Differences in other countries

I'm in central Portugal - about 150km north of Lisbon.

Insurance is unheard of; we struggled to find public liability cover, although it is cheap when we found an provider.
No one wears hats.
Hacking is only done by mad foreigners - this does mean that every driver slows down to gawp at the sight of a horse....most people wave, some even beep as they go past!
You can ride pretty much anywhere as long as you keep off crops. Having to stick to bridle paths would drive me nuts.
When you find a good feed and hay supplier you hang on to them for grim death.
Ditto a good equine vet.
There's only one barefoot trimmer in the whole country. Thankfully he's great.
Saddle fitters don't exist. If the saddle doesn't fit you just add/remove padding as necessary.
We have mud, we have dust - we never have grass.
Lusitanos are wonderful horses!
 
laura_nash said:
Sadly this is also very common here (in Ireland) with broodmares, lots of farmers have one broodmare. Our neighbour has two donkeys that are kept together for company, but keeps the broodmare on her own! I don't understand it at all. It does cause some trouble when I'm riding out as these poor things get wildly over-excited at the sight of another horse - and the walls of the fields are often not that great.
Click to expand...

I can't believe your descriptions of my own country!! Have not seen this myself? Where are you? Obviously not east of Ireland.
 
I spent two 9 month stints living in Cagliari, Sardinia. I made a personal blog of what I saw at two riding schools I went to because every single day there was a drama. The standard of tuition was shockingly bad. And as a result so was the riding. Bodies everywhere on the floor on show jumping lesson days!

At one school, there were 6 stallions. Owner couldn't afford to have them gelded so didn't bother. They were used in the school like any other horse. They were all half starved and the one that I took on to ride had only been out of his stable about 20 times in four years. He didn't know how to walk. All the others were kept in too. Absolutely no turnout. Most of the other horses were kept in rope pens 12ft x 12ft outside. No shelter even when it was 40 degrees. It broke my heart to leave 'my' horse there but what a relief not to have to witness it all everyday. This school was frequented by well educated people coming for lessons, and their children. The children rode the stallions too. Picture 5 year olds on 16hh horses. They only had one pony. Only one person there thought that there was any problem with how the horses were treated and kept.

Im in France now, and here, like Sardinia, no one rides their horse on the bit. They go around upside down and then when they want to look a little better they use draw reins. Every one I've seen ride here uses them. Riders have their own saddle, whether it fits the horse or not. It's for them. The idea that it fits the horse is an alien one. The owner of my riding centre where I keep my horse actually told me it's not the shape or size of the tree which matters, but what it's made of. Beggars belief! Wood sawdust an chippings are fetched from the local saw mill. Beds are about 3" deep, but all the shavings are scraped away from the wall, leaving a band of bare concrete. When mine was on box rest I made him the usual UK style deep straw bed with high banks. They laughed and thought I was mad doing all that work. I import my feed from the UK. There's not a great selection. At the first livery yard I had here, horses were fed one slice of hay in the morning, then barley twice a day, and one slice of hay at night. All horses had the same thing regardless of work. Owners had no say in what was fed. Ad lib hay??? Never heard of it. Im the only person I know who does that, and I've had to argue til Im blue in the face to get it. Hardly anyone does dressage. SJ is the thing. No showing at all.

Our house is for sale and we're hoping to be able to move this year to a more rural area of france where we can buy our own land and there are more facilities for horses. Here in the south east it's abysmal. But not as bad as Sardinia!! :)
 
I'm in Victoria and agree 100% with what other Aussies have said.

We don't have livery yards at all really, maybe some agistment available for private horses at riding schools nearer the city, but most are so expensive it's not manageable. Most people agist on paddocks around town, or at home if they have land, and have to meet somewhere if they want to hack with friends. We don't have bridlepaths either really.

Horses are just out in paddocks and owners do everything themselves, it's basically unheard of paying someone else to look after your horse! Stables are basically non-existent unless you're at a TB stud or a racing property. Some people have field shelters but usually only if there are no trees in the paddock. Never heard a vet suggest box rest, I guess as nobody really has stables anyway!

