Problem Horses - are there more around today?

I must go now!!! Been on here too long but i look forward to reading further installments later!
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Sorry Prilly, I think weve got off the subject a bit!
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i use to love going out bareback then come back and swim my horse through our river id get soaked but it was such fun !!
especially if you needed a pee and knew if you got off you wet yourself lol
use to do it in the river !!!!!!
sorry had to say that he he
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LMAO!!!!!!!!!!

I used to go swimming with my ponies too......shan't say anymore than that!
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LMAO!!!!!!!!!!

I used to go swimming with my ponies too......shan't say anymore than that!
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what can i say,when you gotta go you gotta go lol
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Don't worry about hijacking post - I've had a great time reading, reminiscing and thinking "Oh God, did we REALLY do that?!?!?"!
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I think the nail has been hit on the head though. Horses had a job to do and weren't mollycoddled so much. I'm as guilty as anyone regarding spoiling my two, but I do draw the line and I think they're ok. (Although I have fallen for every supplement, potion and powder going - muppet!!!) We horse owners must have MUG tattooed somewhere on us - we're always willing to part with our cash for some wonder product!
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And ditto why are so many horses trussed up like turkeys.

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To be honest I think that was always the case; it's just that there weren't so many gadgets back then. I remember when grackles first became common-place....wow!! They were great, they looked fantastic compared to our normal cruddy and boring cavessons and drops! Every single one of my friends saved up for a grackle! Not one of our ponies needed them either.
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Im back!!!! He! He! Mine had a grackle too!!!!!!

Ive just been out on my warmblood/Tb in the rubber surfaced arena. She has now been put in her stable, with rubber matting, equisorb bedding and a stable mirror. She is wearing her multicoloured, non- heating, sweat removing all singing and dancing lightweight stable rug with ten surcingles all crossing and three clips to fasten at the front. I have removed the neck cover as the sun has come out but will probably put it back on tonight as I dont want her to get a chill. She has had her compound feed especially formulated for mares, who have had a foal sometime in their life, are in medium to light work but need a bit of energy but not fizziness and have a chestnut coat. She has had her joint supplements, her hormonal mare supplement, her shiny coat supplement, her foot supplement, her calming supplement and her extra energy supplement, her tail detangling supplement and garlic. She has also been sprayed with coat shine as i couldnt find my brushes and covered in fly spray with added lavendar oil.

Her plastic self-moulding,glow-in-the-dark brushing boots have been put away in my 1000 litre plastic storage container.

I am now going to clean my elevator bridle with crank noseband and my myler combination bits which have both hackamore and gag components using spray saddle soap.

After that I will clean my pink and baby blue wow saddle with interchangeable everything.
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Moi?
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Some of it is true!!!!!
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Like "Im back!" Thats true!!!
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But it would spoil it to tell you which bits!

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You'll just have to guess!!!
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Oh I must go again as ive forgotten to put all her stable toys in for her!!!
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i think there are more problem horses around since the parelli cult took off - common horse sense has gone out of the window in favour of carrot sticks, and other expensive merchandise,
 
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Ach we didn't care whether the horse pulled or not - these gadgets were cool and wanted to look super-cool, so what the heck, shove it on and see what it does, LOL!!

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OMG - so true. I remember being absolutely THRILLED with my pony's pelham (with rounding of course, I could barely hang onto one rein, let alone two) because I thought it looked so pretty and shiny LOL

Its funny isn't it, I do think sometimes that we fuss and fuss over our horses. I was on a different website the other day asking for a bit of advice about a difficult project horse we've just had come in and I said at the end of my post 'please don't suggest a back/teeth check as it isn't my horse and my boss doesn't hold with that sort of thing.

