Over cautious owners

fourstarhels, thank you for recognising that I'm talking about people with horses that they know very well and who they trust not to do daft things. I would never ever let my guard down totally with him, as he is spontaneous in other ways.

I know what you mean about youngsters though, as a dealer rider we always had loads of daftie young horses. Bless their socks, some of them were beyond help, they really were lol! Good luck with him getting a little bit wiser with age
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I got a bit of twine paranoia(? OMG, my spelling !) after seeing a TB pull back , yanked the 12' rail off its posts and gallop into the paddock trailing the still attached rope, unbroken twine and rail
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Thankfully and amazingly no damage was done.

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to admit this was MY TB and my mistake
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I use the rubber thingy's
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we had a shetland pony at the riding school that was kept in a pony stall, and he used to rear up and put his legs over the top of the door
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very naughty, used to give the kiddies a fright
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I use the rubber thingy's now

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I really like the bungy's. And was reasurred recently when one did actually snap under huge pressure without any damage to pony.
 
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Excellent news
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Maybe, in that case, I fall in to the ''overcautius'' category
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Obviously I do too! Rather overcautious than sloppy.

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Better add me to the list too
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AmyMay and everyone else who has jumped on their high horse (no pun intended) and decided to attack me for my honesty...

I am merely saying that that is what happened with my horse. And now he has stopped doing it. I feel that my actions benefitted both of us in removing his attention seeking behaviour.

Horses do seek attention and will go to great lengths to get it - as will a toddler. My degree was in equine science and from that course in animal behavious and also my own experience I know that ignoring bad behaviour is far more conducive to stopping it than shouting or giving other forms of "attention". Same as for horses who kicked the door when it was feeding time - we made sure to feed them last, so they were not rewarded for their bad manners.

In the case of someone elses horse, of COURSE I would not stand and watch when they did this as I would not have a clue how the horse might react. But from 7 years of knowing Major and caring for him every day I am aware of what stresses him and what doesn't - and any horse standing eating hay while his leg is under his lead rope is not a stressed horse.

And FOR GOD'S SAKE do you people actually think I leave him there for hours??? By "leaving him standing" I mean for about 2 minutes while I finish up his stable then go and unhook him. Why which time he's usually fixed himself out when he realised noone was going to run to his attention.

I am sick of this place. People jump on the bandwagon before they have a clue what they are talking about
 
Hi E,
Haven't read all posts so if repeat etc sorry,
If he's tied up outside then agree loads of room,same with your barn if one stabledoor shut plenty room,if no horse tied up outside stable then no there wouldn't be room.There wouldn't be enough room for a horse to avoid being kicked if either horse decided to kick.Agrre there no need and rude for someone to shut door on you and knock barrow over.
But hey thats yards for you.
I get bugged with horses tied up outside the only haybale in yard and you have to dodge a horse eating whilst getting hay/haylage.
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And don't get me wrong sure I probably do something that bugs someone else.
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I haven't read all the posts (I understand some mini-arguement is going on but havent got the time to read through them all!).

Im thankful that Im not on a yard, I keep my horses at home which means I can do whatever I like! My main niggle is when people worry if their horses will be ok if turned out during the winter. ALL horses are designed to be turned out. ALL horses can happily live out (unless for vet reasons), even those who are clipped due to modern very cosy rugs! I would worry far more about horses being stabled all the time or uneccesarily.
 
tbh....I would never leave a horse with its leg up. Yes, they often stand still because they are sensible, but if you leave them they may eventually pull back and damage themselves. IT's extremely irresponsible. Our tie rings are only 3ft max off the ground, horses tied up reasonably short will not get their legs over. IT is extremely dangerous to feed/water etc. tied up horses for this very reason.
 
Sorry if you thought my post was bitchy, it really wasn't intended in that way but was just my initial reaction to what sounds like a very silly thing to do and I would have grave concerns about leaving my horses with anyone who thought what you have described in your post, is ok. I realise you wouldn't leave another horse in this situation but tbh the whole tone of your post "over cautious" makes me think that you are not cautious enough.

But that is just my opinion and again I am sorry for responding without thinking and not backing up my thoughts ...had to dash off as lots of ponies to bubble wrap
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Hmm see im not precious about these things BUT i won't neccessarily let Rock go about touching noses with others as the last two times hes done it hes caught a virus from them. I also wouldn't lead him behind another horse however well behaved it is because horses are not predictable and if something were to spook that horse or bite him he could run backwards or kick out.
I shut stable doors behind me once again because i've witnessed a horse get a very nasty cut down its side when it got trapped and paniced being led past an open door and a wall. However her pushing your wheelbarrow over is VERY rude - she should have asked you to just shut your door for a second - its not difficult to be polite is it?
 
I don't have time to read all the responses, but did plough through some. You would doubtless consider me to be an overprotective owner. Whilst I am not into overrugging or some of the other practices that no doubt wind you up, I am always wary about moving horse too close to each other, especially if tied up. I certainly wouldn't allow a stabled horse to get nose to nose with a passing horse, the yard is as tidy and absolutely as safe as I can possibly make it. I never take any chances whatsoever.

My choices, but I expect the same standards of anybody else who handles my horses, after all if it all goes wrong, who are they going to sue?
 
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Well, if I'm honest, I sort of feel the same as JBJ. The concerning thing is (and I'm harping on sorry) the glib manner in which you think that allowing your horse to put his leg over a lead rope and leaving him like that is acceptable. Also the lack of understanding you seem to have about how a horses mind works - they really are not that clever. And I'm really not sure that you can compare a child's tantrum to a horse's alledged attention seeking.

