Beating Horses

[siennamum]

SOO a couple of weeks ago we went to see a lovely well bred little horse in a professional yard. Said horse was extremely anxious and when you picked up the reins and your hands were in his eyeline he freaked, tucked in his tail and tried to run away, he was really quite dangerous.
We have a little mare on the yard who will panic if ridden with a whip, or if you carry reins as if you are going to hit her. She was formerly a jumping pony.
Today we tried out a 14.2 jumping pony who is gorgeous looking and very well schooled. When Will kicked a bit hard into canter it ran away and as he became unbalanced and his hands came up it panicked. It thought he was going to start hitting it I think.
Everything was fine, he finally pulled it up and carried on trotting it round. Thankfully the pony is now in a lovely home to be sold & has a good chance of a great future.
What I can't grasp is why people have to beat horses until it provokes such terror.
I have seen it affiliated eventing by a top & well regarded rider, for the smallest misdemeanour.
I can't see a solution but thought I would share these tales, as even today in the Uk some top animals are treated in a truly barbaric way.

 

[serena2005]

i know how you feel, i dont know why some people think beating horses to work makes them work better! its crazy

 

[allijudd]

i have no idea...i have found that with the dales i haveon loan..he doesnt respond to the leg and has no idea what happens with the reins...but he responds to the whip...does that mean that the people before only rode with the whip and didnt use any other aids......

a livery told me its kind of like watching a just broken green baby instead of a 10 yr old....

i dont understand people who do this to horses instead of sorting out probelms in other ways.....beating probelms out just causes an imbalance which stems to other probelms.....

 

[JaneSteventon]

At local agricultural watching the jumping the other day and my husband who dosn't know anything about riding commented, while we watched yet another rider belt her horse "its all over with once they start belting them isn't it, the horses just make loads of mistakes after that becuase they are frightend, why do they do it ? That remark brought it home to me how it really dosen't work.

 

[PapaFrita]

Antifaz used to be beaten quite regularly in the past

I can't ride him with a whip, but TBH I don't need to! i would never, ever smack him for naughtiness (not that some horses don't need a smack!) because for him it would just be an excuse for more bad behaviour. He's also very nervous if you move your hands out to the side.

 

[serena2005]

sounds like he hasnt been broken properly, on schooled, my lad is the same hes 6 and im treating him like a 4year old coz thats what he rides like.

if he does something naughty hes running away, he thinks hes going to get hit, and when i dont hit him hes shaking like a leaf

 

[nelgonde]

I think it's more about people losing their tempers rather than any sort of planned response.

I can't stand people losing their temper and taking it out on their horses!!!

 

[allijudd]

i think you are right there...am normally on dressage schooled horses so this is a learning curve...he is willing but i have to do everything with the whip...(my legs are soooo knackered!)

i took him right back to the start and long reined him so now we can drive him without any probelms, we just need to sort the riding out.....

 

[RunToEarth]

Yes Oshka and speed were both brought from over the water and my god have I had problems with them. Oshka is horrible about his ears, he has got much better with men around his head but he just wont forget about his little ears, he obviously had a hard time with them. Speed was just a raving loon, you couldnt really touch his neck and head when ridden at all, but he too has settled, however he wont be tied up in the stable, he becomes very upset when this happens.

why ruin a horses trust, potentially for life?

 

[tashyisaudrey]

thats so horrible - beating horses is so wrong

 

[LEC]

I remember a pros young horse BSJA was being tried out by a girl who kept dropping him at the fences. This horse obviously had enough and stopped. It came out the ring and the pro worked it and beat it till it was so knackered. That poor young horse it was not even its fault.

I am always being told off for being too soft on my horse. At Nutwell Court a pro was horrified when I verbally told my horse off for stoppping at the practice fence instead of walloping him one (I knew I rode like crap though). I later had a lesson and she told me off!

 

[eahotson]

Welcome to the wonderful world of horse competitions. Think of all this when you read the next gushing o.k. magazine interview/article written by any horse magazine including horse and hound. Oh and DO NOTE we haven't actually NAMED any of these people. but we do know who they are. We need a news of the world expose to clear up the frank abuse in the horse competition world.

 

[FMM]

We have many of our horses from when they are born, and none of them are beaten. However, several of them react exactly as you have described above. They have never been ill treated, they are simply unable to cope with a different style of riding, and feel very insecure when a rider is not where they expect them to be! Interestingly, it is mainly one particular breeding line that shows this up the most. In the nicest terms, that group are "special"!

