New breed of horse owners?

In a selfish and disposable world it would seem that everyone knows the price of everything and the value of nothing
I learned everything I know from experience and I know to my shame my horse suffered as a result of my ignorance in the beginning but I have been an avid learner since day one and I know I will still learn something new every day as long as I live. I had been riding at a riding school for 5 years before I had my own.
The new owners I despair of are the ones that have a lesson, like it and realise it costs less to have a horse to ride every day than to pay for lessons twice a week so off they go and buy something totally unsuitable because it is cheap. buy tack from an auction because it is cheap etc. When it gets cold and wet the idea of trudging round a muddy field looking after said horse becomes an impossible chore as they may have to get out of bed to do it. God help the horse if they catch a cold they cant possibly go outside with a sniffle
Media exacerbates the problems but they have always existed.
Cynical! me never!
 
Not condoning poor horse care due to money or lack of knowledge but there are people out there that have plenty if dosh that don't have a clue, they might not buy the bargain bucket end of the scale but pay a lot of money for a horse, buy all the gear with no idea and haven't got a clue on how to look after this new fad.
On the other hand because horses are now cheaper it has opened up the opportunity to more people who are knowledgable and good riders who couldn't afford to own before because the sport was so elitist.
I don't agree with bad breeding and you should have a basic knowledge of horse care but there are numpties with money as well.
 
Every Tom Dick and Harry are 'rescueing' ex-racehorses now and they don't have the first idea about them except that they are cheap/free from the track. I feel sorry for a lot of the beasts I see about the place. All dressed up in the latest colour schemes, all matchy matchy and blingy and underneath it all is a malnourished, over worked, underfed, under appreciated animals that is doing it's hardest to please.
 
Yes, I do think that there is a "new breed" of horse owners, and being rather more of the "old" variety it can be sometimes exasperating at best. It does seem to be the blind leading the blind too; I am appalled at the standard of teaching in riding schools, and there are so many so-called "professional" riders that haven't got even the basics themselves.

So, what to do? I'd be the last person to deny anyone the pure pleasure of having horses, but what happened to learning to ride first? What happened to the good, no-nonsense riding school, Pony Club, proper, knowledgeable, EXPERIENCED teachers, the old nagsmen?
 
HMM - I have no issue with novices that want to learn. I was one once after all. :)

Novices that think they know it all are a different thing though.
 
Personally I remember loads of horses in 80s/90s with saddle sores or white withers, shoulders rubbed bare by rugs, sore mouths from badly fitting bits, so I don't think it's anything new at all. But it is more visible with social media and digital photography.
 
Spring Feather said:
Horses are very cheap now. Anyone can own a horse, even if they have no clue as to what they are doing. I do however think some people nowadays have become rather obsessed with perfectly fitting tack; in my day we had saddles that 'fitted' almost every horse! We used crappy Jute rugs and horrific 'not very waterproof' canvas NZs; no one said anything because that's what everyone used and that was all we knew. I do think there is more ignorance these days though. Even on this forum, yeah I know no question is supposed to be seen as stupid, but ... sometimes I honestly do think 'Really?'

I have no problem with appropriately grown 2 years olds being lightly ridden, so that's certainly not a bug bear of mine. Badly bred yak type horses, yes there seems to be a huge amount of them now in the UK and I really don't think they were like that 40 years ago; back in those days they were generally natives cross TB, or Arabs. I'm just blown away by the amount of hairy gypsy cob type horses that are around in the UK now; I don't recall anyone having them years ago, they were not commonly seen except for pulling milk wagons or suchlike.
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Agree totally with this. Also no-one had heard of back problems or ill fitting saddles!

Trouble is, horses are too cheap. I can remember buying some of the newer horsey monthly magazines and being surprised at some of the very basic information being given out. Don't people know this stuff? Apparently not.
It was possible to buy a cheapish pony, that you could keep in the doctor's field, maybe, but once you were looking at buying a horse either you had your own land or there were some hunter livery yards, and not much choice otherwise.
 
I think the current general way that some people are is also a problem - the ones who want everything but have no intention of doing any work towards what they want. Horses and ponies are now cheaper than ever thanks to the overbreeding problem and prices of lessons are so high that it is no wonder there are so many threads on here about new liveries who haven't a clue, remember the one last week about the people who couldn't even tack up as an example?

