Licensing for horse owners

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mrsdoyal

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I'm all for introducing a Horse Owners License (a.ka:The Horse Owners License Equine Rescue Society). I nominate myself President of the "Howlers".

If I had hold of the reins, ha, I'd make it compulsory for any first-time horse owner/loaner/carer to pass a basic horse management test (taken at a riding school or through a horse/breed society). This would be followed up, after buying/loaning horse, with regular assessments until the owner/loaner had demonstrated they could responsibly care for the horse without supervision.

As I said, riding schools & breed societies etc could take these assessments - not only would promote the welfare of horses, it help fill the coffers and keep these establishments running.

It would also (and anyone on a big livery yard has seen this) prevent people with no horse sense being in charge of a horse.

Actually, maybe I ought to revise that: its not fair to say its just novices who need assessing, sometimes its long-time owners. Maybe we should ALL be assessed (gasps of shock!). Because it means spending £, I'd offset it as: the higher your achievement, the lower your insurance.


Father Jack would, ofcourse, be standing as vice-president....
 
I dont like that idea, purely because I know the way I do things is not always 'BHS', but still fine if not better.
I would hate to have to conform to what someone or a group of people think is 'correct'.
I imagine it would put a lot of people off having a horse if they had to undergo testing, and whereas you may say that is a good thing, would it not affect the horse selling industry quite significantly...?
Many pros and cons to consider, I dont think it is workable personally.
 
Completely unworkable. Consider the hourly rate of these assesors who would come from breed societies and the BHS for example. How would it be enforced? What happens if someone buys a horse without getting a licence first? What about the many, many horse owners from among the travelling community? Or would this be another thing that the respectable horse owners have to fork out for, like passports, while others just ignore it?
 
hear hear!

Good topic though
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Sounds dire. Some complete f*ckwit would end up in charge (probably someone who has never actually looked after a horse but 'knows' how it should be done) and it would all go t*ts up/
I do apologise, I'm normally a bit more articulate and swear less (a tiny bit less) but have had a few glasses of red and just can't be *rsed.
 
Hmmm this is a very good topic, very good indeed, hopefully more answers to come yet, I agree with everyones comments on this, but if with the licencing rule came in it would not be worth the paper it is written on.....and just because someone has passed a test in horse management it those not mean mishaps would not happen.....Like in regards to reducing the costs of insurances if you pass, even the most experienced rider can have a accident on the roads where both horse and rider get badly injuryed i.e. by being sk by whatever, horses are very unpredictable, hope that makes some sence.......lol
 
There's enough red tape already, it'd end up just another money making government scheme. Plus textbooks aren't always right or have the best solution, it'd be a nightmare and as already said, you'd get some muppet who hadn't ever had a horse but 'knows how' running it. As Henryhorn said - I'd emigrate.
 
In theory, the opportunity to ensure that ANY person looking after ANY animal was competent would be lovely. The practicalities of this make it unworkable. Who would set the acceptable standard, who would test, who would issue licences, what framework would there be for non compliance?

Being additionally qualified now doesn't necessarily lead to reductions in insurance - so I can't see that happening in a licensed system
 
dont you think the horse world has enough unnecessary red tape already?

Licence DIY yards and make the owners of them responsible for reporting neglect/abuse, that would cut out lot of the problems imo
 
No no no! I am sick to death of being slapped financially for everything including breathing with this poxy government. It's pay for this or else, a 'different type of tax' being introduced, new licences for this that and the other, flippin environmental related schemes and if that is not enough...please cough up £500 for some 'pieces of paper' homeowners pack!!! Rant, rant, rant! It drives me mad.
There are many issues that make such a thing un-workable and as already mentioned...government or some other big organisation like the BHS will just profit from it and how do you judge best practive in horse care anyway? I do what I do for my horse because it works for him and keeps him happy mentally and physically well...but I sure as hell don't conform to the BHS methods so would probably fail a 'test' automatically. The other alternative is that I cheat and swat up on the 'correct' ways just to get me through the 'test' and then carry on as before!!!
Owning a horse is an expensive interest to have and I hate being taxed or penalised financially just because it is deemed a luxury hobbie.
 
Well I am sorry, but I agree that some kind of control should be introduced. We all moan about lack of commitment and management in many equestrian establishments, and lack of care. Seems to be more and more that anybody who has bit of money and fancy buying a horse can do that and on many occassions the true horse people get affected. I am sick of people who have no idea ruining good horses and make their animal's and other decent horse owners life a misery.
In Europe not everybody can just decide I want a horse, there are good rules in place and they work. Also the breeding is monitored appropriately. Here in England lots of people breed from horses they really should not and it is wrong.
So, where's I agree there is enough red tape which is only another way how to get money out of people and does not serve a point, I also feel there is not enough done to actually protect, support and encourage the true horsemanship/sport.
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Just because someone has passed a simple horse owners test would not mean they would then go on to be excellent horse owners. I have known plenty of knowledgable people who have had horses and not looked after them very well - to the point of cruelty. I think the more burning issue is that of making YO more responsible for reporting cruelty and trying to address this issue. I would imagine the vast majority of cruelty cases are ones where the owner knows perfectly well how to correctly look after a horse, they just can't be bothered.

Maybe there should be some sort of permit required for keeping horses on private land, so that records can be kept on who has horses and where. I feel something like this along with making YO more responsible would be more effective than making everyone wanting to buy a horse pass an exam, first.
 
It would be a tax on the law-abiding, competent owners and the ones that it is targetted at stopping would just ignore it. Net result - no improvement in horse welfare, but the rest of us are taxed.

Just remember that murder has been illegal for quite a while now, but people still do it!
 
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Just remember that murder has been illegal for quite a while now, but people still do it!

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Good point! A bit like driving a car. Most of us take driving lessons, take a test, pass (maybe first time maybe ten tries) get a licence..................then turn into maniac drivers!!

I can see the thought behind the idea, ownership standards needs to be improved, but not in this way. Where would it end? back to licenses for dogs and maybe courses on keeping hamsters?

Good idea, but not workable
 
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Good point! A bit like driving a car. Most of us take driving lessons, take a test, pass (maybe first time maybe ten tries) get a licence..................then turn into maniac drivers!!

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And some people never take a test, but drive around anyway. If they get caught, you cannot put points on a non-existent licence.
 
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