Are basic horsemanship principles not taught anymore ?

JFTD - true but that is a separate issue because you're not dealing with someone who thinks they don't know and thus has the impulse to look; but someone who does not know what they don't know and thus has no idea that they are doing anything wrong.

It's very easily done especially if someone is self taught (in my experience the net is great for selective discussions within a topic but often fails at providing an overall detailed and structured approach to many subject - it bolsters higher understanding within niche segments but the overall is oft for books or actual teachers).


Sadly when it comes to adults one has to teach them a different way than kids; especially when the adult is ignorant of their ignorance.

windand rain said:
I suppose you have to know how to spell a word to find it in the dictionary
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Aye if the word is philosophy you have to have some idea that it starts with a ph not a f otherwise you will certainly never find it in the dictionary. Of course you also have to know the word itself - finding the word to use is hard if you don't know the word exists at all.
 
Indeed, but their ignorance of their own ignorance is just as much a personal failing in my view as ignorance in the first place. I genuinely cannot comprehend how people lack self perspective on this degree. And I think pandering to them and not giving them the telling off they deserve is absurd and compounds the issue - which was the point of my initial comment, after all.
 
If you haven't been fortunate enough to have had ponies as a child, be a PC member and/or have knowledgeable parents, it can be a very steep learning curve. There are so many adults starting riding later in life and I can only sympathise with how difficult they find it. RSs do not prepare you for horse ownership and you only have to read the posts in the new riders section to see how many people struggle. I started learning about ponies when my younger daughter got interested and although I was allowed to sit in when they did the stable management training for the B test, I still made loads of very silly mistakes that make me blush when I think of them. I also know I was seen as pretty clueless by the other PC mums but TBH it just spurred me on to fill in the very considerable gaps in my knowledge in any way I could but there's no substitute for hands on learning. When I first had my own horse, I didn't always find other liveries very kind. I think they found it much more fun to watch me makes mistakes! Fast forward nearly 20 years and I have had my own yard for quite a long time, can handle fit competition horses and feel fairly confident in my management, but I am still learning and just wish I'd had the opportunity to start as a child. I'll always offer help if I see someone struggling, usually it's gratefully accepted, sometimes not but surely it's better than standing by and doing nothing?
 
JFTD said:
Indeed, but their ignorance of their own ignorance is just as much a personal failing in my view as ignorance in the first place. I genuinely cannot comprehend how people lack self perspective on this degree. And I think pandering to them and not giving them the telling off they deserve is absurd and compounds the issue - which was the point of my initial comment, after all.
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Eh the thing is if you view it as "telling off" then you're approaching the situation with an aggressive tone. Yes there are certainly times you should do this; but at the same time you've got to respect the fact that you're dealing with another adult. That they don't have to listen to you; have no compulsion beyond their own choice to listen, take in or do anything you say nor suggest. So if you go in guns blazing aggressive chances are they'll throw up walls and barriers and suddenly instead of actually helping you've only compounded this issue further.

It's also not about softly softly whispering and meekly suggesting they've done something wrong; its about walking that line between being aggressive and being authoritative. The former, I would say is done with little respect to the person being spoken to whilst the latter respects them.


Sometimes you can solve the issue with a laugh (mockery can be a very effective teacher when done in strict moderation). Putting the coat on backwards you can have a chuckle; show them what's wrong and invite them through the conversation to have laugh at their own mistake as well. Now you've built a bridge over which you can teach further things; and because there was a touch of mockery they are more likely to learn (its important not to actually mock them; the key is not to undermine a persons self confidence).


Repetition is also key - yes you can show someone how to do something once and they'll do it right that day; but you've got to show them again and again till they can do it every day without question nor thinking. It's like learning the times tables - you don't do it once in class, you do it over and over.
 
To clarify- When I say told off I don't mean I shouted or got nasty or anything. I asked her if it was her who put it on wrong (in case of was one of the kids fooling round) She said yes, I told her not to do it again as it could be dangerous ( string was very tight around ponies neck in the morning)

Will also add, she is an educated woman in a professional job and has been to university so is bright enough to use her initiative or learn without to much repetition
 
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I've had years of tactfully saying "I hope you do't mind me pointing it out but..." I used to try and help. It rarely goes down well. I think it's because so many things have a right way and a wrong way and people do a long series of wrong stuff. It gets wearisome for them and me.
Simple stuff like put the rug on the front of the horse, do up the chest, slide the rug back. People look at me like I've grown 2 heads if I try & encourage that instead of the preferred route of chuck rug at horse & slide it towards the head then do up from the back first.
 
