change my mind - what controversial/guilty horsey things do you do and not feel guilty for??:)

Does anyone put rugs on the ‘correct’ way? The only time I’ve seen it in action was when someone was prepping for an exam.
I’m a bad horse mum.
I fling rugs
I don’t tie up to groom or tack up
I give hand treats - sometimes just because
I do out and back hacks (when I go, which isn’t that often due to options)
I’ve never bothered with a lunge line - the luxury of an enclosed school and horses that comply
I don’t shoe him, mainly as he seems fine without, so why bother
I feed him on TopSpec (seems to be work if the devil on some posts here, but he was fed it before me and looks fab on it)
I can’t be bothered with blogs (and I do have concerns about the long term impact on the bloggers mental health)
I got a native so that I didn’t have to plait to compete, even BD

Yet despite all this I am the proud owner of a sparky well mannered horse.
 
Hand feed treats
Never lunge
put rugs on and off in the field without tying up
Trim the manes and tails with scissors but can get a really good natural look
When I was a smoker 10 years plus ago used to smoke out on hacks whilst riding.
let my horses stop and graze on hacks, they work hard and I see it as their leisure time.
I am sure there are lots more but these ones spring to mind.
 
McFluff said:
Is that wrong???
I do this all the time!
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? I think, officially, yes. When I used to ride in group lessons at a riding school, they always insisted riders turned in and dismounted to take off a layer. (I also think the occasions where I’ve misjudged a neck opening and been stuck with a hoodie halfway over my hat, on the back of the horse probably aren’t classed as orthodox practice. ? It’s a good job my horses are saints).
 
I don't tie up. I will run the rope through a bit of twine but if he pulls back and realises he's tied up he keeps pulling until the twine snaps.

I rug correctly and carefully but only because he rarely wears a rug so I don't want to scare him on the rare occasions he does. This is also the reason grooming is minimal in winter. (Its been over 18 months since he last wore a rug apart from the one occasion he got soaked last autumn and I put a waffle rug on to soak some of the water off)

He travels naked apart from a tail wrap thing because he can ruin his tail in a lorry resting against the wall.

Hoof picking out generally means picking them up and brushing. They're so big and shoeless there's never anything in there.

He doesn't wear boots, he's sensitive so they are more likely to cause problems than avoid them.
 
I get on and off, using a huge mounting block and I taught my newly-broken cob to facilitate this after he'd been broken in about 4 months. I'm too old and broken to get off the normal way
Hacked him alone, 1 month after I'd had a thyroidectomy, when he'd never been on a road and only broken in 3 months
He brings himself into the stable for feeds, I just open the gate - lives out 24/7 only comes in for feed/tacking up to ride
 
I sometimes leave the lead rope on the floor still attached to their headcollar as part of their education, they learn that if they step on it they have to stop and wait (or back up to free themselves for the smart ones).
One of my friends was horrified.

I gallop on the way home on hacks (on the beach).

I feed the horses before they are worked (high fibre feed though) because it is easier to get them all to come in from the field.
 
Fruitcake said:
I often take off my jacket or jumper whilst riding, without dismounting, and fling it over the fence as I pass.
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Today I got hot after I'd been riding for a while, so I took my hat and glasses off while still on the horse, and pulled my jumper over my head. Except my jumper is so snug it look my t-shirt with it... Took about 20 seconds to keep the horse still, pull my jumper and t-shirt apart, and stop my hat falling off the fence. It was only my second time at this yard...
 
I leave a lead rope on the floor if he is hand grazing, or I need to get something - if he steps up it only teaches him not to panic if he gets stuck/caught in something
I smoke out on hacks
I very rarely use a headcollar and just throw a rope around his neck
I call him a sh*tbag ALL the time, sometimes lovingly, sometimes not
I constantly bang and crash and throw/drop things
I muck out around him including putting the broom between his legs to get bits
I leave things on his bum in between needing them, like a large shelf
I feed quite quickly after working him if he hasn't worked hard (high fibre feed)
I don't always tie up with a haynet as he needs to learn some patience
If he is pawing the ground while I am wetting his dinner with the hose, I will spray him with it
I barely do up his flash, he only really needs it when hacking and I don't have two bridles
I always ride with a loose girth, not always intentional. He prefers it, I've not yet come off because of it
He comes in of a day in the week, but stays out all weekend so I only have to come up once a day then for a few hours (a fieldmate will check he has four legs still).
 
