Horse issues and novice owners.

TrasaM

TrasaM

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This mornings events have really bought home to me the potential problems that new or inexperienced riders face and the potential for little problems to become very big problems if they are not dealt with at the start.

I ride / share my friend's cob on a loose ish arrangement. He has a problem with a locking stifle and was seen by the vet two weeks ago who advised to keep riding and build up his muscles and get him fit. However he's not felt right to me since then and I was not convinced that it was quite as simple as it being just his stifles. He bucked with me on a few days ago and i just knew something was wrong. So following my instinct I got the back lady out today. She gave him a good tweaking and pulling and she's advised not to ride for least a week. He's got issues with his sacroiliac, neck, back and right shoulder all which stem from his rear end problem.:( Thread in veterinary with more detail)

What is really sobering about this is the extend of the damage which could have resulted if left untreated. So how do novice riders know when to get help and not assume that the horse is just being difficult. Last year this boy went through a phase of bucking and tanking off and all was put down to him being a bad horse. It later transpired that his saddle was hurting him as it was too small and the tree had cracked!

Horse ownership is a huge responsibility. This boy isn't even mine and I'm now sitting here worrying and tearful over him.
So advice to anyone experiencing problems with a horse; please don't assume straight away that it's just horsey being an arse.
Sorry, had to vent.:(
 
I'm a new, first time horse owner and novice rider and have been really unlucky as my boy (an 11 year old 14.2 cob) chipped a bone above the pastern weeks after getting him which needed surgery. Then due to having a cast fitted he developed laminitis (this was last June and he's still unridable).

I'm on a yard where the owner is very experienced as are most of the other liveries so they've given me help and advice when I've needed it.

I read lots of books and researched as much as possible before taking the plunge and buying a horse, but none of them could have prepared me for the upset, worry or expense when something goes wrong.

We all have to start somewhere and I imagine other new/novice owners also seek advice from more experienced people too.
 
I don't know :( because you can't know what you don't know you don't know if that makes sense... you can also be duped pretty easily as a novice owner and you can try all kinds of well meaning(but essentially incorrect for that situation) advice before getting to the root of the issue.

We went through this with my daughter's mare, She was always being seen by the vet but for whatever reason we just kept missing the mark.

Three years in, a friend from the US ( semi pro sj rider) rode her once in the school and said, "her pelvis is badly out" and we got a chiro, from there we realised that that her feet were terrible and our farrier wasn't addressing it, cue new farrier and she was a different, and much happier horse. But, probably due to our inexpert handling coupled with pain and discomfort in work she developed some nappy behaviours including rearing and loading issues, the rearing resolved itself but she's remained a bad loader and is quite quirky to ride.

Though we tried our best for her In our novice way just didn't have a clue really, and she could have been so much more in the right hands.
 
We all have to start somewhere.

I think these days with the advent of the internet and forums like this, the horse world is a much more open place where you can get advice.

I always think pain before anything else. For example, I hadnt ridden my boy in a few weeks so I fancied a hack. Went out and all was perfect. Next day planned to do the same, went to get on and he was very tense and grumpy. He has mounting issues anyway but this was a bit different. Once on I put my hand under the front of the saddle and realised that with his weight loss the saddle was a little too wide and had more than likely been uncomfortable the day before. I hopped off and changed the gullet, tried to remount with difficulty but did get on. Checked the front of the saddle again and it fit so I hacked out happily and made a point of getting on and off a couple of times with no issues.

I think knowing your horse is a major factor in being able to determine pain from naughtiness, but we all have to start somewhere and that's how we learn.

I hate to see people jumped on on this forum for asking questions. To people who have had horses all their lives, they may seem obvious, but not everyone has the luxury of equine college for example. A lot of us start at a riding school at the weekends and go from there. Its just the way it is so I always try and help where I can. x
 
I don't know where we'd be without the Internet and an ocean of information at our fingertips :) just how did we manage before.

Reading my post again I'd like to emphasise that this is not a criticism about novice owners per se. I'm one myself after all. It's more me expressing my concern about just how wrong things can go when we don't know any better amd are having different advice hurled at us by everyone around.
 
To be honest I think it's more a case of knowing your horse well. A sensitive novice rider will probably be able to pick up on a priblem if their horse is out of sorts.
 
I dont think a novice owner is so much the problem as an owner who believes they know more than they do/doesn't know to listen to the horse or as chazza says, know them well enough to know what's not normal. If I have so much as a flicker of doubt on what I'm looking at (mentally or physically) I will get someone qualified in to see whether there is a problem or not.
 
HaffiesRock said:
I hate to see people jumped on on this forum for asking questions. To people who have had horses all their lives, they may seem obvious, but not everyone has the luxury of equine college for example. A lot of us start at a riding school at the weekends and go from there. Its just the way it is so I always try and help where I can. x
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I agree with this totally. We have all been there in way or another and I really really hate seeing some of the stuff that gets posted on here by a novice owner asking for help. There really is no need for some of the bullying that goes on. We are all entitled to our own opinions, but some it of it, well......

