Peer Pressure?

LEC

LEC

Opinions are like bum holes, everyone has one.
Joined
22 July 2005
Messages
11,719
Visit site
I am intrigued that people go so over the top with rugging, feeding and general care that it makes me wonder if it is peer pressure?

My horse lives out 24/7 and competes at a pretty good level eventing, I never really feed him and he is TB. I expect him to get on with it. Now I do not live on a livery yard as my horse is kept at home so everything I do is up to me. I have nobody looking over my shoulder nor do I have to put up with sly comments or strict rules about things.

Do you think peer pressure affects you and how you care for your horse?
 
I don't take any notice. I find horse people the worst for knowing best. Although my yard is great. Corroy is mostly TB and is unclipped at the moment any only has a comfort Zone fleece on at night. All horses are individual and she maybe mostly TB but she is a very hot horse and hates being over rugged, so I think people should treat horses as individuals.
 
Nope, I can't be doing with that peer pressure malarky - never understood why you would do something just because everyone else is
confused.gif
. I do what I think is best for Chex, which is often at odds to what other people do!
 
no I tend to let it go in one ear and out the other tbh. I know what Pidge needs now and I stick to it regardless of what others do to their horses. He is in MW at the moment and is just about warm enough overnight and fine in the day.
Have a lot of flack with sister's Sunny at times as he spends most of the winter just in a sheet. He is a hairy cob with a clip, and the sheet is really to keep him dry and clean. The amount of people who are shocked that he is only out in a sheet is unbelievable! however when you check his temp he is lovely and snug so the sheet stays
grin.gif
 
It doesnt do so now but certainly did years ago when I was first on livery. I had been away from horse owning for about ten years and had always had tough ponies, connies and such, prior to buying my first 'grown up' horse. Ponies were seldom rugged and lived out unless we were hunting the following day when they would either get an NZ on or brought in to spend the night in with the cows!

I put my grown up mare in a very nice livery yard and then followed what everyone else was doing vis rugs and feeds etc.

As I became more au fait with things I started to deviate and do my own thing, it raised a few eyebrows at that time but its interesting that now, some 20 years on, people follow my lead and friends horses are fed on fibre and are rugless until mine get their clothes on!
 
nope, i do what i feel is right for my horses.

if someone wants to follow what i am doing thats up to them.
 
I certainly felt peer pressure when I was younger. Not so much nowadays though, and especially now that I am not on a livery yard - but on a friends yard.

We also do things quite differently from each other, and I don't feel the need to follow her way of doing things at all.
 
I think there is a little bit of peer pressure. Now Im older I certainly DONT worry what ppl think.
I know before this summer I went WAY over the top on everything. I have no realised my horses can LIVE without me fussing around them and attending to their every need!

They are all fat and healthy living out atm, i usually bring them in in september! but WOW they are out, fat, not clipped - rugged yes! but are all FINE!

I dont feel guilty for NOT riding them 6 days a week! i enjoy them as a hobbie and funny enough ive done pretty well with them without nearly killing myself!

I have also this year decided they can live on cheap and cheerful feed, bar Winstons joint and feed supplements - everything else is on just nuts and chaff!
 
Not with mine really, mine are out 24/7 and not really fed much.

I think feeding is advertised in such a way that people believe everything they read about it, most of it is a load of rubbish and people waste their money.

Also tack fashions are definitely seen all the time. I'm sure there are loads more dressage horses wearing drop nosebands in H&H at the moment. A year ago you would hardly see a dressage horse in a drop, it would be in a flash
smirk.gif
 
Nope. I do what I do because I want to. Mind..I evented my tb with no feed-my instructor was horrified but I smiled and continued-turned out he was right and when my lad began feeling dull xc (which never..ever happens!) I put him straight on feed and didn't look back.
I have never followed a tack fashion tbh or anything of the such.
 
I think that is part of it for some people but I also think some people are feeding a need by fussing over their horses. Fine so long as the horse doesn't care either way but I think it can go over the top and actually irritate the horse if not actually harm it. I've known more than one person feed their horse into ill health.

