biggest mistakes

Have made a few clangers since getting the horses like being a bit too thorough trimming manes and ended up cutting Mcfly's quite short and ended up hogging but we are growing it back now an hopefully it will be thicker.
Biggest boo boo though being honest here in posting this was that earlier this year when we were convinced Mcfly had chorioptic mange I trimmed his feathers and saved some to analyse for any signs of the mites and decided to get a scraping to look under microscope too.
I sterlised some scissors, and scraped a little fur away close to his leg and all was fine until I slipped with them and the scissors cut his leg. Only a superficial cut luckily as I was not using any force. But you know when you get that warm flushed feeling of panic, I got it
frown.gif

He didn't flinch at all so he must not have felt it. But it bled. Quickly got the nearest thing to hand a towel and applied pressure until it stopped. You could hardly see where it was and it was a clean cut. I cleaned it. Purple sprayed it and put on a dressing while he was out in the field. The next few days was just a matter of purple spraying and keeping it clean and by the end of the week it was healed and after a few weeks you couldn't even notice it was there.
The most annoying thing was though that I never did find any mites but after treating with frontline and worming with ivermectin wormers his legs are great now and I am convinced that was what he had.
That was probably the worst mistake I have ever made since getting the horses and one I have learned from.
Now I am very, very careful with scissors when trimming their feathers etc and try if possible to get someone to hold the horses while I do it in case I got knocked while doing it.
Caroline
 
Many years ago, when I was young and carefree, I was out hacking with two friends along a river bank. We had had some tottential rain, and the river was very high. The bank became completely submerged at one point and my friends wanted to turn back, but I insisted we rode on since we knew the track well and so what if the neds were wading through water.........suddenly, one friend shot forward and her horse started swimming ......my friend was up to her waist in water! She managed to get a footing back onto the river bank but the second friend also shot forward, and her horse meant business! It swam out into the swollen river, my friend fell off and, like a comedy film, all we could see were a few bubbles as she went under the water and her hat rising to the surface (those were the days of elastic under the chin - not proper hat harnesses!)! Friend came gurgling to the surface and pony swam off down river so I thought I'd better give chase along the bank, and caught it just as it clambered onto dry land! Riding back with one friend soaked to the waist and the other completely drenched must have looked amusing, but I'm not sure how I felt at the time - I'd instigated the "adventure" and emerged dry as a bone whilst my companions were dripping! I still think of that day back in the early eighties and smile to myself! My 18 year old daughter thinks she goes for mad rides and I'm just a boring old fart......she doesn't know HALF of what I got up to!
 
Believing quite a few of the people who said, "Oh, you'll be fine," without offering me anything more helpful and without offering to put their own feet in the stirrups.
smile.gif


I joke that I'm doing penance now for all the horses I probably wrecked when I was younger. Mistakes are unavoidable, it's what you do about them and to try to avoid them in the future that counts. The trick is to learn as much as you can as fast as you can and never think you know it all.

Oh, and listen to the horses. They'll tell you the truth.
 
tacked up in a hurry didn't notice I'd managed to twist the reins underneath horses chin. couldn't quite figure out why she kept going the way.......very,very dim. my poor horse
frown.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]


I do know someone who leaves hers still looped under her boots when she takes her boots off, so she can't get them muddled up!
grin.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

not a certain person i know is it?!

being cocky once riding the little 11.2 at the place i was riding, decided to dot he canter out hacking with no stirrups forgetting she liked to suddenly kneel mid canter and topple you off! needless to say i slid down her neck and landed in a heap!
 
Oh, I have a "swimming horse" one too! Similar except we were galloping on a path that went through a ford in a normally quiet river and the track was washed out. First horse stopped, second didn't . . . cue comedy pile up and everyone over the edge of the bank into the very cold water. We ended up scrambling up the far bank and had to hack forever to get home. Problem was we were supposed to be going for a quiet hack. We MIGHT have got away with it but I didn;'t realise the horse I was riding, belonging to the woman I was a working student with, was now missing one of its incredibly expensive boots. We were sent back to find it but of course could not as I'm sure it was in the river. We never techincally 'fessed up but I had to work off a new pair of boots.

I had a similar experience with the same partner in crime involving leading a group of kids who should NOT have been galloping . . .

I jumped a horse off a bridge once.

The list goes on.
smile.gif
I got roundly - and rightly - chewed out by all sorts of authority figures over the years.

In my defense I grew out of the worst of my stupidity fairly early on and am now known for my "voice of doom" ways.
 