Some things I hate are - if you want to get out with your horse, you have to do SJ, Dressage or XC, or campdrafting. That's it. No fun rides, no trec, no hunting/hound exercise, no hunter trials, no point to point, no million other fun things that aren't the eventing 3, nothing you can do in pairs or as a team...which means if you wanted to do something smaller/less pressure before competing XC 80cm, it's only ever going to be hiring out an actual course and instructor (which is what I'm slowly slowly working on - I'd love to hunt or do a hunter trial first, and my horse would adore it).
No community trail rides/Xmas rides/trail rides/social rides unless your club has one, the very occasional navigation ride (one a year if you're lucky). it SUX BIGTIME.

We run out of feed in paddocks quite often in the summertime, horses are far more likely to get thin over summer than winter unless they're unwell/old, and usually even then will be fine if rugged. Winter is lush and my horse usually gains weight over winter.

Saddle fitters are a rare breed! My closest is 6 hours away. My horse has big shoulders and the amount of times I've heard "you're just gonna have to jump him in a dressage saddle" is mind blowing. Farriers/trimmers are either brilliant or terrible, I generally do my own trimming or get my boss who is a remedial trimmer specialising in lami cases and she's also a vet nurse so actually knows what she's talking about...I got a farrier trim a few weeks ago as was having back issues and my boss was booked up - HORRENDOUS. I'd say it's about 50/50 shod/barefoot here.

Pony club is great, but a lot of families don't have the time/resources/knowledge required to go, so a lot of kids learn on their own or with friends - my friend and I were horse mad kids, lent a pony to look after at ages 7 and 8, we read a lot of books and just cracked on with it. She got her own pony at 10 and I got an off the track Standardbred given to me at 11, he hadn't been touched in ten years and I just got on with it and did everything myself! He was a massive handful but perfect for me, once we clicked.
My parents had no clue about horses, they were helpful but I did everything myself, there's no backup system of having a livery yard full of people to tell you what to do over here. I never had a riding lesson in my life until 2 months ago, and I'd say that's fairly common.

Then when my friend outgrew her pony, she moved on to a 17hh straight OTTB at age 13. Horse was a nutcase but we dealt with it, just thought that was normal :P Heaps of kids move from ponies to OTTBs because if you're on a budget they're really all that's available. Unfortunately literally thousands off off-cast TBs and SBs go for dog food, there's an enormous amount of over breeding and wastage as both flat and harness racing are HUGE here. What's really horrible to think about is so many are actually killed for human consumption and exported to Europe???? So gross and sad.

My riding club is a good 80% OTTBs, there's 2 stock horses (high percentage of TB blood anyway) and one 1/4 Clyde x 3/4 TB like mine, the rest are all off the track TBs or SBs. They can do really really well, or be psychopathic nutjobs!
A "Gypsy Cob" is worth upwards of $15,000 for a yearling! We don't really have cobs at all, I've literally never seen one in my life. Ponies are Welsh or Shetland or Australian Riding Pony (cute, spindly little miniature show hacks with high % of TB) and that's it pretty much, there's very few cob sized horses or anything under 16hh that can carry a decent weight! Our show and working hunters look more like your hacks, the trend is quite fine-boned compared to British ones. My boy would out-bone (I'm so sorry) any of the hunters I saw at my last show.

50% of Aussies never rug, the other 50% of Aussies are obsessed with rugging. Seriously. I know you've all got TBs and I get wanting to rug to keep clean and all that, my horse is white white white all over, but some people have their horses in rugs at anything under 25. Stop it.

Hunting in Australia involves a huge amount of travel as we can only hunt on a single large property/sheep station that's given permission to the hunt, and it involves a lot of jumping wire fences and chasing live quarry, which I will never do anyway. I'd love to drag hunt so much, but there are no drag hunts in Aus at all :( :(

We don't have horseboxes. We have horse floats which are basically your horse trailers but rounded at the front, and if you're a really serious eventer or a race trainer, you might have a horse truck (also not like a horsebox), literally just a lorry for horses. Anyone can tow anything, we don't have a towing test, but I think a test is a good idea!

Horse stuff is VERY expensive as we only really have 2 retail chains that sell it. I usually order online from the UK, even with postage it's cheaper than walking into my local shop and buying the exact same item from the same brand, ESPECIALLY riding clothing! Crazy expensive here.
 