My father came across, and managed to persuade, some acquaintances of his not to get a pony a couple of months ago. They'd seen a pony for sale cheaply and locally and thought they could get it for their grandaughter, another friend suggested they ask Dad what was involved first before parting with their cash. A few well chosen words later about, livery or field rent, tack, vets bills, feed, how often the farrier is needed, and yes you do have to go and feed/muck out in the rain, winter on bank holidays and at Christmas and fortunately they went off the idea!
 
Every novice horse owner has to start somewhere and yes, horses are too easily accessible nowadays. It has long been a bug bear of mine that riding schools teach a person to walk, trot and canter but very few actually teach that person how to look after a horse. Even the basics such as feeding, mucking out and common ailments would be helpful. Too often the person arrives to ride on an already tacked up horse when it would be much better to get the rider to tack up and learn! Mistakes are highlighted that much easier since the dawn of social media and everyone is an expert.
 
I grew up in a part of the United States where horse ownership was pretty exclusively for the rich, there were hardly any accessible riding schools or other opportunities to be around horses for the average person, I wouldn't want to see that happen here.

Ignorance and thoughtlessness are not exclusive to the less well off either. I have seen plenty of rich, clueless people who buy a horse for themselves or their kids without really thinking it through. Once they've bought the horse, not always a cheap one either, they then won't prize open their fat wallet to pay for a vet, farrier, lessons, full livery when they really need it... or in fact anything that isn't fun for them even though they could so easily.
 
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Cherryade said:
Trawling through the many various horse pages on facebook makes for a depressing read, hundreds of mainly badly bred youngsters for sale for less than the price of a Tv, many ridden as young as 2 years old :(. People posting pictures of their horses in ill fitting tack, asking questions which only a vet could answer and an overall ignorance concerning horse welfare.

My question is has this always been the case and we just see it more often now due to social media, or is this a new breed of horse owner that seems education is lacking but purely have horses because they can?
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Ever read Black Beauty... Only difference is now it's on social media.
 
KatPT said:
Personally I remember loads of horses in 80s/90s with saddle sores or white withers, shoulders rubbed bare by rugs, sore mouths from badly fitting bits, so I don't think it's anything new at all. But it is more visible with social media and digital photography.
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Same I saw many very oddly shaped unbroken ponies bought for kids who thought they knew everything by parents that knew nothing when I was younger I think we just see a lot more of it.

What annoys me some what is the arrogance that goes with it. I can afford a horse it's cheaper than lessons so no one is allowed to say otherwise, I don't need lessons, don't need advice, don't need full/working livery I can just google it if I don't know what to do, I am Gods gift to the horse world as I have watched some youtube videos :P Or such and such is an expert they've been off the leadrein for 6 months and can jump 4 foot ;)
 
AdorableAlice said:
I agree with the general gist of this thread, but we should remember there are a lot of new horse keepers that have saved long and hard and done their utmost to ensure they do provide a good home for the equine they have or are buying.

There is no doubt that we all see things that make us wince, I certainly do on my drive to work, but not all new owners fall into the 'all the gear and no idea' category. There are the odd questions on the forum that are worrying but at least the poster has asked for help.

I fall into the 'stupid muppet' division, having bought two meat bound horses.
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I agree AA not all new horse owners are idiots but everyone needs to start somewhere to learn, there are just as many people who've had horses for years whose tack and horse care leave a lot to be desired.
 
Orangehorse said:
Agree totally with this. Also no-one had heard of back problems or ill fitting saddles!
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hmm, and those with soundness or behavioural problems were sent straight to the knackers-not endlessly discussed with strangers on the internet. So I think ill fitting tack etc existed but horses were not given the benefit of the doubt or insured.

There have always been ignorant owners-read Memoirs of a Hunting Man, Black Beauty, Silver Snaffles (where they had the land of 'no horse sense'). My family daftly bought me a pony back in the 70s when they knew nothing about them and we also made mistakes. I was one of those girly swots though, that read every book, magazine, went to every pony day at the local RS to learn everything I could and had supportive parents but strictly speaking, we shouldnt have had our own at that time.

The type of horse has changed on the whole and they are cheaper but the low end DIY livery yards have been about since I was wee, because I was on some of them!
 