[ QUOTE ]

I do know someone who leaves hers still looped under her boots when she takes her boots off, so she can't get them muddled up!
grin.gif


[/ QUOTE ]
not a certain person i know is it?!

being cocky once riding the little 11.2 at the place i was riding, decided to dot he canter out hacking with no stirrups forgetting she liked to suddenly kneel mid canter and topple you off! needless to say i slid down her neck and landed in a heap!
 
years ago a livery was feeding her ponio at the field gate,the bucket was on the ground and she wanted to groom him so tied him to the bottom of the gate.(could have been very nasty.)

a friend used to use milk crates for jumps,untill her pony put her foot through one and done several rounds of the field with crate attached.

tied my first pony up to the fence with bailer twine(several strands,all colours,plaited nicely and thick).pony pulls back and does several rounds of the field with 40ft of post n rail bouncing along behind.
 
today! today! daughters 11hh pony dug his heels in just as we got home. I leant down to drag him into the yard (it had been one of those hacks) and grabbed his bridle, only I was so much higher up I grabbed the headpiece.
We set sail and er ... the bridle came off in my hand!!!!
Calmly instructed diddy daughter to dismount and replace pony's bridle .........
 
We went to a horse market (a dodgy one!) and bought a 11h pony, asked the guy was it a mare, he said yes, was it in foal, yes. Brought pony home and it went for a pee and my little brother said he didn't think girl ponies had a willy! Turned out pony was a gelding. I thought my mum had checked and she thought I'd checked! Turned out for the best though as we didn't really want a mare in foal. Never lived it down though!
 
OMG! I have a dreadful one! I was walking a 6 year old autistic boy around on Alba (oldest, calmest mare in the world) and I let go of the reins for a minute to do something whereupon she decided to make a break for freedom and fecked off at a very sedate canter back to the yard. Little boy was screaming and I was shouting at him to hang on... Thankfully he made it safely back to the yard but I nearly died of shock and worry!!
blush.gif
 
Don't know - I must have made so many!! Have seen other people do worse but wouldn't dream of quoting them. Except one - a livery owner who turned up to exercise her horse still drunk from the night before. Her horse, a bouncy character, bounced off up the road until she just rolled off and lay on the tarmac, laughing. (Hope she's not reading this - it's probably libel.)
 
biggest mistake I ever made was hacking around our farmland, having thought I'd loosened the girth a whole or two after our schooling session and being told on the way back to the yard that my girth was actually undone and swinging to and fro under my horse, can't think how I wouldn't have heard it but it was a cottage craft type one so I guess it wouldn't have clunked around too much - thank god my horse is an angel.

Worst advice I've ever been given (and not taken) was being told to put my horse on a trailer to get it to the royal veterinary college (this was by a vet) as he had a cut to his knee and air was getting through so he would need an operation. Cue my absolute refusal because horse falls over in trailers and can only go in horseboxes. Vet argued with me for a good ten minutes whilst I refused to let him go in the trailer (he nearly died last time as he fell over the first and last time I tried him in one) and I promised myself I would never make him go through the stress again. In the end we had to borrow one of the liveries horse box and vet has constantly given me evils since (can't think why - surely I know my horse better than her)
 
I am an avid reader; always have been. I have always been and still am addicted to doing research....sooooo.....the worst equine mistake I have probably ever made was when I came over here I believed a seller and bought one of her horses unseen, although I wouldn't exactly call that a terrible mistake as it all worked out well in the end. Dealing with messed up horses is what I have been doing for the past decade so it was a no-brainer really.

I can't think of the worst advice I have been given because if I had been given what I had seen as bad advice I would have immediately gone off and checked it out and therefore not followed their advice.

So all in all, idiots ARE actually useful because they teach you to do your own research and not to believe much of what anyone, who has not qualified themselves to you, says to you.
wink.gif
 
Putting Woof boots on back to front! Well. The velcro bit was facing backwards, how was I meant to know that Woof do things arse about face?

Solved that by writing NF, NH etc inside the boots so I didn't get told "You Berk, your boots are on backwards!" full volume in the hunting field by the FM.

.........and, who hasn't, just once in their lives, put a bit back on a bridle the wrong way around? I had a loose ring french link that the whole yard regularly used to have arguments about which way was front and back!
 
My biggest mistake was a very early one. I bought my first pony, a very highly bred show pony which had also been fairly furiously pony clubbed by a teenage boy. Why did I buy her? Well, I had been hacking her as she was at the farm where my friend kept her horse, yes she was a bit frisky but manageable in company, so I bought her and moved her to a yard closer to my home.
Every time I got on that pony she bucked me off, she destroyed my confidence and made me realise just how little I really knew about day to day management.