But horses are pretty hardy. The mistake is probably more in thinking they care either way.
wink.gif


We had a woman in the barn once who absolutely doted on her horse, which she had bred herself. She scrubbed its buckets every night, even if they'd already been cleaned, practically got a science degree figuring out how to feed it, had loads of rugs, and bascially fussed until she drove us all mad. The horse was overweight and irritable and a bit of a thug. One thing the woman wouldn't spend money on was lessons, maintaining that her bond with the horse more than made up for any shortcomings in her riding. The horse was a highly bred, big moving dressage-bred specimen and the infrequent rides usually went badly.

Then - I hate to buy into the cliche! - the woman had a baby. All the fussing instantly stopped and the horse was allowed to just go out and come in and eat like everyone else. She got help with handling because now she wasn't able to cater to the horse's every whim. She got help with the riding, since now she had the excuse of not having time. Oddly enough the horse not only survived but flourished. The owner eventually bred her a couple of times and believe it or not the foals grew to adulthood just fine without being managed every second of the day. The owner has shown the youngsters in hand and now has the mare as her pleasure horse, living out at a "happy hacker" facility.
 
I don't think that I have suffered from peer pressure as such but have definitely been influenced by other people. When I was younger I learnt by watching and asking others, so I did things in a similar way to the more experienced people around me.

I have recently changed yards and people there do things differently but I still look after my horses the way I have always done. I am always open to advice from others but what works for them doesn't necessarily mean it will work for everyone. I don't ever do anything because 'X and Y' do it, but I might see someone do something and think 'thats a good idea I will try that', but I don't see that as peer pressure just learning.
 
nope. i keep my horses the way you do, at home with no bitchy supervision (!) most are out 24/7, and will be all winter, but mainly because i'm on very sandy soil so it's possible... on clay, it wouldn't be, for their sakes. the new mare's in at night at the moment cos she's still being quarantined, but she's out 24/7 soon.
tbh i think a lot of people who keep their horses at livery would like to be able to keep them out, but lots of yards don't allow it.
oh, and feed-wise, i haven't fed corn, mix or nuts for years and years. readigrass, alfa, hi-fi, sugar beet in winter, and a bit of balancer, and they're all great.
 
This seems to be a problem with society as a whole - so many peole have to follow fads, keep up with the jones - have a new sofa before xmas so that they can enjoythemselves (DFS advert - very strange).

I am realy lucky, I keep my horses at home so can please my self. When I first got horses I read everything/asked everyones advice - and believed it, now many many years on I have developed my own routine, which is fairly natural, laid back and very similar to how my granadad used to keep his horses.

Horse ownership is such a comitment I think people worry too much and overcompensate.
 
Peer pressure - no.
Learning from experience for those around me (and a good deal cheaper to learn from their experience than make mistakes myself) - yes.

I'm not sure where the boundary is on that
 
I think when you are on your own you have to just get on with it so you do and the horses survive. I think when you are on livery everyone has an opinion and so you find yourself questioning what you do. Sometimes I do stuff just for a quiet life which I would not do if I had my horse at my own place, but it's never anything very major and I don't think he cares either way, so why put myself in a potentially stressful situation when it is easier just to conform?!

I also think forums like this are a double-edged sword as everyone has a different way of doing things, and most people think that everyone else is wrong! Plus lots of people are not secure enough to just accept that they do it differently, so can get either aggressive or upset when people question what they do. As they say, there is more than oen way to skin a cat, and if it isn't causing welfare or safety issues, then I couldn't care less. Doesn't mean I won't give my opinion though
wink.gif
 
It doesn't affect me I have to say. I am interested in what others do with their horses and sometimes I think "oh what a good idea, maybe I'll try that" and sometimes I do try it. Sometimes I think "I wouldn't do that but if it works for them that's fine" and these things I may bear in mind but wouldn't necessarily do them or not do them - would depend on the circumstances.

I think when you have been doing something for a long time you tend to be of the mind-set that if it isn't broken, don't fix it! However there is always room for considering alternative ideas.
smile.gif
 
I didn't think it effected me when I was in a livery yard but it blooming well did. It's human nature.
Now I am on my own I am only influenced by my horses.
 
I think it is only natural, when you love and care for your horse and put a lot of time and money into him, to want other people to ... welll... not exactly 'acknowledge' it but not to down right criticise it.

