How did it come to this?

YorksG

YorksG

Over the hill and far awa
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Today on this forum I have read the following:

1) You can pay to download a book which can show anyone how to trim a hoof with an angle grinder :eek:

2) Sugar beet and haylage are poisonous to horses

3) If you fall off a riding school horse, there is a solicitor out there touting for your business to sue the RS

4) It is ok to not know what not to feed your horse, as long as you ask on a forum.

So I ask again, how the blooming heck did we come to this sad pass?
Answers on a postcard please.......
 
YorksG said:
Today on this forum I have read the following:

1) You can pay to download a book which can show anyone how to trim a hoof with an angle grinder :eek:

2) Sugar beet and haylage are poisonous to horses

3) If you fall off a riding school horse, there is a solicitor out there touting for your business to sue the RS

4) It is ok to not know what not to feed your horse, as long as you ask on a forum.

So I ask again, how the blooming heck did we come to this sad pass?
Answers on a postcard please.......
Click to expand...


And you think this is something new :D :D

But since you asked.


1. I have an angle grinder, dont think the horses would let me anywhere near them though, must have missed that thread.

2. Sugar beet and haylage can be poisonous to horses if you dont know what you are doing

3. The solicitor is on facebook, along with some other very dodgy links :D

4. Better to ask on the forum than never know
 
rockysmum said:
And you think this is something new :D :D

But since you asked.


1. I have an angle grinder, dont think the horses would let me anywhere near them though, must have missed that thread.

2. Sugar beet and haylage can be poisonous to horses if you dont know what you are doing

3. The solicitor is on facebook, along with some other very dodgy links :D

4. Better to ask on the forum than never know
Click to expand...

I too am the happy owner of an angle grinder :D But it sure isn't going anywhere near the horses :eek: and yes you are right of course about if you don't know what you are doing. I think it was seeing them all together that blew my mind a little :p Plus if people can read an internet forum, after they buy the horse, why the heck can't they read a bleddy book before they get the animal? small but significant rang over :D
 
But why do people buy ponies without having any knowledge? It's crazy - there is a thread on here now which is driving me mad. Why would anyone buy a pony and not have a clue about what they're doing???? Shocking. Makes me mad:mad:
 
I saw that one after I put the original post on, otherwise that would have been added as well! I do wish people would realise it is NOT A BIKE they have bought. I think I shall have to buy myself a hermes scard to go with my green waistcoat :eek:
 
I have to bite my lip and try and ignore the threads like that. Why would you buy a 10 year old a pony? If you know NOTHING about ponies or horses then to be really honest, I have no sympathy that they've been ripped off by being sold a dud one. I'm still convinced it's a troll though.
 
millreef said:
I have to bite my lip and try and ignore the threads like that. Why would you buy a 10 year old a pony? If you know NOTHING about ponies or horses then to be really honest, I have no sympathy that they've been ripped off by being sold a dud one. I'm still convinced it's a troll though.
Click to expand...

I am hoping it is a troll tbh, otherwise there is some poor pony out there, going from numpty to numpty :( The current depressed market for horses is going to be responsible for a larger number of these people actually buying them. :eek:
 
Agree with what's been said. Unfortunately an increase in disposable income for some people doesn't mean an increase in common sense. My daughter wanted pet mice, I insisted we read up on them, spoke to pet shops & people who had them first. Shame people don't do the same at the very least before getting a horse. Gives all novices a bad name which is unfair. Haven't got more than a vague idea about rodent health, but know which symptoms are a concern. Likewise don't know loads about their diet, but understand what they can & can't have. And think horses need more knowledge than that, not less.
 
I bought myself some pet gerbils, we've always had small animals, but I still read up about what food, what cage, if they need company or not etc etc. because they aren't hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits or jerds (relative of gerbils), so I still did all of my research, and I was 17 at the time. Seems I had more sense then than some people in their thirties thinking a horse is a dog :rolleyes: if you haven't had that exact animal before.... research! It's like, we went from a straight forward connemara, to a TB, and we still did a bit of research on TB's just so we were absolutely sure (we had other horses before the connie, but never a TB) :)
 
I agree with littlelegs. I cannot understand how people can buy any animal, never mind a large, expensive one, without learning about its basic needs, such as feeding, housing and obvious signs and symptoms of ill-health.
But then, when we were at livery, I remember the numpty parents who bought their young teenage daughter her 2nd pony/horse. She had a lovely coloured cob, which she did a bit of everything with, at a very local level. Apparently she outgrew it (she must have expected to grow much bigger than the middle-aged nurse who it was sold to). Parents bought her a 15hh TB which bucked her off when she tried it. Mum said 'she looked lovely on it' - perhaps she did but I can't imagine that she looked so great lying on the ground under it. Needless to say the poor 15hher was sold on in less than a year.
If you haven't got enough concern about your own child to make sure that the horse you buy for her is safe, then maybe it is not so surprising that you don't worry about the horse's well-being.
 
Sad state of affairs isn't it!

The riding school is no longer a place for youngsters to learn about management......many are too scared to let them near the animals from the floor for fear of being sued should a little darling break a nail, so where else can they learn?

