Found someone riding my horse on facebook! So angry!!!

MotherOfChickens said:
sorry OP, not sure why you are having such a hard time. if someone had posted a thread about this happening to their horse in the UK, they'd be told to get the guns out. I don't blame you for being upset.
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No, I think that if someone from the UK said that their horse was just stood in a stable and lunged for 9 months a year, the response would be the same.
OP only said halfway through that it had turnout, so not being blessed with mind reading skills I'm afraid I took the OP at face value.
 
OP I hope you don't feel I was bashing. I would love if you could share a pic here.

I will just say if for whatever reason I had to be away for 9 months I'd be thinking of someone to ride mine out a bit. And by that I don't mean a pro. More a person to do some light riding as my horses enjoy it. So I'd choose someone responsible who may not be the best rider but will take care of them while riding. It's a source of pride for me to know my horses could be enjoyed by others. Because no matter what situation they came from I will know I did a good job getting that one right. I feel even competition horses should be able to be hacked out by someone other than a pro. This is not to say you let anyone get on and have a hoolie around. You pick careful. And on a plus side you may be instilling another person with respect for horses. Another person that may have a yard in Morocco where horses are looked after properly.

I do not agree with not letting you know and going against your wishes. Not cool. But once the storm subsides perhaps think about the situation as a whole.

Good luck OP
terri
 
MotherOfChickens said:
really? the horse has not been abandoned in a field, owner is paying for full time care! as far as we know this horse's needs are being met, its probably better off than my lot living in a quagmire atm.

sorry OP, not sure why you are having such a hard time. if someone had posted a thread about this happening to their horse in the UK, they'd be told to get the guns out. I don't blame you for being upset.
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No the horse isn't abandoned in a field. He's living in a country many thousands of miles away from where the OP lives. A country that the OP tells us is full of untrustworthy people where they have no horse care skills and do not treat horses well. His owner only sees him for 3 months a year. Hardly the same as a person who sees their horse every day and lives nearby. If it were a person living in the UK who didn't go and see their horse for 9 months of the year then yes I think people would be just as confused tbh. There seems to be no definitive answer to what we are all supposed to suggest to the OP. She seems to think that her husband will sort it out when he goes over there in March, well unless he's a Triad member or something then I can't see what it's going to accomplish IF as OP states, there are no other livery yards available. She hasn't been given a hard time, she's been given many suggestions and advice. What else is there available for us to do? We've all agreed the horse shouldn't have been ridden without permission, maybe we should all have replied "oh how awful, sorry" which may have pacified the OP but I can't see that that would be particularly helpful. I think (if memory serves me) the OP perhaps rides at a club in HK?? so I wonder whether now might be the time to consider shipping the horse over there for her own peace of mind.
 
Booboos said:
I feel for you OP and don't know why you are having such a hard time on this thread. No one should have ridden your horse without permission it is totally unacceptable for the YO to have allowed this to happen. Plenty of people leave their horses in other yards, like training yards, or retirement yards and expect the people who care for the horses to keep to the agreement. Hope your husband can sort this out.
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this
 
millreef said:
I'm not on facebook but my daughter is. She's just shown me a photo of a girl riding my fllllliiiiiping horse! I'm so mad! I have him stabled in Morocco and only ride him in the summer months when I'm there. The rest of the time he's just lunged and stabled. I can't believe someone rode him, in my flippppin tack and then was stupid enough to put the photo on facebook. OH MY GOSH I"M SO FLIPPPPING MAD!!!!!!:mad:
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As far as I can see OP was ranting rather than asking for advice...

For what it's worth OP...I'd be livid too!!!
It is absolutely NOT acceptable for someone to take it upon themselves to ride anyone's horse without their permission
 
Regardless of what 'others' would do if it were their horse.
OP pays for a service, with strict instruction for the horse not to be ridden, which as the owner, that is her decision to make, Id be going totally bat @@@@ crazy if it were my horse!
 
Could you not take the horse elsewhere if you feel that you can't trust them? Spain is only local to Morroco if my memory serves me?
 
I would be angry too OP
I don't think you should wait for your husband to sort it out in march though if you are worried that damage may be done, you must have contact with someone over there so I would perhaps issue a reminder that the horse must not be ridden or you will remove him/her - I am guessing the livery is possibly lucrative for them
 
I know it's unlikely but before I went in guns blazing I would just check there is no legitimate reason for the horse being ridden ie he was lame and they are checking if he's lame under saddle aswell.

As far as everything else is concerned it doesn't matter if you are two miles or two thousand miles away if you are paying for a service you expect to get a service.
 
Oh I'd be furious, I understand I have a mare that I would not allow her to be ridden by others, she has her own small problems and she's very special to me so I would be furious if I found someone riding her. I'd also question the fact that your horse is being ridden...are other instructions being ignored like turnout/lunging/hand walking etc.
 
