Minor Irritations

ycbm said:
People who tell me I should walk somewhere else when I explain that I have sight loss which makes their loose/extending lead dog under my feet a scary trip hazard. Happens on such a regular basis I gave up counting.
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Get a white stick... preferably something about two inches in diameter at the opposite end to the handle...
 
hock said:
Its pain or poor riding/care/lack of understanding or both. It’s 99.9% never because the horse is a shit.
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This. Also, horses 'throwing' their rider off. 99.9% of the time riders fall off. I've fallen off a lot over the years but I can only recall two horses really wanting me off and that was years ago. In hindsight one of those was probably due to an ill fitting saddle and the other was a very young horse that had been rushed and panicked.
 
People at the front of a group of hillwalkers/horse riders/etc. who shoot ahead and have zero feckin' clue what's happening at the back of the group. When hiking, it's often me at the back, as I'm not a very fast walker, and I get into a fury when the speed demons at the front disappear. It drives me nuts when I eventually catch up to them, usually scurrying and breathless, and then they immediately take off again!

I use to have a fast horse, but now I have a slow one, so it's usually me at the back of the group. We were trotting up a hill today and I was the tail end of a group of four. Two were warmbloods, so they were a lot faster than my little Highland. I was trailing by a ways, but he was happy at his pace. Then he spooked at a roadworks sign. Slammed on the brakes. Tried to spin. We had a discussion. Everyone else is just disappearing into the distance, totally oblivious to me having a mare. Leg on, urge horse past the scary sign, then pick up the trot again. Now I'm miles behind. At which point I realize I didn't tighten my girth enough (I'd tacked up in a rush) and my saddle is sliding sideways. F*ck, I think. I ask horse to walk, which he does, very cooperatively given his pals are far away now, and try to straighten it as best I can. I needed to get off, straighten it, and tighten the girth, but felt there's only so much I can expect of my little green horse and didn't fancy hanging onto him in the middle of the road while futzing with the saddle, with the horses out of sight.

The others stopped at a junction where you turn onto another road, so we caught up to them, but I was not in a good mood. Then one of the WB riders, who was in a rush to get back, takes off in trot again (on a road that goes slightly downhill, so I never trot it) and disappears. The others stayed in walk, but if I'd been on Gypsum, I would have been screwed. Add that to general bad mood. Highland was fine, but it's the Principle of the Thing, dammit. She didn't even know he would be fine because she didn't ask.

It's just one of those things that really pushes my buttons.

I also want to add that when I had my fast horse and was usually at the front for trot/canter work, I always had one eye on the horses behind me. If someone suddenly stopped trotting or disappeared out of my sight, I pulled my horse up.
 
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People who use certain tack like flashes/grackles, martingales, severe bits for no real reason.
People who shoe for no reason
People who stable for no reason
People at horse events who let their dogs just wonder about, they assume all horses are happy around dogs, they jump up on me in beige jods, and let their dogs wonder right up to my baby or kids.
People hogging warm up jumps, ignoring anyone else exists and having their groom put them up stupid high (and leaving them like that).
People who want to dominate their horse and beat them up especially when its their own riding causing it.
People suggesting punishing the horse for basically anything the horse does that isnt foot perfect.
Non-horse people assuming we're all rich snobs who hunt (I am none of these).
 
I'm a bit of a colour snob and I get really narked about all the "duns" (buckskins) and "roans" (greys) out there.

I also agree about the "you're so lucky" comments. I draw, I'm pretty rusty these days but I have spent literally thousands of hours improving a natural skill, I wouldn't dream of telling a talented musician how lucky they are to play an instrument well.
 
scats said:
Another who tries not to get too wound up about things others do, but as an eternal problem solver, I get very frustrated at people moaning about things with their horses/yard/riding issues but having every excuse under the sun for why they can’t fix or help overcome it.
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Ooh yes, absolutely this. Another problem solver over here and those conversations wind me up no end. "No, that won't work for my horse", "there's no point talking to her about it", "I found a website that says it's definitely not that"....so WHY are you talking to me about it then? What do you expect me to DO?! Aghhh
 
The passport office in Durham has managed to lose two documents out of a packet that I sent in support of my daughter's application.

