Differences in other countries

I'm in NZ but I've just arrived so I'll contribute to Denmark, Spain and South Africa.

Firstly, SA.

Keeping horses in or around the cities differs enormously to keeping horses in rural areas. I've done both.

Cities have access to great vets and equine hospitals, you can find a good farrier quite easily and feet are valued. Riding clubs or centres have outdoor arenas and lots of unaff and affiliated shows. Thoroughbreds are common wherever you are, as a result of the racing industry. You'd pay a fortune for a gypsy cob!

Riding in Cape Town gives you access to great hacks through vineyards and forests and obviously the beach. Riding in Joburg is dry and vast, like the savannah. It's quite easily over 30 degrees and people still ride during the day.

African Horse Sickness is a huge concern. There isn't a very effective vaccine and the vaccine itself can make them very ill. West Nile is also relatively common.

Rural horses live out, don't see farriers regurly so people tend to do their own rasping, and may not have a vet within a day's drive. They tend to be treated more as livestock. American saddlers, hackneys and Arab, as well as the South African Boerperd are very common. The grass tend to be rather poor so horses can be on the skinny side.

Feeding wise, ours were on a hard mix and sugarbeet when competing. Hay can be difficult to find, some feed teff or lucerne.

I've encountered far less laminitis in SA than anywhere else.

Denmark, on an endurance yard, the horses (Arabs, quarter horses, fjords and icelandics) lived out 24/7 even when chest deep in snow- and without a rug. They did look like yaks. They did their own farriery, most were barefoot, and fed a mix of hard feed and straw/hay. Hacking was amazing and I agree that other horses think Icelandic ponies are bizarre! You ride in all weather and the horses were often used as a method of transport- popping to the shop, going to visit someone or riding up to the hunting lodge to pick up some meat for dinner.

At the competition yard, horses were out for a few hours a day, fed on huge amounts of concentrate and worked twice a day, once on the lunge or on the flat, and then jumped. Stallions are common. The vet care was great and the horses were shod. Tack was cleaned after every ride and smartened up before. All the horses were warmbloods but not necessarily Danish. All the horses were completely over the top and a nightmare to turn out and bring in. Colic was relatively common and everything was insured from tip of ear to frog.

Spain, I was in VERY rural southern Spain and had no access to vets. Though the horses lived out, they had no grass and very little hay. If something went wrong, you'd have to wait it out or call a farmer to pts. There was plenty of grass in the valley but the YO didn't seem to understand that the horses might like to eat it. The attitude was very much that they are working live stock but they do take pride in them. Horses are regularly used as transport and seen tied up outside taverns while their owners drink inside. If you arrived in hi-viz, a hat and a body protector, they would think you were an alien.
 
Booboos, I thought trimmers were illegal in France?

I think it is complicated. Initially French farriers seemed to interpret the law to say that no one but a farrier (or vet) could trim but this would go against EU legislation on the right to have professional qualifications recognised across the EU. So unqualified trimmers can be prosecuted but ones who have qualifications in trimming even from other EU countries should be fine.

I may be wrong about the legalities but I hope not because he is a brilliant trimmer and my farrier's apprentice made such a hash of trimming a retired horse's feet he was on painkillers for 6 weeks and had to have pads, deep bed etc for months.
 
Horses are regularly used as transport and seen tied up outside taverns while their owners drink inside. If you arrived in hi-viz, a hat and a body protector, they would think you were an alien.

That reminds me of seeing a man in Colombia sitting inside a tavern with his mates, holding the reins of his horse through the door, in the middle of a city :p

I've never owned horses abroad so it's really interesting to hear people's insights. The most interesting thing I have ever seen was a cavalry parade in Quito, Ecuador, where all the cavalry horses were wearing hoof boots rather than shoes. I thought that was fascinating, as you wouldn't necessarily think that hoof boots had made it to South America.
 
Great thread, very interesting to read so many personal experiences.

