Natti
Well-Known Member
This is really just a rant more than anything else but I would like some advise on this as well. So, last Monday I was up at the field getting Phoenix in and my friend was getting her horse as well. Now, this was when it was snowing and all the horses were kicking up a little bit of a fuss but nothing drastic. My friends horse, Cleo, is one of the kindest sweetest things you could ever meet and as we were walking up we could see her standing near the gate, waiting for us. There are 2 other horses apart from ours in this field and the owners, who we had never had a chance to meet until now, were walking up behind us. These two women, probably late 50's-ish, were talking extremely loudly - about how bad Cleo was. It was very easy to here them as we were only maybe 50mtrs infront and they began discussing how violent and snappy she had been lately, this bothered me and my friend a bit as this 16yo horse had never hurt a fly, there is a toddler who comes up to see her and has walked right underneath her before without the horse batting an eyelid.
My friend and I got to the little ménage before the gate of the field and went in, Phoenix and the other 2 horses began circling and rushing up to the gate but they went back when I asked them to and I was going to get Cleo in as she was standing maybe half a metre away from the gate so I could grab her and get out, however (grrr) these two women came up yelling at us not to go near her and that she was dangerous, which startled their horses and one rushed the gate (which I was standing next to) again. I was not best pleased. They were yelling at me to get ou tof the field to get Cleo into the ménage before putting her headcollar on her. One of these ladies then proceeded to storm up to the gate, open it, obviously trying to get Cleo out yet making the other 3 rush it, again, all while I still cant get out because the horses are in the way and are starting the have a snapping match in amongst each other.She eventually got Cleo out into the ménage, although as this was a new experience, Cleo didn't know what to do and neither did my friend (she has only really been around horses for about a year and is still quite nervous) so when |Cleo lifted her head so that the headcollar couldn't go on the other woman, wh had been telling my friend off for wearing ankle boots up to the field (she was in trainers though,which I though rather hypocritical) rushed over to Cleo, grabbed the headcollar from my friend and forced it over Cleo's head
They made me do the same with Phoenix and, as I was so confused by the situation, I went along with it (stupid, do what you know) and poor Phoeenix tried her hardest but these women were treating her like some rabid dog and not giving me a chance to explain to them that what they were doing was not what our horses were used to. So I collard Phoenix an started making my way down to the yard, with these women yelling after me abou thow she normally walks down with Cleo (my friend had left by this point) and to watch her because she's a wild horse. All the time their horses had been rushing around, biting and kicking at our horses (Phoenix admittedly bit back) and at me, and these women treat our horses as wild.
I was pretty riled up about this but calmed down after a while. I realised that the reason I had listened to them was because they were olde and I always feel that it's very rude and disrespectful to question people who are a lot older than me. However I then heard multiple (like say, 20) people talking about how dangerous and bad mannered Cleo and Phoenix had been today, although not one of them had the courage to ask my friend or myself about the situation down at the field. Needless to say I was furious because Phoenix already has a bad press, but to drag Cleo into this as well bothers me as it makes us seem like we cant control our own horses.
Any way, I realise this is a big wall of text and that it mostly me just describing how poorly I handled this situation but my dad isn't the best person to get advise from and my friend is more a sort of oh-you've-got-problems-here-mine-are-ten-times-worse sort of person so I don't want to discuss it with her. I also hate making a big deal ou tof things but this bugged me and had to let it out. So sorry, and advise on how to make sure these ladies don't take advantage of this sort of thing again, and how to do it at leased partly nicely, would be appreciated. And you all get a virtual cookie if you made it to th bottom of that big mass of words
Oh and sorry for the spelling mistakes!
My friend and I got to the little ménage before the gate of the field and went in, Phoenix and the other 2 horses began circling and rushing up to the gate but they went back when I asked them to and I was going to get Cleo in as she was standing maybe half a metre away from the gate so I could grab her and get out, however (grrr) these two women came up yelling at us not to go near her and that she was dangerous, which startled their horses and one rushed the gate (which I was standing next to) again. I was not best pleased. They were yelling at me to get ou tof the field to get Cleo into the ménage before putting her headcollar on her. One of these ladies then proceeded to storm up to the gate, open it, obviously trying to get Cleo out yet making the other 3 rush it, again, all while I still cant get out because the horses are in the way and are starting the have a snapping match in amongst each other.She eventually got Cleo out into the ménage, although as this was a new experience, Cleo didn't know what to do and neither did my friend (she has only really been around horses for about a year and is still quite nervous) so when |Cleo lifted her head so that the headcollar couldn't go on the other woman, wh had been telling my friend off for wearing ankle boots up to the field (she was in trainers though,which I though rather hypocritical) rushed over to Cleo, grabbed the headcollar from my friend and forced it over Cleo's head
They made me do the same with Phoenix and, as I was so confused by the situation, I went along with it (stupid, do what you know) and poor Phoeenix tried her hardest but these women were treating her like some rabid dog and not giving me a chance to explain to them that what they were doing was not what our horses were used to. So I collard Phoenix an started making my way down to the yard, with these women yelling after me abou thow she normally walks down with Cleo (my friend had left by this point) and to watch her because she's a wild horse. All the time their horses had been rushing around, biting and kicking at our horses (Phoenix admittedly bit back) and at me, and these women treat our horses as wild.
I was pretty riled up about this but calmed down after a while. I realised that the reason I had listened to them was because they were olde and I always feel that it's very rude and disrespectful to question people who are a lot older than me. However I then heard multiple (like say, 20) people talking about how dangerous and bad mannered Cleo and Phoenix had been today, although not one of them had the courage to ask my friend or myself about the situation down at the field. Needless to say I was furious because Phoenix already has a bad press, but to drag Cleo into this as well bothers me as it makes us seem like we cant control our own horses.
Any way, I realise this is a big wall of text and that it mostly me just describing how poorly I handled this situation but my dad isn't the best person to get advise from and my friend is more a sort of oh-you've-got-problems-here-mine-are-ten-times-worse sort of person so I don't want to discuss it with her. I also hate making a big deal ou tof things but this bugged me and had to let it out. So sorry, and advise on how to make sure these ladies don't take advantage of this sort of thing again, and how to do it at leased partly nicely, would be appreciated. And you all get a virtual cookie if you made it to th bottom of that big mass of words
Oh and sorry for the spelling mistakes!
