"Horsey people" that havent got a clue!

Hoof_Prints

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It does worry me when people know a little bit, but think they know everything about horses- they are far more dangerous than those who know nothing and admit to it! I was at a friend's stable yard and they had turned out the horse in a rug that only had one front strap done up- leg straps and belly straps hanging everywhere :confused: When I asked why, they just said "that's just how I put it on earlier" . I've also found a horse rugged up for the night, still wearing a saddle... again, no logical answer to that one either.

Ive just had a message from a girl asking if her potential new loan pony can fit in to the stable with my 15.2hh gelding and then we could half the livery cost :eek:

Someone I know decided that they were going to clip their horse for hunting (which they never got to), they clipped its face, legs and left a full hairy body on ! apparently this would keep it a good temperature in work.

Oh and then I rang up a girl to tell her I'd given her horse a net of my hay as her poor horse was crib biting after having no food all night and day, apparently it was no problem because he had marmite on toast this morning (The horse died of colic soon as it left the yard I was at )

*HeadDesk*

Someone please tell me it's not just me who find themselves wondering where common sense has gone!
 
I want to say this must be a joke right?? But somehow they are so stupid they must be real. Whoever said common sense was common :confused:
 
I knew someone (in fairness she was a very enthusiastic teenage girl helping in a riding school) who brought the pony out for its lesson with the saddle on and done up- backwards.

And someone else who brought their pony on to livery at the same riding school complete with its own bags of chicken corn. Mmm..tasty...
 
"He's lame because he doesn't know his diagonals". Or because he's crippled by bad shoeing. But the diagonals thing sounds plausible too... :eek:
 
Ooh and not horsey but I have a very tiny puppy and when I got her I was talking about giving her goats milk, someone advised to put so many scoops of powder in to make it up and I said "oh I've never seen it in a powder" for another girl to kill herself laughing like I was clearly an idiot and say "hahaha, even I know goats milk is a powder"

Pretty sure it doesn't come out of the goat in powder form...
 
Unfortunately they are very real! The marmite on toast had filled the horse up for the day, so he didn't need any hay :rolleyes: I have also met the mother that bought her 6 year old daughter a naughty yearling as their first pony so they could grow up together and she could eventually ride it..
 
Ooh and not horsey but I have a very tiny puppy and when I got her I was talking about giving her goats milk, someone advised to put so many scoops of powder in to make it up and I said "oh I've never seen it in a powder" for another girl to kill herself laughing like I was clearly an idiot and say "hahaha, even I know goats milk is a powder"

Pretty sure it doesn't come out of the goat in powder form...

haha! I worked on a goat diary farm one summer, It just comes out like talc powder you know ;) Baby goats are fully trained to make up their own mix :D
 
There's a quote from Black Beauty, "Don't you know that ignorance is the worst thing in the world, next to wickedness".

It frightens me how many people I've come across recently who have just gone out and bought a horse without actually knowing anything about them. I went to try a horse for share a couple of months ago, a recently broken 4 yo. The owners tacked her up for me and I watched and then had to remove all the tack and show them how to do it properly. When I got on her, all she wanted to do was nap, buck and stop dead. They then said, "well, we're not very experienced so she gets away with murder, bless her. We want a sharer to school her for us". I politely advised them that maybe they should be paying someone to sort the poor mare out, rather than expecting someone to pay to re-break her for them. Lovely horse actually, lots of potential sadly wasted.
 
I used to feed my horse marmite on treats as a fly defence but think they may have taken it a little too literally!

Did you know that thorough is a breed of horse... As in thoroughbred!?!
 
Love these stories! :):)
My 'best' ones are about a novice livery who told me that his horse had suddenly become one sided and very difficult to 'steer'. He hadn't put the reins over the head so both reins were on the same side of the neck..... Then he put the saddle on with the numnah on top! I am not kidding and was very pleased for the horse when it got put on working livery. At least it got looked after properly.
Then there was another livery who was so happy to have bought her pony a rug to wear in the field. Shame it was a quilted stable rug.....
 
I know a fair few idiots too.

A girl I used to know years ago had no clue at all. She'd had a pony as a child, done dressage, jumping bit of XC etc then decided to buy her own as an adult. I helped her find a nice safe cob (she wanted a brown and white one and thats all that mattered) but at the viewing she had a headache and asked me to ride the hors. I did and it was strong and not well schooled. I told her to get on and she refused,, but bought the horse anyway. She came to my yard so we could ride together. I was so excited to have a hacking buddy and someone to share chores with to get days off. Turns out the girl knew nothing. Absolutely nothing.

