Competition horses/ponies and manners

Vikki89

Vikki89

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Something my instructor said yesterday got me wondering...
Would you put up with a horse/pony with bad manners if it was very good at the discipline you like to compete in?
 
Depends on what kind of manners were bad, and why. If a horse is a nightmare on the ground, for instance, then I would want to try and teach it good manners! If there was a chance that bad behaviour was a result of pain, then I'd want to fix that too, clearly.

Personally I wouldn't want a horse like that - might be different if you are a pro rider though. But horses are my hobby and I want to spend my hard earned time and money on an animal that is nice company as well as successful.
 
I would expect a horse to learn manners.
Personally I would not want to take a horse out competing if they had no respect for me and I was unable to control them either on the ground or on board. This would be unfair and possibly a danger to other competitors.
 
Yes, but I'd want to train it to have better manners.

I've owned my mare just over two years and had a constant battle with handling from the ground - she can barge, drag you all over the place, and has been known to rear and strike out with her front hooves or get past you and go for you with her back hooves. There was a time when I couldn't do any handling or grooming without her being tied up and iI gave up trying to lead her to the field to turn out, we just used to open the stable door and let her go.
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We've done a lot of groundwork and on the whole she is well behaved now (hasn't knocked me over for over a year for starters) but she constantly tests the boundaries and I have to be very careful if I ask anyone to handle her when I'm not there.

She's not a competition horse, although she used to be - but she does love her work and is fun to ride. So if I put up with it from my RC all rounder I'd certainly put up with it for a superstar.
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yes i would!!

with the right care and disipline (firm but fair) they will learn manners anyway. mine is a quite talented jumper and at first you couldn't go in his stable without shutting the door behind you, he would tow you to the field at full speed, drag you down car parks, refuse to stand at shows whilst being tacked up, not stand in tunnells ect ect. now he is much changed, yes he still has rude moments, but most of the time he stands like a rock now, i tack up groom and feed with the door open and he can now (most of the time) be led in a sensible manner.
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i could look past the manners because of his jump
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yes.
iv had a couple that were sods to hack but fantastic in the ring, and that wouldnt bother me, in fact current horse is super sharp hacking out but gives me 200% concentration and effort in the ring so i forgive him his hacking sins!

previously iv also had a horse that took 4 hours to clip (sedated!) and a horse that bit quite aggresively in the stable.both won a lot and were fabulous to ride, so again i forgave them and worked round the quirks.
 
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