Modified to add that there ARE some people (in the showing world as well) who DO beat their horses. One well known rider should have been reported at a show earlier this year, and complaints were made on the day and afterwards, but no one wanted to put in an official complaint as this particular rider is also a judge.

There are occasions when a horse needs a short, sharp reminder, but most of the time when someone beats a horse it is because they are scared of it. The same goes when people yell and shout at horses - normally fear, rarely because they are experienced horse people who know that shouting at the horse will do some good.

 

[Vey]

I have two ponies I know have been beaten. The first is a tiddler who was sold to a very good riding school - the bloke selling him said: 'That is a good pony we ruined!' - he had been generally mis-trained as well- pushed too hard when too scared. It is an incredible shame, because he is such an honest genuine little fellow. When the riding school shut (owner retiring) he came to me, because nobody would take him. Too scared and sharp for a small child, to small for a big child. We started him as a driving pony, which is perfect for him, and showed what he can do when he was trained correctly and without fear from the start.

I don't carry a whip - I won't. I have to say I might make an exception for the Dales above - but gradually scale down and down the use of the whip - till just touching the horse with it, even just pressing the whip lightly on the horse, gave the desired response. This is how a whip is used when driving, and this I don't have a problem with.

But I'm not competing in a 'make money at this or bust' situation (and actually how many are??) - I ride because I enjoy it, and I want the horses to enjoy it too. I can produce a horse which does go straight off the leg without a whip, so why the %$"* should I carry a whip? I don't have problems with the light, light use of a schooling whip, the whip used to give a clear signal, but in my book a whip should never be for punishment. Why punish a ridden horse because it makes a mistake? Train it to get it right! Set things up for it to succeed!

 

[allijudd]

exactly vey.....i am training the dales to respond to the leg but is very hard going.....i only am using the whip to get him to understand what i want...

in the last week we have gone from using the whip as a leg aid to reinforcing what i want him to do...

beating a horse up to respond is not the way to go about things but then in the world people do stupid things.

i used to work at a showing yard who insisted we rugged the horses in the summer in heavy new zealands with plastic sewn in the lining to sweat excess fat out rather than working the fat off.

 

[GTs]

I am a firm believer a horse sometimes needs a good stripey bottom, grab of the ear, or kick in the side - the problem is when it is administered out of frustration, anger, or because of the riders own inability.

 

[Nari]

I don't agree with beating horses but just occassionally I can understand how people get so frustrated that they do! Add to that the pressure that some professionals are under to get results quickly & it's sadly no wonder that riders sometimes go too far

I agree with FMM, some horses are "special" - I have one! If a new rider gets on him he gets tense, if they then do something "wrong, ie not how he's used to, he's liable to panic & react very strongly unless I'm on the ground for reassurance. He's never been given any cause for this, I've had him since a youngster, he's never been ill-treated & I've tried to get him used to other riders!

Fmm next time someone calls him a head-case I'll tell them he's special

 

[darksided]

Urgh... a girl on my lesson (who apparently has done teaching in the past, and competed at the national university finals) fully beat up a poor old stiff horse she was riding.
We were all absolutely livid.
I could tell she was a bad apple from the very first time I saw her ride, she was on an old mare and instead of running the stirrup irons down the leathers, she just yanked them harshly. Just a little thing but it was an indication of things to come....

 

[livetoride]

The term "beating" is an emotive one. To me it implies indiscriminate use of the whip, for example, using it in temper, excessively or in some other inappropriate way, such as when riders take out their frustration on their horse round the back of their lorry long after a bad round. Like most riders, I find cases like these abhorrent, though thankfully they are rare.

There are cases of serious disobedience or dangerous misbehaviour though, where I will use the whip as a reprimand and use it hard if necessary, which some people might call a "beating" (don’t worry, I’m not very strong!). I see nothing wrong with a couple of hard whacks for a wilful refusal or even a hiding for kicking. I would only ever use the stick like this within an instant of the misbehaviour though, and only once in a blue moon.

Sarah

 

[teapot]

One of the reasons for why I left my old share pony - saw the owner shout and swear at her other pony - a nervy pony anyway all for spooking at cold water that had been chucked on its back. 30 mins later - horse was still playing up and she was actually threatening to pull it to the ground. She was trying to make him learn that spooking was the wrong thing to do.

I left there and then totally and utterly gobsmacked & in tears.

ETA - she didnt beat him with a whip but did whack him on various parts of his body, and with a lead rope