She could't put a head collar on, didnt know anything about feeding. She thought one bucket of hay would be enough to the last the night so I advised she needed enough to last her all night. Then she started feeding her enough build up mix in one feed to last a yard full a racers a week! How that horses didn't colic in the first few days I'll never know! She didn't even own a grooming kit. I bought a new one so cleaned my old one up and gave it her as the horse looked a mess.

She said she didn't want to ride with me until she got used to the horse (fair enough) A couple of months later I had a day off unexpectedly so went up to ride and found my friend in the school. I stood and watched from a distance as I'd never seen her ride before and the poor girl looked like she had never been on a horse before. She was flapping and bouncing around, shouting, pulling the poor horses mouth so I went over to see if she needed a hand and noticed the horses bit was in backwards! She had been riding her like that for weeks.

We don't speak any more as after all the help and advice I gave in the first few months, she became a know it all expert and started critising what I did as wrong. I left the yard and I think she's still there, and miraculously the horse it still alive!
 
Cant quote but agree with clare85 ive also been shocked how many people have gone and brought a horse with little or no knowledge about them.
Ill always remember a lady who came to try my welsh d, she went yo get on from the wrong side, blamed my make of saddle...when I pointed out she was getting on from the wrong side she exclaimed oh I havent practised getting on from the other side yet. Needless to say she was asked to leave
 
I've had some crackers! One girl replied to my advert for an exracer that wasnt to jump and needed schooled with - would he be able to go out hunter xcing all winter, be ridden once a week, live out and only need checked every 3 or 4 days as she couldnt drive and could only get a lift then and not need fed. Her credentials were that she had been riding at a riding school for 6 months and had been looking after a 'beautiful palamino arab stallion' for 12 weeks and had gained many awards with him ... it was a gameon facebook ...

Another (scarily a person I work with!) Asked if she could try the above horse out and having just said to her the horse had never been hacked out before replied with - thats ok ill just trot him up the road to the yard and back. Said horse had not been said road was a stupidly busy main A road! Eh naw love! Gou aint having my horse!
 
Her credentials were that she had been riding at a riding school for 6 months and had been looking after a 'beautiful palamino arab stallion' for 12 weeks and had gained many awards with him ... it was a gameon facebook ...


OMG :eek: hilarious but scary !
 
I get people asking me what breed my horse is and when I say thoroughbred they say ok but what breed is he? I then have to explain that thoroughbred is a breed! :rolleyes:
 
I also have the opposite problem with my other half. He doesn't ride but he can do everything else and is quite competent, yet will suddenly forget and say "Well I don't know how to do it" if I'm busy and I need him to do something :rolleyes:
 
Some of these are REALLY scary!!

It baffles me the lack of knowledge some people have.

There's a woman on my yard who's bought a young, firey pony for her very young daughter with absolutely no knowledge. She left her on the yard alone with this pony!!!! YM turned up a few mins later and saw this poor lass and helped her out. Thankfully the mother is usually very very good and will ask whenever she's unsure.
 
I have to admit I've got on with my reins crossed. My poor lad kept turning to the fence and stopping, poor confused beast. I did notice pretty quick (I was worried something was up with him!). I had had him about 15 years at this point!

A family on a yard I used to be on left someone else's 18 month old tied up in the field shelter as he was bugging their pony whilst they were getting it ready, they then went off for a ride.
 
I have to admit I've got on with my reins crossed. My poor lad kept turning to the fence and stopping, poor confused beast. I did notice pretty quick (I was worried something was up with him!). I had had him about 15 years at this point!

I will also admit to doing this :P
Thankfully Ned let me know before we got very far :P
 
A lady at our yard was sprinkling bute powder on her horses leg as he was lame on it. I asked her if she sticks a paracetomol on her head if she has a headache. She still didnt understand!

The same lady was giving her horse a calmer suppliment mixed with treacle as he would not eat it otherwise!
 
My friend used to be on a dressage yard. One of the ladies there would keep her youngsters in the paddock next to the arena 'so they can learn what to do'' :o
 
My friend used to be on a dressage yard. One of the ladies there would keep her youngsters in the paddock next to the arena 'so they can learn what to do'' :o

Another lady and I had a request to keep out horses in when the dressage comps were on. Their field was next to the arena and they would wait for a particularly tricky bit in the test and arrange a gallop past, complete with bucking and squealing. Apparently it was off putting!
 
On the local facebook page some-one has posted a photo of a pony tethered on a common, looks like a trotter type rather than heavy cob but you can imagine who it probably belongs to. People have posted saying if some-one can transport it to them they'll have it & they want it etc :o Last time I checked, if a horse is tethered it probably belongs to some-one and probably not some-one you want to get to involved with so what makes you think you can help yourself & what will you do when it's healthy and boisterous & it's winter and you have less time & less money? People just don't seem to think sometimes!

Have also seen tendon boots put on upside down and back to front, quite an achievement!
 
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