Spring Feather said:
Horses are very cheap now. Anyone can own a horse, even if they have no clue as to what they are doing. I do however think some people nowadays have become rather obsessed with perfectly fitting tack; in my day we had saddles that 'fitted' almost every horse! We used crappy Jute rugs and horrific 'not very waterproof' canvas NZs; no one said anything because that's what everyone used and that was all we knew. I do think there is more ignorance these days though. Even on this forum, yeah I know no question is supposed to be seen as stupid, but ... sometimes I honestly do think 'Really?'

I have no problem with appropriately grown 2 years olds being lightly ridden, so that's certainly not a bug bear of mine. Badly bred yak type horses, yes there seems to be a huge amount of them now in the UK and I really don't think they were like that 40 years ago; back in those days they were generally natives cross TB, or Arabs. I'm just blown away by the amount of hairy gypsy cob type horses that are around in the UK now; I don't recall anyone having them years ago, they were not commonly seen except for pulling milk wagons or suchlike.
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Agree with above. I had my first pony early 1970's bought from riding school. Cost a fortune. You had to be quite wealthy to own a horse back then. My mum took a loan out. I think it was €400 so, a lot back then. You kept your pony and passed it down the family generation. There weren't many to buy either and no Internet. It was word of mouth or travelling hours to view something from a national Echange and Mart mag. But, although my piny was they expensive to buy, he was kept cheaply. Lived out. Basic bran and oats mix. NZ rug which never dried. Straw stuffed under one stable rug with strap around middle to keep in place. Hacked every where as you had to be seriously wealthy to own a trailer. No fat ponies about. No laminitis. No faffing about. No point crying to mum when you fell off because the darling bucks, because mum had a bank loan; you had to make do and get on with it. Horses are now too cheap and too easy to replace
 
exracehorse said:
Agree with above. I had my first pony early 1970's bought from riding school. Cost a fortune. You had to be quite wealthy to own a horse back then. My mum took a loan out. I think it was €400 so, a lot back then. You kept your pony and passed it down the family generation. There weren't many to buy either and no Internet. It was word of mouth or travelling hours to view something from a national Echange and Mart mag. But, although my piny was they expensive to buy, he was kept cheaply. Lived out. Basic bran and oats mix. NZ rug which never dried. Straw stuffed under one stable rug with strap around middle to keep in place. Hacked every where as you had to be seriously wealthy to own a trailer. No fat ponies about. No laminitis. No faffing about. No point crying to mum when you fell off because the darling bucks, because mum had a bank loan; you had to make do and get on with it. Horses are now too cheap and too easy to replace
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This was exactly my life too as a kid. I had little ponies that I rode when I was tiny and then when I was a little older, in the 70s, I was bought my first competition pony. She was a greenie though but she still cost £500!! That was huge amounts of money back then. Crazy now to see some horses still selling for this amount in the year 2014. Only one person I knew had a trailer but we all still went to every show under the sun. We hacked hours to get to the shows, did most of the classes at the shows and then we hacked home again. Our ponies were very fit by today's standards and they never seemed to get sick. We also fed the bran and oats mixture lol!
 
Spring Feather said:
Horses are very cheap now. Anyone can own a horse, even if they have no clue as to what they are doing. I do however think some people nowadays have become rather obsessed with perfectly fitting tack; in my day we had saddles that 'fitted' almost every horse! We used crappy Jute rugs and horrific 'not very waterproof' canvas NZs; no one said anything because that's what everyone used and that was all we knew. I do think there is more ignorance these days though. Even on this forum, yeah I know no question is supposed to be seen as stupid, but ... sometimes I honestly do think 'Really?'

I have no problem with appropriately grown 2 years olds being lightly ridden, so that's certainly not a bug bear of mine. Badly bred yak type horses, yes there seems to be a huge amount of them now in the UK and I really don't think they were like that 40 years ago; back in those days they were generally natives cross TB, or Arabs. I'm just blown away by the amount of hairy gypsy cob type horses that are around in the UK now; I don't recall anyone having them years ago, they were not commonly seen except for pulling milk wagons or suchlike.
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Spring Feather said:
This was exactly my life too as a kid. I had little ponies that I rode when I was tiny and then when I was a little older, in the 70s, I was bought my first competition pony. She was a greenie though but she still cost £500!! That was huge amounts of money back then. Crazy now to see some horses still selling for this amount in the year 2014. Only one person I knew had a trailer but we all still went to every show under the sun. We hacked hours to get to the shows, did most of the classes at the shows and then we hacked home again. Our ponies were very fit by today's standards and they never seemed to get sick. We also fed the bran and oats mixture lol!
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Lol. Because my pony was slow against the jumping clock, my mum used to shove buckets of oats into him before a competition! I used to hack him to school and he was tethered in Mrs Bromley cottage garden every day and back again. No chaps back then either, my 1970's flared jeans used to part company with my jodhpur boots at the ankle and I got wicked red burn marks on my calves, especially as the saddles were so hard back then. Used to pour that oil on, which then stained my show jodhpurs permanently.
 