I'd be cross too! I found out YM let her daughter ride Ned when I wasn't there. I had told her only me and another girl could ride him. Who knows what else she did with him!!
My friend found out her "friends" were riding her horses without permission too. They slipped up and left his bridle out and later admitted to it!
No advise or anything, but I hope you get it sorted!! Must be hard when you're not there :(
 
Spring Feather said:
No one misread the original post. She clearly states that the horse is *just lunged and stabled*. Absolutely no mention of turnout in her original post.
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If you look again at this post I was venting, and not particularly thinking that I should explain that my horse is turned out and handwalked as well as lunged and stabled. It was VERY early on in that I set the record straight however. I pay for my horse to be well looked after and when my husband returns every three or four months for business he checks on his progress (as do my friends and relatives). Hence my shock at seeing a complete stranger on my horse (who wasn't wearing a riding hat and trainers which made me annoyed for some weird reason).
 
millreef said:
If you look again at this post I was venting, and not particularly thinking that I should explain that my horse is turned out and handwalked as well as lunged and stabled. It was VERY early on in that I set the record straight however. I pay for my horse to be well looked after and when my husband returns every three or four months for business he checks on his progress (as do my friends and relatives). Hence my shock at seeing a complete stranger on my horse (who wasn't wearing a riding hat and trainers which made me annoyed for some weird reason).
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And you have every right to vent. As we've all said, it's unacceptable for them to ride your horse without your permission. Hopefully you'll be able to suitably resolve this upsetting situation.

As an aside, I have many retired horses who live with me while their owners are in other countries or hundreds of thousands of miles away for most of the year so I am totally familiar with this type of arrangement and the amount of time an owner is away from the horse is not something I have any problem with, but then I know I'm looking after these horses properly, and more importantly their owners do too.

I'm sorry you felt attacked, I very much doubt it was anyone's intention to make you feel like that. I certainly didn't, I was purely trying to come up with suggestions on how to remedy this. You did not ask for suggestions or advice and I apologise for giving them; we really should all have just replied that it's awful and we're sorry you're upset, end of post.
 
It's completely out of line, I wonder how some of the people giving the OP a hard time would think it was ok for someone to take it upon themselves to ride their own horse(s) without permission simply because the people riding it didn't agree with the way they choose to keep their horses themselves?
Another point is insurance, no idea about your policy obviously OP, but it's a worry that if anything happens to the rider whether insurance would cover it.

Also, how easy is it to get livery in HK, it's not exactly horse friendly there either, is it.
 
abracadabra said:
It's completely out of line, I wonder how some of the people giving the OP a hard time would think it was ok for someone to take it upon themselves to ride their own horse(s) without permission simply because the people riding it didn't agree with the way they choose to keep their horses themselves?
Another point is insurance, no idea about your policy obviously OP, but it's a worry that if anything happens to the rider whether insurance would cover it.

Also, how easy is it to get livery in HK, it's not exactly horse friendly there either, is it.
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This, absolutely. Crickey the high horses are out today aren't they! To be honest I read the OP as when she is not there and the horse is lunged and stabled it meant just lunged and on livery, in the way someone might say 'I stable my horse at X yard' or 'my horse is stabled on a really nice yard' not, it's shut is a stable 24/7. It seems people on this board are so sensitive about turnout they are pretty much condoning riding someone's horse without permission!

OP, how and where you keep your horse is your business, if I were you I would be spitting feathers! You say the horse is checked occasionally by family or hubby, can you not tell the yard when they're visiting so they just turn up occasionally and keep them on their toes. Also, not sure if it's possible but I'd be considering offering to pay extra for some sort of written report every week of exactly what the horse has done, who has done it, what he's eaten etc etc like people get from their child's nursery! Whilst you can't guarantee it's the truth it might make them a bit more conscious you're on their backs.
 
I'm another that would be fuming and having a mad rant on here too if it were my horse.
I'm assuming Morocco is similar to Egypt in terms of horse care/value/treatment. In which case any horse that is taken care of without suffering pain, hunger or neglect is one of the fortunate ones.
I don't understand the problem with a horse not being ridden ? So what! Horses don't HAVE to be ridden and in a country such as Morocco I think this horse is very lucky to have somebody like the OP ensuring its safety, care and well-being.
 
As people have previously said, it doesn't make a tiny bit of difference if you agree with the OPs situation, the point is that shes paying for a service and so expects to get that service. There are also plenty of horses all over the world which are not ridden for various reasons, only being ridden for 3 months of the year is hardly cruelty. I would also have been absolutely livid and would have probably phoned the carer straight away and had a good old rant
 
I too would be furious to find out via the net that someone was riding my horse without my permission.

Having said all that, OP, has plenty to say about the treatment of horses in Morocco. When I send my horses to trainers in France, I visit them every week.

I have a young stallion in the UK who was sent to a top class yard for training.

I visited him after two weeks. At six weeks he moved yards and the new yard contacted me to say he had a bad skin infection. It took more than two weeks and £550 in vet bills to get him right.

