Following on from PG 'sunburn' post

S

sandr

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 April 2007
Messages
929
Visit site
It appears (to me) that some people think that unless they have done BHS exams and know everything there is to possibly know about horses, then you shouldn't have one.

I am a fairly new horse owner and pretty much everyday ask for advice. I don't know how to put some bits of equipment on, or what bit to use when or what to feed or that buttercups had that kind of effect - does this mean that i am an unfit owner?

I don't want to turn this into a row, i am just curious as to what level of knowledge you consider to be enough to own a horse
smile.gif


Weren't we all learners at some point?
 
I think we are all learners all of the time. That is the great thing about horses, there is always something new to learn, something new to experience.

As long as novice owners are keen and willing to take good advice, I don't see a problem. It is when experienced people try and help and they take no notice that I think there is a danger.
 
I had my first pony at 5...I can tell you now what I knew then about horses could be written on the back of a stamp.
I think though that when I was growing up around horses people were more willing to help.
I owe my knowledge to the YO daughters..I have known her 15 years, she jumped BSJA and evented-but she was so down to earth that galloping bare back over the fields on £5K horses-it was a lot of money 15 years ago-was the norm.
I think that todays health and safety has gone mad, no one wants to offer help as you dont know where it could lead you. How often do we hear of people suing for this that and the other?
Its a shame...but its life
 
Ignorance is fine, its just ignorance that causes pain or suffering to the horse that is unnacceptable.

I can't ride for [****] but I still know the difference between good horse care and crap horse care.
 
I think the some reasons why some posts get sooo heated is that some people seem to have absolutely no common sense. And you don't need experience for that - just a little intelligence.

For what it's worth there's quite a bit of kit I wouldn't have a clue on how to fit either. And lots of things that I don't know too. It's learn, learn, learn with horses.
 
I had pretty much sole care of a pony from when I was 10 until I was 17. I then had 25 years out and have owned ponies (and more recently horses) for the past five years. I did my B Test in my teens and have more recently passed my NVQ 1 and 2 in Riding and in Horsecare.

I describe myself as a novice horse owner.

As with pretty much everything else common sense is the main requirement for safe horse ownership - for the horse and for the owner. IMHO
 
I think it depends enormously on the situation. If you are planning on keeping a horse at home or somewhere isolated with no experienced help at hand then yes, I think you are likely to come unstuck without a certain amount of knowledge and experience in addition to common sense (although, again, it depends on what type of horse you have and what you are trying to do with it). If you are planning on keeping a horse on full-livery with lots of experienced people around then people can (and do) manage absolutely fine without knowing what their horse eats or what its farrier looks like.

smile.gif
 
I'm with farthinwood fox - ignorance is fine but ignorance that causes pain or suffering is unacceptable.

Then again I can't really even remember back to when i had my first pony. But I was a child and so was greatly helped by the more knowledgable adults on the yard - its easier when your a kid with your first pony - people seem to give advice more freely.
 
Everybody has to start somewhere, and if you are willing to learn, then you can become proficient fairly quickly. I believe that the willingness to learn is key and unfortunately some people with little knowledge have no inclination to learn from others as they know best. How anyone with any commonsense, let alone horsesense could let an animal get in that state is beyond me. You wouldn't let a child get like that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top