I think that some of the things you have said in the this post are potentially damaging to your business - not JBJ's comments. And in your shoes I would think very carefully about the sort of comments you make in future about how a horse should be managed. The horse world is very, very small - and you never know who knows who, and who posts etc. on HHO.

I wouldn't be happy leaving my horse in your care because of things you have said in this post. Which is a shame, because you probably do a very, very good job.

You obviously have a way of doing things that works for you. It's just a little alarming to some of us.......
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A very resounding Baaaaaaaaa to that!!
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I am shocked at the attitudes of a couple of people in this thread
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I can't understand people being so reckless with their four legged friends.
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I hope, for your horses' sake you don't learn your lesson the hard way. I knew a perfectly mannered, smart, bombproof little pony, world wise and well into her twenties. She was tied up long one day and got the rope in a muddle, something upset her and she went up and then down onto the concrete... I didn't actually see the accident, but I got there in time to hold her head whilst 6 of us held her up waiting for the vet. I got to try and talk to her and calm her (she was blinded from the impact and swelling to her poll), and I got to feel the blood from her mouth as it ran down my arm.

Shame on you for risking your horses' well being in this manner and joking about it.
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QR to Amymay, horses ARE that clever! They are capable of identifying an action that acheives a desired response, and then repeating it - thats how we teach them to be ridden!
To all those that have disagreed with the OP - what would you suggest she does instead?
 
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To all those that have disagreed with the OP - what would you suggest she does instead?

[/ QUOTE ] Tie the horse up short enough so it can't get it's leg over the rope!
 
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To all those that have disagreed with the OP - what would you suggest she does instead?

[/ QUOTE ] Tie the horse up short enough so it can't get it's leg over the rope!

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Exactly. Gosh, it's hardly rocket science is it...?!
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To all those that have disagreed with the OP - what would you suggest she does instead?

[/ QUOTE ] Tie the horse up short enough so it can't get it's leg over the rope!

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Ta Da
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She says she leaves him with a long rope so he can reach his feed bucket and water.
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And of course the other option is to just unclip the rope and refasten it back in the safe position - she doesn't have to make a fuss of the horse when she is doing it.

It is quite worrying that you are also a freelance groom and don't have any qualms about the safety aspect of this.
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Particularly as you are in my area ... I wouldn't want someone with that attitude attending to my horses.
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To be honest I wouldnt want to attend to someones horses who judged me on one post! I have never once said I agreed with OP, just asked what people thought she should do rather than criticising, as it has already been said that with a short rope he does the same thing. Don't just assume to think that you know what my opinon is, as I have deliberately not stated it
 
Well, as others have said, it's not exactly rocket science what her options are. Either tie the horse up so it doesn't get its leg over, or if it is a contortionist and still does it, then quickly release and re-clip without giving the horse any positive attention. They are the options I would expect an experienced groom to be aware of.
 
Again your presuming - you really shouldnt be so judgemental, its not a good quality, something I should expect an experienced horseperson to know
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Clipping and re-clipping is still giving a horse attention. Any other ideas? I know how to deal with this problem and indeed have dealt with it, so you dont need to have another paddy about freelance grooms not knowing their stuff. My suspision is that people who have criticised the OP would not actually be able to stop the behaviour themselves, and so are in no place to criticise.
 
QR - the OP said she leaves the rope long enough for the horse to reach hay and water - simple answer tie short enough that horse wont get leg caught or dont tie the horse up.

This horse may have learned it gets attention from doing this but that does not imo mean this behaviour should be ignored. You could release the clip without giving the horse any attention. And tbh if the horse is eating hay while its tangled it doesnt sound to me like its attention seeking at all- its just getting tangled on a loose rope again and again! If something spooked the horse while its leg was caught there could be a serious injury.
 
Ditto AmyMay and the cautious lot. If a horse can find a way of injuring itself it will. It is up to us to think for them we cannot expect horses to think about the consequences of putting their legs over ropes and such like but we can foresee hazardous consequences and it is our responsibility to avoid potential accidents. If this thread is a typical reflection of the OP's attitude I'd never leave a horse in their care either.
 
But it does not have to be positive attention. The OP has already said the horse has learnt the behaviour because other people patted the horse, spoke to it etc., which acted as positive reinforcement for the behaviour. By briskly unclipping and reclipping the horse without making a fuss of him, the horse will no longer gain a benefit from the behaviour.
 
Wasn't the whole point of the topic to have a harmless wee laugh at the rediculous people on each of your yards? For instance the "Get your half breed away from my show-pony, he'll likely give poor Pippin some fleas" type rediculous people? That think their pony/horse/donkey even needs FAR more care than everyone elses on said yard?

Instead it seems to have turned into a bit of a witch hunt!

It's about time somebody did some backing-up! The horse in question is tied up short, shorter than most other horses, he is indeed a contortionist! This horse missed his calling in the circus I can assure you. The tie-up area is also on an incline, as it is a former beef farm, but I doubt that will mean anything to you.

Tegoz has been on the yard long enough to know how far to go and not go with each horse there. She's also worked her butt off on nearly every yard in the area, sometimes two at a time, throughout school and uni. How many of you can say the same thing? How many of you are all so focused on yourselves and your own horses to even notice or care about other peoples? So either get back on topic, or stop posting on this thread. This was supposed to be a lighthearted piece of fun, not a personal attack!
 
lol did u just register to defend this person?

This forum is about opinions- my opinion is that this is unsafe and its better to be over cautious, accidents arent funny. And no i didnt take the OP as being a joke- apologies if i took it wrongly but no one has been offensive as far as I can see.

There is no witch hunt- simply people posting their opinion , of which they are fully entitled.
If you dont like the replies, dont post or grow a thick skin, simple as that.
 
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