Healthy Horses doing nothing??

Well I am with you Stroppy - in fact I posted a very similar post a few weeks ago and got called all sorts of names for it.

Horses who are sane and fit should be worked in some way or used for some purpose ie breeding, showing etc - sorry that is the way I feel and cannot see the point in keeping them as field ornaments.

However, I am not looking down my nose or curtain twitching, I just cannot see the point.
 
mcnaughty said:
Well I am with you Stroppy - in fact I posted a very similar post a few weeks ago and got called all sorts of names for it.

Horses who are sane and fit should be worked in some way or used for some purpose ie breeding, showing etc - sorry that is the way I feel and cannot see the point in keeping them as field ornaments.

However, I am not looking down my nose or curtain twitching, I just cannot see the point.
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Genuine query, not a dig but want to know your opinion - what about if you can't ride? Should you not be allowed the privilege of owning a horse/pony?
 
stroppy said:
IMHO a horse being kept as a pet is a waste of a horse.
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In what way is it a waste? My horses dont have to prove anything. I dont need them for my ego or to make money [ha!] or to show that I can jump higher fences than anyone else or anything. They are just loved and fussed and groomed and enjoyed. They are great pasture ornaments.They live on my own paddocks and yard, which is safe and secure and owned,along with my home mortgage free. Their futures are assured,they have the best of everything,plently of food of the right type,shelter,companioship,stimulation and interest. I can afford to do this, its no problem to me and my husband,who also loves them and helps with mucking out, fencing,haymaking and so on. They are fortunate horses. Sadly not every horse has such a good life as mine,especially when they are thought of as just another commodity or are needed to bolster someones pride or bank balance. Some jelaous sad people are envious of others who can have horses just to love nd be enjoyed. Those people should look to themselves and try to see why they are so bitter and judgemental of others.
 
stroppy said:
And i have already said i couldn't care less what people think, it was a genuine question interpret it however you wish
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If you don't care what people think, why in the world ask an opinion question?

I just don't understand why you're so combative about the subject. What possible difference can it make to you if other people ride their horses? :confused:
 
Horses were not put on this planet to carry people! I ride mine, but I can understand some folk like to just be around them, enjoy watching their beauty and love to have something dependent upon them for their welfare. I personally do not believe a well looked after horse is better off 'with a job to do' again humans giving horses human responses. just my opinion of course. I have not waded through all this post so I may well be repeating this.
 
jesstickle said:
I suppose it is a shame for the owner that they don't take advantage of the lovely relationship with their horse that they could. I'm sure the horse gets a nice relationship with whoever looks after it on livery though :D I wouldn't want my horse to like someone more than me but I suppose people like that don't care because as you say, they're just a status symbol
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That's what I meant :-)
 
mcnaughty said:
Well I am with you Stroppy - in fact I posted a very similar post a few weeks ago and got called all sorts of names for it.

Horses who are sane and fit should be worked in some way or used for some purpose ie breeding, showing etc - sorry that is the way I feel and cannot see the point in keeping them as field ornaments.

However, I am not looking down my nose or curtain twitching, I just cannot see the point.
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Ploughing fields and pulling carts is working, showing etc is playing just like taking a dog to a show, and most people would regard them as pets, no?

I keep mine as field ornaments because I can, do they care, no
 
Interesting posts, some horses dont like to be ridden ie the hack that goes out slowly and then races back on returning, horses that stop jumping getting sour in the stable the list goes on each horse is different like their owners. They dont need to be ridden, no horse is born with a saddle on its back.;)
 
Cobrastyle said:
Genuine query, not a dig but want to know your opinion - what about if you can't ride? Should you not be allowed the privilege of owning a horse/pony?
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People can do what they like with their money and if they want to own a horse it is up to them. I know lots of people who breed Welsh As that certainly don't ride them but they show, breed, sell and drive them. This post was not to decide who should and shouldn't have the privilege of owning a horse/pony.
 