Where I live we have a large Amish community, so buggy horses (mostly too slow off track standardbreds) and work horses (mainly Belgians and Percherons) are very common. They are work animals, they work hard and are replaced when they break, the life of a buggy horse is a hard one :(

These lads used to drive past my house every morning to another farm along the road. I never saw their buggy horses in a walk.

july%202%202015005.jpg
 
I think it is complicated. Initially French farriers seemed to interpret the law to say that no one but a farrier (or vet) could trim but this would go against EU legislation on the right to have professional qualifications recognised across the EU. So unqualified trimmers can be prosecuted but ones who have qualifications in trimming even from other EU countries should be fine.

I may be wrong about the legalities but I hope not because he is a brilliant trimmer and my farrier's apprentice made such a hash of trimming a retired horse's feet he was on painkillers for 6 weeks and had to have pads, deep bed etc for months.

Thanks for clarifying, we're thinking about moving to France but the no trimmers thing has been seriously putting me off. Am much happier now! :D
 
I used to keep my horse in the UAE.

Th yards range from local endurance stables in the middle of the desert that are a bit ram shackle and the riding can, at times, be a bit questionable (but lots of fun) to state of the art posh polo and equestrian clubs, where the riding can also be quite questionable to be honest! Think all the gear no idea!

I kept my horse on both types of yards. The desert one did not have the best of arena surfaces and had to be regularly watered down, which was great fun whilst riding so you could have a cool down. I was lucky enough to have small grass turnout paddocks on both my yards but the horses could only be turned out in the morning or evening as it was too hot in the day.

Most riding is done in the early morning or at night as it is just too hot during the day. The hacking is the best I have ever done! Lots of galloping in the desert, lots of camels and other wildlife too!

I also kept my horse on a polo and equestrian yard. 3 huge top quality arenas, 20 huge american barns, horse walkers and paddocks. As well as regular FEI and unaffiliated competitions. However, the polo riders, the endurance riders and the general riders did not tend to mix much! Think american high school cliques :D

There is quite a big horse culture in the middle east with hundreds of horses being imported into the country as well as lots of gorgeous arabs. Unfortunately, as some of you may know, it was common to see some form of horse abuse from the riders as all they wanted to do was win but you were unable to do anything about it! This was one of the main reasons I chose to bring my arab stallion back with me when I moved back to the UK. Saying that, there were, of course, lots of horses that were really well looked after and loved and were obviously very happy!

Let me know if you want to know anything else! :)
 
Two things I forgot to mention in this region:
1. Riding establishments are normally closed on Sundays. Liveries may visit their horses etc but nobody gets a lesson or accompanied hack.
2. Many of the supermarkets do vehicle hire, and for about €100 a day you can get a horse lorry complete with rack on the back for the trotting shafts.
 
I used to keep my horse in the UAE.

Th yards range from local endurance stables in the middle of the desert that are a bit ram shackle and the riding can, at times, be a bit questionable (but lots of fun) to state of the art posh polo and equestrian clubs, where the riding can also be quite questionable to be honest! Think all the gear no idea!

I kept my horse on both types of yards. The desert one did not have the best of arena surfaces and had to be regularly watered down, which was great fun whilst riding so you could have a cool down. I was lucky enough to have small grass turnout paddocks on both my yards but the horses could only be turned out in the morning or evening as it was too hot in the day.

Most riding is done in the early morning or at night as it is just too hot during the day. The hacking is the best I have ever done! Lots of galloping in the desert, lots of camels and other wildlife too!

I also kept my horse on a polo and equestrian yard. 3 huge top quality arenas, 20 huge american barns, horse walkers and paddocks. As well as regular FEI and unaffiliated competitions. However, the polo riders, the endurance riders and the general riders did not tend to mix much! Think american high school cliques :D

There is quite a big horse culture in the middle east with hundreds of horses being imported into the country as well as lots of gorgeous arabs. Unfortunately, as some of you may know, it was common to see some form of horse abuse from the riders as all they wanted to do was win but you were unable to do anything about it! This was one of the main reasons I chose to bring my arab stallion back with me when I moved back to the UK. Saying that, there were, of course, lots of horses that were really well looked after and loved and were obviously very happy!