I have been a horse owner for 9 years and in my eyes I am inexperienced - I would not go so far as to say I am a totally novice owner (I feel I am a competent novice in that I can are for my horse properly and can ride fairly ok), I am not I know that, but I still consider I am inexperienced. I was dead lucky, I bought what seemed the perfect horse, but he wasnt. I had a hell of a lot of very experienced and professional help on our yard. I still own the old git now and we are best of friends. On top of that I will spend time trawling the internet, plus will ask people for their help if I am worried.
 
TrasaM said:
I don't know where we'd be without the Internet and an ocean of information at our fingertips :) just how did we manage before.

Reading my post again I'd like to emphasise that this is not a criticism about novice owners per se. I'm one myself after all. It's more me expressing my concern about just how wrong things can go when we don't know any better amd are having different advice hurled at us by everyone around.
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It can just as easily go the other way. People more often damage horses with "kindness" than they do neglect. x
 
^^^ agree - we were all clueless once and with horses it is an eternal learning experience. No one knows it all and the only silly questions are the ones that don't get asked.

No one can know everything there is to know but a good bond with your ned and simple things like always listening to the sounds of their footfalls and listening and feeling for changes will really help anyone spot things.
 
TheoryX1 said:
I agree with this totally. We have all been there in way or another and I really really hate seeing some of the stuff that gets posted on here by a novice owner asking for help. There really is no need for some of the bullying that goes on. We are all entitled to our own opinions, but some it of it, well......

I have been a horse owner for 9 years and in my eyes I am inexperienced - I would not go so far as to say I am a totally novice owner (I feel I am a competent novice in that I can are for my horse properly and can ride fairly ok), I am not I know that, but I still consider I am inexperienced. I was dead lucky, I bought what seemed the perfect horse, but he wasnt. I had a hell of a lot of very experienced and professional help on our yard. I still own the old git now and we are best of friends. On top of that I will spend time trawling the internet, plus will ask people for their help if I am worried.
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I think you have raised a good point here. You can have decades of "experience" but if your horse has never had a sick day in its life and never put a foot wrong under saddle, then what do you actually have experience of - the truth is , nothing much. I knew someone who'd had several horses over a number of years, but when his mare had clear signs of colic (clear to those of us who'd seen the symptoms many times before) he didn't recognise it at all. If all you have ever used is a snaffle, what experience do you have of fitting and using, say, a double bridle. If you have only ever ridden two horses in 20 years, are you an experienced rider? I would say no in many respects. A person who is used to a steady plod is going to be every bit as useless as a novice on a sharp, prone to bucking mare in season. Its all relative! As for how did we manage before the internet came along, well we watched, listened and learned from others and bought well-written books by knowledgeable people! I learned to bandage legs by doing it on table legs, believe it or not.
 
I always think of the poor horse - owning one sets you a class apart - equites privas - a keeper of a private horse and those thus blessed are afforded all sorts of special treatment under the law ( now being erroded every day!) but I still find it utterly amazing that all you need to buy a horse and take it straight out on a busy road is - the money!

Old literature is full of reference to good and bad treatment of horses - indeed, it is often used to form a person's likely character but no one sets down how one should acquire horsey knowledge in the first place. Fine for the aristocracy because they could presumably afford and employ folk who already knew how to do the looking after leaving the owner to perfect their riding. Modern folk who wish to become owners should spend time at a good riding school for a year and ask lots of silly questions -because it's often the silly simple stuff that everyone thinks you know.

Of course, as we are talking about Horseydom - you could be a world renowned expert and have two of the three people you've just met at a new yard ridicule the way you did such and such to the third - "oh have you seen the way that new livery did that? Far worse than even you! Hahaha.

So I'm going to dive in on that score and say that Chrioropractors are little more than mumbo-jumbo - except in rare cases where simple massage can cure the problem - they are next to useless and in some cases detrimental. This should be no surprise considering the entire business was cooked up by a guy called D.D.Palmer who started out promoting the benefits of magnetism like a snake oil salesman and went that didn't work he moved on to back manipulation being the cure for all ills. It isn't! Anyone who says it is - is quite mad!

Don't get me started on Homeopathy!
 