I've got an extra copy of one of them but might need to ask the town hall for a copy of the other. Then post them to the UK...

This time it won't cost the €67 that it cost me the last time (photocopy of every page of her other passports made it a heavy packet), but it's another waste of time
 
MagicMelon said:
People who use certain tack like flashes/grackles, martingales, severe bits for no real reason.
People who shoe for no reason
People who stable for no reason
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How do you definitively know they are doing these things for no reason?

For example I hack on wide open busy spaces, with a number of hazards. I use a running martingale, 99% of the time it never comes into action. Occasionally it helps me keep control in a panic situation.

Stabling might be saving land in winter / limiting access to sugar etc/ a foot issue meaning feet need to keep dry.
 
Caol Ila said:
I use to have a fast horse, but now I have a slow one, so it's usually me at the back of the group. We were trotting up a hill today and I was the tail end of a group of four. Two were warmbloods, so they were a lot faster than my little Highland. I was trailing by a ways, but he was happy at his pace. Then he spooked at a roadworks sign. Slammed on the brakes. Tried to spin. We had a discussion. Everyone else is just disappearing into the distance, totally oblivious to me having a mare. Leg on, urge horse past the scary sign, then pick up the trot again. Now I'm miles behind. At which point I realize I didn't tighten my girth enough (I'd tacked up in a rush) and my saddle is sliding sideways. F*ck, I think. I ask horse to walk, which he does, very cooperatively given his pals are far away now, and try to straighten it as best I can. I needed to get off, straighten it, and tighten the girth, but felt there's only so much I can expect of my little green horse and didn't fancy hanging onto him in the middle of the road while futzing with the saddle, with the horses out of sight.

The others stopped at a junction where you turn onto another road, so we caught up to them, but I was not in a good mood. Then one of the WB riders, who was in a rush to get back, takes off in trot again (on a road that goes slightly downhill, so I never trot it) and disappears. The others stayed in walk, but if I'd been on Gypsum, I would have been screwed. Add that to general bad mood. Highland was fine, but it's the Principle of the Thing, dammit. She didn't even know he would be fine because she didn't ask.
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Completely agree with you. I'd rather hack alone than hack with someone who isnt considerate of the needs to keep all of us safe.

I dont typically hack wiht horses that walk and trot a lot slower, unless by special arrangement (supporting someone etc.) as I like to hack for aerobic exercise. I have a big fast walking horse, and am on a yard of 60 horses, so can select compatible hacking partners, as can the slower horses.

But if someone wasnt keeping up and going wasnt safe to trot to keep up, of course I'd wait. Same as if someone was having a moment / stress with their horse, I would do whatever was right to keep all safe.
 
Gypsum was quick indeed, and it wasn't easy to ride the brakes all the time when we went out with short-legged natives. I get that. But if I'd made the choice that day to ride with short-legged natives, that's what I did. Rather than acting surprised and annoyed that 14hh Highland really is slower than a 17+hh warmblood.
 
flying_high said:
Completely agree with you. I'd rather hack alone than hack with someone who isnt considerate of the needs to keep all of us safe.
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This is why i used to, and will when i find my next, mainly hack alone. There are few riders round here that i would hack out with and its not me thinking i'm better than them, but i dont like hacking out with riders that dont have any consideration or real awareness of/for other road users, try to dictate the route, only walk with perhaps a 100 yard trot, no hi viz and the best yet, hack out at 6.50pm on a late sept evening with no hi viz or any way of making themselves visible. How they didnt cause or have an accident i will never know.
 
The cooing of 'oh my god your horse is soooooo good, he just stands there/doesn't leave his stable/stands to be mounted/stands where he is put.'....

Response... dont worry he didn't come that way, he is just really well trained!

Queue the chorus of 'well my horse would never do that hahaha, yours is just soooooo good!!'