Laafet said:
Err I never went to Pony Club, because in my day, they wouldn't let you in if you didn't have a pony (I am 32). I LEARNT stable management from being a a helper at a riding school. From what I have seen Pony Club is not the be all and end all and certainly the teenagers at my last yard clearly learnt nothing about looking after their ponies at Pony Club and still had to have their mothers check their girths!
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Yes quite - ditto
 
Polar - certainly a situation where there is a danger to horse/rider/handler is one to get more serious about. Generally though I'd say you certainly want to both be serious, but also explain fully the reason. Often people are more agreeable when they realise the magnitude of what they might have done or have done - or at the very least can respect your position and concern more.


Also its my experiences that genius in one subject can have no bearing upon another. Heck myself I know if I research two different subjects I can also get much more success with some kinds of subject over another even though the "process" is similar
 
Overread said:
Eh the thing is if you view it as "telling off" then you're approaching the situation with an aggressive tone. Yes there are certainly times you should do this; but at the same time you've got to respect the fact that you're dealing with another adult. That they don't have to listen to you; have no compulsion beyond their own choice to listen, take in or do anything you say nor suggest. So if you go in guns blazing aggressive chances are they'll throw up walls and barriers and suddenly instead of actually helping you've only compounded this issue further.

It's also not about softly softly whispering and meekly suggesting they've done something wrong; its about walking that line between being aggressive and being authoritative. The former, I would say is done with little respect to the person being spoken to whilst the latter respects them.


Sometimes you can solve the issue with a laugh (mockery can be a very effective teacher when done in strict moderation). Putting the coat on backwards you can have a chuckle; show them what's wrong and invite them through the conversation to have laugh at their own mistake as well. Now you've built a bridge over which you can teach further things; and because there was a touch of mockery they are more likely to learn (its important not to actually mock them; the key is not to undermine a persons self confidence).


Repetition is also key - yes you can show someone how to do something once and they'll do it right that day; but you've got to show them again and again till they can do it every day without question nor thinking. It's like learning the times tables - you don't do it once in class, you do it over and over.
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All this makes sense if you wish to teach someone but why should it be the responsibility of the horses owner to educate this know it all mother? If everybody she loaned from told her off for being useless she would either stop loaning, buck her ideas up and make an effort to learn or buy her own horse so she can do what she likes and deal with the consequences too. If she kept injuring her own horse then again she would probably decide to educate herself a little in some areas at least. As previously mentioned all she had to do is look over the stable door of another horse to double check she had got it right. It is arrogance and laziness why she did not and those deserve a telling off.
 
oldie48 said:
If you haven't been fortunate enough to have had ponies as a child, be a PC member and/or have knowledgeable parents, it can be a very steep learning curve. There are so many adults starting riding later in life and I can only sympathise with how difficult they find it. RSs do not prepare you for horse ownership and you only have to read the posts in the new riders section to see how many people struggle. I started learning about ponies when my younger daughter got interested and although I was allowed to sit in when they did the stable management training for the B test, I still made loads of very silly mistakes that make me blush when I think of them. I also know I was seen as pretty clueless by the other PC mums but TBH it just spurred me on to fill in the very considerable gaps in my knowledge in any way I could but there's no substitute for hands on learning. When I first had my own horse, I didn't always find other liveries very kind. I think they found it much more fun to watch me makes mistakes! Fast forward nearly 20 years and I have had my own yard for quite a long time, can handle fit competition horses and feel fairly confident in my management, but I am still learning and just wish I'd had the opportunity to start as a child. I'll always offer help if I see someone struggling, usually it's gratefully accepted, sometimes not but surely it's better than standing by and doing nothing?
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I came from a working class non horsey family and most of my early horse knowledge came from the two books we had in the school library, this was before the days of the internet. I was truly dumb founded when as a 12year old I tried to use my knowledge learnt in books on a partly broken four year old pony with mixed results and 'broke' in a pony at 13 using methods I had seen on a TV programme.
There is no more than ever information readily available if they choose to read it for free, but there seems to be a trend that unless there is a gimmick and a price attached the information is not of any value.
Owing a horse is not about riding it, its about the 23 out of 24 hours you are not riding it. Good horsemen make it look easy, its all about planning, thinking at least two months preferably more about any management. If you do not know it,'' winter is coming'' so start thinking about it now and not two days before you need your hay and bedding and expect someone to deliver it for next to nothing.
I know someone who every equine they have owned has developed long term lameness, mainly through in approiate work and then not treating small problems before they become big one.
My tips for not making an animal lame and sour,
Never canter on hard ground unless you have spent weeks conditioning it, lose your entry fee, rather than spend the vets fee.
Always walk home and never canter or do fast work in the same place if possible.
Never canter or trot to the gate, no matter how hard it is to get your pony away from the gate.
Do not do the same work, ride, schooling every day, eventually they will say no or start to evade.
Feed lots of low energy forage and give them company, if they are thin buy an extra bale of hay first rather than a posh bagged feed.
There is no calmer, bit, gadget that will replace good basic training.
And the currant biggest problem, riding your horse with your horses nose practically on its chest and its neck like a banana is NOT on the bit.
Rant over.
 