Saltpetres I gather you are in a rather rural area of Vic? I can assure you though, there are plenty of Agistment facilities that offer full care. I've never agisted anywhere that didn't offer full feeding and rugging services. I understand this is more likely around major towns though. Stables are also very, very common, we just tend not to box all year round. They certainly aren't reserved for racing stables.Also, our horse trucks are pretty much the same as the UK horse boxes ;) Look up Rivenlee, Macro, Wade Equine Coaches etc It's interesting to see the divide between areas in your own country, and I guess it depends what circles you are involved in and your location. I remember following a friend to a major Western show, and being completely bamboozled at how different everything was! Being such a big country too, being located near the major metropolitan areas means you have access to pretty much everything.
 
Last edited:
Lyle said:
Saltpetres I gather you are in a rather rural area of Vic? I can assure you though, there are plenty of Agistment facilities that offer full care. I've never agisted anywhere that didn't offer full feeding and rugging services. I understand this is more likely around major towns though. Stables are also very, very common, we just tend not to box all year round. They certainly aren't reserved for racing stables.Also, our horse trucks are pretty much the same as the UK horse boxes ;) Look up Rivenlee, Macro, Wade Equine Coaches etc It's interesting to see the divide between areas in your own country, and I guess it depends what circles you are involved in and your location. I remember following a friend to a major Western show, and being completely bamboozled at how different everything was! Being such a big country too, being located near the major metropolitan areas means you have access to pretty much everything.
Click to expand...

I am in a very rural area currently, but Warrnambool is only an hour away from me so it's...well it's a rural city so not that small! Plus I've been to heaps of large horse events. Maybe there are agistment places but I'd say the vast, vast majority of horse owners do not use them! I don't know a single person who does, and I know horsey people from all over including serious competitive types. A lot of them have half open bays or shelters, but I do not know anyone outside of racing stables who has a proper stall/box type stable. Not one.

Plus, I've never in my life seen a horse truck that looks even vaguely like a UK horsebox?!?!?! Apart from maybe the $150,000+ ones that are like a motorhome with horse transport that are totally gigantic. What I was saying is the average person sure as heck doesn't use one of those things, and horse trucks really aren't like this over here. Have you really seen one of these in Aus? Like an actual manageable van-sized thing?

Horsebox-Easyrider-MKII.jpg


I've only ever seen this

1264813.jpg


Where on earth do you live lol???
 
Saltpetres, I live in the outskirts of Melbourne :) The smaller horsebox you showed are actually gaining popularity in Aus. Equitrek, Alexanders and Thule all import to Aus now, and are definitely getting around at comps a lot now. However, it's more common to see a minimum 3 horse truck!
Obviously land is very different in the western district compared to around Melbourne. Majority of people I know agist at very well set up facilities. If they are lucky enough to own their own land, they too will have it set up with the works. Maybe near you the majority of people own land and keep horses, however in the outer suburbs of Melbourne/Geelong, you tend to get people who work and live in the city or surrounding suburbs, and keep horses on agistment. Land prices are at a premium, so in order for land owners to afford to own their own parcel of land, they often have agisters to help with the cost. I can assure you too, proper stables DO exist in Aus, and are FREQUENTLY used for both management and vet purposes :) It's fine to make comment based on your situation and experiences, however sweeping generalizations aren't recommended.
 
Lyle said:
Saltpetres, I live in the outskirts of Melbourne :) The smaller horsebox you showed are actually gaining popularity in Aus. Equitrek, Alexanders and Thule all import to Aus now, and are definitely getting around at comps a lot now. However, it's more common to see a minimum 3 horse truck!
Obviously land is very different in the western district compared to around Melbourne. Majority of people I know agist at very well set up facilities. If they are lucky enough to own their own land, they too will have it set up with the works. Maybe near you the majority of people own land and keep horses, however in the outer suburbs of Melbourne/Geelong, you tend to get people who work and live in the city or surrounding suburbs, and keep horses on agistment. Land prices are at a premium, so in order for land owners to afford to own their own parcel of land, they often have agisters to help with the cost. I can assure you too, proper stables DO exist in Aus, and are FREQUENTLY used for both management and vet purposes :) It's fine to make comment based on your situation and experiences, however sweeping generalizations aren't recommended.
Click to expand...

