pony painting parties - discuss?!

[southerncomfort]

I’m a bit mixed about this. It’s certainly not a welfare issue, and when there are so many horses and ponies out there that are genuine welfare cases, the whole pony painting horror thing seemed a bit trivial really.

However, despite the fact that the ponies involved seemingly don’t seem bothered, or probably just think the are being groomed, I don’t believe that it’s a good idea to let children think it’s ok to treat animals like that. The paint is harmless yes, but the idea of it doesn’t really sit well with me.

I think this pretty much sums up my thoughts too.

Does it do the pony any harm? No. Might it make kids treat them as toys? It might.

Also, I originally thought it would be painting them up to look like a pink unicorn or something but instead it seems like the pony is a large finger-painting canvas.

I don't know...while the ponies won't be harmed I'm not sure I feel entirely comfortable with it. At the same time I'm not outraged enough to sign a petition.

 

[pennyturner]

I can't bring myself to get too bothered about something which the ponies probably see as grooming, and which gets a child outside and interacting with something other than a screen (even if it is a bit weird).

I know at least half of my ponies would love it. The kids would get bored before they did

 

[turkana]

I have done similar with a young relative & my 2 mares, we used human hair chalk & face paint. They ended up with multi coloured manes & tails with hand prints, hearts, stars and minions drawn on their bodies. Flowers were also plaited into their manes.
They both enjoyed the attention, they were loose with no head collars on and stood happily.
I can't see a problem with it, from the horse's point of view it's probably no different to bring brushed

 

[windand rain]

I am not in the least concerned about it My pony loves it she loves as much attention as she can get. A very long time ago she was loose in the field and the local kids, from the council estate on holiday from school, turned her into my little pony with flowers, hearts etc draw on with lipstick. Her three ft long mane and long thick tail were plaited ito hundreds of tiny plaits each ending in a bead and ribbon. She could have left at anytime but chose to be with them. I also think with kids showing less and less interest in ponies it is a good way to get them to engage with them. It does teach respect as to join in the will have to behave sensibly or they will get trodden on. It also gets kids that fear large animals to relax around them due to peer pressure and will perhaps result in some taking up horsemanship as a sport. There is a desperate shortage of young people taking up riding most are sitting inside at screens of one sort or another. There are far worse things accepted in the horse world as normal like stabling for hours or days on end, high cereal diets that upset tummies and many other normal activities that are questionable. That is before you take into account the real welfare issues of cruelty and neglect, over breeding and horses being too cheap so ignorance plays a huge role in the lack of welfare. I say anything that gets kids outside and interacting with horses can only be good. Apart from anything it might just reduce the number of kids that are suffering from rickets as they never see the sun

 

[Quigleyandme]

Glad other posters have already mentioned showing

No I don't really care for it, but I also don't care for mane pulling, tail pulling, whisker clipping, tight plaiting, face shaving, or any of the other bonkers things adult humans dream up to make their horses more aesthetically pleasing.

This. When I see close up pictures of arab show horses in H&H I feel physically sick. I just find the look totally abhorrent and don't get it at all.

 

[ycbm]

I'd thought about this for a few days now, and I've come to the conclusion that it's completely wrong to teach young children that they can paint the coats of animals.