  • I'm not as well acquainted with a hoof pick as I should be... Mind you, his hooves are so flat, nothing sticks in them anyway.
  • I cut his mane with a scissors.
  • I let him graze on hacks.
  • I'm lazy about sweeping the yard (it's currently well overdue)
  • I often lead by a rope around the neck
 
Also yes to rug flinging, not giving him a haynet when doing stuff, and feeding treats by hand and just because. I'll hand myself in. Also his mane refuses to stay to one side, so I gave up trying as it just seems to annoy him. He looks cute with his middle parting ?
 
They bring themselves into the stables. If they don’t come to call and go in, they don’t get their short feed unless I get to them and there’s actually a problem. I’ve never had a non injured / ill horse miss coming in more than twice in their lives!

They don’t get tied up for grooming, tacking up and doing feet. I sometimes trim with them loose as well.

Tack goes on from whatever side I’m currently standing.

They hardly see a rug.

They travel naked including unless they’re going to a show and I think they might get dusty / rained on. (Although the Clyde had feather wraps because white fluffy feathers need all the protection they can get on show mornings)

They can graze out hacking on tracks if they ask politely, we’re both here to have fun.

Bareback is the best.

Nosebands are pointless extra tack and only come out if I’m going to a show.

The vet is a last port of call - no vets for minor wounds, the sniffles or a slight lameness. They can rest and get better on their own.

And they live out 24/7. Even the ancient ones.
 
I just open doors and gates at putting out/bringing in time and let them sort themselves out

Change/take off rugs loose in the field in all weathers

Taught pressure/release wo leave them with lead ropes and they just step off them panic free.

My horse jacket stinks of ferrets most of the time (they are so cute and their hutch is in the shed so cant not squish them) and the horses just have to deal with it

Put ferrets and all their toys and tunnels in the empty stable and leave them running around while horses are in

Ride one handed all the time as I need my other hand to assist me with my telling of stories

Use their ample bottoms as places to leave brushes, coats, jumpers, hoofpicks and anything that I think is funny

Put stupid things on their heads for Halloween laughs.

Make them give me a high 5 with their noses before they get their dinner

and probably a hundred other things
 
I haven't done anything the BHS way apart from when I took my BHS exams. I then went to work on a racing yard where absolutely no health and safety rules existed ?

I fling rugs on, the only time I use a headcollar is when the vet or farrier are there in an attempt to appear civilised the rest of the time the Shetland brings herself in and the other one just has a rope round his neck. I never tie them up I just abandon them in the middle of the yard and expect them to stay there which after a lot of work on manners they actually do, well the Shetland does sneakily drift towards the grass but that doesn't count because she does it so stealthily and it makes me laugh.
I hardly ever call the vet unless I suspect something serious or very urgent or I know what's wrong but I need them to prescribe drugs. I never brush them between November and March, they're hairy natives they're only going to get wet and muddy again. I've never travelled anything in anything more than a headcollar.

There's probably loads more, I'm like a walking advert of how things shouldn't be done!
 
Eek.

- In winter I groom once in a blue moon (but my reasoning (excuse) is she’s unclipped and naked so needs that layer of grease for insulation...)
- When she was rugged I was a rug flinger
- I don’t boot up except for xc or road hacks and the latter is only so I can put her hi vis wrap things over the top
- she travels naked
- I don’t tie up in the stable for grooming/tacking
- She’s in herd turnout and when the other mares are being a pain by the gate I just let her out and then put her headcollar on outside the field ?
- she walks to her stable next to me with her lead rope flung over her neck
- I’m definitely guilty of delayering whilst riding
 
Seriously controversial - I dont own any matchy matchy kit.

My poor teen daughter was horrified when I returned to eventing, at my first clinic, saddling up. She said “OMG - that saddle blanket looks like something from the ‘90s.” I replied “it is, because thats The last time it had an outing in 1999 just before you were born. I’ve given up 20 years of riding to raise and your brother, so be quiet about my special saddle blanket”.