Let me know if you want to know anything else! :)

That's really interesting, great post!
 
Two things I forgot to mention in this region:
1. Riding establishments are normally closed on Sundays. Liveries may visit their horses etc but nobody gets a lesson or accompanied hack.
2. Many of the supermarkets do vehicle hire, and for about €100 a day you can get a horse lorry complete with rack on the back for the trotting shafts.

What, you just pop down to Tesco? :D



Great info too, texenstar, thanks :)
 
I live in Ireland and would not dream of hunting my three year old or four year old. Many horses that are bred to hunt and are hunting at 3 in Ireland, is because there is a market for them of which a high percentage goes to England . Most riders here too would hold their hands up in horror of 3 year olds going out on the hunt field.
 
I've worked with horses on 3 continents (N. America, Asia, Europe) and live in Ireland, so visiting the UK with horses is quite alien! Things I observe in comparison with other places: horses in the UK are very pampered in many ways (loads of feed, loads of supplements, rugs all the time, endless faffing about with saddles, etc.), but often the standard of actual riding and basic horse knowledge is not high. Specialist horse vets, farriers, physios, chiros, saddle fitters, bit "consultants", communicators, etc., etc.....but not a lot of really professional trainers and instructors. The opposite would be the case in many of the countries I've worked in.

Everyone getting very worked up about riding hats.
 
Great thread, very interesting to read so many personal experiences.

Where I live we have a large Amish community, so buggy horses (mostly too slow off track standardbreds) and work horses (mainly Belgians and Percherons) are very common. They are work animals, they work hard and are replaced when they break, the life of a buggy horse is a hard one :(

These lads used to drive past my house every morning to another farm along the road. I never saw their buggy horses in a walk.

july%202%202015005.jpg

That looks like something out of a movie :D
 
I'm also I'm Ireland. When i'm in the UK, i'm always surprised by how formal hunting is. It's a lot more relaxed here and the dress code is more of a suggestion really! Another thing I noticed when I started getting into horses here was the amount of instructors and judges etc with UK accents.
 
That looks like something out of a movie :D

It does doesn't it? I had never thought about it before, to me it is normal. We live 6kms from town, all the parking lots at the stores have hitching rails for buggies. Frequently there are ridden horses hitched up outside the saddlery too - mine included. We were in town yesterday and there was a wagon and pair of belgians outside the feedstore. It is a very cool town :)
 
Where is your mini video blog? My husband (non horsey) is desperate for us to retire to France but I'm not keen. I have 2 horses + a loan horse. He speaks fluent French I don't he doesn't want to live in an anglicised area as he wants to embrace all things French. I'm prepared to find out more but don't know anyone who can tell me more.

Sounds a bit harsh for you. I think you should look up the Dordogne/Lot/Perigord region. It's a nice climate and there should be quite a few English people about (although I am told not as much as it used to) but there is still lots of French terroir to enjoy. Lots of land/good grass to keep horses too :). Or Normandy might be a good bet, although the climate is more humid/milder.
 
I'm awake now...
I'm in Oz so I'll comment on the main differences I saw between here and my past lie in England, but I think Western Australia is quite different to other states in Oz as well!
Turnout is very common. Very few horses would be stabled all the time,most are out at least all day (although often on quite small acreages). Walk in walk out yards (stable/shelter with a small yard attached) are very common.
Almost everyone has a round yard and the NH/Parelli style of horse riding and training is more common than the UK. Breaking horses is referred to as "starting" and is much more towards the NH style.
Turning away for a period after backing is common.
TBs and Standardbreds are MUCH more common. We have very few MM breeds in any numbers and large ponies/cobs are REALLY expensive. "Gypsy cobs" cost about $10-20,000 (5 - 10,000 pounds). A good one costs twice that.
At Pony Club most kids seem to go from Shetland to Welsh A, then Welsh B, then get stuck on an Australian Riding Pony (high % TB and Welsh blood) or onto an OTTB! Many of these are not very suitable.
Barefoot is common, just about anyone seems to be able to call themselves a farrier (no recognised Guild) and bad shoeing jobs are common. A lot of people with barefoot horses do their own (including me).
Plenty of access to specialist horse vets.
EVERYONE over rugs - it's really not that cold in winter!
Hacking here is BIZARRE, with oodles of make up (horse and human), bling, head to toe clips, horses rugged 24/7 even in summer to prevent "sunbleaching" and horses getting dye jobs.
And of course we have some lovely, distinctly Australian horse sports such a spolocrosse and campdrafting.
 
