You don't see it so much now thankfully but people who tie haynets onto the back of trailers/boxes why would your horse want to eat fume infested hay?!
People being inconsiderate with their hands when they are riding- I hate to see sawing, yanking etc, fixing hands down to keep horse in "an outline". I don't like bits anyway so seeing things like that makes me feel pretty mad.
And generally spoilt children, my mum saw a brand new lorry the other day with 'sponsored by Daddy' on the side!!!
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I saw one with this the other day whilst I was with OH, we both thought it was quite funny. Lots of kids are funded by their parents when they started out, doesn't necessary make them spoilt.
RE OP the not acknowledging whilst hacking winds me up also people who tie their horse up on yard or outside their stable and then disappear for hours.
M+M judges who can't identify the native breeds...My forester (ok quality, placed at county shows and puk so you would think fairly recognisable as a nf) has the letter b in a circle branded on her back, I once spent a considerable amount of time explaining to a judge that this did not mean that she was a welsh sec b
Turning out in synthetic headcollars- just plain dangerous
Bandaging incorrectly- ie too tight/ too low
Double strap brushing boots on the wrong way round
Door chains left up behind shut doors
*Ponies left then dragged out to do all sorts of shows come the weekend
*Irresponsible riding (like cantering hell for leather over a clear round on longish grass after its rained
then wonders why horsey is falling over/stopping)
*Large riders NOT wearing sports bras...its for everyone's safety
*My OH blaming me for every slow horse lorry/trailer on the road...its not like im driving them!!!
*Not actually being able to afford your horse......but looking to spend over £500 on a saddle it doesnt really need
unexperienced people buying youngsters because they are all they can afford. It really gets to me that they then wonder why they can't hack out alone/ the horse has started napping etc. It really gets to me as your responsible for that young horses future and if you mess it up the chances of them finding a good, permenant home later on are dramatically reduced.
And riders not thanking cars when on horseback. i taught a girl to ride once and after me telling her a million times to thank drivers and her not I made her get off and lead the pony home.
Gadgets, specifically counter acting gadgets, for example, gag bits (exp dutch gags) that raise the head with a martingale on the gag rein..... Learn how your things work if you have to use them or go back to basics and find out if you can chuck em all together.
We have a horse at work called Tiny Tim and if one more F'ing person comes up to me and goes "Oh he isn't very tiny is he!" I AM GOING TO F'ING KILL THEM!
Oh while on the subject of work, being told I'm too hard/mean on the horses. They are heavies, when the public are around I am going to be stright with them, they are going to get a smack when it's called for if they play up. If I didn't some kid would get killed one day. What they fail to realise is when people aren't around they are allowed to behave like horses and have a bit of charecter but when there are 5million uncontrolled children under 5 trying to run under their legs they have to be PERFECT. Same goes for treats, just beacuse I don't let anyone feed them treats does not mean they don't get at all, they all do, In their feed! Again, small children tend to be fond of their arms! Oh and just because the horses are in now doesn't mean they always are! Infact they only come in to work/have something done with them.
This should come under work one but it's kinda general. Horses snatching their dinner! When I feed I want the horse to go back and wait in the appropriate place. They do not need "a taste" at the door. Goes double for the heavies.
Oh, and driving horses, I have never come across a horse that is not good enough to ride so is driven, I have on the other hand come accross many horses that aren't good enough to drive so ride! And the average driving horse is far more flexible than the average riding horse, how do you think we turn, constant leg yeilding!
Ooo after thinking I couldn't think of many I have gone on quite the rant! lol
Children's show ponies that are only ever ridden by the child at a show, always schooled by adults at home, and are lunged half to death and dosed up with calmers before they go into the ring.
The essential point of a child's pony is that it's supposed to be suitable for the child to ride!
- gags. (yip all of them, vile things the lot of them)
- bad farriers and the people that use them 'He always seems footy after he's been shod' yeah that's cos your farrier makes his feet fit the shoe!
- draw reins being used without someone on the ground supervision...yes everyone needs it.
- lunging because you can't be bothered riding...what you want the day off but your horse has to work? That's fair!
- people commenting on endurance condition...yip the Arabs don't carry any fat and yes she is getting fed, lots more than you're fat pie of a horse.
- people that have magic saddles that fit every horse you put them on. I'm going to get them a magic bra and take them out running. A cup bra on a DD lady and go for a jog...it's magic how comfortable they will be.
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Horses snatching their dinner! When I feed I want the horse to go back and wait in the appropriate place. They do not need "a taste" at the door.
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Yes! I have feed, you go back, I put feed on the floor, you wait until I say you can eat. Not just manners, basic animal psychology means you should be like this with dogs as well as horses. Cats are different, they are in charge, we know that
This goes for haynets too; I make horses wait until I've tied it up & turned it before they are allowed to eat it.
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Oh, and driving horses, I have never come across a horse that is not good enough to ride so is driven, I have on the other hand come accross many horses that aren't good enough to drive so ride! And the average driving horse is far more flexible than the average riding horse, how do you think we turn, constant leg yeilding!
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This! The amount of people who thought our scurries were only good for galloping in a straight line - do you know how flexible they have to be to turn at a gallop around a single cone or a U turn? And they were ridden every day for exercise; the best, softest mouthed, most responsive pony I've ever ridden was a 20yo scurry who'd been driven all his life.
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Children's show ponies that are only ever ridden by the child at a show, always schooled by adults at home, and are lunged half to death and dosed up with calmers before they go into the ring.
The essential point of a child's pony is that it's supposed to be suitable for the child to ride!