In fairness though one lady (the lady with Dolly and small daughter....Cant recall her name) knew diddly squat about owning a pony, BUT hasn't she done well! She has kept the pony at the RS to ensure its wellbeing, and she has asked question after question to make sure she can spot a problem rather than ask how to solve a problem.
Hats off to her I say!
 
too many people with more money than sense and lets be honest, it's cool to talk about the horse when at parties. Any idiot can buy one and very many do:(
 
Pearlsasinger said:
But then, when we were at livery, I remember the numpty parents who bought their young teenage daughter her 2nd pony/horse. She had a lovely coloured cob, which she did a bit of everything with, at a very local level. Apparently she outgrew it (she must have expected to grow much bigger than the middle-aged nurse who it was sold to). Parents bought her a 15hh TB which bucked her off when she tried it. Mum said 'she looked lovely on it' - perhaps she did but I can't imagine that she looked so great lying on the ground under it. Needless to say the poor 15hher was sold on in less than a year.
If you haven't got enough concern about your own child to make sure that the horse you buy for her is safe, then maybe it is not so surprising that you don't worry about the horse's well-being.
Click to expand...

I put my hands up.... me and my mum fell in love with a pony that did exactly this! haha, mistake, I know.

It was my second pony, 13hh welsh sec bxarab gelding.

When we went to try him, I was only an inch shorter than the current owner (should have seen it was a dishonest sale there and then) I was 9, and she was 11. He was £995, and passed a 5* vetting, so we bought him... needless to say he scared the hell out of me and didn't ride him for 6 months (had a girl that rode another pony for us at the time and we swapped) The pony in question would gallop at every jump, he would stop sometimes and jump it other times, he was like a bat out of hell! and eventually we progressed (after everyone at PC telling us to sell him because he was an accident waiting to happen) we even got through to the trailblazers second rounds (which was HUGE for me :p) he could do vertical bucks, or atleast it felt like it! (where I got my guts and balance from) we did everything with him, and introduced him to Prince Philip Cup at pony club..... he loved it! we sold him to the DC for more than 3 times that much, and they sold him for double that, just because we found what he was brilliant at, he's now back at Burghley PC (where we were) and everyone knows him and loves him..... they also know that he is only to be used for games, polo cross etc. because other wise you've got to be a bl**dy good rider to stay on those bucks if it's anything else! haha.

Just to add.... it wasn't an issue with his back or saddle.... just him :)

I love that pony :D But then, that's just one success story, there's plenty of people that wouldn't have stuck with it, we took him on, so we were going to fix him in our view, even if it did scare me, but in the end taught me a lot more than if I just got a plod :)
 
You think it's bad there?! You should see it here in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club riding schools don't allow the riders to either tack up or remove tack off the horses and ponies. Therefore they never learn. Imagine, they arrive and a groom brings them their pony which they get on and at the end of the lesson they give it back to the groom.
Thankfully I'm at a lovely private yard who encourage the riders to untack the ponies (I'm left to do what I want which is great).
 
It's the desire to learn that's a big issue. Did I need or use a double bridle in my early teens? No. But the first time I saw one used I went & asked, which is how I gained most of my early basic knowledge, as did & do plenty of novice owners. What I didn't say was 'wow, that horses outline looks better than my ponies, I must go buy one to ride in'. Unfortunately some people do take that view regardless of whether its riding or basic stable management.
 
YorksG said:
Today on this forum I have read the following:

1) You can pay to download a book which can show anyone how to trim a hoof with an angle grinder :eek:

2) Sugar beet and haylage are poisonous to horses

3) If you fall off a riding school horse, there is a solicitor out there touting for your business to sue the RS

4) It is ok to not know what not to feed your horse, as long as you ask on a forum.

So I ask again, how the blooming heck did we come to this sad pass?
Answers on a postcard please.......
Click to expand...
There are people everywhere saying ill informed and dangerous things... you can take it on board or use your brain (and research yourself ;)) and leave it! :D :rolleyes:

I read regularly that people are advised (by professionals of long and arduous training) to feed laminitics un-tested un-soaked hay and severely restrict it. Do I take it on board and do the same? NO!
 
Everybody's got to learn and at some point everybody's had their first horse. What I don't get is choosing to keep said first horse on a tiny diy yard where the yo is a farmer with no interest in horses and there's nobody else about to ask for help!

If you're inexperienced keep the horse somewhere where there are experienced people about or at least find a good instructor.
 
YorksG said:
Today on this forum I have read the following:

1) You can pay to download a book which can show anyone how to trim a hoof with an angle grinder :eek:

2) Sugar beet and haylage are poisonous to horses

3) If you fall off a riding school horse, there is a solicitor out there touting for your business to sue the RS

4) It is ok to not know what not to feed your horse, as long as you ask on a forum.

So I ask again, how the blooming heck did we come to this sad pass?
Answers on a postcard please.......
Click to expand...
Not to be pedantic, but do they still do postcards?
 
What about the estate manager [Riding school for 30 years with who owns five horses and ponies], who asked, what is the difference between a pony and a horse, will the ponies grow into horses............ there are three Shetlands in the field by his house, and have been there for several years, but none have grown as big as his Clydesdale!
 
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