Ooooh, I'd love one of those! I'm glad they're finally being imported, taken long enough! They seem much more manageable than a great blooming truck!! Pity they're so $$ :(

However, the second paragraph is pretty close to what I said, plus wouldn't you say that the only thing I possibly could comment on would be based on my own situation and experiences? I think doing something else would imply I was psychic or something ;)

I said - "We don't have livery yards at all really, maybe some agistment available for private horses at riding schools nearer the city, but most are so expensive it's not manageable. Most people agist on paddocks around town, or at home if they have land"

The point I was making is that the MAJORITY of horse owners in the UK seem to use livery yards, i.e places set up with actual stables, a certain amount of turnout time and the like, and in Australia, the MAJORITY of horse owners do not, there simply is not an abundance of these facilities, especially in the country. Also, I definitely did not say that the majority of horse owners here own their own land, I said that most of them agist! In my personal experience, agistment facilities here are not set up the same as livery yards are in the UK.

you said "I can assure you too, proper stables DO exist in Aus, and are FREQUENTLY used for both management and vet purposes" ...well yes obviously, but the "average" horse owner does not have daily access to these as they seem to in the UK!
Anyway, I'd say the majority of horse owners do not live in the city, wouldn't you? I am sorry if I offended you by implying something untrue about where you live, but in my experience, you have to be rich as hell to use one of those few places and they are inaccessible to most of us. I expect you move in much more wealthy circles than I do ;)
 
Quite true Saltpetres, the overwhelming majority of ridden horses in this country are kept in livery yards ranging from diy, through assisted, to full, where they are allocated a stable even if they don't use it. Within an hour traveling distance of me, I could name you probably twenty five yards ranging from a few boxes to 120 boxes.
 
ycbm said:
Quite true Saltpetres, the overwhelming majority of ridden horses in this country are kept in livery yards ranging from diy, through assisted, to full, where they are allocated a stable even if they don't use it. Within an hour traveling distance of me, I could name you probably twenty five yards ranging from a few boxes to 120 boxes.
Click to expand...

Precisely, ycbm! I live in a very horsey area here, and within an hour of me there are none at all! There used to be one which was part of a large agricultural college, but it closed down several years ago and is now a private breeding facility that just hires out its indoor now. Within 2 hours of me there is a complex with an indoor arena that offers small pens with not even field shelters, and one property with small paddocks. That's it.
 
Here is a link for a video showing my riding exploits when I lived in the UAE.

I admit that I made a lot of horse videos in my early teens, They're fairly embarrassing but I keep them for reminiscing! I apologise in advance for any atrocious riding! I was doing the best that I could at the time :D

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OS30EdRKFao

Enjoy :D
 
Hi!
Live in Denmark and is the owner of one horse.
I wouldnt say that Denmark is a good horse country. It is damp and rainy plus windy most of the year.
Lots of problems with thrush and skin infections. You often need a place where you can ride indoor.
The wets are ok. A few horse hospitals.
Training at the riding schools are generelly not worth mentioning especially if you are in a group.
Hunting is not that common apart from the royalty not many practize that sort of activity.
 
Chile :

Equestrian sports: Out of the olympic disciplines, Showjumping is the predominant sport. Endurance is gaining strength rapidly, dressage is in its early developmental stages and 3 day eventing is purely limited to its military roots.

Yards: There are a limited number of yards close to the capital, all with a large number of stables, quality outdoor arenas and a few indoors for the winter. Full livery is the only option, however prices are very reasonable and includes the stable, bedding (sawdust predominantly),hay twice a day and a groom per about 10-15 horses. Turnout is limited to small sand paddocks due to lack of land. Few people have their own land or facilities and in the rare case they do, the farms are usually a few hours from the city. Hard feed is purchased separately by the owner if desired .

Training: Each equestrian yard has a trainer or 2 (different levels) based there full time. All students tend to ride with that trainer and a number of lessons are included in the full livery Price. Very few individuals ride without formal lessons/training and only the more advanced riders school alone. The trainer tends to be quite involved in other aspects of "equestrian life" from travelling with students to competitions to assisting with schooling and horse purchases etc.

Competitions: Predominantly affiliated , with heights ranging from 95cm to grand Prix classes. In general, very well organised, but prizes need more investment. Unafilliated is virtually non existant and so riders/horses need to be jumping 95cm - 1m mínimum before competing.