stroppy said:
What aggrivates me is the fact their are people sturggling to keep their horses as money is tight for everyone right now, well with the odd exception, and thier are people that are desperate for a horse yet a vast majority of the horse community have their own horse yet can't be bothered with it, the people on my yard that don't ride seem to spend at most an hour at the yard and not do things all that well, then leave their horses for someone else to bring in (as we have the rule that if when you get your horse in thier is only one other out you bring both in) or just pay some one else to do it, not like full livery as its a completely DIY yard but their is a 'job service' available
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This sounds like simple jealousy IMHO.
Mine has only been ridden a few times in the last year, initially because of her ill-health and then because of mine. She has thoroughly enjoyed her time in the field with her settled herd at home, coming in and going out according to her normal routine. We have had retired horses for the last almost 20 years. They have all been perfectly happy until their health dictated otherwise.
I would rather see horses being field ornaments than being 'rosette machines' and believe that most horses prefer that way of life too.
 
amandap said:
Most horses are pets! How many horses work for their human's living these days?
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Interesting and has put another idea in my head (sorry to drag up this very tired old thread)
I have horses that work for a humans living, I run a riding school.
Once they retire from riding school work, they are no longer ridden whilst still healthy. I give them a retirement of 40 acres of grass and all the care and love they could want for, they have worked for me and so I do that for them. By the OP's understanding, i should shoot them the day they are no longer able to earn money for me as they have no purpose any more......?!
I think I would struggle to run such a popular business introducing non horsey folk to the lovely world of being around horses if I took that philosophy!
 
Pearlsacarolsinger said:
This sounds like simple jealousy IMHO. .
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YOU couldn't be more wrong if you tried!! i wouldn't ride some of these horrible, *****, cobby, ugly, boring, talentless horses for all the tea in china, the only 4 that are even worth a second glance on the yard other than my pair are owned by friends and i can ride them whenever I feel like it, just as They are free to ride mine whenever they want
 
stroppy said:
YOU couldn't be more wrong if you tried!! i wouldn't ride some of these horrible, *****, cobby, ugly, boring, talentless horses for all the tea in china, the only 4 that are even worth a second glance on the yard other than my pair are owned by friends and i can ride them whenever I feel like it, just as They are free to ride mine whenever they want
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How charming of you !
 
stroppy said:
YOU couldn't be more wrong if you tried!! i wouldn't ride some of these horrible, *****, cobby, ugly, boring, talentless horses for all the tea in china, the only 4 that are even worth a second glance on the yard other than my pair are owned by friends and i can ride them whenever I feel like it, just as They are free to ride mine whenever they want
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I think the point was that you are jealous of other people having the money to own horses, and not feel that because they are paying out they have to have a 'return'. Your comments about the horses you are talking about says an awful lot about you, none of it complimentary! :eek:
 
stroppy said:
YOU couldn't be more wrong if you tried!! i wouldn't ride some of these horrible, *****, cobby, ugly, boring, talentless horses for all the tea in china, the only 4 that are even worth a second glance on the yard other than my pair are owned by friends and i can ride them whenever I feel like it, just as They are free to ride mine whenever they want
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oh my word. What on earth has happened to you to make you so bitter. I do hope you have friends you can talk too.
 
As long as the horses are happy and healthy I see it as perfectly acceptable. Afterall, I'm sure if given the chance most horses would be happy to graze all day. I know a couple of people that only ride at the weekend, and even then they hack, and the horses are perfectly happy with it. Sometimes feel mean working my horse 5-6 days a week when his friend's being ridden twice a week!
 
stroppy said:
YOU couldn't be more wrong if you tried!! i wouldn't ride some of these horrible, *****, cobby, ugly, boring, talentless horses for all the tea in china, the only 4 that are even worth a second glance on the yard other than my pair are owned by friends and i can ride them whenever I feel like it, just as They are free to ride mine whenever they want
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Ooh, and just for the record, you're making youself out to be even more jealous than you looked in the first place :D

I hope some of the other liveries see this post, for their sakes.
 
