lying/ exagerating..more common in the horse world?

charlie76

charlie76

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Just been having a conversation with a friend and we were commenting on the amount of people in the horse world that feel the need to fib!
mostly about the level they have competed to or ridden at. Or about how difficult there horses are to ride.
exaggerating how naughty horses they ride are, the list of story telling is endless.
And then they forget Google exists. So they reel off all their competition results only to be found out that's it made up or yes they did win, out of one! Or they fib on forums or Facebook forgetting the whole world can see it! I once even had some one tell me she had been competing at. Olympia! And beat Ellen whittiker, Even though the results are there for all to see!
I have come across so many of these types that you stop bbelieving a word anyone tells you!
So is this more prevelant to the horsey world or do other hobbies attract just as many story tellers?:-)
 
I know plenty of people who lie about showing/competing its so annoying and tbh i find it a bit of an insult that they assume im dumb enough to believe them! Im sure the horse world is far worse than any other for fibs!
 
I know exactly what you mean! someone I know tells me fibs all the time. They include " my daughter is jumping 130's now" ----daughter is jumping 90-110cm. "we've been given a top class pony to jump" ----pony has won 140 notional,. "daughter will probably be on the next Olympic team"....shes 13 and like i said jumping 110's, Tina Fletcher could only make reserve so of course your daughter will be on the Olympic team!! lol.
I really don't understand why anyone lies about horses winnings etc as its on the net for everyone to see (if you are a member).
What makes my blood boil is they think I'm stupid enough to believe it, they've had horses 4 years so i guess they know it all where Ive had them 18 years and know nothing!:confused:
 
It's the same in the world of music. Many amateur musicians go on about lessons in london, practising before breakfast and so on - they're still crap.
 
LOVE THIS!

Ah sadly, it is very true.

If only people could be happy at whatever level they are competing at without the need to lie or exagerate things

We all start somewhere and we're all happy at different levels so who cares!!

:D:D
 
The sad thing about all those people who feel the need to be better than anyone else is that they have probably stopped asking for input from others, and so stopped learning. NO-ONE knows all there is to know about horses, but those who think they do are dangerous to horses and people
 
So true! Though I have had people say things behind my back that I've apparently lied about but actually the person bitching had no idea about the facts but thought it was ok to say defamatory remarks (of course never to my face so I could defend myself) - so I suppose it works both ways.

I think lying and bitching go hand and hand in the horse world and there are some very negative, mean spirited people around.
 
Loulou2002 said:
I know exactly what you mean! someone I know tells me fibs all the time. They include " my daughter is jumping 130's now" ----daughter is jumping 90-110cm. "we've been given a top class pony to jump" ----pony has won 140 notional,. "daughter will probably be on the next Olympic team"....shes 13 and like i said jumping 110's, Tina Fletcher could only make reserve so of course your daughter will be on the Olympic team!! lol.
I really don't understand why anyone lies about horses winnings etc as its on the net for everyone to see (if you are a member).
What makes my blood boil is they think I'm stupid enough to believe it, they've had horses 4 years so i guess they know it all where Ive had them 18 years and know nothing!:confused:
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:D Yes, you would be amazed how many horses and ponies I've met who were destined for the olympics...:rolleyes:
 
Too damn right!!

You wont ever find someone who has bought a horse and found something to criticise the previous owner on - too fat, too thin, wrong tack, poor hooves and the list is limitless!
 
Tbh I've been in the horse world for so long I just see it as par for the course. It does turn you into a cynic hearing so much bull for so many years but it doesn't bother me. Yes I'll listen to what people tell me but then I dismiss most of it and move on. Occasionally I'm surprised, but usually not. I find those who tell you how experienced they are as a rider, aren't good riders at all, and those who are fairly reserved about their skills tend to be much better than you imagine. Either way I'm not interested enough in most people to pay much attention to them or get embroiled in any fibs they tell.
 
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Its all the same bit ching, lying, jealousy. It's just so prevalent in the equine world if it wasnt for my horses I'd be a broken mess by now
 
Get this all the time at my place. 'My horse spooked, spun round, took off with me and bolted home!' which really it saw an opportunity to turn and start trotting off as rider who has no clue, but think she knows it all, dropped the reins and was fiddling with her stirrups (I was there at the time and overheard the story being told the next day lol).