The replies I got were horrendous. One person replied simply 'if you can't rule out pain, why even bother' and others were very scathing and unkind. Yet I never even knew equine dentists existed when I was a child and my pony was always just fine.

this year, at my yard, we have had so many field injuries, not because the horses are difficult but because everyone is keeping their horses in everytime it rains... so there is no 'herd dynamic'. I'm not even rugging mine unless I want to keep her clean (I'm lazy
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) but I get looked at like some sort of horse abuser by the rest of the liveries. "OMG you are NOT turning that horse out over night in the RAIN are you??????". I'm like, "she's a horse for heaven's sake, she is supposed to live outside LOL"

I think that the quality of instruction has gone down, not because the instructors are necessarily worse but because RS are getting more and more restricted in terms of what they can teach. Gone are the days of bareback lessons, jumping without stirrups, XC in the fields etc, now it is all Safety First and kids never really get to experience the 'danger' of riding... and when something does go wrong the parents look for someone else to blame, rather than just putting it down to their child's inexperience which sets the wrong example to the child.

I was talking to a parent today who was watching a lesson in which one of our 'good students' was riding a new pony that her daughter had ridden (badly) that morning. She was saying to me 'hasn't that pony improved since this morning? it is amazing how quickly they settle in'. I just smiled but I was thinking, 'no, it is the same pony, it hasn't been out of the box since your daughter rode it, but your daughter is a NOVICE and this rider is fairly decent...' but this mum would never acknowledge this, it is always the pony at fault and her kids are perfect...

UGH, don't get me started LOL
 
Yes I never do get some people either. All that fussing and farting around - the horses couldn't care less half the time and I'm sure it's all done to make the person feel better or important in their horse's life - when in reality none of us are that important in our horses lives.
 
Tia & dozziesmummy - those were the days!!! I did the same: up at dawn to scrape the mud off the pony and happily hacking 15 miles to the show & trotting home again at dusk. And in those days we taught ourselves, improved our seat by riding bareback, yep a saddle fitted anything, cubbing was free & hunt caps were a fiver (nice hot bran mash for the pony afterwards), and posh was a jute rug. We had FUN and thats whats its all about for children.

As for problem horses: too many owners lacking confidence in handling and riding.

I think you really need to enjoy from the heart what you're doing because horses, gracious creatures that they are, will forgive mistakes if made by a genuinely happy, confident person - be they child or adult, novice or professional. What really screws a horse up is being unable to have faith in a person who has no faith in themselves.
 
I dont think many kids get the opportunities to have fun on there ponies anymore. They specialise at too young an age and are often so over protected by their parents they cant just do the silly things we did. Riding bareback is so good for balance and encouraging a firmer seat. The gymkhana games were fun and again developed flexibilty in the saddle, balance and confidence. And weren't they competitive?!!! Those bending ponies!! They later became Prince Phillip Cup ponies. Nowadays the gymkhana is usually just for the leadrein and tiny tots.

Except the Prince Phillip cup!

We played with our ponies. Yes we did lots wrong ( It makes me shudder sometimes!!)but we gained confidence and a long lasting love of horses. Kids just arent allowed to play anymore.
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I would still hack to a local show if roads are safe as I think the horse is more relaxed. Just need someone to take the box for my five different rugs, saddles and bridles and my three tack boxes full of every potion and lotion for every eventuality!!
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I don't know how many people are out there (Especially kids) who do it just because they love it above everything else.

I had very naughty ponies to start of with. The first one was a rescue jobby and he was sooo tough and naughty. Friends had better ponies than me but I never wanted their ponies because I loved mine so much. However, we would all regularly swop ponies and go jumping jumps etc.

I think the problem for most kids AND their parents is that they want everything perfect and everything is a sodding competition. Got to have the best etc but don't want to work for it.

I knew I was very lucky to have my ponies and loads of my friends had ponies. We would go off for the day, making jumps in the bridleways etc. They were all native types, some pretty some damn ugly. Some jumped, some didn't. Some bolted, some wouldn't move, some bucked, some reared, some leaped but we just dealt with it all. (I think that is how you develop a decent seat, hahahaha)!!

What I find most strange is people expect so much from a horse as in you would almost expect the horse to be a machine not a flight animal with strong instincts.

Whenever I have bought horses I have never been all that fussed on what it can or can't do. If it is a nice sort to look at (I don't expect show quality) and they have a kind eye I know I can work with that horse. I don't do anything at speed but then I am lucky that I am not under pressure to produce them quick for selling. I just have to do as much as I want and aim to enjoy every minute of it.
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