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Firefly9410 said:
All this makes sense if you wish to teach someone but why should it be the responsibility of the horses owner to educate this know it all mother? If everybody she loaned from told her off for being useless she would either stop loaning, buck her ideas up and make an effort to learn or buy her own horse so she can do what she likes and deal with the consequences too. If she kept injuring her own horse then again she would probably decide to educate herself a little in some areas at least. As previously mentioned all she had to do is look over the stable door of another horse to double check she had got it right. It is arrogance and laziness why she did not and those deserve a telling off.
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Arrogance and laziness suggests that she did the action deliberately. Thing is you're looking at this from your perspective where putting on a rug is so simple that you don't even have to think how to do it - you just do it. It can be harder to appreciate when something is second nature to yourself; how its just not for others.

As I said above, where there is danger of risk of injury then yes there should be a telling off; but at the same time you've got to build a bridge not burn it. Otherwise you might as well revoke the loan right there and then - which the owner has every right to.

You can treat ignorance in two basic ways - you can try the hard method and hope they learn or you can actively step in and guide the learning. The former is easy, you tell them its wrong; correct it yourself and leave them to fathom it out; the latter is more work - but has the greater potential for longer term learning and improved performance.

Do you really want someone to give up loaning from "bossy know-it-all" and get their own horse, an animal which might then come to greater harm because of a persons lack of understanding? Nope I'm pretty sure no one on the site does at all - so being ones in the know its important to then impart that understanding to those who don't; or try and facilitate such learning at the very least (that could mean recommending some good links/books/teachers/schools)
 
Honetpot that should be printed out and stuck on the wall of every DIY yard next to the general rules.

Overread, the mother made a choice not to double check what she had done so yes deliberate. If I was the horses owner I would have ended the loan there and then. My horses are precious to me and I will not have people around them who think ignorance is ok. Someone with a desire to learn is another matter. After 6mths I would expect such a person to be capable of putting on a rug correctly.
 
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Firefly9410 said:
Honetpot that should be printed out and stuck on the wall of every DIY yard next to the general rules.

.
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I absolutely agree!

But I don't agree that DIY yards are the only problem. IME, the rise of yards with YO who know very little but think that they are experts is a large part of the problem, combined with those YOs/YOs daughters who have been to 'Uni' and got a 'degree' in Equine Studies or some such thing which is basically worthless and either didn't listen or were told utter nonsense on their course. I know one YO who genuinely thinks that it is ok to 'fitten' her horse, which has done next-to-nothing, by taking it on a 4 day ride! Whatever happened to building work up gradually?

Sis and I learned to ride at a RS, over 40 yrs ago and our first horse was kept on a farm on DIY, we had learned basic stable management at the same time as being taught to ride - we certainly were taught to cool down at the end of a lesson! But our father made sure that he knew what the horse needed by way of feed etc, because he felt that having bought us the horse he was responsible for it's well-being as much as we were, as well as being responsible for our safety. Yet on here I keep reading about teenagers who are left to do everything by themselves.

And I am sick to death of reading advice to 'get a IH person to show you'. Admittedly that is better than 'buy a carrot stick' (!). If you don't know how to lead a horse properly, you are not ready to buy/share/loan one!
 