Out of my biggest mistake came the most learning though. I had a fab YO who was determined to teach me everything she knew, and she introduced me to a dressage trainer. After a year or so I stopped falling off and we had several successful years together in showing and WH classes, as wel as hunting every winter.

If I have one regret it is that I didn't know then what I know now - our first year together would have been much happier!
 
Riding over a narrow footbath bridge over a large ditch, 3 years ago today
frown.gif
For those that don't know, some birds flew up and spooked Toff, she slipped and ended up with her fore feet to the right of the bridge, her hind feet to the left, stuck on her tummy, wedged in by the metal bars of the bridge. Luckily I got off ok and had my mobile so called for help. Luckily Mr Sooty had sense to take her saddle off so she slid under bars into ditch and after being sedated by vet she was hoisted out by firemen/engines and our neighbour's farm equipment
crazy.gif

I was hysterical! She was VERY lucky and came away with superfical wounds and had 6 months off. Still has scars and lumps and it's taken the best part of 3 years to get her hacking confidently again. I have learnt from this!!
 
Lerant the hard way to check, double check and check again that your girth is tight enough at PC camp when I was 15. Horse disappeared into the countryside whilst I lay unconcious on the floor. My delightful friends chose to go after the horse and leave me dazed and with no idea where I was!!!!
Poor Boss came off worst though as he galloped head first into a tree having negotiated several cornish hedges.
 
I've had the slow slide off sideways due to a loose girth, thankfully it was on Chloe, so it was a very very slow dismount.

My mum got ready to hack out a few months ago, complete with reflective gear, then realised when she tried to lead Chloe out of the stable that she was missing the bridle...
crazy.gif


My biggest current mistake is Meg's mane. A combination of scissors, clippers, mane rake and pulling has left it an awful mess... and there's nothing I can do but wait for it to grow (or hog it
tongue.gif
)
 

Possibly when I attempted to clean the sheath of the gelding I used to part loan. Knowing that the monster would kick you if your hand went within 6 inches of his private parts, but also well aware that it REALLY needed doing, I decided to fashion a sheath cleaning device. I tied a sponge to the end of a broom handle with baler twine and proceeded to attempt to clean the area, by holding onto the broom handle and using the sponge. It actually worked quite well as I didn't get kicked and managed to get the area slightly cleaner, but I got some very funny looks from the other liveries, who already thought I was totally useless. I decided to leave that task to his owner in future....

Oh, and if I ever take a bridle apart it takes at least 6 attempts to put it back together as I put everything on upside down/the wrong way up!

Also arrived at the yard early one morning, got horsey out of stable, and walked half way to field before realising he still had his stable rug on.

Probably assuming I might be able to stop 500kg of strong coblet out cantering alone in a field was a mistake too!
 
Trusting George too much whilst lunging and had the lunge line quite loose whilst I tightened his roller and he trod on the lunge line, paniced and snapped his bridle.

Put hanging cheek bit on back to front, but I realised and someone kindly pointed it out before I actually put it on.

Taking George for a walk round the yard the day he arrived in just a headcollar - he took me for a walk!

Thankfully everyone at the yard know that despite my years with horses I am a novice owner and I have asked them all to tell me when I'm about to make a howler!
 
Hmmm...turning up at a XC event...without my bridle! Oops! I was actually all set to go round in a headcollar with two leadropes attached when some kind soul felt sorry for me and lent me their bridle
smile.gif
There are loads of mistakes I've made I'm sure!

Oh...going for a hack in shorts and trainers...not only did my legs rub like mad, I got stopped by a woman who was ranting on at me that she was a BHSI and I shouldn't be on the roads in shorts! Not that it was really any of her business, but after my legs were bruised to pieces I decided I wouldn't bother again anyway
grin.gif
 
there have been so many mistakes! not lately, but when i was in my teens. i dont think im a natural horsewoman, so there have been a few embarrassing/dangerous mistakes.....