exracehorse said:
Lol. Because my pony was slow against the jumping clock, my mum used to shove buckets of oats into him before a competition! I used to hack him to school and he was tethered in Mrs Bromley cottage garden every day and back again. No chaps back then either, my 1970's flared jeans used to part company with my jodhpur boots at the ankle and I got wicked red burn marks on my calves, especially as the saddles were so hard back then. Used to pour that oil on, which then stained my show jodhpurs permanently.
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Well my first proper saddle for said green competition pony was the same price as the pony! Which again was extortionate for back then. Prior to that my 'saddle' for our little ponies was one of those awful felt pads which slipped around so much that it was actually safer to ride the dinky ponies bareback lol! I actually don't know why so much money was spent on my (what turned into a fantastic) competition pony or how they even managed to swallow costs like that, but I must have been exceedingly lucky looking back. My pony was a Connemara x TB and boy was she quick against larger horses. I stopped competing in pony jumping comps as she was not quick enough but boy could she turn on a dime and jump all the open class heights no problem at all, so I took to only jumping in Open classes against the big 17.2hhs and the thrill of being first in the winners line up with little old me on my little pony winning cups and trophies was a buzz that really lasted me a lifetime I think as I'm not remotely interested in competing these days :smile3: It's nice to remember the old days sometimes.
 
My main bug bare atm is the cob and shetlands for £45 that were "rescued from the meat man" even though they are skin and bone so the meat man would not have even taken them. I also don't believe the meat man would take a shetland, what are they going to get off it!?
 
Someone on a facebook group put up a picture of a lump on their horse, obviously we can only give an educated guess on what it is. I personally thought it could either be a sarcoid under the skin, or a melanoma, as did many others. The OP then said she was going to call the vet out etc. One lady then told her NOT to! Because "it's small". I then commented saying that I'd never tell someone not to get the vet out to something, after all, it's only a picture and we aren't experts! It completely baffled me!
 
exracehorse said:
Agree with above. I had my first pony early 1970's bought from riding school. Cost a fortune. You had to be quite wealthy to own a horse back then. My mum took a loan out. I think it was €400 so, a lot back then. You kept your pony and passed it down the family generation. There weren't many to buy either and no Internet. It was word of mouth or travelling hours to view something from a national Echange and Mart mag. But, although my piny was they expensive to buy, he was kept cheaply. Lived out. Basic bran and oats mix. NZ rug which never dried. Straw stuffed under one stable rug with strap around middle to keep in place. Hacked every where as you had to be seriously wealthy to own a trailer. No fat ponies about. No laminitis. No faffing about. No point crying to mum when you fell off because the darling bucks, because mum had a bank loan; you had to make do and get on with it. Horses are now too cheap and too easy to replace
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I think its a combination of the prices of horses being so low due to poor breeding, there being so many unawanted horses, economic climate etc and also possibly perhaps as a lot of good riding schools have closed possibly because of the claims culture, you get people seeing horses as cheap, seemingly thinking they are easy to keep and thinking why waste money on lessons etc, therefore you possibly do get people who have little experience buying horses on a whim.

I started riding late 80's and although I would have loved a pony as a kid and would have cut my right arm off for one, my parents simply couldnt afford to keep one or had the time to commit to one. So I rode loads of riding school horses and ponies and helped out weekends/holidays etc. Only got my first "very own" horse 4 years ago age 28
 
AdorableAlice said:
I agree with the general gist of this thread, but we should remember there are a lot of new horse keepers that have saved long and hard and done their utmost to ensure they do provide a good home for the equine they have or are buying.

There is no doubt that we all see things that make us wince, I certainly do on my drive to work, but not all new owners fall into the 'all the gear and no idea' category. There are the odd questions on the forum that are worrying but at least the poster has asked for help.

