my crop and home and now my leg is in traction"....

 

[Maesfen]

In response to your opener, I think you did exactly what any other responsible horseman/woman would/should have done in the same circumstances; you corrected it, end of story; no need to justify yourself to anyone, least of all us rabble on here.
If you hadn't forgot your rod and horse had played up the same, surely you would have done the same ( even if tonight he only played up because he knew you had no rod with you) and because you already had your rod with you, the walkers probably wouldn't have noticed or mentioned it; it was probably the action of pulling it out of the hedge that put the wind up them!

 

[HeidiBoo]

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry I did answer the original post and try to help, and didnt mean to offend. I was simply stating that a subject like this is likely to cause controversy - which is has!

[/ QUOTE ]

But I said all along I didn't want contraversy, merely other peoples opinions, I am just interested in the way others react in certain situations....where's the harm in that?

I am well aware that different people have different opinions, I was even expecting some to be of the opinion that my actions were in the wrong, I respect that other peoples views are sometimes different to our own, I'm mature enough to appreciate and embrace our differences.

What I don't appreciate is my posts being totally disregarded, struck off as they're 'similar' to another users......

utterly ridiculous.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

Just ignore it.

In answer to your original post: Yes, i think you did the right thing.