I think it is complicated. Initially French farriers seemed to interpret the law to say that no one but a farrier (or vet) could trim but this would go against EU legislation on the right to have professional qualifications recognised across the EU. So unqualified trimmers can be prosecuted but ones who have qualifications in trimming even from other EU countries should be fine.

I may be wrong about the legalities but I hope not because he is a brilliant trimmer and my farrier's apprentice made such a hash of trimming a retired horse's feet he was on painkillers for 6 weeks and had to have pads, deep bed etc for months.

Hiya Boobos, which dept do you live in as i see you are in the south?
During the summer I was having a really good look about in Herault (34) as one of my brothers lives out there, he is in the NW of the dept, very close to Tarn (10 miles up the road). Its a lovely area - loads of brilliant riding. Brother currently lives in the main town of his area but moving out by about 5 miles or so next summer, to somewhere with a bit of land. Its pretty conveneint for carcassonne airport, also Beziers too (tho we usually make him drive to MontP as easier for us to access from the UK as easy flights from Gatwick)
Hoping to poss go out there in another couple of years, more info would be helpful :)
 
Now Ownedbyjoe, you CANNOT just end your post without explaining spolocross and campdrafting!

:D

Polocrosse = a cross between lacrosse on horseback and polo. Only one horse ridden, no teams of ponies like in polo. The ball is passed between riders racquets, can be bounced on the ground, and goals are scored by throwing the ball between posts similar to a polo goal. It's brilliant fun to play, great fun to watch, and does get played internationally, usually on horses loaned by the country hosting the international tournament - I think the UK has a team.
Have a look here: http://www.polocrosse.org.au/
Campdrafting:
The aim of the competition is to cut a beast from a small mob in the camp, moving their horse among the cattle quietly and bring the chosen beast to a gate at the other end (front) of the (camp) yard, for a short time blocking the beast two or three times preventing it from returning to the mob.

When the competitor feels that control of the beast has been demonstrated to the judge, they call for the gate to be opened.

Once on the arena, the competitor is working against the clock (forty seconds) to guide the beast around two pegs in a figure of eight pattern, and then drive the beast between a final two pegs known as the gate. The best combination of control of the beast, riding skills, speed and completing the course scores the highest points. It is not unusual to see a beast gated in under twenty five seconds.
 
Hiya Boobos, which dept do you live in as i see you are in the south?
During the summer I was having a really good look about in Herault (34) as one of my brothers lives out there, he is in the NW of the dept, very close to Tarn (10 miles up the road). Its a lovely area - loads of brilliant riding. Brother currently lives in the main town of his area but moving out by about 5 miles or so next summer, to somewhere with a bit of land. Its pretty conveneint for carcassonne airport, also Beziers too (tho we usually make him drive to MontP as easier for us to access from the UK as easy flights from Gatwick)
Hoping to poss go out there in another couple of years, more info would be helpful :)

Officially I am in 81 but practically right next to 31, between Toulouse and Carcassonne. PM if you have any questions.
 