I fall into the 'stupid muppet' division, having bought two meat bound horses.
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Horsemadsmother said:
As someone who is new to the horsey world really, and joined it mainly because of DD1 a thread like this makes me feel a bit :\

I don't know alot about horses i will admit. I am trying to learn.

I am paying for lessons as and when i can fit them in around my husbands shift work, DD1 goes weekly for hers.

No we don't own a horse or pony yet even though both DD1 and DD2 are desperate for one of their own. But that is mainly down to the fact that i don't feel ready to own a horse yet as i need to learn far, far more before taking on the commitment of an animal for a very long time.

But please don't judge all of us new people the same as those on social media. Some of us are learning first before taking the plunge.
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I wasn't meaning to label all novices, there are some still out there that are willing to learn and that's great of course we all started somewhere. I was aiming more towards the people that just buy a horse based on a picture they have seen and expect a schoolmaster to learn on even when i was young i knew this wasn't a good idea throw in the mix of dealers that neither seem to know how to ride or care for their horses and its a dangerous result IMO.

The type of people who buy colts and dont geld them because they cant afford it...?
People feeding their horses 101 different mixes but no idea as to what it is or why, people with 'problem' horses but dont for a minute think it could be them just whack aload more tack on to mask the problem :mad:

Youngsters being bought again because they are cheap but the owners not having a clue how to give them the vital education they need.
All seems a very alien concept to me.

Cortez said:
Yes, I do think that there is a "new breed" of horse owners, and being rather more of the "old" variety it can be sometimes exasperating at best. It does seem to be the blind leading the blind too; I am appalled at the standard of teaching in riding schools, and there are so many so-called "professional" riders that haven't got even the basics themselves.

So, what to do? I'd be the last person to deny anyone the pure pleasure of having horses, but what happened to learning to ride first? What happened to the good, no-nonsense riding school, Pony Club, proper, knowledgeable, EXPERIENCED teachers, the old nagsmen?
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This ^^ I guess it all relates to money again, cheaper to buy than have lessons.
 
Cortez said:
So, what to do? I'd be the last person to deny anyone the pure pleasure of having horses, but what happened to learning to ride first? What happened to the good, no-nonsense riding school, Pony Club, proper, knowledgeable, EXPERIENCED teachers, the old nagsmen?
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They won't tell numpties the bull**** they want to hear so they go elsewhere.
Have you noticed how many apparently qualified instructors can talk endlessly but have no real understanding of what they're going on about?
 
I taught myself to ride a 8 still going 20+ish years later had bad habits to learn when I finally convinced my parents to buy me a pony. Everyone needs to start somewhere and buying a pony with help around you for the non horsey person isn't always a bad thing for that pony.
 
equi said:
My main bug bare atm is the cob and shetlands for £45 that were "rescued from the meat man" even though they are skin and bone so the meat man would not have even taken them. I also don't believe the meat man would take a shetland, what are they going to get off it!?
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In some countries, day old chicks and songbirds are a delicacy, as are locusts etc in others. Shetlands are considerably bigger than those!

I too got a pony early seventies, an appy/connie cross from a dealer for £200 pounds sold as a perfect beginners pony which he was. We owned him for 24 years and he fell asleep in his stable at the age of 34. Only ever needed the vet for annual checkup!
 
Just to clarify; I'm not against people buying ponies/horses when they have no knowledge providing they keep the horse on a yard where they have a good network of knowledgeable people around them. I have a number of first time owners on my yard where they know they have help on hand at any time of day or night, should they need it. Almost every horse who lives on my farm is on full-care livery anyway so I have care and control over them so they're well covered when it comes to spotting and appropriately dealing with any medical conditions.
 
I think it comes down to the persons objective. If it's a life long dream and you are willing to put in the hard work, dedication, know that ownership is not all wine and roses, and that you are learning all the time and are sensible and of course have the right funding for vet etc then do it, but if it's merely for status or something you just want to try and you are likely to become bored, or....one of those who will dump the work on everyone else and like the sound of "I own a horse " don't go there !! plus, you need a ton of patience :)
 
At the moment i am happy to pay for DD1 to have lessons and learn. She goes with her Auntie now to a yard where, whens shes older she can help out and learn herself and then hopefully i will learn with her.

Then im hoping we can go down the route of a part loan and work from there
 
Good plan at least then you will know if she is committed and dedicated but it is most likely that you will get the bug and learn enough to want it for yourself
 
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