Lots of embellishment and outright lies. They always come a cropper in the end, best feeling is when you catch them out in a lie and they blush and turn all sheepish or sometimes change the story completely.

The horsey world is an incredibly competitve one, therefore people always feel the need to get one up on everyone else as they feel it gives them an edge. It's unfortunate that people just can't be honest.
 
Leeds University riding club was full of people who had vastly over-inflated ideas on their riding ability. They rode like sacks of spuds and the people who had "taught" them should hang their heads with shame.

I got so fed up of their bull***** that I left the club, and a friend and I went off to have lessons elsewhere on our own.

My favourite was "we were jumping 3'6 from trot". Turns out she meant 2'3"...
 
I'm glad other people find the same! I thought I was turning into a cynical old bag! The funny thing is, we all just accept it and reply politely!
 
Several years ago I knew someone who used to tell all and sundry how bad her boy was, and how she was the only person who could ride and handle him. Oh, the tales of hacks that resulted in huge spooks and spins, of being bolted with and clearing five bar gates at a gallop! She even won rosette after rosette at shows no one had ever heard of.

She came a cropper when she had a car accident and broke her leg. She needed help with her horse, and her novice friends would have been more than happy to do so, had such a terrible picture of the horses temperament not been painted by his owner.

In the end she had to pay for him to go away on full livery, cost hr a small fortune, and when I bumped into one of the grooms several months later and asked how she had got on with the devil horse, with a look of surprise on her face she told me he was one of the most placid and easygoing horses she had ever come across, and was a joy to ride, never put a hoof wrong :D

His owner has another horse now, a mare who is even worse than the last one ............. Or so she says!
 
I think its harder to be someone doing well at something rather than someone who does nothing.

But it is a shame, if people spent the same amount of time having lessons/training their horses as they do b*tching they would probably be doing just as well!

:D:D
 
Spring Feather said:
Tbh I've been in the horse world for so long I just see it as par for the course. It does turn you into a cynic hearing so much bull for so many years but it doesn't bother me. Yes I'll listen to what people tell me but then I dismiss most of it and move on. Occasionally I'm surprised, but usually not. I find those who tell you how experienced they are as a rider, aren't good riders at all, and those who are fairly reserved about their skills tend to be much better than you imagine. Either way I'm not interested enough in most people to pay much attention to them or get embroiled in any fibs they tell.
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This.

Those that actually do it dont need to shout about it.

i think it stems from a psychology thing where people want to be accepted and looked up to by others as skillful and think by reeling of a list of their equestrian credentials is an easy way to this it and will make that happen for them.
 
Surely it must be the same in many sport/hobbies - people are naturally competitive and many have deep-seated insecurities which they feel defensive about - usually about how well they are doing or how well they should or could be doing... Therefore they attempt to elevate their status through lying, bragging or by putting other people down around them.

I never listen that much to talk because I know the moment someone stops talking and actually gets on a horse I'll see how well they ride anyway and to be frank, unless I was paying them to train my horse I don't even care how good or bad someone is.
 
I cant quote but with what pongwiffy said,

I have been amazed at how far some people will exaggerate their skills/knowledge
 
Oh gosh I know someone who lied soooo much about her endurance riding "career".

I actually think she believes her own lies!

It makes me feel sick when I see her on Facebook or "Your Horse forums" saying how amazing she is and how some Sheikh offered her x amount of silly money for her old horse but she wouldn't sell him for the world... How she and he entered Endurance competitions worldwide and completed the Golden Horse shoe so many times! URGH STOP LYING!!!!!

"Oh my foal was really difficult and he trampled me" urgh no.. he "was" the easiest foal ever before you ruined him! ARGH!

Sorry everyone ranting a bit but this is my biggest pet hate. Why bother lying about something.

I can use Google and I have found you out as will others!
 
Pongwiffy said:
I never listen that much to talk because I know the moment someone stops talking and actually gets on a horse I'll see how well they ride anyway and to be frank, unless I was paying them to train my horse I don't even care how good or bad someone is.
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Oh this is a good point... the person I was referring to... I never once saw her ride... Funny that... she would always make an excuse to not ride out with me.... hmm...
 