We have a clueless man on our yard, He always fancied a Horse, so went out and got him self a 16.2 poor doer WB dressage schoolmaster type. When we went to pick him up, Horses headcollar was on upside down and when it came to loading (once headcollar was on properly) He dropped the rope, walked round the back of the Horse and tried to push him in :o

Luckily his Horse is VERY well mannered and easy on the ground, but he didn't know Horses had to have there feet done or that Horses teeth needed looking at. His Horse was also lame and had a sinus infection.He also failed to turn up on the holidays, because it was the holidays! :o

To be fair to the guy he still has him 2 years later and has done very well with him, he is very ditzy by nature (he asked the YO if all the wild rabbits were hers) and often forgets to do things (he put his Horses rug on other night but didn't do any of the buckles up) he has improved the Horses condition and loves him very much. But he comes out with some very daft comments sometimes, but we all help him out and explain to him the best we can. He is mostly on full livery so his Horse gets seen to every day.

But I don't mean to sound big headed, but if it wasn't for me or YO, I don't know if this Horse would still be alive :rolleyes:
 
Are you saying that only novice owners make this 'mistake'?

It is not confined to the novice owner, many experienced life-long horse owners react in the same way.
 
Herts05 said:
Out of interest, did you get the Vet's permission (and that of the owner) before you had the back person?
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No. Owner is on holiday and her OH didn't want to worry her. Didn't see any reason to consult vet? Back & saddle person is well known to my friend and supplied saddle and has treated him before.
I'm happy with the decision because there was a risk that YO would dismiss my anxiety about the horse and he might have been ridden.
 
I don't think its so much a novice problem, more the case of everybody needing experienced back up. For someone very novicey, that might mean needing a good yo available for even help with very basic care, for someone more experienced it might just be vet/dentist/farrier. The only issue is when they don't have that second experienced opinion available for the situations they aren't familiar with, & that applies at any level.
 
moana said:
Are you saying that only novice owners make this 'mistake'?

It is not confined to the novice owner, many experienced life-long horse owners react in the same way.
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Yes, I've learned that it's not just a novice issue. YO ( friend of cobs owner) is a very experienced horse owner but persistently ignores issues with both her own and livery horses. Part of the reason he's lost so much condition is her controlling when and how the horses are fed. Hence six underweight horses in varying states of disrepair:( if he were mine I'd be moving him somewhere else.:(
I think my point was that when novice owners do not have someone reliable to guide them that things can go very badly wrong.
 
I thought reputable 'back people' would / could only treat a horse after contact with a vet. My physio always speaks to the vet first and sends a report to them after treatment.
 
Unless you keep the horse at home in a bubble and never consult any farrier or vet or see anyone remotely horsey then I wouldn't be too worried. Most new owners are liable to consult professionals more often than is really needed, rather than the other way around. Everyone has to start somewhere and even the most experienced owner can miss something for a while. Usually consulting with horsey friends or professionals can bring about an answer.
 
Any proper chiro/physio etc will have asked you if you've had vets permission.. And who the vet is, and got you to fill a form out. You should also really have owners permission
 
wench said:
Any proper chiro/physio etc will have asked you if you've had vets permission.. And who the vet is, and got you to fill a form out. You should also really have owners permission
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It's a small village and she knows the vets in the local practice and did ask who had seen him last. :)
I was left in charge of the horse and did speak to her husband beforehand. There won't be an issue because of our arrangement and she trusts me to do what I feel was right in the circumstances.
I know what you mean though. Had the circumstances been other than they are I would not have made a decision to seek advice for someone else's horse. I'm more worried about her OH not telling her as I know she'll be texting to ask how he's doing.
 
Gut instinct.

Last year I found my horse (who i see every single day, even with 24/7 turnout in summer) barely able to walk with his leg hanging from the hip. My initial reaction was that he'd disclocated it as thats what it looked like. Cajoled him in (a very long painful looking walk) and not once did i get the feel i needed a vet so rang the farrier instead. Turned out it was a hoof abcess - i've never had a horse with an abcess before. Saved myself a massive callout fee and stuff I didn't need. Had this horse 3yrs so know him pretty well.

T'other horse - puffy leg. Assumed at first it was with standing in quite a lot - she'd been kicked in the other leg so i guessed it was weightbearing and was swelling. One day and it didn't feel right. Got vet out. Cellulitis. Had this horse 3mths so don't know her as well as the other.

Gut instinct goes a long way.
 
I dont think it is novice owners - it is ignorant owners. I know people who have had horses for 20 years and dont know how to put a poultice on properly.

Most novice owners get "adopted" by the yard know it all so they bumble along.

It all comes down to experience IMO - I have had several different horses over the years, the first couple were easy never had an issue. The next 2 had every single lameness issue in the world. So now I can spot a horse with a SI issue from 100 paces (I spent a lot of time watching various horses being trotted up at my vets and telling him which leg I thought was the problem).
 
CBAnglo. I could have done with your eyes in this case:) all I had was a sense that he was in pain across his pelvis. IHave a painful SI problem myself at the moment so maybe I'm just transferring my issues to him :o
He's so trusting with me that I can't bear to think of him being in discomfort and not doing something about it and just leaving him until the matter sorted itself out. :mad:
 
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