OMG! Very sad you have this opinion, really. My horses are ridden 4-5 times a week spring/summer, but in winter I can only ride weekends weather permitting. I have a job!!!! And a child, and a dog that needs walking, a household to run etc etc etc. I would LOVE to ride more in winter, but I cant afford livery with a school etc so what would you have me do exactly? They are extremely well cared for, spoilt in fact! They have the vet, farrier, oesto etc when needed & are fed, watered daily & poo picked daily. Why shouldnt I have them? You have asked a "genuine question" yet have quite viciously opposed anyone who has disagreed with you. I pity your horses that will be discarded when they no longer do what you want them to :(
 
This thread makes me angry.

For the last four years we've had 6 horses, and only 2 were ridden!!!!!!!

Dorey was at stud, then pregnant, then in foal.
Emma was very, very sick, but ridden a few times before she died
Milo is 2 and a half
River is 7 months
Molly was an unbroken 4yo who was broken, ridden a couple of times, then found to be in foal
Maverick was her foal

My mother does not enjoy riding due to being of a certain age, with weaker bones. But she loves seeing horses every day.

This assumption that someone who doesn't ride doesn't visit their horses is beyond wrong!

Horses don't need to be ridden as long as they're happy. And owners who love their horses don't need to be forced into riding them to keep the forum police happy!!
 
Ha how funny you are jayde87, that is the beauty of the internet knowbody really knows who any one else is, my horses are proper competition horses and the majority of the other horses on the yard would fall over a trotting pole, i'd rather have my horses shot than have them stand in a field doing nothing
 
stroppy said:
Ha how funny you are jayde87, that is the beauty of the internet knowbody really knows who any one else is, my horses are proper competition horses and the majority of the other horses on the yard would fall over a trotting pole, i'd rather have my horses shot than have them stand in a field doing nothing
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Perhaps your horses don't want to be competition horses, shame they can't talk, they may tell you to go and jump yourself!
 
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stroppy said:
YOU couldn't be more wrong if you tried!! i wouldn't ride some of these horrible, *****, cobby, ugly, boring, talentless horses for all the tea in china, the only 4 that are even worth a second glance on the yard other than my pair are owned by friends and i can ride them whenever I feel like it, just as They are free to ride mine whenever they want
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Do come for a hack with me and my daughters pony Turbo, boring? never!!
 
stroppy said:
YOU couldn't be more wrong if you tried!! i wouldn't ride some of these horrible, *****, cobby, ugly, boring, talentless horses for all the tea in china, the only 4 that are even worth a second glance on the yard other than my pair are owned by friends and i can ride them whenever I feel like it, just as They are free to ride mine whenever they want
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Charming! I'm so pleased you're not on my livery yard.

There is no need to be rude about other people's horses - after all they didn't buy them to please you. If the owners have any sense they won't let you within a hundred feet of them anyway with an attitude like that.

Personally I have a horse because I want to ride, but if someone else chooses to keep a horse and not ride, how is that in any way my concern?
 
Cazza525 said:
I'm sure horses don't stand in a field thinking....'I wish I was at a show/event today'

As long as they are seen to, who is anyone to judge?

:)
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My horses are rarely ridden, however they have a job.

They keep me sane on a daily basis. They make up for all the craziness and nastiness in the world and they are my therapy. I suspect it is like that for a lot of people.

They are very well looked after and go without nothing and repay every penny spent on them by simply 'being'
 
QR not read all the posts so here it just my thoughts
I dont see why these threads pop up all the time, if the horse is loved and looked after does it matter if the horse is ridden or not.
horses dont really care if you take them out for a ride or they stand in the field munching, i dont get the fuss.
And really at the end of the day what is to do with anyone else if someone rides their healthy horse or not
 
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