Ignorance is bliss.....

NiceChristmasBaubles

NiceChristmasBaubles

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 June 2009
Messages
7,679
Location
Was Surrey, now West Berkshire
www.facebook.com
I was thinking earlier (while I was waiting for my lorry window to be replaced after some thieving scum broke into it last week), that the more I learn about horses, the more I find things to worry about.

After 35 years of owning at least one pony/horse, surely it should get easier? It just doesn't seem that way though. Maybe I'm just remembering those halcyon days through rose tinted glasses, but everything is so much more technical these days.

I know that horse welfare has improved dramatically and that has to be good, but I feel I know less now than I used to. Am I the only one? :o:)
 
No, I don't think you 'know less', there's more research aNd consequent knowledge that we need to keep up with but a lot of horsepersonship is common sense and I bet you have that!
 
Thanks for the replies - nice to know I'm not the only one, and yes, common sense comes into it a lot. Perhaps it's over use of the forum. :o It's great and I love the fact that for me it's a virtual livery yard, but I can switch it off whenever I want to and do what I like with my horses as they are at home. If it wasn't for HHO I firstly wouldn't have met so many lovely horsey people, but also wouldn't be familiar with a lot of the current affairs in the equine world. But it also means I find out about all sorts of things that might never happen. :rolleyes:
 
I do believe that the more you know, the more you realise that there is ever more to know :eek: I also believe that wisdom is in part, the knowlege that there is lots you do not know. When we are younger, we think we know far more than we do, when we get older we think we know less than we do :D
 
YorksG said:
I do believe that the more you know, the more you realise that there is ever more to know :eek: I also believe that wisdom is in part, the knowlege that there is lots you do not know. When we are younger, we think we know far more than we do, when we get older we think we know less than we do :D
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm sure I ask far more questions these days than I would ever have asked when I was younger, because then I would have assumed I knew most of it. :)
 
The more I learn the more I realise I know b*gger all. I've made some awful mistakes over the years :o and will probably make more in the future. I'm sure things are more complicated now - more equipment, more techniques, more feeds etc to pick from.
 
Totally agree, always scares me how we kept ponies etc when we were younger. Not that anything was dangerous, and they led happy safe lives, just how different I would do it if I was in the same situation again.
 
I am having a mild freak out that Ned might be lame before my week off. I wasn't sure, but as he trotted off into the distance as I turned him out, I thought I saw his head nod a few times. I couldn't go and check and now I'm worried he's hurt himself :( arg, why can't they keep themselves safe?! Worrying about checking him tomorrow!

Also had far too many dreams where Ned is sick or dying and I can't get to him :(
 
I think Fergs is lame before every competition / trip out. I spend my life staring intently at a trotting horse and analysing gait. And when I'm not doing that I'm running my hands up his legs for injuries and proding feet for heat etc :rolleyes:

Paranoia is not cool!
 
JFTD said:
I think Fergs is lame before every competition / trip out. I spend my life staring intently at a trotting horse and analysing gait. And when I'm not doing that I'm running my hands up his legs for injuries and proding feet for heat etc :rolleyes:

Paranoia is not cool!
Click to expand...

Oh no! I know that's what I'll be doing tomorrow! I do it when I'm riding too, every time I trot anywhere I find myself staring at the back of his head instead of where I'm going!
 
I feel the same, I come from a very horsey family, and have been around horses and ponies for over 50 years, and I feel very worried by all the feeding information that is around now, it used just to be chop. linseed and oats, now I am obsessing about ponies becoming overweight and getting Lami! I can not remember worring about it in the same way 40 years ago, but we did not have all the evidence or information then that there is now.
 
I completely agree, the more you know, the more you worry, and of course the more you realize you don't know. Like tonight, im worried that the spring grass might be too rich for my Tb gelding who has sensitive digestion and he might colic, 10 years ago I wouldn't have thought about that
 
skint1 said:
I completely agree, the more you know, the more you worry, and of course the more you realize you don't know. Like tonight, im worried that the spring grass might be too rich for my Tb gelding who has sensitive digestion and he might colic, 10 years ago I wouldn't have thought about that
Click to expand...

I'm so paranoid about colic! I always knew it was bad, but every little thing I'm worrying if it's colic! If he wasn't so lovely, I swear I wouldn't put up with all this worry!
 