When I kept horses in Zimbabwe, most of them were OTTB's. Most turned their hoof to Show jumping, dressage, polo very well. A lot were competitive at 1.10 and above. Eventing was a short season of 4-5 months in the rainy season.
We had access to very good vets if near the towns, had to wait a good while for a vet in the more rural areas. Most livery yards had access to a small range of injectable drugs to treat colic, horses off colour etc, in case the vet was not reachable. We also picked up vaccinations from the vets such, as African horse sickness and yard manger did them herself.
We had ok farriers, most horses cold shod. Most competition horses were shod, riding school ponies would generally be barefoot.
Horses usually went out early morning and came in at lunchtime so out of the main heat of the day. In the winter when there was virtually no rain = no grass so this was plenty out time. Horses were fed hay year round, but had 3, occasionally 4 hard feeds a day. These were all straights, no mixes available. Horses / ponies with laminitis was very rare. If seen was mostly concussion laminitis.
Had a lot of tick bourne diseases to contend with, as well as African horse sickness. Oddly tendon injuries were rare, compared to the uk, maybe as horses were worked on harder ground, heavy going was virtually non existent.
We had some sand arenas, but most were make shift. The livery yards I went to, used wet shavings from horses beds as the arena surface, that was then pulled up when the rain appeared, as got slippery. It also smelt as got towards the summer. At that point the fields were soft enough to use instead.
Hats, body protectors... What are those. Hats only used if under 16 or competing. I used to cross country school my young Tb's, without a hat, mad when I think about it now.
We used to hack a lot, mostly the roads had a large dust verge or grass verge that we road on. Not sure hacking would be safe now unless more rural.
There was also no such thing as DIY livery. People either had horses at home, or on a full livery yard with exercise as an optional extra.
It was a lovely way of life to have horses, no hard slog, trudging through knee deep mud and rain!!
 
The biggest difference I noticed, travelling in places where horses actually work for a living, is that stallions are usually treated like any other working horse. You'll see them pulling carts, ploughing fields and standing quietly along-side each other. I dare say they have the odd problem, and the more 'proud' animals find themselves castrated in order to be manageable, but that's the minority.

In the UK (outside of the travelling community), people are so paranoid about handling stallions that the poor beasts end up isolated and demented. :(
 
I'm in France too, but in the east - actually right on the French/Swiss/German border, so we have a huge Swiss and German influence.

Let's see what I can think of:

DIY and grass livery doesn't exist. You are on a "pension" i.e. livery. Normally that livery is feed/hay/turn out/bring in and mucking out, nothing else.
Turn out is usually individual paddocks or pairs, where offered. it is quite common that there is no turn out, even in summer. Sometimes you can get a "box paddock" where you horse has free access to a "paddock" from the box - the size of the paddock (that I've seen) ranges from a paved 12x12 terrace to small sand lots.

Bedding is limited to straw, shavings, or now wood pellets, though straw is very much the most common.

Mucking out varies; some places advertise that they muck out once or twice a week (and no, it is not deep litter either!).

People tend not to wear high viz, especially during the day or in summer, though the trend is increasing now.

People tend not to wear hats while in the school or hacking (our yard is very anglicised, and it is a rule that all under 18s must wear a hat ;) )

All competitions in France are "affiliated," and your competition record is available to view by anyone who has an FFE license (this is fabulous to snoop on your competitors, or future horse *nods*)

There is a central registry of all horses in France, and after 2000 and something, it is mandatory that every horse is microchipped and passported.

Most horse breeds follow a naming schedule with the first letter of the name corresponding to the year of birth. To complicate things, most horse breeds follow the same convention, but there are some who don't follow it. This year it was F. You can imagine the struggles large breeders have if they have 10+ foals all to name beginning with the same letter!

Farriers are very hit and miss. I'm currently using a Swiss farrier as his trims are OK (I've had two "barefoot" trimmers and a French farrier doing trims and they were all awful - I really miss my original French farrier who was fabulous, but he isn't working any more).

Feed and vet care is at least 20 years behind the UK. You have two standard forms of horse mix from a feed mill, with and without oats. Everything which is pre-packaged is cereal based and used liberal amounts of molasses. My nearest horse hospital is about 30 mins from the yard with a trailer, but is in Switzerland. This is the default vet for most of the people at the yard, but I have little faith in them, the advice they give is sometimes bizarre and lately they have been very operation-happy, especially given that insurance for horses is poor to non-existent (e.g. most insurance I looked at wouldn't cover diagnostics).