Response... nope don't worry he was trained, it takes alot of effort but was rewarding for us both that he understands what's expected of him.

Really undermines the work I've put into making my horse a nice horse to be around & understand what's asked of him. He is a stress head and was hard to mount, lead, and stand stress free when I got him - it takes work!!!!!
 
Annoyed with having to inquire on sales ads for price, video, and info. Some adds just have photos and say "contact us"

Now, I get that, but I just don't feel like wasting my time. It's 2021 so a video should be attached to the ad or easily sent upon request. "Inquire for price" again, if my max budget is 18k and this horse is 25k, we're probably not going to reach an agreement. I just want the info upfront.

Also very rarely see the horses pedigree or name in the ad (so I can search ANCCE). With TB's and most WB's this was never some elusive mystery.
 
CanteringCarrot said:
Annoyed with having to inquire on sales ads for price, video, and info. Some adds just have photos and say "contact us"
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This is an irritation of mine in general. One poorly taken pic of *insert item of choice* without indication of model, size, or images from different angles to show condition. It's even creeping into Ebay, now. How these people ever sell anything I don't know.
 
CanteringCarrot said:
Annoyed with having to inquire on sales ads for price, video, and info. Some adds just have photos and say "contact us"

Now, I get that, but I just don't feel like wasting my time. It's 2021 so a video should be attached to the ad or easily sent upon request. "Inquire for price" again, if my max budget is 18k and this horse is 25k, we're probably not going to reach an agreement. I just want the info upfront.

Also very rarely see the horses pedigree or name in the ad (so I can search ANCCE). With TB's and most WB's this was never some elusive mystery.
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Yeah, I don't bother with POA or 'contact us.' If you have to ask, you can't afford.

And ads that only have photos of the horse sticking its head over the stable door, or wearing a rug, or lying down, or standing at some weird angle so you can't tell whether or not the legs are straight.

Also annoys me when people advertising horses or livery yards don't state the location immediately. I don't want to spend five minutes internet stalking you in order to figure out where you are. You can have the best yard in the world, but if it's at the other end of the country from me, it's not going to do me any good, is it?
 
I went to the post office to send documents to the passport office to replace those that the office had lost... only to discover that the post office is shut on Tuesday from 12h to 14h30 (and from 12h30 to 14h30 the other days of the week).

The pharmacist didn't have one of my medicines; she had the others and gave me a promise for tomorrow.

The dry cleaner's was open, though, so I could drop of my son's smart work jacket.
 
Fransurrey said:
This is an irritation of mine in general. One poorly taken pic of *insert item of choice* without indication of model, size, or images from different angles to show condition. It's even creeping into Ebay, now. How these people ever sell anything I don't know.
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Ooh this with saddles winds me up- "lovely saddle, no marks, bought new 6 months ago" no mention of length/width, or anything that might actually tell me if it'll go somewhere near fitting the horse ?‍♀️. So many saddles on fb seem to be advertised like this.
 
Tailgaters!

I was tailgated 3 times in one b****y journey yesterday!

1st time I was sat behind a dumper truck approaching a blind bend but apparently still expected to overtake.

2nd time was on a road that has a 30mph limit but very few people seem to know this. It comes off another 30mph road and remains 30mph until it passes a couple of houses approx. halfway along the road when it changes to 60mph.

3rd time I was turning right at a junction. Apparently slowing down to turn is infuriating and unreasonable behaviour. ?
 
Looking for things, finding a million other random things you don't need, but not finding the thing you want.

I was raiding my car the other day, searching for a girth. Among other random objects, I found two ice axes, a meat hammer, a lost headtorch, assorted rugs, a single glove, part of my double bridle, a tin whistle, and an old parking ticket. The girth was somewhere else.
 
Bought a pair of Pikeur breeches for 120€ new. Wore them twice, and the rise is just too high for me. So I put them on the local classifieds site. No bites so I just said 40€ plus 4€ shipping and people still trying to haggle or act like it's too much. They're like new and I'd be elated to find them at that price (just because I want them gone). People ? want something for nothing.
 
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