Does this forum make you paranoid?

ladyt25

ladyt25

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Since joining here, however long ago it may have been now, I swear I have become more paranoid and worried about how my horses are, what I am doing with them and "what if" scenarios.

I feel the more I read about others (their ailments, accidents, experiences) makes me more of a worrier!

It is great to here about other people's experience, don't get me wrong, but I swear it does make me fear the worst should any little thing happen because I read some post about something similar on here.

Is it just me?! :)
 
Yes sometimes it does but I go away do my own research and go from there. I have learnt a lot from it. I get paranoid when I read how perfect some horses are kept, live out on great grass, turnout all year round, this does give me sleepness nights in the winter as mine are at home on clay soil and its a year round battle but I can't just move them that drives me insane.

My horses are happy so I must be doing something right.
 
This forum makes me feel I should call out the vet out all the time, anytime something is remotely wrong with a horse or even potentially wrong everyone is like get the vet out.
Obviously some things definately require the vet but my horse had an accident last fri night and I know if id posted on this forum id have been told hes going to die unless i get the vet out or something similar!
5 days after it he was flying round the field as if nothing happened, they are a lot more resilant than some people think!
 
No . I think if you put the basic info into the search box you'd see that most of what comes up has been gone over time and time again . So if you had just one post on each new subject , yes it would be quite a few , but mainly day to day stuff . 9 times out of 10 you will prob never come across that you read and as long as you are careful with what you do and ask your horse to do you should be fine. I always look at things with " would it be safe to put a child in that field/stable , walk along that road , be dealt with by that vet/dentist...etc etc " if yes then you should be ok if no then dont do it or sort the dangers .
 
Sometimes but overall, since joining this forum, I have learnt so much more about horses and horse care then I would have done off my own accord!
Wow - That was a complete hijack :D Sorry guys :)
 
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Yes! I posted about this a while ago, I think I'm developing some sort of munchausens syndrome lol! If they won't stand still for me to get on, its back or teeth, or maybe I need a another new saddle. If babyhorse won't work in an outline one day, its his neck/back/teeth. If crazypony spooks at nothing, its ulcers. If they are lying down in the field, it's probably colic.

I am actually fairly normal lol!
 
slumdog said:
Yes! I posted about this a while ago, I think I'm developing some sort of munchausens syndrome lol! If they won't stand still for me to get on, its back or teeth, or maybe I need a another new saddle. If babyhorse won't work in an outline one day, its his neck/back/teeth. If crazypony spooks at nothing, its ulcers. If they are lying down in the field, it's probably colic.

I am actually fairly normal lol!
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Ha, yes I think that's what it can be like. It's like if you google any sickness symptoms you are having, you can pretty much guarantee you will some diagnosis that is definitely terminal!

As I said, it is great reading other people's experiences of course it is as often they can be very helpful and really I am not a stressy person (I'm quite a chilled really :D) but if my horse gets lame or has any issues I do end up logging on here and you can guarantee you'll see a thread about similar symptoms and a whole host of what it could be posts added based on people's experiences!
 
Nah! :)

In RL, I ask those I trust (vet, farrier, YO etc) when I'm stumped and guess I've been around horses long enough to trust my own instincts the rest of the time.

That's not to say I don't read certain people's posts on HHO with great interest and take on board what they say, as you're never done learning with horses ... but paranoid? Nope.
 
But then if you log on to Facebook and go on a certain 'chatty' group, sudacream and hibiscrub fix everything so just roll them in it and it makes them alright again! Haha!
 
Slightly paranoid but I think it has affected my confidence more in the sense it has really made me question my riding ability (or lack of it!).
 
I think there are lots of really knowledgeable and helpful posters who have assisted many people on this forum,so no i don't feel paranoid,just glad there are so many people looking out for each other.
 
Actually yes, it does a bit. :o

I'm mostly paranoid about Mollie getting too fat (she did for a while last summer and I foolishly posted a photo :eek:) or getting "footy".

Everyone on my yard says Mollie's weight's fine now. So does my vet and farrier. However there I am bringing her in off the grass during the day and lungeing or riding her as much as I can, and photographing her regularly for comparison.

I've got her a muzzle too, she tried it on tonight and was very unimpressed. :p

Before I came here, I had no idea about the dangers of obesity in horses. But on a good note, that's all part of how much I've learned here. :)

I probably won't be posting any photos of Moll this summer though. ;):D:D
 
I think I question things I am doing with my youngster - ie when he's being a prat being lead for instance. At the back of my mind I think "what if I do 'x' and he des 'y' and he's injured/i'm injured?". Before this I would be tougher with him and just tell him to stop being a prat.

I think I need to get the confident me back again and clear my mind of what could happen scenarios!
 
