Copycat syndrome

[LittleTero]

Not a great deal of point to this thread but something I saw yesterday had me chuckling some what.

So I went down with a friend to check her horse in the field ( with impressive hangovers riding wasn't going to happen yesterday!) and it had been raining. She keeps her horse at livery and as far as yards go its lovely, all friendly people limited bitching considering the large amount of women ( I am one so I'm allowed to say it ) and YO that let you do your own thing. You have a summer and a diff winter paddock and if you trash it you have to deal with it etc as your not getting a new one ( perfect in my op)

Anyway I'm going off the point, at 4.30 yesterday every single livery bar my friend were bringing in their horse for the night. My friend wasn't, her horse had a field friend, a rug with a hood, hay in the field and was perfectly warm happy and content. A few pulled shocked faces when she didn't follow suit and bring hers in. It was raining, not cold, fields not muddy etc. so I asked one livery why they were bringing there's in and why it mattered that friend wasn't. Reply 'everyone else is and it IS raining,' as though horses have never seen rain and because everyone else was doing something it made it right. Made me chuckle I must say,

So not that this post has a lot of point but I was just wondering what everyone else thought about the copycat theory? Have you seen any funny examples of people following suit or been made to feel bad at times for not doing the same as everyone else?

 

[Sleipnir]

I've seen plenty of people who sometimes switch tack accordingly to what their peers have done recently, even if they don't know what's the tack for or how to use it, e.g. bitting up to a harsher bit, just because an acquaintance has decided to do it with her horse, not because the horse would really benefit for it. I've also witnessed a supplement craze, when almost all the horse owners at a yard put their horses on a specific supplement, just because somebody's horse really needed it - thus, it was viewed as healthy and necessary for all of them.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Oh yes one yard I was at some years ago never had any horses turned out in the winter, my horse was the only one in the field for about 2 months I did ask a few liveries why they never turned out they all replied that no one turns out in winter as it was too muddy, shock horror muddy horses!

 

[el_Snowflakes]

when horses start being brought in ours tend to get a bit rowdy and stressy and can make it nigh on impossible to get other horses safely in/out the gate....are you sure thats not what they were refering to?

 

[LittleTero]

Nope they all have their own paddocks that they share with say another so actually I suppose if someone brought their field mate in.... But they can see all the other horses as it's one massive paddock divided by electric fences. And as the horses have been fine all summer when their field mate comes in to be ridden I shouldn't think being left would be a problem as they can still see others over fencing. It just made me laugh cos someone had actually said they were doing it cos all the others were so it automatically made it the 'right' thing to do.