Fess up - what things do you do to your horse that others might criticise?

Pretty much everything! I ride on the roads on a horse with no shoes on that people say should be shod and I also ride a shod horse that others say should be barefoot. I have wb and tb types living out with no rugs on which is obviously incredibly cruel as others have stabled horses rugged to the eyeballs. I ride mine without asking them first if they want to be ridden which according to a parelli person who was on the yard at one point is wrong and using a bit and a treed saddle is cruel :rolleyes:
Anything could be construed as wrong and I suspect most things I do have been criticized over the years but I either smile sweetly and ignore or suggest that as I don't tell them how to look after their horses they shold do the same for me :D
 
Can't remember the last time I picked my horses feet out! I tend to check when she's walking on the concrete in front of me towards her field alone that they are clear :D

Not a fan of grooming either, a quick swipe if needs be will do it.

Brush mane and tail probably once a week unless it's show season.

Rarely wash legs down in the winter but will check for cuts sporadically.

Ride with spurs at times/whip when needed.

I never tie up, ever!
 
Actually on reading these, it really doesn't come across as bad management with a couple of exceptions!..most are adapting to your own horses and what works for you. I don't tend to tie up my old mare - she will pull back. Easier to do her in her box or leave her rope trailing. She is also given loads of treats and stays well behaved. My youngster, on the other hand is always tied up and never gets titbits as he mugs you - hard if he thinks you have some!
 
I don't muck pick very often

sometimes there is the odd ragwort plant in the field next door to mine ( people have pulled me up on here for that when I posted a picture, I ignored them of course!)

My stables are tolerably clean but not remotely immaculate

I don't groom my horses properly ever. If we go out they are bathed, other wise they are mucky pups!

I let pretty much anyone ride BH. Some of them I'm not even there to watch :eek:

I don't often pick out feet (usually if the farrier is coming)

Umm, loads more too I expect.

some more for you all:

I will turn my stick upside down if I think my horse deserves it (BH has had two proper wallops in his life)

I hack on incredibly busy roads

I have no problem sedating/twitching my horses if it makes my life safer
 
Last edited:
probably the fact that I can't stop talking to her, and if I'm not talking, I'm singing or whistling or humming or something. I know it's not a bad thing but I'm the only one on my yard who talks to horses anywhere near the level I do and forget they probably don't understand half of what I'm saying :D

if I'm in a rush I'll only groom the tack areas, I don't groom every day. I don't pick feet out at night cos I don't hose her legs off so I leave it to dry first. I worm without worm counts, I have a fully clipped horse out in a mw combo right now whilst her non clipped friends are in heavier rugs lol

I leave her stable door open all the time when I'm fussing around - whilst she's in there, and muck out whilst she's in there

She's 5 and I only let her jump small jumps still

Don't turn out everyday

Use duct tape on rugs until I get round to getting them fixed

I do very little ground work with her
 
Last edited:
I poo pick every day, winter and summer.
I pick out my horses feet every day.
I brush my horse every day,
I always make sure my tack is clean
I always wear hi viz out hacking..........

personally, I take pride in my horse and that's the way I like it!
 
Most of my bad habits I think are fine, until I get headbutted/kicked etc and then realise that THATS why the BHS tell you to do it that way...!

But some of mine...
My youngster brings herself in from the field. I can't catch her and the mare together, so I headcollar the mare and put her in her box, then just throw a rope around Puzzle's neck (who is normally stood watching) and lead her in. She's always just followed, never struggled to catch her yet!
I always leave doors open when I'm on the yard - they have ropes across though.
I never groom if I can help it - apart from where girth goes....if riding for short time don't normally bother with bridle area.......!
We rug from very early on and keep rugs on very late - but I hate MUD!
All but my youngster gets a hard feed - one is an eventer in work so he's fair enough, but the other only gets ridden once a week, and the coloured is retired!!!!
I have no objection to sedating or, more commonly, twitching. We twitch the mare to clip her face, every time. Better than being squished.
I turn out in the school....and I'm sure I'm teaching my youngster that bolting round the school flat out is acceptable, but she's just so cute....
I will smack all of ours if they need it.
I never wear a hat for turning out/handling - and I broke my own rule the other day and had my youngster in the school with me without a hat on....... eek, stupid.
I've sat on my 2 and a half year old....