I agree with some of you in that as soon as there is any kind of problem the defualt answer is vet,back,teeth,saddleect ect - but so often this is correct! I often want to ask a question but feel too worried about the way i type it out in case i get jumped on as a bad horse owner. It does make me paranoid that compared to others on here my horses are not perfectly behaved - on the bit and working through the back, and have the odd ache and stiffness and knock/ injury and doesnt have bloods taken for something underlying!!! X
 
Nope, its a forum, not an oracle, if people arent sure about what or why theyre doing something, youve the internet at your fingers, do some research.or take a class and educate yourself, while there is some good advice, not everything written on here is correct/good information.
As for the vet stuff, i think some of the posts obviously neeed a vet to experienced people, other posts, the feeling is if youve got to ask and its worrying you, then get the vet, yes horses are resilient but sometimes a tiny cut or a slight lameness depending on the injury can be career ending or life threatening, its knowing when the scales are tipping into the dodgy area, and that can seldon be done from a picture, or a description on a forum. :)
 
No, not paranoid exactly, but certainly more aware and questioning about how I manage the care of my pony. Currently, for example, I'm bit hung up on weight issues. He's a highland kept on livery on excellent (. ... Read, far too good, ....!) grazing, hence I'm always interested to read how others manage the care of a very good doer at this time of year. Especially as my options for varying his routines are limited by the yard and their need to provide care for a couple of dozen very different equines of all shapes and sizes.

He's also barefoot and prone to be a bit itchy, so again I've been interested to read others' experiences and ideas. I've been given some excellent ideas for changes in care which have really helped me improve my knowledge and make life better for my boy.

So, all in all, the forum provides a good source of advice, ideas and opinion. If in doubt, though, I always call on the professionals.
 
Mostly I feel like I pay too much for everything when I read this forum. I live in Surrey so livery is ridiculously expensive and almost never includes 24/7 turnout at any time of the year and often no turnout is available at times in the winter. It's frustrating to hear people say they'd never pay more than x amount or accept less than 24/7 turnout when here it costs two to three times the price quoted for less turnout etc.
I also find that on the forum people say they would never pay more than say £3 a small bale for hay when it is selling for a minimum £5.95 a bale at every supplier locally. Yes it's the price we have to pay in this area but it does make you paranoid that you are being a mug and being ripped off.
Saying that I now keep my horses at home and when you know what it costs to buy land per acre and maintain it you can totally see why it is more expensive to the YO to supply 24/7 turnout rather than half day and stabled the rest of the time. I keep 3 horses out full time year round on the same amount of grazing that my last yard had 16-18 horses turned out on half days. Logically grass livery in this area should be three- four times the price of stabled livery with limited turnout as land is the most expensive cost but reading the forum I often see people say they wouldn't pay more than say £20 a week for grass livery or a field whereas here you wouldn't make a profit even if you charged £45-50 a week. I think the forum does allow liveries to see the YO's side but at the same time it can make you paranoid about spending more than people in other areas of the country do.
 
Slumdog don't forget the aloe vera gel!!

I don't think it makes you paranoid but it does give you more awareness of potential problems and therefore you are on the look out for them where as if you had never heard of x,y or z it wouldn't even cross your mind. I don't think having more knowledge can ever be a bad thing as long as you are sensible and think things through rationally.
 
LOL NO :D

People are entitled to opinions and this forum is full of that and actual genuine knowledge but I would never go away worrying about my horses or what I was doing with them just beacuse it different from what some internet randoms thought :)

Ive found the barefoot info on here brilliant but being honest not many other of my threads have been commented on so if the forum dont care about you............ ;) :D
 
snooples said:
This forum makes me feel I should call out the vet out all the time, anytime something is remotely wrong with a horse or even potentially wrong everyone is like get the vet out.
Obviously some things definately require the vet but my horse had an accident last fri night and I know if id posted on this forum id have been told hes going to die unless i get the vet out or something similar!
5 days after it he was flying round the field as if nothing happened, they are a lot more resilant than some people think!
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I don't think it is that actually. I think most posters think that if you aren't experienced enough to make the judgement for yourself without asking opinions on here, you would be better getting the vet, even if some people would have been right to decide they could deal with the problem on their own.
 
pipper said:
It does make me paranoid that compared to others on here my horses are not perfectly behaved - on the bit and working through the back, X
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It makes me laugh sometimes to read some posters discussing how they do various things with their horses and how well they go, they sound as if they know what they are talking about and then they post a picture, or I look at their sig,............... and I wonder if they are looking at the same photos as me.
So if I were you I wouldn't get too paranoid.;)
 
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Not paranoid but definitely more awsre. There are some fantastically knowledgeable people on here and I have leant alot. But I do my research too and never take anything I read as gospel.
 
I don't get worried about my horse's health, since my livery yard belongs to a vet and I have great physio etc too.

I do quite often feel paranoid about my riding, horse's way of working etc. I sometimes think of the absolutely barrage of criticism I would attract if I ever broadcast a video of us schooling!
 
Unless your horse/ pony is too fat, skinny, ugly, pretty , not suitable, sore back, bad teeth , bad confirmation ... No :)

Sometimes I feel like I am the worse owner in the world , he is kept on his own!!! Shoot me now :(
 
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