Definitly horse riders not saying thankyou to passing drivers. I hate it, just smile and nod for gods sake.
Rudeness, I cant bear it. I dont care if you have had a bad day it doesn't mean you cant take the time to even say hello.
Opinions when they are not asked for - if I am doing something, I am doing it for a reason. If I am using something, I am using it for a reason. If you want to be able to tell me what to do with my things or my horse then you have to pay for them first.
People who ride who do not say thank you. Goes for drivers too when as a rider you have done all you can to get out of there way and they can't be bothered to thank you.
People who ride out with our hats espically kids who seem to think it cool! You only have the one head. To teach someone the mess it makes. Take a watermelon and hold it at the persons head hight regardless of what size horse or pony you are on and drop it thats your mess! Dad did that to me and have not been on a horse without a hat since!
Well meaning tit bit feeders in the stable or field drives me nuts espically when they have no idea what damage they can do to the old lamintic on limited grazing field handfuls of lush grass. With the comment "oh sweet pony but oh how horried he has no grass!" Caught last week at friends place. Friend put them right on that one!
Definitely horses that don't have manners / are bad to lead that then have to be handled by friends / helpers / staff. Especially when they are babies that the owner thinks is "cheeky" or "has character". No my love, your future dressage star just dragged me over and buggered off!
Also people who don't appreciate that natives and ponies can be taken seriously. Yes I appreciate the pony is 13.3hh and I'm a grown up and yes, it has quite a lot of hair. And don't worry you don't have to ride it but please appreciate that when I do I train and school just like your dressage horse and the aim in life for pony is not just to be "cute" or a "cool dude"!
DEFS agree with the Endurance one! Gilly is the most physically fit horse i've ever seen, doing 90kms tomorrow and she gets two small scoops of endurance mix and two large scoops of alfa a every day-she did 64kms and ofter only 15 mins her heart was back down to resting rate!
What a great post, have so many peeves
* People now sweeping up and emptying wheelbarrows (especialy when they use yours)
* Rugs hanging on stable doors, straps dangling with horses in the box
* The expert know it all who won't actually demonstrate their riding on your horse just tells you that you do it wrong
* Saddles put on way to far forward, horses ears are not the best spot to try and sit on
* Struggling to mount, ripping the saddle sideways, causing the horse to stagger, then thumping down on horses back, boots in ribs then sock it in the mouth. Use a mounting block
* Never emptying the hay soaker, honeslty stinking yellow water is fine, then borrow hay as the horse is no longer eating theirs
Lots that have been mentioned! But I hate non-horsey people that slag off horses, horse riders and horsy sports. I dont feel the need to make nasty comments about other peoples interests and sports, so why do it to mine..
I can't stand people riding horses that are way too small for them, or are not up to carrying their weight, poor horse!
Also i hate seeing any horses in fields with barbed wire fencing, i hate the stuff.
Ooohhh...where to start- depends on hormone levels really...
1. Straw /bits on floor - sweep up goddamit or my OCD may kick in
2.Not emptying the wheelbarrow actually on the muck-heap...just dumping the load vaguely in the area
3.Overfeeding/under-excercising then complaining the horse is 'mental'
4.People messing with my horses....dont do it! I dont go anywhere near yours cos I'm not bloody interested....
5. Horses left in until mid-morning having finished their haynet at 7pm the night before because owner really can't be arsed to get out of bed.
6. The 'gag/martingale/whip/spurs combo'
7. Flash nosebands....especially in combination with a single jointed bit.
8.Fully clipped horses that are not ridden and kept in a HW rug all autumn/winter/spring....WTF?
9.Bad mannered horses...whose in charge there then?
10.Rude kids.
God...I could go on and on......is mine the longest list yet?
People who think horses cannot carry more than 3 stone, including the weight of the saddle, regardless of the horse in question.
People who think they are holier than thou in all aspects of horsemanship. Leading on from that, people who can't see their own faults/critique their own practice, because they are too busy looking at what everyone else is doing/what everyone else looks like and bitching about that.
*RUNNING MARTINGALES- well people that use them unnecessarily. WHY?!!?!
*People who ride in spurs jumping when they can't keep their lower leg in place so give their horse a nice jab over the jump. My leg doesn't stay, so I don't use 2 inch spurs!!*Riders that don't thank drivers
*Bragging: "I'm the only one who can ride my horse, its so dangerous" - So? That's nothing to be proud of!!
*Really fat riders.
*People who hack out in the evening, under a shadowy bridge on a fast road with no hi viz. We got too close before we noticed them, could have seen them so much earlier with hi viz. If we'd been going as fast as some looneys go along there, they would have been dead meat.
*Talking on the phone when riding, while on a road. On a bridleway/in the school fair enough- just get out the way of other riders. But on the road is just plain dangerous- and rude when you don't thank people for slowing down!
* Rude horses
I must admit that I am guilty of some of the things listed (but I'm not telling any of you which).
Pet hates for me (not already mentioned):
- over-horsed riders/owners....so unnecessary, wouldn't life be so much easier for everyone if we were all honest about our abilities
- Horse-sick paddocks
- Cruelty and neglect of horses (or any animal for that matter)...makes my blood boil
- having to pay £100 for a decent pair of jodphurs
- Poo-picking...gotta be done though!!!
- Waiting hours & hours between classes at a show...how is it that two 5-minute blasts round a xc course can take 8 hours???
- drivers cutting into my stopping space when I'm towing on the motorway
- not horsey but incorrect use of they're/their/there and your/you're.....loads of it on this thread - grrrrr