I didn't have a pony, therefore no pony club for me...I learnt to ride at age 11 at a riding school and gradually stayed longer and longer helping..i learnt the right way to do things, and got shouted at if I did wrong...I read loads of books as well....I eventually bought my own horse after 5 years working in an office full time and have owned horses for the last 57 years...I have recently moved to a professional yard and the yard owner has said , at last I have a livery who looks after her horse to a high standard and knows what she is doing...how refreshing!!!! (I must admit that made my day) unfortunately people don't seem to want to learn these days and like to do as little hard work as possible so they will never look after their horses properly.. what a shame for the horses...
 
A lot of people buy ponies because the lessons cost so much, as much as the cost of a stable very often, of course then they can't afford lessons, and if they bought the nice quiet pony that the RS sold them, they discover it's not quite so easy when taken out of its hard work and a petscoop of feed, regime.
 
I too come from a non horsey working class background and didnt pick up riding until I was 14. My best friend learnt to ride on a milk cart pony and he now owns the farm that his Dad ran before him. We're all on DIY, with the exception of one or two liveries, I have never seen anyone including myself not warm up or cool down a horse, or start fast work before the initial fittening work has been done, or feed before they have cooled down. It's something I picked up in the early days and I've continued and most of the younger people on the farm follow suit. I havent had to give them a lecture, just lead by example, perhaps this is the way forward, expecially with those yeards that have more of their fair share of, lets drag Mickey in from his 3 months off and go crosscountry!
 
I did not have a pony, and the RS was definitely not approved by the BHS or anyone else, we were free labour and spent all our free time there and did everything required, from testing new arrivals to feeding the pigs.
I never really had any lessons, when I bought a horse I also bought TV VET book, and that was it, vets were much cheaper and more experienced, though in fact everyone was more experienced than me, but I did eventually learn enough to do it professionally.
I just bought a saddle and a bridle from the saddler, and off we went. I had two bits, a vulcanite pelham for hunting {I still have the curb chain], and an egg butt snaffle for hacking. Nickel silver, not stainless steel as they were twice the price. I sent my bridle to Gambia Donkey trust a few months ago.
 
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I learnt my stable management through beautiful, old school horse books and wonderful novels like Ruby Ferguson's 'Jill' books, and Pullen-Thompson books. From when I started reading these books, (around 7/8) it just became ingrained on me that the management and care programs where just 'done', everyday, regardless of time, weather or your mood. I enjoy giving my horse a full grooming everyday, I never hop on without clean boots, always have 10 minutes of walking before/after a ride, wash under rugs, saddle pads and boots weekly and inspect my horse myself every day (he's on livery and gets checked at feed up twice a day already). I love cleaning tack, mot because the actual task is really enjoyable, but because I have so much pride for my horse and management that a lot of shining, supple tack finishes the picture.

This said and done, it blows my mind sometimes how slow some people are at basic tasks. I'm can have a horse groomed, gleaming, legs wrapped and tacked with me aboard in 20 minutes. I don't dawdle, I put in vigorous effort and the task goes quickly. I don't get people who take 45 minutes to tack up, complain they are running out of daylight, and yet their horse is still covered in mud because they didn't groom him (why would I? He'll just get dirty again tomorrow..)
 
Overread - you're missing my point...

It isn't my job to teach anyone - unless they want to pay my professional rates for the privilege (and I don't come cheap).

If they want to own, or loan a horse, it is their responsibility to educate themselves - certainly not mine. And I would be aggressive - not rude, or intimidating, but angry about their utterly careless attitude towards my animal.

(NB - I don't have loaners because my horses are just that -
Mine. But in a hypothetical extrapolation of PB's situation...)

ETA - the loaner would be out on her ear so fast she wouldn't have time to make the mistake twice with my animal. If she is in any way worthy of an animal, she would use that as an enlightenment to educate herself for the future... If she's too feckless to manage that, in my book, she shouldn't have horses.
 
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I think people are being a bit unfair towards riding schools in this thread. Yes, some don't teach stable management, but a lot do- including things like rules of feeding, how to rug up, when to clip a horse and even potentially how to deal with minor wounds, or how to know when to call a vet. The problem is, allowing children/inexperienced adults to handle ponies does generally increase insurance premiums, and this means riding schools will cost a reasonable amount of money and some people will think it is cheaper (or at least better value) to buy a pony/horse of their own, when they don't really have the knowledge to be competent.

Ultimately, you cannot force people to learn how to take care of any pet before buying it- the law doesn't legislate for things like causing colic by inappropriate feeding.