So when they do, it is easy to find yourself taking a step back and assessing what you are doing. If you can 'validate' it to yourself you will ignore them but if you can't see a reason why your idea is better than theirs other than the fact that 'it is the way you choose to do it' then you start to doubt yourself.

I think as we get older and more experienced with horses and learn more, we are better able to 'validate' what we do. In the same way, inexperienced people will often do things by the book because they either know no other way or are not confidence enough in their choices to try something a bit more unusual or personal. These are often the people who are most critical, 90% of their criticism of your way is simply lack of knowledge or confidence in their own way. IMHO.

I don't think I am personally too affected by peer pressure (hence my pony being the only one that lived out 24/7 this summer and still is) but it does rankle when people make snide remarks and there are always a few on the every yard who do this. But then, I am a member of staff with a number of qualifications so it is easier for me to feel fairly confident in my decision as I've had quite a lot of experience working on big yards rather than just having my own horse. If you've seen that horses DONT actually drop down dead in a stable with no banks or if they aren't mucked out every day, although you might not to this yourself, it changes your perceptions.

On the other hand, if my YO/Boss says anything about the way I ride - for example when he told me I shouldn't use draw reins on my horse, I would take that very very seriously (I've never used them again) because I respect his opinion on things like that. But then, I don't listen to him when he says teeth/back checks are a modern day waste of money as I don't believe this to be true... so I guess the question of peer pressure comes down to how much knowledge you have and how much you respect the opinion of the 'pressurer' on that particular issue. And as you get more confident, the pool of people that you respect as having 'more experience' that you seems to decrease I find!!!!
 
I'm really lucky in that most of my adult horse owning life I haven't been on yards, having kept them at my parent's farm. However i have found that I've been perfectly fine getting along by myself, done a bit of research here and there, forums etc often give ideas, but mainly learning through experience (this is management rather than riding, always had lessons!)
I find people tend to end up copying me rather than the other way around, because i don't have anyone to copy I try different alternatives, like simple systems feeds, like leaving our WB out all year etc etc. Sometimes it doesn't work, but usually if you do enough research first you know if a change is likely to work or not!
I'm lucky though, mine are all good doers, live off thin air virtually, and the mares happy out all year - pony comes in because of frost, my boy because he gets mud fever (clay soil) and he gets cold easily!
Moving to a yard soon, and determined not to change anything I do just because other people do it differently!! Luckily I know the people there and they all seem very nice!
 
Well LEC, you know how ugly my bridle is, and I do feel under peer pressure to get a spanking new bridle as everyone else in the yard has a beaut one. ( or maybe I should just clean mine, and then it would look better haha!)
Lol, sorry not really answering your post very well! But the brilde issue is the only thing that bothers me, am not affected by anyone else in my yard as to how they think things should be done..
 
The reason I posted this that an awful lot of the posts on here seem to be have I done this correctly because someone else has said such and such.
For me HHO is good because I have picked up lots of things and it often clarifys my thoughts on things but sometimes there is a lemming effect - such as black sunflower seeds, soaked oats etc
 
Your bridle was disgusting!! Lovely pony, saddle, clean tidy rider and disgusting bridle!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
The reason I posted this that an awful lot of the posts on here seem to be have I done this correctly because someone else has said such and such.
For me HHO is good because I have picked up lots of things and it often clarifys my thoughts on things but sometimes there is a lemming effect - such as black sunflower seeds, soaked oats etc

[/ QUOTE ]

I completely agree with you here Lec. There does seem to be an awful lot of people on HHO who appear pretty insecure about the decisions they make or asking people on here to make choices for them.

You're right about the feed things too. I know I was the one who introduce the idea of feeding BOSS however I have always given links for people to read for themselves and to hopefully make up their own minds about whether it is right for their horses or not. I did exactly this when someone brought up the soaked oats diet; yes I read all that was said on here, however I did my own research BEFORE putting my horses on this diet. I'm really not convinced others are quite so diligent though.......
crazy.gif
 
I haven't fallen for the sunflower seeds, I'm sure they are great but mine really don't need any more condition. I AM glad I tried the soaked oats though, as they do seem to work and are an economical straight feed which I wouldn't have otherwise known about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top