Errrr that'll do for the moment...! There are probably loads more though.
 
Just about everything I do with my horses would horrify someone - but really I don't think they or I care:

I have an unclipped native who is rugged and has ad-lib haylage

my tack is brown AND black, and doesn't match:D

don't poo-pick the field

rarely tie up to groom, tack-up etc, they are led to the field with a rope round their neck.

Oh, and if that ain't bad enough for you - we ride on roads with no shoes, use metal bits and treed saddles, and (whisper it) I have a companion Shetland who wears a rug if it's raining hard:D:D
 
In the summer when the horses are in the far away fields I will let my 14yr old niece lead the horse down to the field while I drive behind them (its a good 3/4 mile walk lol)
She is really confident and good at handling them and my horse has manners though and I always make sure she wears a hat and gloves.
 
When i tie my horse up outside her stable, i leave her haynet on the floor instead of tying it up, it has small holes, she hasn't got shoes on and if i tied it up it wouldn't be far of the ground anyway. I've had plenty of people tell me off about it but she is always supervised so i tend not to pay any attention.
I used to hack out on A roads well road and again used to get criticized but she was good in traffic and i was always curteous to drivers so i never saw the problem.
Bad horse mummy! :p
 
I seem to be the only one on our yard who never hoses down their horse's legs! I feed carrots probably way too much, lead him with his had on my back, when I turn him out I put the lead rope round his neck and sort of post him in - when I catch him, I just stick the lead rope round his neck to get him to his stable.
 
I don't feel so guilty now!

If my big boy is really muddy, even though he wears a hood and is completely covered, I'll sometimes ride without grooming, I've started my rising three year old, long reining down the lanes near the yard plus I've sat on him and been led round the yard - he absolutely loves going out on the reins :) I only clean my tack the night before a competition!

Edited to say I also feed far too many polos to both boys and hose the youngsters legs!!
 
Last edited:
My sins are:
Leaving a fully clipped horse naked to eat his food outside for 10 mins
Leaving horse wander the yard
Dont led in from the field, only carch and put headcollar on when we get to the gate on the road.
Ride out at 0730 in full hi viz (could be spotted from outer space)
Only groom properly if going to a show
Having an unshod tb
 
I hack out on A roads where the cars go at 70 mph!

I always canter in the same places when hacking.

I only occasionally boot for jumping.

I ride/jump in the turnout field when there are other horses loose!

I don't poo pick (farmer won't let us)

I turn my horse out in all weathers.

I only groom the necessary bits and he is grey!!!

I never bath my horse.

Other than that my horse is utterly spoilt and ridiculously well cared for.
 
I never, ever bath my horse. I do sponge him down if the weather is hot and he has been sweating though.

I cannot stand watching people hose their horse's legs down - they are usually shouting "STAND!!! STAND!!!" whilst swearing. I often wonder how the owner would feel if she were naked from the waist down and being hosed with freezing cold water on a winter's day.
 
Lead 4 in at once from field - never with hat on [ we have 12 'ropes!]
do in hand training hatless
use cattle instead of wormers to get rid of worms
hardly groom at all,except bathe for shows
dont pick out feet- back too fragile!
keep horses in deep litter large pens,sometimes 2 together
turnout every day in shabby rugs[ some unclipped -whats wrong with that!?]
never wear hi viz
used to hack in halter & one rein [ well schooled hoss!]
go behind,under ,around any horse and never tie up to tack up etc [ horse mustnt be happy with owner to need tying up, surely?]


but think its a bad idea to...
ride bareback without stickybottomed joddies [I came a cropper]
leave stirrups down when unmounted [horse got mouth caught on stirrup and circled till she fell]
put rugs on untouched horses [went through 3 fields and 2 hedges in panic]
 
I never used to wear hi Viz till a couple of years ago. A woman approached in a car, way too fast (on a summer's day) screeched to a halt when she finally realised I was there, wound the window down and said "God, I'm really sorry!! I just didn't see you!!". Got one of those polite hi viz tabards now....
 
