Rant - why do people look down on you if you own a cob?

mudmonkey17

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Just a rant that need to get off my chest.

I own a lovely 15.2 cob who although is a lovely boy is not the most straightforward to ride. He is strong, gets really exciteable and can be a git to ride. Of course i love him to bits :)

He has been my competition horse over last 3 years and almost always in the ribbons sj up to 1m, prelim dressage (not our favourite pastime lol) and up to 90cm xc.

As he is now semi retired to hacking have been looking into getting another horse to compete. Though have had comments off people that i am obviously not capable of riding anything that has some finer breed in it as only ride a cob so must be a crap rider grrrr.

I am quite confident and have ridden a range over horses over the years.

Just really upsets me that people who have never sat on my lad can judge so quickly :(
 
I don't know, but perhaps you can answer a burning question I've always wondered about...

Why do people want to own cobs?

:D
 
It's called envy ----------- when you beat them in competition, when you are safe out hunting, when the cob passes the combine harvester without a passing glance, when you can make a bag of pony nuts last 6 months and a bale of hay a week.


Enjoy your horse and don't worry what other people think, life is too short.

I have just bought a maxi cob, hairy, itchy beastie, unschooled, unbalanced, kind as a christian, moves straight and, if you know what you are looking at, very correct. People have laughed, I will laugh when it gets to Hoys in 2013.
Martha14july12011.jpg
 
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Why does it matter?

I remember when my daughter had her 14.2 piebald cob - he was a real '***** pony' - extremely hairy, thickset, dope on a rope looking. Other pony club peeps looked at her askance in the warm up arena at competitions whether show jumping or eventing. Their sneers were wiped off their smug faces when he wupped their butts! Although his dressage was never his strong point, he could jump the moon and jumped Novice BE courses with the pony club. He also went BE and, although struggled with the time, only ever had 1 XC fault.

We were called over the tannoy at one show as they thought he was dead. No, he just liked to lie down flat out between the dressage and sj and have a little kip.

He was incredibly strong tho' and a friend came out hunting with me who couldn't hold him - I then agreed that maybe my daughter was right and could have a strong bit :o

My daughter went on from her wonderful boy to ex-racehorses so just ignore what people are saying; you know what your horse is like and what your capabilities are so stuff 'em!
 
People do so enjoy looking down on other people. I belong to an Abarth car owners club and they look down on Fiat owners - but an Abarth is just a souped up fiat with a posh badge on it - it's even made on the same production line. It's just human nature. It comes from insecurity.

I adore cobs and it's a case of "if I had to explain, you wouldn't understand". Most of the staff in my yard seem to think I'm bonkers buying a friesian and the term cold blood gets bandied around on disdain. But she's my big, hairy posh cob and I love her.

Paula
 
Everyone to their own, if we all like the same things, it would be pretty boring!
Cobs are nice, so are tb and wb and all other types, breeds, colours etc
Be proud of your lovely cob, and just ignore what other people.
:)
 
It's called envy ----------- when you beat them in competition, when you are safe out hunting, when the cob passes the combine harvester without a passing glance, when you can make a bag of pony nuts last 6 months and a bale of hay a week.


Enjoy your horse and don't worry what other people think, life is too short.

I have just bought a maxi cob, hairy, itchy beastie, unschooled, unbalanced, kind as a christian, moves straight and, if you know what you are looking at, very correct. People have laughed, I will laugh when it gets to Hoys in 2013.
Martha14july12011.jpg

I love your horse. I love cobs and hate thoroughbreds:D
 
OMG, I could go into a turbo-rant over this, but I'll save it as I'm quite chilled sipping beer here :)

All I can say is this - last night, WHO was jumping in the arena ? WHO was having a blast and showing off his neat little legs tucked under him ? WHO had his three foot mane admired ("how do you do it ?). WHO made me extremely happy and proud, even if we did knock a few down. WHO was a complete star ?

AND WHO WAS WATCHING ???? :p
 
I don't know why. My boy is the best horse ever as far as I am concerned. Has given my confidence back and is honest as the day is long. I simply adore him.