What I am saying is, that even if you pay for the best, you cannot know what is going on unless you can visit on a regular basis. That is why even though I am in France I still leave here at midnight to get a 5.00am ferry to visit my boy and come home the same day.

Not attacking you OP just sharing my own experience.
 
Admittedly haven't read through the whole of this thread but I'd say it's definitely a matter of principle. They should NOT be riding your horse full stop - especially considering insurance etc. - what if something happened to them or the horse?
Also, I don't think it's cruel to keep a horse stabled, lunged and turned out without being ridden. I really doubt he cares that he's not being ridden, and it won't be affecting his welfare as long as he has sufficient turnout to keep him occupied. Food, water, turnout, company, shelter, he's probably a very happy horse.
Completely understand OP. Hope you get this sorted!
 
Rollin said:
I too would be furious to find out via the net that someone was riding my horse without my permission.

Having said all that, OP, has plenty to say about the treatment of horses in Morocco. When I send my horses to trainers in France, I visit them every week.

I have a young stallion in the UK who was sent to a top class yard for training.

I visited him after two weeks. At six weeks he moved yards and the new yard contacted me to say he had a bad skin infection. It took more than two weeks and £550 in vet bills to get him right.

What I am saying is, that even if you pay for the best, you cannot know what is going on unless you can visit on a regular basis. That is why even though I am in France I still leave here at midnight to get a 5.00am ferry to visit my boy and come home the same day.

Not attacking you OP just sharing my own experience.
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With all due respect UK to France is a little different to Hong Kong to Morocco :)
 
OP, I'm sorry to hear about the difficult situation you're in. I too would be cross if I found out someone had ridden my horse without my permission and I hope that you are able to resolve the situation.

Having said that, I have to say I was mildly offended by the suggestion that nobody in Morocco knows how or cares enough to look after a horse properly. I agree that generally speaking, standards of care are different to those we see within the UK. But I have ridden in Morocco and the staff and guides, local Moroccan men, treated the horse with great care and respect. Perhaps that isn't the norm there and I'm sure you know more about Morocco than I do (I was only there for a week after all!) but I'm sure you could find a trustworthy yard somewhere in the country.

Do you have a restriction regarding what part of Morocco the horse stays? Perhaps you could look for an alternative place to keep the horse?
 
..Why bother having a horse that is so far away? The poor thing was probably ecstatic to get out and about.
 
equi said:
..Why bother having a horse that is so far away? The poor thing was probably ecstatic to get out and about.
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Excuse me? That's quite rude - why do you bother having a horse then? Distance has nothing to do with it; if the OP wants to have a horse, and by the sound of it she has rescued it as well, then why not? It's not a "poor thing", if you bothered to read the post it is being cared for, exercised, turned out and hand grazed. What is specifically NOT supposed to be happening is that it is being ridden. Plenty of horses are not ridden, that is not the issue.

If anyone rode my horses without permission I would go ballistic.
 
Haven't read all replies as quite frankly it appears to have got silly, but I can totally understand how you feel as I once caught someone giving riding lessons on my youngster. I was on a private yard, just me and one other. The other person offered part livery as I couldn't get up every morning as I was still at school.

Turned up one morning to take my little mare out and found some kid yanking her in the gob and booting her in the sides. I was livid and pony was moved that day.

Really upset me someone I'd trusted could do that.
 
If someone rode one of my horses without permission, in a situation where I thought I had left them to be safely cared for I'd be spitting feathers to be polite. It's not just that they rode, but have shown that they can't be trusted to do as you have asked & are paying for. Good luck in sorting it out.
 
equi said:
..Why bother having a horse that is so far away? The poor thing was probably ecstatic to get out and about.
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This isn't very helpful. The OP doesn't need to justify her situation or tell us all the history of how she came to own this horse, but she does say that she rescued it from a very bad situation. In all probability she never planned to have a horse on the other side of the world, and it probably wouldn't be anyone's preferred situation, but I think if I came across a wretched horse somewhere that I regularly go each year, and I could afford to pay for it to be looked after, visit occasionally, and ensure it could have a life without suffering then I would probably do the same. It costs thousands of pounds to transport horses internationally, import/export between many countries is prohibited, and if one is likely to be moving around oneself, then leaving the horse in its own country is surely the best thing. There is an American woman who did this with Marwari horses in India, and from her own impulsive decision to buy a particular horse in India and pay for its care, a whole project of education and improvement for horses in Rajastan has developed. And don't imagine that horses in these countries WANT to be out all the time...in that intense heat what they most want is a short burst of exuberant work, e.g. on the lunge, and then back to a shady stable out of the heat and the flies.

OP good on you for giving this horse a decent life. I think I would be cross too, but being so far away I would probably try to get the offending person 'on side' rather than making an overt enemy of them and risk things going on without my knowledge. At least via Facebook you can keep a remote eye on things. It depends on the people involved, and on the horse. Good luck.
 
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