If you dont ride ..

Montyforever

Montyforever

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.. Do you ever feel as if your treated differntly?

Sometimes i feel like im even treated "un-horsey" because i dont ride. I think its ridiculas! Ive been around horses 6 years and owned them for 2, i dont know everything and i never will but i know alot more about my horses than you poncing around on your warmblood then handing it over to someone else to look after! :mad:

:mad: Whats wrong with horses for pets?

Feel alot better now! :D
 
Not really sure I have much to contribute as I do ride but just thought I'd mention that I think you can be around horses for a HUNDRED years and STILL not know everything there is to know!! That's one of the great things about them!
 
One of mine is a field companion & i just love grooming her.
My other which is a TB has the winter off as i hate the icy/black ice on the roads & deep snow so i just won't risk her life or mine. Again i just love grooming her.

Nobody knows everything about horses & we all learn new things all the time.

XxX
 
Maletto said:
Not really sure I have much to contribute as I do ride but just thought I'd mention that I think you can be around horses for a HUNDRED years and STILL not know everything there is to know!! That's one of the great things about them!
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Sorry just read that back and it sounds bad, thats not what i mean, i mean a girl whos owned horses for about the same time as me, on full livery! And says i know nothing as i dont ride .. :mad:
 
I thinks its a shame more people dont have horses as pets, it would provide homes and love for some of the many unrideable but happy healthy horses out there.
Too much focus is put on riding i think, I was actually really happy just looking after my horse for the last 6 moths he's been off work injured- I can honestly say i enjoyed it just as much, maybe more because the pressue of keeping him exercised was not there.
 
Well, she clearly doesn't know everything cos her horses have been looked after by other people whereas, because you DON'T ride, all the time you spend with them is learning about them and how to care for them! (so you are a winner ;))

I'd rather ask your opinion on aspects of horse care than hers, put it that way!
 
my daughter loved riding, i loved horses.
We shared horses, she had the lessons- i did the care because i loved it.
Last year i bought a horse for us to share - my daughter totally lost interest, i fell totally in love.
Now im having weekly lessons so i can exercise him (my good friend takes him out in meantime) but to be honest its not the riding i love - its him.
We have such a close bond, he is a total sweetheart - if i found out tomorrow he couldnt be ridden again i wouldnt give a damm - i love that boy so much,
tbh the riding is a chore for me - he will be with me forever - its really really not the riding, i just truly love him and he will be my little boy forever - we will grow old together
 
Nothing wrong with not riding your horse at all. When my old TB mare became too arthritic to ride, but could be kept pain-free as a companion, that's what I did. I couldn;t afford a second horse, so made the decision that until she went I wouldn't ride. It was no hardship. Yes, occasional pangs when my two liveries went off for a hack, but the old girl and I had some very happy times together, and then when she finally had to be put down due to colic, I bought my current horse.

You learn so much just by being round horses, and, as everyone else has said, you never stop learning.
 
I dont have a problem with people who want to keep horses as pets for whatever reason, my horse is with me for life so there may be a time when he cant be ridden anymore so I will just keep him as a pet. What I find quite irritating is people who overhorse themselves and are so terrified of the horse they pay other people to ride it and then give it all the talk in the tack room as if they are some international eventer!! (as the motto goes "all the gear, no idea") They think they know it all and thats what annoys me - with horses you NEVER stop learning :)
 
I Can't ride as mine is only 2, but as i have had him since he was born i don't care. i still love fussing him and grooming him and looking after him, we go out for walks on lead reign and its just as much fun. To me looking after them is much more important than riding...we have a real bond and you don't get that from full livery.............
 
Occassionally maybe because ive had horses for so long but my riding skills dont match my length of time due to horses mostly coming to us as rescue so I cant ride everyday like I used to. Would love to get back in the saddle properly though.
 
some of the replies are quite harsh - of course you can have a 'real' bond from full livery!
I only get to see my horse 2 or 3 times a week, but she knows who I am and we're building a relationship. Of course, it may not come as quickly as if I were down there all day, every day, but I have GCSEs this year so that is just not possible. It's a bit unfair to say that just because someone's on full/part livery they don't love them just as much and don't have a bond.