Often people are so blind that they do not even realise there is a problem. I know one family who bought a pony for their daughters because they felt riding school lessons were not good value- the pony rears inhand, but the mother allows her young daughter to lead it. The pony also bites because they bribe it with treats in order to get it to do anything, and apparently they have now taught it to nap as well. It's essentially an accident waiting to happen! I know they have been offered help by various people, including instructors, but if people are too naive to realise there is a problem, they won't ever seek help.

I don't know what the solution is. I agree, leading by example and setting a culture of doing things the right way can help. I don't think it's the case that horsemanship isn't taught anymore- more that people aren't willing to learn, or don't even realise they need to learn!
 
Having most of my life been lucky enough to keep my horses at home I had a bit of a culture shock when I first kept my horses on a livery yard, 4 years on and nothing surprises me!

Ignorance was rife, and interestingly very little desire to learn. Amazingly it also appeared that ignorance was bliss and they seemed to get away with it! Some examples.

1. Riding a horse that hadn't been ridden for 3 months and taking it straight out and cantering and galloping for 30 minutes having walked for 5.
2. Having horses out at night in middleweight rugs in October to bring in for the first night and leave with no rug at all!
3. Bringing a hot sweaty horse home from exercise and leaving tied on the yard for 1/2 hour stripped in the freezing cold.
4. Turning out at 8am in a hard frost with no hay on very rough ground.
5. Overnight Bandaging with out anythng underneath.

I could go on forever ........

I have no problem with people who want to learn if they don't know but most of the ones I've met think they invented horses and have no idea that they need to learn some basic rules.

I could go on forever
 
Laafet said:
Err I never went to Pony Club, because in my day, they wouldn't let you in if you didn't have a pony (I am 32). I LEARNT stable management from being a a helper at a riding school.
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Me too! And my horse is well looked after because all those years of being pony mad but ponyless and living for my weekend lesson gave me lots of time and motivation to learn everything I possibly could ready for the day when I would eventually own a pony of my own.

siennamum said:
It' simple stuff which aggravates me, like not knowing how to put a rug on properly, or getting on a stabled horse and trotting it off the yard. I see stuff like this ALL the time. I will always tell someone who has the rope wrapped round their hand to please not do it
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Yep nearly had a heart attack when I saw someone tie up their horse by clipping a lead rope to the bit. Pointed it out to a member of staff because I thought it would be better coming from "a pro" and she told me she was sick of telling the horses owner not to do this!

oldie48 said:
If you haven't been fortunate enough to have had ponies as a child, be a PC member and/or have knowledgeable parents, it can be a very steep learning curve. There are so many adults starting riding later in life and I can only sympathise with how difficult they find it. RSs do not prepare you for horse ownership and you only have to read the posts in the new riders section to see how many people struggle.
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I'm sorry but rubbish! I bought my first horse at 32 having learned to ride at a riding school as a child. My husband didn't sit on a horse until he was in his late 20s. Our parents thought horses were a big waste of money. We both made the effort to learn. I mainly read, he worked with horses, in return for training, while doing a full time job. Our horse is well looked after and people are normally surprised she is our first.


There is no excuse.


If you want to do the best by your horse (of the present or future) you will find a way to learn.
 
Dont normally interfere and let people get on with it but one person took the biscuit Couldn't load their horse it dragged them all over, pulled them about and was generally being a pain so what does the chap do? Ties the rope round his waist to anchor the pony and tries to load it with the rope slipping up and down and the loose bit round his neck I took her off him and she walked straight in the box all she needed was a firm uncompromising handler. I honestly thought he was going to die and so couldn't stop myself
 
Had two kids riding our ponies in the past, been riding for two years, couldn't tack up, put on a rug/head collar/groom.
When I was a kid they taught us riding AND stable management.
 
Laafet said:
Err I never went to Pony Club, because in my day, they wouldn't let you in if you didn't have a pony (I am 32). I LEARNT stable management from being a a helper at a riding school. From what I have seen Pony Club is not the be all and end all and certainly the teenagers at my last yard clearly learnt nothing about looking after their ponies at Pony Club and still had to have their mothers check their girths!
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^^ this. I didn't have a pony until I was 16 and able to pay for it myself - and even then it was on loan. Before that, I spent every spare minute of my time at weekends and during school holidays making my way to my local riding school to work for rides and learn everything I could about stable management as well as client safety! I remember a family coming for a trek one day and the dad being mildly concerned that a kid of about 13 (ie me!) was fitting his hat and adjusting his stirrups before tightening the girth on his horse and telling him he was ready to go...he asked the trek leader if she was going to check what I had done and got the reply "oh no, she knows what she's doing, she's been here for years!" :D I think it's such a shame that kids don't get the chance to do things like that these days - although from what I can see, I'm not sure how many would even want to :(
 
AdorableAlice said:
Attended a training session last night. Riding club novice level, flatwork, poles and small grids.