* putting a running martingale on after the bridle....proceeded to lead horse out of the stable, get on and walk to the gate before my instructor said 'you haven't put the reins through the martingale....' ooops
crazy.gif


* always seem to put boots on back to front

* putting a hanging cheek snaffle upside down.....thinking that reins attached to the 'lower' (!) bit ring.....again, instructor told me the right way

* riding bareback to the field on one horse, my friend on another. she got off first, then i did, she ruddy well let go of her horse first and i took my horses bridle off as well to let her go, however i didnt take the reins over her head......cue me trying to stop thoroughbred by hanging onto the reins that are looped around its neck. i think its safe to say i didnt stop her, cue said horse running around field with a bridle around its neck......and then me and my friend picking up the pieces all around the field

* trying to jump a grit bin bareback on the side of the road. pony spooked, he went one way, and i went face down in the middle of the road. blood everywhere, nose broken and pony managed to canter to his field which luckily was literally on the same road. cue me running up the road, hand to face with blood pouring out my nose (sorry to those eating breakkie right now) shouting 'where's Spot?!'
shocked.gif
(i wasn't alone)

* my friends at the yard were riding bareback to the field with a lead either side. they go past my house to get to the field, so i asked for a lift on one of the lead horses. no hat, wearing shorts and flip flops! before they got to the road they had to ride up a narrow lane, anyway im not sure how it all happened but halfway up this lane the guy who was riding and leading thought it would be hilarious to try and pull my off the pony i was on, i ended up somehow sitting on two ponies! if you can imagine it, my legs were doing the splits, with two very bemused ponies between them!
crazy.gif
crazy.gif
poor things. i manged to get back onto one with no accidents, but i could've been a very squashed jenbleep!
shocked.gif
frown.gif


wouldnt dream of doing that kind of thing now.........
wink.gif
wink.gif
 
blush.gif

i was on work experience at talland, and i was asked to turn on of the mares, Lottie, out in the field with the others. it was my 6th day there, and i thought, 'fine, i know where to go, went to the mares' field yesterday,' so off we went. anyway, we crossed the road and i saw three of the mares id helped turn out the day before in wat was the geldings' field, i was a bit confused but thought nothing of it. so i took Lottie all the way across the fields to the bottom paddock, and let her loose, only to realise there werent any other horses in the paddock with her. she then started neighing like crazy! but, confused as i was, i went back to the yard, and then was asked to get one of the geldings in....DOH! they had been put in a field round the back, and the mares had gone into the boys' previous field! so then i belted back to Lottie, poor girl, and (after 20 mins trying to catch her, for she was in a typical mare pissie) i put her back in the correct field. PHEW!

blush.gif
and at the end of my two weeks, they wrote 'lacking in initiative' on my notes
frown.gif
 
Doing fast work on the beach. Horse broke down with both tendons shot to pieces. He had to be put down. I never go faster than a collected canter on the beach now and all my fast work is done on the gallops.
 
jeez... the worst mistake i've ever made was listening to an "expert" who told me to put a dumb jockey on my very difficult youngster. nothing went to the horse's mouth, it was just a wooden X sitting up on his back, like a rider. he absolutely panicked, got away from me on the lunge, went through 3 post and rail fences, up the lane, and cannoned into the p&r up there, which thank god sliced through the girth so it fell off. i think he would have died if it hadn't, and the chances of him hitting something just right to slice through the girth, and not cut him... jeez. i nearly had a heart attack, and so did he. poor horse. idiot me, listening to an "expert".
oh, and when i got my vet out to check the horse over after this, and explained, shame-faced, what had happened, and blamed myself for not putting it on him in the stable first, he said "another client did that with one. the horse did the same as yours, headbutted the wall and broke its neck."
worst advice - see above. some "expert".
also - watching a demo, a top british dressage trainer, "to stop your horse from anticipating the turn, ride him into the corner and then turn him into the boards, not the way he's expecting. this will teach him not to anticipate the corner, and to go into it properly." he then demonstrated on an absolutely bewildered horse. :0
also - another top trainer getting on my young horse in a group training session (same horse as in the top example, poor boy) because he couldn't do a simple change (as a huge gangly just-5 year old) and forcing him to do it, repeatedly, by socking him in the teeth and booting him with spurs. the horse ground his teeth from that moment on, never having done it before.
this was the most respected event trainer in the country.
frown.gif
frown.gif
frown.gif
 
Not checking the tack on a pony before setting out for a group hack one christmas!....
I was escort of a hack of around 8 people and it was cold so the horses were a little fresh.
We got in a huge open space of grass and one of the ponies decided to run off, this was fine it itself but it got its head down and shot passed the rest of the group,as she passed me and tried to pull up the reins came off the bit!!!!!!
The pony galloped off with leaving the rider with no control whatsover, then the rest of the group shot off after him in all directions! They eventually managed to stop and the reinless pony ran out of puff and came to a standstill allowing the rider to quickly get off and reattatch the offending article which she managed, she then remounted and promptly fell off the other side!!!
Never again!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top