Leaving non-horsey OH in charge

CarolineJ

CarolineJ

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I'm taking my mother off for a week's holiday starting Friday and my non-horsey OH is horse-sitting. Last week I got home a little later than planned from a trip to the dentist in Inverness and got the following:

OH [beaming proudly]: Oh don't worry about Merlin, I've fed him.
Me: Oh God. What did you feed him?
OH: A bit of everything in the feed room.
Me [turning rapidly white]: Not the dried sugar beet?
OH: Is that the stuff that smells like tobacco?
Me: It's the stuff in the white bag.
OH: Oh, no, I didn't see that. I've soaked his food for tomorrow though.

So I head down there to see what's what and find chaff, Leisure Mix and a spoonful of garlic powder floating in half a bucket of water :D

I've written everything down for him in idiot-proof steps and my horsey neighbours have promised to keep an eye on things - it'll be fine...won't it...?! :eek::eek::eek:
 
i keep my sugar beet in a bin marked - "do not feed - poison" so if ever im ill or anything (can never be too sure!) anyone who goes knows not to give it
 
Bless him, he was actually quite scared of horses before Merlin arrived, but they've got quite a friendship going now :) so although I was half wanting to go 'You did WHAT????' at him, I didn't want to discourage the helping out idea. After that incident I did take him down the following night and go through what was what and why dry sugar beet was a BAD idea. I've reminded him about grass clippings as well, just to be on the safe side, since he's planning to give the lawn its first cut of the year this weekend!
 
Not trying to demeen your OH and his capabilities (having a totally un-horsey father who takes care of mine when I'm away I know how you feel) but if you really aren't sure could you make up the feeds for each day and put them in buckets (even bags) and just tell him to give that to your gelding every night? Huge bonus points to your OH though for being so enthusiastic about helping even if your gelding's food would have been a bit watery :p
 
If merlin is anything like my mare by the time you come home you will be a firm second in the affections and OH will be the favourite...I put it down to the fact that my OH feeds, puts out and doesn't ride her!! I have a mental image of merlin moved into house and watching football!!
 
Aw bless him! I find it soo amusing, my (very non horsey) OH has recently started to help out with mine in the mornings (as he now lives at the livery yard I keep her at....clever me persuading him to move there :) ) so he's been going out to the field every morning and putting sun cream on her white nose and taking her rug off (i'm just glad I haven't seen him do it I think I'd prob freak out if I watched, although i did text instructions of where all the clips and buckles on her rugs where beforehand).

And this morning he mastered putting on her new fly mask (big pat on his back) so I am quite impressed! The livery owner finds it very amusing to see him trundle through the fields to her, luckily she is very sweet natured and they get along well. If I was you start training him in other things like mucking out or fixing 'manly' stuff around the yard :p
 
When I left my OH in charge for a day he brought the wrong horse in !" Oh I thought that was yours, what does yours look like then " He had actually been to the stables with me once or twice before! Once he opened the field gate and let 5 horses on to the yard, and has fed dried sugar beet (I had to rush up the stables from my sick bed to give epsom salts)I have never left him in charge since.
 
I left my not-very-horsey OH in charge of bringing horse in for farrier while I was at Bramham.
Got a phonecall -- "he won;t come in"
me - 'what do you mean?'
OH ' he's just standing there, he let me catch him but he wont move. i tried to drag him but he won't budge. I've been there 10 minutes.'
me - 'um did you try a carrot? some feed?'
OH - 'oh, ok I will try that'
puts down phone. Rings back 10 mins later.
OH - 'I got him in and the farrier's here'
me - 'great did the carrot do the job?'
OH - 'No couldn;t find any carrots so I went over to the shop. I got some prawn cocktail crisps and fed him those and then he came in. He likes them.'

Lord knows why he picked prawn cocktail!!! I would have thought ready salted would have done the job!!!!
 
Last year my OH brought my boy in for me a few times.

My fellow livery told me that to catch him OH picked cow parsley and headed off accross the field and presented pony with 'a bunch of flowers' to keep him still as it took so long to sort out how to put the headcollar on.

So sorry I missed seeing that. OH has never bought me flowers!!!

Jane
 
Janah said:
Last year my OH brought my boy in for me a few times.

My fellow livery told me that to catch him OH picked cow parsley and headed off accross the field and presented pony with 'a bunch of flowers' to keep him still as it took so long to sort out how to put the headcollar on.

So sorry I missed seeing that. OH has never bought me flowers!!!

Jane
Click to expand...

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!
 
Last year I went into labour a couple of months early and was in hospital for a week! Horses are at home and was planning to train my OH beforehand! He coped okay, they're both extremely sharp too so not everything got done, ie left their feet but they survived! It was last summer so they were out 24/7 so he only had to deal with rugs, feed and water! The only negative thing was when I got back they were quite bolshy, so think they'd taken the mick a little with him!
 
Oddly enough, for someone who's been quite scared of horses, he's very good with feet!

I think Amage has got it right - when I get home they'll be on the sofa watching the Super League rugby together and I'll get pointedly ignored until I've been feeding him again for a week!
 
Hehe this thread has made me giggle :)

I share a horse and OH comes down to help once a week ( I conveniently moved one of my days to his day off work - sneaky!). He is scared of horses , and I don't think it helps that said horse is a 15.3 shire X :P

However OH is chief gate opener and tack holder and he walks out with me on hacks , bless him :) I remember one time we where going and getting the other ponys empty feed buckets in from the field and one of the cutest looking shetlands chased us round the fields and OH got kicked in the butt! Funny looking back on it now,though.

Bless them , they mean well *rollseyes*
 
Bless him, my husband is so crap looking after anything (good job we don't have kids), I would never trust him to look after my precious chap - crikey I don't even trust him to look after our dog!!!!!!
 
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