Horses: In general, quality of showjumpers is high , though the small market for horses and increasing number of riders has caused quite a bit of inflation . Stallions are slightly more common and there is definitely less of a negative stigma associated with them

Other:

- no insurance for horses exists
- horses are generally less pampered (few supplements, only rugs in Winter etc)
- Saddle fitters and a lot of specialisms in the UK dont exist
 
Last edited:
atha16 said:
Hi!
Live in Denmark and is the owner of one horse.
I wouldnt say that Denmark is a good horse country. It is damp and rainy plus windy most of the year.
Lots of problems with thrush and skin infections. You often need a place where you can ride indoor.
The wets are ok. A few horse hospitals.
Training at the riding schools are generelly not worth mentioning especially if you are in a group.
Hunting is not that common apart from the royalty not many practize that sort of activity.
Click to expand...

I had expected Denmark to be more 'European' in flavour. Do you still have state subsidy of Danish warmblood breeding? The first warmblood I rode was Danish.
 
"Chile? How interesting! Thank you. How are you for equine specialist vet care?"

Specialist equine vets are common and, in general, are very well trained and offer exceptional services. A fair few specialize further, focusing on purely diagnostics, reproduction etc. Interestingly, however, when compared to the UK, there are very few equine clinics. The main one is associated with the race track and I think there is only one more that a university owns.
 
Last edited:
Courts said:
Chile :

Equestrian sports: Out of the olympic disciplines, Showjumping is the predominant sport. Endurance is gaining strength rapidly, dressage is in its early developmental stages and 3 day eventing is purely limited to its military roots.

Yards: There are a limited number of yards close to the capital, all with a large number of stables, quality outdoor arenas and a few indoors for the winter. Full livery is the only option, however prices are very reasonable and includes the stable, bedding (sawdust predominantly),hay twice a day and a groom per about 10-15 horses. Turnout is limited to small sand paddocks due to lack of land. Few people have their own land or facilities and in the rare case they do, the farms are usually a few hours from the city. Hard feed is purchased separately by the owner if desired .

Training: Each equestrian yard has a trainer or 2 (different levels) based there full time. All students tend to ride with that trainer and a number of lessons are included in the full livery Price. Very few individuals ride without formal lessons/training and only the more advanced riders school alone. The trainer tends to be quite involved in other aspects of "equestrian life" from travelling with students to competitions to assisting with schooling and horse purchases etc.

Competitions: Predominantly affiliated , with heights ranging from 95cm to grand Prix classes. In general, very well organised, but prizes need more investment. Unafilliated is virtually non existant and so riders/horses need to be jumping 95cm - 1m mínimum before competing.

Horses: In general, quality of showjumpers is high , though the small market for horses and increasing number of riders has caused quite a bit of inflation . Stallions are slightly more common and there is definitely less of a negative stigma associated with them

Other:

- no insurance for horses exists
- horses are generally less pampered (few supplements, only rugs in Winter etc)
- Saddle fitters and a lot of specialisms in the UK dont exist
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that feeding is a lot simpler in general. All horses receive hay twice a day and there are 4 types of feed produced locally for horses here. Alfalfa cubes (40kg bag), a stud mix, a maintenance mix and a competition mix (all 40 kg bags). Most horses receive a combination of the alflafa cubes (moistened) and hard feed. Recently, 3 imported brands from the USA, France and Argentina have been made available, but the prices are exceptionally high compared to those produced locally. Very few supplements are available compared to the UK and it is not commonplace to use those which are.
 
I keep checking out this thread because I am finding it really interesting. How many of you (us) have lived, or moved, from the UK ? This is my 10th winter in Ontario and I have pretty much morphed into a Canadian now, but when I first had horses here (within 3 months of arriving) I was floundering about, it was a whole new world horse wise.

