Danger Of Over Horsing

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Cobland

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Ive known someone who has rode for years on riding stable horses that his aunt owned. He started hanging around with a guy who brought in difficult horses to retrain. We all tried to tell him that it was a bad idea for him to help this man.

Yesterday morning he got on a 4 yo tb mare, who reared up making him fall off, horse lost its balance and fell ontop of him. Hes now in hospital needing to get a rod put into his wrist and pelvis.
 
Oh dear - hope he's ok but what a daft thing to do. I'm the opposite. Would almost never get on a horse I didn't know thoroughly. The number of people who think they can ride coz all they've ridden is riding school horses is frightening. I was driving down the lane to my yard a couple of Christmases ago when a 7yr old girl came galloping towards me screaming her lungs out on a pretty dapple grey pony. Her father was chasing behind them up the lane trying to stop the pony. I swung the car across but the pony squeezed through and carried on at the same speed. I managed to get the man to stop running after them coz he was panicking the pony more and managed to get the girl to yank the pony back towards me. I managed to get hold of the pony's head and no-one was hurt but it could have ended VERY differently as about a quarter of a mile ahead was the main road. Little girl totally and utterly over-horsed. Ridden tired, bored riding school horses so daddy bought her a cute (expensive) little pony of her own. Bet it was sent back the next day!!!
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The guy who brings the horses in is alot more experienced and is used to these types of horses. Hes rode difficult horses since he was young, i know him and know he would rather risk someone else than himself. He trains them to jump, and ive watched him chasing a horse with a lunging whip while this guy was on one.

Apparently the horse reared and he held onto the reins, causing the horse to become unbalanced and fall ontop of him. I went to see him in hospital yesterday and he said that he was on the road and wasnt told the horse had never been on the road before.

Hes rode Mae before and even thought she was more forward going than the horses he was used to.
 
Poor guy
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, dont suppose a body protecter would have helped with the injuries he got, good job it didn't land on his ribs ect and cause internal injuries though
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Was looking for a sharer recently a guy got in touch who said he'd been riding at a riding school for 12 years but wanted to get more experience round the yard etc as the school gave him the horse all tacked up etc before his lesson/hack then just took it away aftewards. I got him to ride in the manage and to be honest I couldn't get him off fast enough. He was so novicy. I would have been pretty p*&^ed off if I had spent 12 years learning any sport and been at that standard. Not saying I am a brilliant rider but his hands were all over the place and his legs swinging about. OK so maybe he was bending the truth a bit, I will never know.

Was in the local tack shop the other day when a man came in with a little girl about 7 or 8 year old, holding a bridle. He was asking for a new bit. The woman behind the counter asked why he had the particular bit on the bridle and he said "dunno, that's just what the riding school gave us when we bought the pony"
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I admit that i am no rider but i would never get on a horse that i thought wasnt for me. Since hanging around with the guy he stopped weaing a body protector and hat!

Was in the tack shop a while back and the was a lady who said sh was getting her daughter a horse. Asked what size rug and saddle she should get it.
 
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Was in the tack shop a while back and the was a lady who said sh was getting her daughter a horse. Asked what size rug and saddle she should get it.

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PMSL - isn't it shocking! However riding schools do only tend to teach the riding and forget the rest so I feel really sorry for some people. How do they learn the rest? As far as being 'novicey' - I'm pretty sure when I get on a new horse I look novicey because I hate being watched by owners and you're riding is never perfect, let alone on an unfamiliar horse. I know some people are extremes - like the woman in the shop, but the man who came to ride the horse at least was honest enough to admit he was inexperienced in other ways. He probably thought he would never be considered if he admitted that he hadn't been riding for as long as 12 years and he just wanted to learn more and if you didn't want to loan your horse to a novice 'carer' then why even consider letting him ride. Sorry - rant over - I just feel sorry for some people, everyone has got to start somewhere
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QR, people DO have to start somewhere, and whilst i don't condone someone inexperienced getting onto a difficult horse, an unhorsey parent not knowing what type of bit their kid's pony has is pretty normal. Could YOUR parents have said what size / type bit your childhood pony took?

