Short-tempered people should not own horses.

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bgb

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Was riding in the indoor school tonight for 30 minutes with a fellow livery, who has not said a word to me in the month they have been here, and she must have smacked her horse at least twice every minute. I have no problem with a tap of a schooling whip if horses are not listening, but everytime she smacked this poor horse it shot off...and what was her solution? Smack it some more. All the while bracing her hands so it had its mouth open and its chin nearly on its chest.

Her daughter was also riding and the mother was just plain ignorant and rude whenever she asked a question or didn't get out of the way when she was cantering towards her. I could see the daughter getting embarassed and felt very sorry for her.

I was horrified but did not dare say anything for fear of losing my poor head :eek:
 
Your totally right. Whats that famous saying, something like "The only two emotions you should own when dealing with horses is patience and humor" totally applies in this situation.

Yes, sometimes we all lose our temper/ feel like giving up/ have an emotional break down because the horse is freaking out over a road sign that has been there for the past year (although that might just be me ;)) but never in a million years do you take it out on the horse.

Losing control is childish and will never get you anywhere. The majority of the time it is the riders fault for not communicating properly with the horse, but they're usually too selfish and ignorant to realise that and end up beating the horse because its "their fault"
 
I saw a very high up bhs instructor kick the hell out of a horse from the ground. She thought nobody was looking and it wasnt even her horse. I told the owner and she didnt believe me.
 
Thats a very broad and sweeping statement and somewhat naive as well. Whilst I do agree with you, and her actions do not sound very pleasant and I feel very sorry for the poor horse, how do we know what has happened during the day for this person. She may have had god knows what happen in her life that none of us know about. I know if I have had a really foul god.awful cr*p day at work I dont ride. I dont school any more as my horse is 20 and we are both content to be happy hackers, but when he was younger I learned very fast not to school him when I was in a foul mood after a bad day.

I dont know you, or the other person here, but in an ideal world we would all not school our horses unless we were in a brilliant mood, however, life isnt really like that is it?
 
I totally agree. I appreciate we all have bad days, but if I can't trust myself to be calm then I won't ride, and personally I've always found horses to be the best way of putting problems out of my mind for a while because they deserve my full attention.
 
TheoryX1 said:
Thats a very broad and sweeping statement and somewhat naive as well. Whilst I do agree with you, and her actions do not sound very pleasant and I feel very sorry for the poor horse, how do we know what has happened during the day for this person. She may have had god knows what happen in her life that none of us know about. I know if I have had a really foul god.awful cr*p day at work I dont ride. I dont school any more as my horse is 20 and we are both content to be happy hackers, but when he was younger I learned very fast not to school him when I was in a foul mood after a bad day.

I dont know you, or the other person here, but in an ideal world we would all not school our horses unless we were in a brilliant mood, however, life isnt really like that is it?
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If i have had a god awful crap day, the last thing i would do is get on my horse and beat it. Horses sense mood, so if you've had THAT bad a day dont bother riding as it will most likely not be a pleasent ride for you or the horse. Just go for some cuddles and spend some time cheering yourself up. You dont have to be in a brilliant absolutely fantastic mood to school, but you do have to have control over your emotions so that if the horse isn't co-operating you dont end up losing your temper and taking it out on the horse. That is NEVER acceptable, no matter how ***** a day you might have had.
 
The statement is a bit broad sweeping but the way the woman was riding was out of order and setting a bad example to the child or other impressionable people that might have been around
I honestly think it would be impossible to be 'Mary Poppins' all the time and we mostly have to do our horses on a daily/hourly basis so there will always be days when things get to you more than others but I swear that horses pick up on these moods and go out of their way to make it worse.
I try to take a deep breath and push things to the back of my mind - being with your horse should be an escape from the stresses of daily life and not fair to take things out on them
 
I should have really said that this woman is grumpy every time she is at the yard. I get that she may have stressfull things going on in her life, but her horse should not be the one taking the brunt of it.
 