We have someone locally who claims in their advert they have evented to Advanced level, a trawl of the BE website found they had some 3 or 4 Novices, not very well either.
Not sure why people do it when it so easy to get information these days.
 
It's not just horses, it's Facebook too. The perfect life.

My mare competed and it all went on FB with videos. And anyone could look up her record so no point in lying.

As far as what I did on racehorses that's also still googleable. Even found an ancient clip announcing me having my first ride as a jockey. To bad they didn't have a follow up of "worst first ride ever"! I forgot to breathe, nearly passed out, it was a whole big thing. So glad FB and camera phones weren't around.

At any rate my parents are also on my FB and it would be easy to be caught out. I see loads of posts that are so blatantly lies and I think why?

Terri
 
Yes!!

I also find it funny that sometimes the most adamant people on here ('I am right and everyone else is wrong') don't have any photos of them riding...
 
Arghh, I was friends with someone who was constantly shouting about how her daughter was riding half pass, horse was jumping 2metres, they were representing Britain. (she said all of these) It escalated, she became unable to distinguish her lies from the truth, I gently queried one or two of them and was accused of being jealous. She had some success locally at Prelim unaff, which was great but it just became pothunting, so I wasn't waxing lyrical about her acheivements when she went & beat 8 year olds at Riding school events - repeatedly.
It pretty much ended our friendship, still glad about that.
 
Well I don't have pictures on here. I may have a profile pic but can't remember. I use my phone for almost all posting. But you're welcome to pop over on FB as much easier to add pictures there.

Terri
 
I don't really live in Canada, with a bunch of expensive (to keep, not as in valuable) equids.
I am a lonely old woman living in a high rise flat in some smog ridden industrial town in the Midlands, with nothing but Google and a mangy ginger cat as company. I steal all my photos from Facebook and the nearest I have ever got to a horse is patting one at a fair once :) Notice that there are never any photos of me, with, or without, a horse ;)

People lie/exaggerate about anything. I don't think it is any more prevalent in the horse world than anywhere else. Why they do it? Well, maybe it makes them feel better about themselves, maybe they are jealous of others, maybe they want to be liked/admired/envied, any number of reasons. Who knows.

I take people as I find them.

It doesn't really bother me as, in general, I really don't care if someone has a 17h purebred palomino arab, or whatever, neither do I care where they live, how much money they have, or haven't got, flash cars/clothes/horses etc don't impress me, but if they make someone else feel better either to tell everyone what they have, or aspire to have, then that's fine by me. At the end of the day, I don't give a toot, and they can't fool themselves.

I think that there are some very interesting, knowledgable and talented people on here who don't blow their own horns.
 
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Oh but I am quite simply the best! I mean I could quite easily have been on all of the Olympic teams but I was told by all of the selecters that they couldn't place me on the team because, and I quote 'you are too good, so spectacularly good you would make everyone else look like muck sacks on the back of a beach donkey'!

So you see, I am quite simply SO perfect that I daren't compete lest I scare the competition away!

:D
 
On the flip side I know my limits, I know what I can do, I know what I can't. Yes I do enjoy competing and winning but I know what I have beaten, what has beaten me and why I was placed where I was.

One thing I don't get and kind of annoyed me the other week was that I said my horse was quite hard to sit to canter to because he is quite upright in front and rides like a jackhammer. Would anyone else get on him?! Would they heck! They think - racehorse, hard to sit the canter therefore = psychotic lunatic! When it couldn't be far further from the truth! He is a donkey of a ride!

And then yes, you do get those - especially in showing - that think their pony is perfect and deserves.to win everytime.out without fail no matter who or what is in the ring or how well their pony actually performed.
 
To some extent I can understand that some people have the need to exaggerate and bolster themselves up, perhaps embellishing the truth a little bit. But those that tell outright lies are quite unbelievable, especially when it is easy to check results this days. Recently I came across someone claiming to have an individual placing at a BRC championship when they didn't. The results are online for all to see and people I know we're also there and know the true results so what is the point of lying. It just makes them look dishonest and a fool. :rolleyes:

Another common one is horse adverts that say 'amazing XC' or 'never stops' then you look up the BE record and it tells a totally different story!
 
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