Anyway, back on topic; that's rude to say you don't know as much as her :O I think that if someone didn't ride, they'd actually have more time to find out more about their horse because they wouldn't be worrying whether mr pinky was ready for the weekends bs/be/bd competition or which tack goes with their coat colour ;D
xxx
 
This thread has made me feel a bit less guilty about not riding my Tb as much as I think I should. I keep him at a very quiet peaceful little DIY yard but because of where it is you have to pick the times you venture out really carefully (rat run, low sun etc), we dont have a school or anything either. I do spend loads of time with him though, tidying his field, grooming him, messing about in the yard with him following me about and I absolutely love doing this. He certainly never seems bothered about doing so little work, he takes being a retired racehorse very seriously! Im certainly not getting any younger either so Im hoping that like narkymare, we shall just grow old together!
 
Starwind said:
I Can't ride as mine is only 2, but as i have had him since he was born i don't care. i still love fussing him and grooming him and looking after him, we go out for walks on lead reign and its just as much fun. To me looking after them is much more important than riding...we have a real bond
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Same here...I have a 2 year old that i have has since a yearling. I have a great bond with him. He comes cantering across the field whinnying when it's time to come in...Love the fact that i don't have to chase him or walk around a field to catch him. I get a whinny in the mornings over the stable door and I'm so proud of the horse he's turning in to. He has more manners than some of the older horses down there.
I'm never going to ride him as i don't enjoy riding anymore so when he's old enough he'll be professionally broken in and i will look for a rider for him. He'll always be a pet to me.
My last horse was a pet and occasionally we would do an in hand class at a local show but he had a life of luxury and every whim catered for.

Having a horse as a pet isn't a bad thing and it annoys me when people think that your wasting your money and time because you don't ride. People just don't get it and i think it's a shame that the majority of people think that having a horse is a waste of time unless your sat on it's back.

If you enjoy riding thats great and i hope you have a fab time jumping, hacking, dressage, XC showing etc etc but i hope that the non riders have an even better time with their horses, just being mates!!!
 
Just wanted to say...I do ride....but I have noticed that at some places if you don't have your own horse, then you are treated as if you CAN'T ride and are incompetent of looking after a horse!

Having a horse as a pet isn't a bad thing, and when I do buy my own I will enjoy looking after it even when they are off work/retired as they have a home for life with me.
 
rebchico said:
some of the replies are quite harsh - of course you can have a 'real' bond from full livery!
I only get to see my horse 2 or 3 times a week, but she knows who I am and we're building a relationship. Of course, it may not come as quickly as if I were down there all day, every day, but I have GCSEs this year so that is just not possible. It's a bit unfair to say that just because someone's on full/part livery they don't love them just as much and don't have a bond.

Anyway, back on topic; that's rude to say you don't know as much as her :O I think that if someone didn't ride, they'd actually have more time to find out more about their horse because they wouldn't be worrying whether mr pinky was ready for the weekends bs/be/bd competition or which tack goes with their coat colour ;D
xxx
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I'm on full livery!! and fully admit that when it comes to certain aspects of horse care, I wouldn't know as much as someone who didn't have it all done for them, and especially someone whose only interaction with the beasts was to care for them, rather than worrying about riding them.

My post was supposed to be supportive to the OP.....

I wasn't at all saying at all that the bond is less strong - B rushes down the field to see me, whinnys at my car and stands peacefully next to me when I turn him out
 
Laur said:
I dont have a problem with people who want to keep horses as pets for whatever reason, my horse is with me for life so there may be a time when he cant be ridden anymore so I will just keep him as a pet. What I find quite irritating is people who overhorse themselves and are so terrified of the horse they pay other people to ride it and then give it all the talk in the tack room as if they are some international eventer!! (as the motto goes "all the gear, no idea") They think they know it all and thats what annoys me - with horses you NEVER stop learning :)
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I know someone just like that...:rolleyes: someone at my yard has vickie tuffs to ride her horse and she never rides it herself only the odd occasion....always got some excuse lol!! x
 
I dont ride either of mine and I too am viewed as some sort of 'wimp' and as someone unknowledgeable. Melly 'can' be ridden, but she has gotten increasingly erratic, and has bolted again and again with me. No pysical (teeth/back etc) problem, just a deep pshycological damage that I cant undo, so when she got her bone spavin, I decided that she could be what I bought her to be - a pet! She loves being groomed, helping me poo pick and generally being very spoilt! We long rein and she harrows the paddocks with me wihich she loves, but we dont go out of the paddock (10 acre field really) 'safety zone' and everyone is happy! Seren, my little girl is 12.2 so too small for me, and in foal, eventually she will be my in hand show pony and I will break her to drive, she too is happy as a pig in poo lazing about in the field, beain brushed and spoilt!
As an aside, I work on a full livery yard, and all the horses are incredably bonded with their owners - one starts cantering in his box as he hears his mums car come through the village!
 
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