Only rug according to weather, if its cold wet and windy they get rugged. (unclipped)
Do not rug elderly shetland pony ( this has nearly had me reported to the RSPCA)
Only pick out feet once a day
Dont groom every day
 
I hack out in the dark ;) :p. Although due to lame pony this hasn't really been necessary this winter, it is saving me a fortune in batteries :D
 
I'm going to get shot down, hehehe
I take gypsy up to his winter turn out every day, up a main road, in a head collar, bareback :eek: :D
He's very spoilt, gets treats all the time
We aid his weight loss by not rugging his some days when he's clipped
I sometimes go out riding without grooming properly and picking hooves
He gets the whole yard and 2 stables to wonder around at night
He goes out in any weather
He gets more feed than he should
He gets the peelings from Sunday dinner veg!
 
i dont think any of these makes any one a bad owner tbh!

i rug my unclipped, unworked horses
i pick out feet once a week
i occasionally ride my old mare without a hat
dont ever wash legs in winter, they are out 24/7
ride in a field with other horses grazing
have jumped without a hat
i harrow my field, never poo pick
have loaded and travelled my mare with no headcollar (no choice at the time)
quite regularly will tie up and wander out of view
have lead my horse to the field off a moped !
 
Fully clip and rug heavily; HATE hairy horses and he's a mud magnet so its easier to keep him cleaner.
Lunge in side reigns AND an elastic lungie that goes over the headpiece and through the legs...for more than 20 minutes.
Feed treats by hand (well, mum does as she doesn't ride him so won't affect her, If I feed him treats he gets silly and naps for treats from me so its best if mum gives them).
If he doesn't want to be caught then he will stay out all night whatever the weather. He gets a haynet hung on the gate to keep him going but I'm not going to bother chasing him around and coming back at different times of the night. If he doesn't want to come in when I'm ready then tough. This happens regularly as he is a cheeky so and so. But I love him :D
 
I had an interesting experiance recently. A friend has been riding another ladies horse but he is alot bigger than she is used to and he is also quite a hot horse. She asked if she could hack him over to have her first canter on him in my sand school. I said yes, so she came with the horse's owner.

The owner was really taken aback with how I keep my horses. The main things that surprised her were;

* I don't use my stables (her words - I do use them, one is my hay store and I use the others for tacking up or if I unfortunately have an injured horse on box-rest, but my horses live out).

* My field is sloping, she almost had kittens when the yearling galloped as fast as he could up to the top.

* The breeds of my horses as they are all hotbloods and I don't think that she is used to seeing them out 24/7 in winter. She sort of had a 'why don't you have a nice cob instead if you must keep them out' expression.

* That I don't enjoy schooling. I don't have a riding horse at the moment but we talked about when I bring my mare back into work once she's sound and when my filly is ready to be backed. I want to start hacking them as soon as possible, she would spend alot more time schooling before heading out.
 
Feet get picked out at least once a day, usually twice but grooming is optional (luckily she's not very good at getting muddy)
I leave the stable door ajar as I pop in and out - pony let herself out for the first time last week looking for her hay. Feed room is right next door to her stable so I could quickly pop her back in.
I did ride her in from the field bare back and with no hat twice - the 'no hat' quickly stopped after I fell off (luckily with hat on at the time).
Sometimes I remember to put boots on if I jump, flatwork never requires boots.
I probably feed (a bit) more than I should - but she is ok weight-wise.
I feed 'Power & Performance' even though she's only in light work otherwise she has no motivation.
 
I used to constantly hear everything I did was wrong. So I moved paddocks where I share with a lovely lady who considers my "specialness" hilarious and lets me do what ever I want with her pony!

Today I was child free so decided to tie up horsey for a groom. Tied him to a piece of electric tape (not switched on) which is only loosely tied to the side of the shelter. Everytime he tried to move away (which was often) I said 'stop it stupid'.

It is march fly season so I am constantly belting the crap out of my horse - I slap the fly where ever it lands on him and then squish it. Horsey is so used to it he doesn't flinch when I wack him :p

I randomly get on bareback in a halter wearing shorts, a singlet, thongs and no helmet :eek: to potter around the paddock. As we come back to the shelter I try kick him into a trot which results in him laying back his ears and swishing his tail and refusing to go any faster. Which results in me laughing my arse off and him deciding to stop suddenly and assist with my dismount. Which results in more laughter :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top