The horses worked for 50 minutes with plenty of stretching and walking but all bar ours were unclipped and hot and puffed s.
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While I believe everyone has their own responsibility for their horse ultimately here the instructor should have ensured a suitable cool down was carried out before letting the lesson finish. Not only does it promote correct procedures, but anyone unsure would have it reiterated, and no one would have to 'go against the grain' in cooling third horse down.
I don't believe anyone is intentionally cruel but I think we are all potentially guilty of some naiivty and some efficiency/lazy ness for certain tasks.
 
There is no excuse for the ignorance that seems to be in abundance today. I was never lucky enough to have a pony when I was child 40+ years ago, but spent hours helping at the local riding school and reading pony books, magazines and all the horse books in the local library from cover to cover. When I eventually was able to have my own horse in my twenties was well prepared. I still read anything about horses I can my hands on as you never stop learning and it is important to keep upto date with things.

There is plenty information available so not sure why people don't seek it out

I wonder if some of the colleges have thought of doing "stable management" evening courses? We did our stable management phases through our riding club many years ago and although we were all horse owners who had been riding and competing at a reasonable level we still found our knowledge lacking in some areas.
 
I'm probably the least experienced person on our yard (not a novice but have owned horses for the least time) and I cringe at some things I see:
The lady who walks her horse (stabled overnight) the 5 meters from stable to mounting block then immediately trots off up the hill from the yard.
Tieing up in a chiffney! (No headcollar, just the chiffney)

I'm sure I make mistakes too, we're not perfect but I'd hope I'm not that bad.
 
JFTD said:
I encountered the phrase "why would anyone clip a highland?" recently. I was tempted to respond by informing them that if they bothered to work their animals properly enough to require clipping, they might not be dangerously obese :/ But hey, that's what people do :rolleyes3:

I'm all for efficiency in horse keeping - but feeding a hot, sweaty horse straight
after work :o
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Because I work my ponies... Like you I clip mine , I can't deal with wet ponies that would need 12 hours being thatched between rides to dry. Even highlands can catch a chill. Granted even without hair they have thick skins!
 
JFTD said:
Indeed, but their ignorance of their own ignorance is just as much a personal failing in my view as ignorance in the first place. I genuinely cannot comprehend how people lack self perspective on this degree. And I think pandering to them and not giving them the telling off they deserve is absurd and compounds the issue - which was the point of my initial comment, after all.
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Overread said:
Eh the thing is if you view it as "telling off" then you're approaching the situation with an aggressive tone. Yes there are certainly times you should do this; but at the same time you've got to respect the fact that you're dealing with another adult. That they don't have to listen to you; have no compulsion beyond their own choice to listen, take in or do anything you say nor suggest. So if you go in guns blazing aggressive chances are they'll throw up walls and barriers and suddenly instead of actually helping you've only compounded this issue further.

It's also not about softly softly whispering and meekly suggesting they've done something wrong; its about walking that line between being aggressive and being authoritative. The former, I would say is done with little respect to the person being spoken to whilst the latter respects them.


Sometimes you can solve the issue with a laugh (mockery can be a very effective teacher when done in strict moderation). Putting the coat on backwards you can have a chuckle; show them what's wrong and invite them through the conversation to have laugh at their own mistake as well. Now you've built a bridge over which you can teach further things; and because there was a touch of mockery they are more likely to learn (its important not to actually mock them; the key is not to undermine a persons self confidence).


Repetition is also key - yes you can show someone how to do something once and they'll do it right that day; but you've got to show them again and again till they can do it every day without question nor thinking. It's like learning the times tables - you don't do it once in class, you do it over and over.
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I agree with JFTD. If someone claimed to have enough experience and knowledge to take unsupervised responsibility for one of my horses, then turned out to be so green as to put a rug on backwards - I'm afraid I would hit the roof. What if the horse had colic or was lame?
 
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