Kaylum said:
I saw a very high up bhs instructor kick the hell out of a horse from the ground. She thought nobody was looking and it wasnt even her horse. I told the owner and she didnt believe me.
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A few years ago, I saw one of our local pony club instructors riding at our local riding club and her horse wouldn't jump. She battered and battered and battered that horse with a schooling whip and one of her hangers on went into the ring and kept shouting "hit it harder". How I wish I'd had my video camera that day. What made it worse was the that the spineless riding club "officials" didn't say a damned word.
 
Even after a bad day I'd never take it out on Boyo. A friend at our yard has a life-threatening illness and her horse keeps her going and takes care of her out riding and she comes back soo positive.

I really don't understand why anyone would take it out on their horse - perhaps I'm naive?
 
I don't care how krap anyone's day has been, there is no excuse to take it out on an innocent animal. If your in a bad mood don't ride. If your not mature/stable enough person to be in control of your own emotions you should not be in control of an animal.
 
I agree actually. I have no issues with informing a horse of who has the majority share in the decision making process (the rider, by the way, IMO), whatever way the rider feels is necessary.

However, if you lose your temper, you walk away. I have, on more than one occasion, had to drop everything and walk around on a loose rein doing breathing exercises to prevent myself from losing it. Last year, my sister ended up getting off, walking away for a few minutes and then coming back having calmed down. We've also both done the 'hand horse over to nearest person, walk to empty patch of ground and whallop it' thing. You cannot take a temper out on a horse, no matter how much they feel like they're goading you!
 
bgb said:
I was horrified but did not dare say anything for fear of losing my poor head :eek:
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Don't know how you kept your mouth shut!
A yard I used to be at the indoor school was completely sealed you could only see in from above the stables if your lock up was on the right side (American style barn with upstairs lock ups) anyway, I heard all this commotion so I had a look and this girl was free schooling, had the horse cornered and was beating in with a whip! I gave her what for, she marched it off to the stable and went home, her riding wasn't much better, but after getting to know her a bit better she was terrified of the horse and had no trust for it.
Luckily she sold it.
 
TheoryX1 said:
Thats a very broad and sweeping statement and somewhat naive as well. Whilst I do agree with you, and her actions do not sound very pleasant and I feel very sorry for the poor horse, how do we know what has happened during the day for this person. She may have had god knows what happen in her life that none of us know about. I know if I have had a really foul god.awful cr*p day at work I dont ride. I dont school any more as my horse is 20 and we are both content to be happy hackers, but when he was younger I learned very fast not to school him when I was in a foul mood after a bad day.

I dont know you, or the other person here, but in an ideal world we would all not school our horses unless we were in a brilliant mood, however, life isnt really like that is it?
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How would that excuse her beating the horse? No matter how crap someone's day has been it does not give them a reason to take their ill humour out on an animal.
 
It's having the guts to say something about it! I knew of a case recently where a lot of people over many months knew someone was ill-treating their horse, but it took one courageous woman to blow the whistle on the perpetrator.

I was on the periphery of this group of people and only saw the owner with the horse once, so it was easy for me to oooh and aah without having to do anything except sympathise. But it DOES take guts to do something. The kind of person who ill-treats their horse in the manner you describe is frequently a bully themselves, and bullies, as I've discovered over the years, are surprisingly easily intimidated themselves. They may well have had stressful days, but the bottom line is they are no-copers, whether as horse-owners or in any other sphere. I caught a neighbour kicking someone's cat once, which had walked into our village church while we were preparing for a concert. I gave him such hell he avoided me for years. And he knows that I know..................

You were right to be upset, and I hope the inadequate woman and her unfortunate horse are soon separated.
 
I used to ride in a professional capacity 7 days a week and on average at least 6 horses a day. So I really didn't have to to dwell on life while in the saddle. Plenty of time out of the saddle to deal with life. Those are just the facts.

No, none of us knows exactly what someone else is going through, but you don't get on your horse and drive him/her mental. Many people think they must ride because I have this or that coming up. If you can't separate your emotions while riding just don't.

I'd love to say I'm a great rider and every horse goes wonderful underneath me and I never get frustrated or short on temper. That would be a lie. But I do as another poster above does, stop, long walks, or do something very simple so the horse and I both end on a good note. Tomorrow is another day. I do not take it out on my horses.