Hacking can be hit and miss - just like the UK I suppose. My last yard had miles and miles of off road, or farm track hacking where you wouldn't see another single being, never mind a vehicle. Now I'm 20 mins up the road I have to do a good 30 mins of roadwork to get to any forestry tracks, and thenthe tracks are all eroded so horribly stony and uneven.
 
Ooo that's interestng. I thought hunting in Ireland was a lot faster, harder and generally more hardcore than what we do over here?

ycbm - hunting in Ireland is very different to hunting in the UK and what a 3 yr old would do over there would be no more than a fast hack with some banks/drains to scramble over. I'm not saying it's right, but just to clarify the difference.

In the States, bandages are wraps, and when I was there, there was a fashion in SJ for enormously long tails, unplaited and unpulled, with a million tiny mane plaits - looked odd to English eyes.

In Italy, there is very little turnout, and very few horses are kept at private homes - they tend to be at equestrian centres, with schools. Where I was in Northern Italy, there was very little hacking/leisure riding - most were ridden in arenas, and all finished by 9/10 in the morning because of the heat. The harvest was over by May and there is no grass to speak of. So far as I understood, there is no unaffiliated competition - both horse and rider have to be registered. Alfalfa hay was the norm, with shavings for bedding, and the yard I saw fed straight black oats. They said it was very difficult and extremely expensive to get compound feeds, as they mostly had to be imported.
 
I LOVE your version of hunting! Thinking of moving to Denmark now :)



Wake up Oz and NZ, we're waiting for you :)

Good Morning!

I've only ever lived in NZ - so my only comparison is what I read on here:

- Very few horses here are stabled.
- Insurance is rare.
- In the UK you seem to hack a lot on the roads, which we don't do so much here.
- We rug and bandage as opposed to blanket and wrap.
- Being so far from the rest of the world, we don't have the variety of horse breeds that you do in the UK and Europe. The UK natives, Haflingers and Icelandic's for example are quite rare. Gypsy Cobs arrived about 10 years ago and I can remember the first ID' turning up in the 90's. European WB are still outrageously expensive.
- If you go hunting here, expect to jump barbed wire and they hunt hare.
- You don't need any qualification to set up as a farrier, trimmer, trainer, coach or instructor, dentist, physio, osteo, chiro or nutritionist.
- Chaff, barley and oats are, for the most part, still that and don't have a "brand". As for chaff with molasses ...

I'm sure there is plenty more ...
 
I live in Luxembourg, I've also done a stint in the US.

Luxembourg
Lots of high quality competition horses, limited turn out in small paddocks to avoid injury. The are big too. I have a large pony and I'm looked at funny as I'm in my 30s (I hate riding big horses).
Once it's close to winter they've all got blankets on, the blanket weight rarely changes.
Almost all the horses at my barn are shod at least on the front, mine is strange as he's barefoot.
You jump or do dressage, very few happy hackers no eventing at all.
All shows are afiliated, you have to have a license to show in many levels.
DIY is unheard of, you horse is fed, turned out/in for you and is mucked out once a day except Sunday's. On Sunday the only service is feeding.
Most places have wash racks and lots have "solariums" which are used rather often.
We have lots of equine vets, some come in from Germany. Our closes hospital is in Germany (horse hospital).
Nobody wears a helmet to ride unles it's a young rider/young horse or they are jumping. I've seen 3 body protectors since moving here.
All the places I've seen here have at least one indoor, my first facility had 2 indoors, a strange dressage outside ring and a big outside jumping ring as well as a small round pen in the middle of their hot walker.
Almost everywhere have a place to go and have a drink and watch the inside ring.
 
What, you just pop down to Tesco? :D
Yes exactly! Leclerc are effectively Tesco in my area but they make Tesco look like a Spar shop. Leclerc have a travel agency, seperate shops for books, opticians, electrical goods, parapharmacies, DIY, sports, cycle, and a Halford type garage attached to the main shops.
Intermarche and Super U are supermarket chains but not as big, however they too do horse box hire along with their other vehicles.
 
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