I was in the beginner class, and despite not being as matchy as everyone else, could at least still jump!!! And didn’t look like Johnny come lately.
 
scats said:
My girls have got far too much of a sense of humour to be trusting them to come in on their own!
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My boys do not ?

Cob usually goes to his stable due hay and feed but occasionally chances his luck trying to steal Chips nicer dinner instead.

90% of the time Chip takes himself for a walk to the gate at the end of the shed for a nose before coming back to his stable and even then he prefers to mooch about the barn.

He has good manners so I do kinda let him do as he pleases because he k ows where the line is. If he oversteps it a sharp intake of breath is enough to get him trotting into his stable to repent
 
milliepops said:
Oh this place was chaos, everyone had to be on the yard to marshal them, the cheeky ones would go in the wrong stables and it was a nightmare. Would have been quicker to fetch them on headcollars ???
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Multiple horses skidding on concrete as they all scurry in ?. Yeah, I think there is a limit to how many you can do it with...I've definitely encountered the chaotic version.

Even with mine it is routinely only one I let come in by himself, sometimes two. But if you let all three loose it just becomes party time ???. Plus Arts knocks lumps out of herself so often that lead in, rug change and groom time every day is critical for the identification of the latest cut to treat.
 
*I am also a phantom rug flinger, onto untied horses, in the dark ??
*I dont weigh feed, I do it by eye.
*I have ridden in a plaster cast from ankle to thigh, I've ridden with a broken shoulder blade, broken wrist in a sling ??
*I have been known to use a hoof pick to "accidently" poke the odd horse that thinks it can barge past or run me over ?
*ShitPig, my mini Shitland bites, I've never bothered trying to stop him.
*My young horse is 6 at the end of April and I've done bug$er all with him...and won't for a little while longer as he's gone all lanky and bum high ?? He wasn't even started under saddle til he had just turned 5 ?
 
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I do/dont do a lot of the horrors mentioned!

I also dont bother with bonding time or settling in time with a new horse! If its ridable will get on even if just for 5 mins day of arrival, longer if the journey is shorter. When else are you ever going to get a chance to see what a horse is like in a strange place before you take it out to a show for the first time - rather find out at home without an audience. :) The unbacked babies have some form of 'lesson'.

I also do too much in the school over winter according to some. Such is life with a full time job in daylight hours.

I full clip my horse including legs when he lives out 24/7 365 days of the year.

Give hard feed to all 6 of the herd loose in the field. There is the odd bit of bowl swapping in the first few weeks of winter but they all know their place and line up in order quite quickly.

I dont think my horse minds any of this much as he appreciates food and treats and shouts and comes trotting over when I arrive. :D
 
I never pick out feet. The only time they are done is on farrier day.

I don't tie up in the trailer. Just chuck the rope over his neck and he loads himself.

Breaking in, I don't hack in company until they are going well in all three paces on their own and are confident out and about. I just don't see the point.

I never keep horses in routine. I think horses often do better without routine.
 
McFluff said:
Does anyone put rugs on the ‘correct’ way? The only time I’ve seen it in action was when someone was prepping for an exam.
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When I take off a rug, standing on the horse's left side, I fold the front half over the back half, then roll out up from the bottom and use the long straps to wrap around it almost like a bedroll, then find a way to hang it either from a ring or (if there is one) a line strung along one wall.

I don't know if this is the "correct way", but it seemed to me to keep everything neat and clean and make it easy to put the rug back on afterwards.

I wish the others at the yard would do this, too. I hate to find a rug dumped in the feed trough.

Worse is when I'm helping give out the feed, and there are horses still out, either in the arena or on a hack, and I find a rug dumped on the floor in the straw. Not only will there be straw all over the inside of the rug, but I have business of a hungry, greedy horse charging in towards the trough and getting tangled in a mess of rug and straps.

I almost never tie up for grooming and tacking up our picking out. I'll put a head collar on the troublesome ones, and only tie the horse up of it's getting impossible.

I don't dismount, I jump down (unless the saddle has got bags and rolls attached for long distance riding).
 
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