Now I have been involved with horses/ponies since 1955 when we bought my first pony!! I think it is harder now.....we have so much commercial pressure! 'Buy feed x it will create muscle'....yeah right! It's work that creates muscle!! 'Box rest' actually creates more problems than it solves!! Most 'hard feeds' have molasses and other sugars added that creates more problems!! In the 'old days' - more energy needed? Start feeding oats!! Start with a small amount and increase gradually until desired energy is obtained!!!! We are now discovering the problems that shoeing covered up!!! We are anthromorphosing (sp!!) more....and discovering that rugging up actually creates problems!!! And the people problem keeps cropping up!! People (like me!) that think they know better and pour scorn on people who are doing things in a different way!! Remember the KISS principle!!
 
I often think this. I wish I hadn't come onto HHO or started to read magazines etc.

My horses were perfectly happy and healthy before I started to 'educate' myself and they still are. It's me that is no longer happy nor healthy due to the worry of all the things that could go wrong or that I may not be doing right :rolleyes:

Oh well; off to chuck them out into the field with not much grass - poor starving creatures, in the pouring rain - will they melt?, in little raincoats - don't they flatten the coat and make them cold?, for 14 hours - won't they be bored......etc. etc.
 
Yup... the more you know, the more you realise there is to know, the more you feel like you know nothing, the more you worry :o

Enough to give you a headache, really.
 
nikicb said:
You see I was thinking the opposite. It worries me more now than it used to. :o:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'd second this, everything was much simpler years ago; we didn't have the range of feeds and supplements that we have now; our grooming products consisted of 'reckitts blue' for greys, chalk, talc and vaseline. There was only one type of hoof oil; fly sprays were generally home made.
Rugs were NZ/Jute and blankets. Tack was pretty straightforwards with no array of bits to pick and choose from.


I do think it is better that we are more educated nowadays and have more choice, but I do wonder if it is all better for the horse when some seem to be swaddled to death in the latest rugs, stabled with less exercise, fed supplements/feed to solve problems which in some cases are simple schooling/lack of exercise issues.
 
No, it definately worries me more now as theres so many it could be this? It could be that? Questions to answer.

But it scares me how much more relaxed about it i was when i was younger, and something worse COULD have happened. Think i was lucky really.
 
I think i'm making it really unclear now.

In the past - my ponies were kept very simply - we were young and new precious little - so the basics were covered but - we wouldnt have known what laminitis was etc so it scares me a bit that we could of not noticed things we should have, and i think we were lucky in that respect.


However, at present, its nerve wracking trying to let them be a horse but keep them safe. And yes, in this case a little less knowledge may take the edge off the constant worry.

I think theres a fine line between knowing enough and knowing too much.
 
YorksG said:
I do believe that the more you know, the more you realise that there is ever more to know :eek: I also believe that wisdom is in part, the knowlege that there is lots you do not know. When we are younger, we think we know far more than we do, when we get older we think we know less than we do :D
Click to expand...

This sums it up perfectly!
We now have access to worldwide research, in every field of equestrianism, and there is an awful lot of stuff out there.
Humility is a good quality, though:)
 
OP, things were definitely less complicated years ago, Im amazed my poor first pony survived actually now I look back and realise all the things I could have done better. Im sure his saddle was chosen because I liked it and when I rode him in it he didnt buck me off, so it must have fitted!! I dont think he ever saw a "back person" but I know he had his teeth done because I rode him to our local vets surgery, popped the bit out of his mouth and Mr Pitman did him in the car park!!! He was a 14.2 cob, what you could call a good doer, but he was fed cool mix because it looked nicer than cubes, I now know it was totally inappropriate :( Obviously things have moved on and we have so much more choice now and along with the internet and our general improved knowledge it all seems so daunting sometimes, and yes, I worry more, now I know there are more things to worry about!
 
You can never know to much .
The more you know the ' worse ' it gets.
The better you ride the worse you feel about how you ride .
The more you know about farrier foot balance and biomechanics the more concerning it becomes.
Feeding though I think the more you know the simpler it gets in a way.
 
YorksG said:
I do believe that the more you know, the more you realise that there is ever more to know :eek: I also believe that wisdom is in part, the knowlege that there is lots you do not know. When we are younger, we think we know far more than we do, when we get older we think we know less than we do :D
Click to expand...

Excellent post!
:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top