The thought of keeping horses out in -20 and a foot or two of snow was totally alien. Looks out of window at the yaks lying in the snow :)
 
Hello, my take on Iran:
In the cities: huge, plush, flashy riding stables/livery. They love their (again very plush) coffee shops/cafe on site. Everything SPARKLING clean and just beautiful. Normally around 4 huge arenas but i have been to one that had 9. The arenas are mostly outside (great weather) and stadium like with many chairs circled around for the viewers. They LOVE their showjumping and are extremely good at it. Also love their polo. Dressage also, but showjumping has the highest status. There is no cross country, hunting and no hacking. Horses are kept in stables 24/7. In terms of riding styles, they follow the French. They think riding stables in the UK are shabby and backward but find this interesting and quircky. The people who own their own horses have no connection whatsoever with them as it is unheard of to do stable jobs or even tack up your own horse. All horse care is done by the many stable hands hired from Afghanistan. They think I am crazy for wanting to groom, wash, care and feed the horses. Most turn up to their horse groomed, sparkling and tacked up, they ride and then after riding hand the horse straight to the groom and leave - or go to chill in the beautiful coffee shop. It is different in just livery yards (no riding school attached) - owners will want to be more involved. Also, there is always a shop on site mostly selling only Italian brands. They LOVE Belgium warmbloods and pay thousands and thousands to import them.
Countryside: horses mostly kept outside in fields. Riding stables much more simple but again sparkling clean. Love their jumping and also hacking. The hacking however is quite boring as mostly walking through rocky mountains and difficult terrain - so they hack more for the chance to experience the countryside rather than the riding experience. No cross country, polo etc. They are really into the psychology of the horses and bond very emotionally to them, each one an individual with a distinct and unique personality. They are more friends than riding machines. Still have grooms to do all the work, but not strange for owners to get involved if they choose. If the horse is kept in a family field/back garden type then he/she is part of the family like a child so no groom to help. In these cases also the riding skill is very low and no interest in competing. More happy hacker type...
These are the things that first come to mind...
 
horse-lover said:
Hello, my take on Iran:
In the cities: huge, plush, flashy riding stables/livery. They love their (again very plush) coffee shops/cafe on site. Everything SPARKLING clean and just beautiful. Normally around 4 huge arenas but i have been to one that had 9. The arenas are mostly outside (great weather) and stadium like with many chairs circled around for the viewers. They LOVE their showjumping and are extremely good at it. Also love their polo. Dressage also, but showjumping has the highest status. There is no cross country, hunting and no hacking. Horses are kept in stables 24/7. In terms of riding styles, they follow the French. They think riding stables in the UK are shabby and backward but find this interesting and quircky. The people who own their own horses have no connection whatsoever with them as it is unheard of to do stable jobs or even tack up your own horse. All horse care is done by the many stable hands hired from Afghanistan. They think I am crazy for wanting to groom, wash, care and feed the horses. Most turn up to their horse groomed, sparkling and tacked up, they ride and then after riding hand the horse straight to the groom and leave - or go to chill in the beautiful coffee shop. It is different in just livery yards (no riding school attached) - owners will want to be more involved. Also, there is always a shop on site mostly selling only Italian brands. They LOVE Belgium warmbloods and pay thousands and thousands to import them.
Countryside: horses mostly kept outside in fields. Riding stables much more simple but again sparkling clean. Love their jumping and also hacking. The hacking however is quite boring as mostly walking through rocky mountains and difficult terrain - so they hack more for the chance to experience the countryside rather than the riding experience. No cross country, polo etc. They are really into the psychology of the horses and bond very emotionally to them, each one an individual with a distinct and unique personality. They are more friends than riding machines. Still have grooms to do all the work, but not strange for owners to get involved if they choose. If the horse is kept in a family field/back garden type then he/she is part of the family like a child so no groom to help. In these cases also the riding skill is very low and no interest in competing. More happy hacker type...
These are the things that first come to mind...
Click to expand...

Horse-lover, that is really, really interesting. Makes me want to go to Iran, now.
 
If you love showjumping or polo you'de love it there! Especially if you are competitive as there's a huge competition scene. I heard one of the trainers there was shortlisted for the olympics but decided against the whole thing when he found out he wasn't allowed to bring his horse from Iran to compete... Am assuming quarantine issues
 
There is this one livery yard which has a london theme... Each area has a beautifully decorated sign saying 'Piccadilly circus', 'old street' etc and is really quirky, full of flowers, trees, plants, cobbled paths, cute cafe and outstanding arena. Full of belgium warmbloods...
 
Really interesting horse-lover! In the saddle used to do an Iran riding holiday - I'd have loved to do it but apparently the lady running them retired :-(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top