When i was at RS we had stable management lessons if it was too wet / windy to ride. We all stood in a stable and learnt the points of a horse, ailments, first aid etc etc, and we even had to muck out. But i imagine with the price of lessons and most RS having indoor menages clients want to ride each time.

We also read lots of books and has stable management tests, and we could win rosettes by getting top marks.
 
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QR, people DO have to start somewhere, and whilst i don't condone someone inexperienced getting onto a difficult horse, an unhorsey parent not knowing what type of bit their kid's pony has is pretty normal. Could YOUR parents have said what size / type bit your childhood pony took?

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I dont even know what bit size my pony has now! I just take the one that fits with me when buying a new bit and get one the same size!
 
Oh don't get me wrong I did feel for him and I agree how can anyone learn the ropes when the horse is handed to them at the start of the session and taken away. I am sure it's something to do with public liability insurance and the fact that there's a culture of sueing anyone who as much as trips up on a blade of grass these days.

I did suggest that maybe he would like to have a few lessons on my horse with my instructor or if he didn't ride he was most welcome to come and help out with jobs around the yard, I was more than willing to do that but I think he was hoping to go hacking out from day 1 to be honest.

As for the man in the tack shop and the kid with the bridle it wasnt' the size of the bit but which type of bit, as far as I can ascertain as I didn't hear the whole conversation, didn't want to appear nosey! This is just a personal opinnion but horses and ponies are big powerful animals and need a certain amount of knowledge to look after. I suppose I would expect 'people' to research their subject before embarking on owning these animals.......... ok ok now I will get out of la la land and back to the real world!!!!!
 
What anoys me is that there are people who will sell any horse to any person.
they don't actually care whether the horse is suitable for the prospective owner.

I have a livery at my yard. 2 yr old Quarter Horse X Appaloosa. 15.2 HH
A breeding (cowboy) yard sold it as a new born foal to a family with 2 girls (then 12 and 14). The girls had ridden at riding schools but knew nothing about stable management or training. The parens know even less.
Consequently the two yr old is bolshy and moody and doesn't like to be asked to do anything, because she has never had to.
the girls are afraid of her and so reinforce her bad behaviour by leaving the stable and stopping grooming or whatever they are doing when she starts to push them around.
My advice from the start of her being at my yard is for them to sell her but they are now obviously too attatched.

she will hurt someone soon if she doesn't get taken in hand. But how that will happen I don't quite know.
 
For the people who feel sellers should be the ones to decide suitability, how would you feel if someone refused to sell a horse you liked to you on the grounds they felt you were not up to the task?

I understand what people are saying when they gnash their teeth about people buying horses without knowing what they're getting into but the fact of the matter is horses are commodities and it is actually ILLEGAL to refuse to sell to someone based on assumption and prejudice. It would be like a techno geek refusing to sell you a really good home theatre set up because he thinks you can't appreciate it. That may not work the same in practice with horses as with television sets but the principle is the same.

How, exactly are sellers supposed to ascertain in limited meeting who is capable of looking after a horse or not? I've known lots of relatively novice riders buy very competitive upper level horses while the producer ground his or her teeth in the background at the "waste". Okay, you can say that's not a case of basic care but if the horse sustains any discomfort or confusion due to its new person it technically is.

I'm obviously playing devil's advocate and personally I cannot understand why anyone would buy something as large, complicated and potentially dangerous as a horse without wanting to know exactly what they're getting into but, as said, how is someone supposed to know what they don't know. And the fact of the matter is MOST of us have been guilty of it at some stage. The best we can do is try to make is easy for people to ask for help, not just judge them for not knowing.

I WOULD like people to be a little more honest when selling AND buying. I've met all sorts of potential customers who overstate their ability, often is such a way that points out they actually know what they're saying, not just being ignorant. And I've met lots of sellers who promote their horse as that mythical creature, the horse that can be all things to all people.
 
I think a seller can get a very fair idea of a buyers experience and capabilities by asking the right questions.
And a reputable seller will have the interests of both horse and prospective buyer in mind.

What I don't like is yards that have no interest in the welfare of the horse that they are selling or the safety of the people who buy it.
 
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