But I know people sneer behind my back as I must be a complete numpty to have to ride a cob. No matter that I used to hunt, do xc and jump 3' bareback with a headcollar.
 
Well I have today joined the cob owning ranks for the first time ever (although I've owned said beast for nearly 3 years now) because my friend and eminent showing person has told me he is a potential maxi cob!!!! I feel a whole new showing career coming on :D And nobody will be able to look down on me cos he's a MAXI! ;)
 
I bought my cob because he's safe and looks after me, at my age bones don't heal so quick. And I really don't care anymore what others think. If you are a horse lover you should love them all, whatever the breed.
 
I dunno! I'm not a cob fan as I'm not keen on anything built like a brick outhouse - far too much strength to run off/pull you over/be silly with! I know some are saints on four legs, I just seem to have only met the feisty ones!!!

I like finer breeds, find them easier to deal with. Would prefer to soothe nerves than deal with bolshiness any day! Oh, and have a finely bred horse who is saintly and perfectly safe, so stereotypes really don't hold true lol!
 
Cobs are for riders that can't cope with proper horses.
Consider the difference between a Ferrari and a mobility scooter. .

TB is the Ferrari, cobs are the scooter...

Cobs should be harnessed on to a plough.
 
It's called envy ----------- when you beat them in competition, when you are safe out hunting, when the cob passes the combine harvester without a passing glance, when you can make a bag of pony nuts last 6 months and a bale of hay a week.


Enjoy your horse and don't worry what other people think, life is too short.

I have just bought a maxi cob, hairy, itchy beastie, unschooled, unbalanced, kind as a christian, moves straight and, if you know what you are looking at, very correct. People have laughed, I will laugh when it gets to Hoys in 2013.
Martha14july12011.jpg

are you kidding? I have an Irish bog pony but im sure has hell he has cob in him. He eats more than the tbs, he is more highly strung than them, if i wanted an easy life i would hunt the tbsooner than hunting my coloured, he is an absolute monster. Having said that, I've happily let sceptical cob haters ride him before at their own peril.
 
Yeah, they don't in my experience... Al had a proper feathered flying coblet and did all PC stuff with him. The only thing that was ever said was by a little girl who went "Look Mummy, a Shire! Are they allowed to do rallies?". Which wasn't malicious, he did look like a mini-Shire and was quite roly poly at the time.

He did 1.10m ODEs, novice dressage, lots of BS and was truly astonishing in a jump off. He knew no fear, went like a very hairy bullet and would turn on the spot without losing any speed. Never seen anything like it! No one was ever cruel, no one sneered...

I reckon a lot of this is projected insecurities. You can see people on cobs judging those on the flashy TB types for judging them if you look hard enough. Only they're not- most people are too busy trying to sort their own horse out...
 
I got the same for years when I rode Shetlands in the showring properly. THe darty stud up the road - their riders were always making snide comments such as - we have bigger and better ponies than you, we can clearly ride better as we have bigger ponies than you and the likes. I did chuckle as I always ended up with the red rosettes and they got the greens, pinks and specials :D

I then got fed up with them and beating them on a shetty so I got myself a bigger and better Darty than theirs - that shut them up :D :D :D And of course I tanned their backsides every time out on him too :D :D :D

One of them moved onto a Highland - I beat them with my fell. Another got a Riding Horse - I took my ex-racer out in Riding Horse classes - I beat them. :D

Moto of the story - don't try and think your better than someone because you have a bigger horse/pony. It's how you ride it that speaks volumes - plus I will just turn around and get a bigger better one :D :D :D
 
Usually it doesn't bother me as like a few people have said he can whip most horses butts and he is my dude :)
However today one womans comment set me off and I drove home in tears. Totally irrational I know :(
 
Pmsl at guido. And ponies are like audi spydas, not as fast as a ferrari on a track but nippy for everyday use.

Heck littlelegs, adults that ride ponies can't even handle plough cows, sorry, cobs. They are even worse!

Did you know what cob stands for?

C: common
O: overweight
B: blob
 
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