Terri
 
I have an extremely short temper, but don't understand people like this, owning a horse and spending time riding/grooming or whatever calms me down. I wouldn't dream of taking my temper out on a horse, I love them all far too much.
When I was about 11 and learning to ride, I was on a horse that was bit of a p**s taker, no matter how much I kicked, she just would not canter. My instructor pulled me into the middle of the school, grabbed my whip and smacked the horse round the chest as hard as she could 4 or 5 times, I was only 11, who was I to question the methods of a qualified instructor? I promptly got off and walked out. Disgusting.
 
TrasaM said:
How would that excuse her beating the horse? No matter how crap someone's day has been it does not give them a reason to take their ill humour out on an animal.
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TrasaM - in no way do I condone the unwarranted beating of the poor animal, and was in no way defending her actions whatsoever. I was merely pointing out the fact that people arent actually usually like this for no good reason, unless they are really quite sick in the head. I agree it was totally wrong of her, but then its wrong to jump to conclusions as well.

I actually have quite a short temper, which has been worked on professionally by my business coach, and even after all this work if I have had the bi atch day from hell at work there is no way I would ride - even a quick hack is ususally out of the question as my horse is quite sensitive and will pick this up and play me up. Experience has shown that a battle of wills with half a tonne of cob is one I wont win when feeling like this, so I dont ride. At times like this its nice just to spend some quality cob time having a nice groom and a cuddle, which does take the sting out of a really bad day. FWIW, I also dont have to justify myself to you or any other person on this forum, but you of course are equally entitled to your own opinion. It is an open forum.

Therein lies my opinion, and now back to work ........
 
I'm awfully short tempered (my poor oh) and own 2 horses and ride horses as a living. I have never taken a bad mood or anything similar on a horse. I know a qualified RI who regularly takes her temper out on the horses she's riding, its very sad to see and she has turned more than one horse sour. I wouldn't describe this person as short tempered.

Perhaps the title of the thread should be ********s shouldn't own or ride horses?
 
I see a horse beaten on a reg basic and actually the other day caught up with her on said horse so rode back to the yard together. The horse wouldn't trot only canter so he held her hands right up in the air and totally sawed at his mouth while kicking him in the guts. She also said " I will rip your mouth of in a minute" and if you keep putting your head up I will stick a standing martingale on you. FFS never again. Poor horse and talk to the owner.... I think not she wasn't interested and treated that horse like crap.
 
thatsmygirl said:
I see a horse beaten on a reg basic and actually the other day caught up with her on said horse so rode back to the yard together. The horse wouldn't trot only canter so he held her hands right up in the air and totally sawed at his mouth while kicking him in the guts. She also said " I will rip your mouth of in a minute" and if you keep putting your head up I will stick a standing martingale on you. FFS never again. Poor horse and talk to the owner.... I think not she wasn't interested and treated that horse like crap.
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Sorry, but I can't keep my mouth shut if I see anything going on like this. Horses suffer because some of us keep our heads down and our mouths shut. Sometimes I can say it diplomatically, but other times - I just say it like it is! Time to end suffering and speak out, or film - I try and stay away from local shows now, too many whip happy kids, some riding old and tired out ponies....just don't get me going.......
 
I can be incredibly short tempered, ask my OH! However I do not do anything with my horse/dogs/cats/chickens when I feel like that. OH, he can stand up for himself!
 
Mudfukkle he's a door banger as well so when he does it she ties him up to the ring in the stable right to the end of the rope so his nose is touching the wall and he can't move his nose and leaves
him there. I could go on all day with what I see but I'm the outsider in the yard so any trouble/upset I would be the one to go as she works on site.
Iv tried loads of times to talk to her but she don't listen always goes back to her ways. If I had to move my horses iv never get anywhere so cheap and would prob have to sell some so I have to keep peace to keep my horses and secure them as hard as it is.

Horse looks well so what could be done, only tell tell sign is how head shy he is and the fact he hates humans you can see that quite clearly. One day he will snap and god help her
 
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