Should horse owners be made to pass a basic care course before they own a horse/pony?

Y

yaddowshad

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 February 2010
Messages
99
Visit site
Refering to the "free to good home thread" surely its about time that horse owners were made to proove at least a basic level of competance before they own a horse?

I have never in my 40 years of owning horses seen such ignorance shown by some horse owners as to the welfare of their horses. What is making these ignorant people think its their right just to go and get a horse/pony for the sake of it? Then disregard it when the novalty has worn off?

Surely you should know the basics like feeding, tack fitting, shelter and exercise?

I understand people new to horse ownership may make the odd mistake but if you saw what I see on a daily basis you would be disgusted (i work in a rescue centre).

Horses are so commercialised now that they are under real threat from new gadgets and supplements that newbies buy willy nilly.

The traditional methods and discipline that I was taught, ie clean stables, pasture, daily grooming, good exercise facilities are being lost and all to the detrement of the horse.

when you see someone hurting their horse (intentially or not) for goodness sake say something as organisations like mine are full to bursting due to ignorance and a just dont care attitude.
 
To be honest, I know someone who has done their level 1 horsecare certificate and passed, and there is no way on earth I would let them look after my horse. Mind you, I'm not sure what level one involved - might only have involved putting a headcollar on the right end of the horse....
 
No, and here's why. It would be another course directed and overseen by the BHS that honest horse owners would have to pay to take. While so many others, the ones who really neglect their horses, would flout the law as usual.
I've been around horses a very long time and I don't see a particular increase in ignorance, it's always been there.
 
Completely agree with TinyPony. By and large I think most horseowners have the basics down. Problem is, there's so many different opinions on the 'right' and 'wrong' way to do practically anything, that who's to say what should be in the test?

The fact that these horses are passed on, presumably to more knowledgeable owners, is surely a good thing too?
 
Yup agree. I've known some students who've done BHS 1 & 2, horse owners, stable management and all the certificates coming out their @@@ BUT they don't have a clue how to actually handle or ride anything that's more challenging than a rocking horse - seriously!

It won't stop the unscrupulous dealers who sell dangerous horses; it won't stop the parents buying sweet little Dartmoor ponies from markets and keeping them in the back garden; it won't stop people using horses as winning machines and then jettisoning them when they dont win anymore; it won't stop people selling off their faithful old ponies for a pittance when they reach their late teens - knowing damn well they'll probably end up in a meat lorry, instead of doing the decent thing and PTS if they can't keep them anymore (ooohh, sorry, rant approaching .....).

All that would probably happen is, as has been said, the whole process would be very costly, cumbersome and no doubt the RSPCA or whatever would be asked to provide an independent opinion and/or "inspect" prospective new homes to make sure we're all being good boys and girls, and all at such a great cost that no-one will be ever able to afford a horse again.
 
Only if all other pet owners also have to do so, and preferably parents too.
 
Donkeymad said:
Only if all other pet owners also have to do so, and preferably parents too.
Click to expand...

You took the words straight out of my mouth.:)

Yaddowshad, How on earth would that be policed for a start?
Like having a Drivers Learning Permit? Read this pamphlet and sign this?

Does your Centre ask people to take a test before they adopt one of your horses?
 
No, however I think part of the problem is it has now become affordable for anyone to keep a horse, where as 20-30 years ago, livery was the same price it is now (I paid £20 a week DIY in 1986 and yards were few and far between), inflation has missed the horse world. Anyone with a bit of land or a stable will take anyone in to make some quick cash without the welfare of that animal being their main concern. It costs over £9 a day for a dog in kennels, yet most owners will not pay that to have their horse on full livery. I bought my first 4yo 16.3hh well bred with potential in 1989 for £2500. Two years ago I bought exactly the same for the same money.

It is the same as everything in this world, the more you pay for it the more you care for it. With bargin basement totally unsafe uninsured livery yards, bargin basement ponies/horses for sale where is the desire to learn about your investment.

It is a sad fact of life that we now live in a throw away society.
 
Tinypony said:
No, and here's why. It would be another course directed and overseen by the BHS that honest horse owners would have to pay to take. While so many others, the ones who really neglect their horses, would flout the law as usual.
I've been around horses a very long time and I don't see a particular increase in ignorance, it's always been there.
Click to expand...

I take your point. But I've certainly seen an increase in ignorance over the last 40 years. These days, parents pay for 6 months of riding lessons for their child, then buy a pony, which they keep at DIY livery where the YO barely knows one end of a horse from the other. The child has never ridden anywhere but in an arena, on a pony which is used to following another one. The parents know next to nothing and expect the child to do the majority of the hard work involved. Not surprisingly, problems arise. The poor child physically can't look after the pony properly, has very little road sense for hacking, doesn't know the signs of illness to look for and is put off by a pony which doesn't plod round behind another one.
I know this is a worst case scenario but I've certainly seen many similar examples.
 
All of that was going on when I was a teenager.
Sadly, I don't think trying to bring in more regulation and compulsory tests will help. It will be just another thing for us honest horse owners to pay for and others to completely ignore. Like passports.
 
Excellent thread:

I think there is no chance of something like this being brought into being, but I also think it is a subject that should be discussed from time to time.

I am relatively new to the world of horses, but my OH has over 40 years of experience. I am simply staggered by the levels of unintentional abuse I see in the world of horses and I too have seen the horses of girls studying equine subjects at college suffering badly, I even spoke to the Principal of the college concerned when I found a horse with such severe sweet itch related injuries that it had open wounds in its face, neck and dock.

As has already been said, you only have to look at the price of horses now, especially TB's and the reasons why people buy horses becomes clear, they really do see them as pets and give no more thought to buying a horse or pony than they would give to buying a kitten. It is an emotional purchase, to satisfy a whim and when reality / laminitus / injury kicks in, then the horse / pony becomes an inconvenient item to be disposed of, like a broken TV.

The people who REALLY wind me up, are those that buy a horse, install it in some poor unfortunates field or livery yard and then refuse to ride, attend to, visit or even sell the poor animal. These people are selfish parasites who would prefer to shove their heads up their own backsides than face the responsibility they have taken on. :mad:
 
No. I know people who are extremely well qualified and I'd never have them look after my pony.

It runs the risk of people thinking when they have the certificate then they know everything and they get complacent.

I think there is also a huge difference between someone who has the ability to look after a horse and those who have the ability to ride. I can't ride for s**t anymore and have no interest in doing so, but my pony is well cared for and is always my first priority.
 
"I am simply staggered by the levels of unintentional abuse I see in the world of horses and I too have seen the horses of girls studying equine subjects at college suffering badly, I even spoke to the Principal of the college concerned when I found a horse with such severe sweet itch related injuries that it had open wounds in its face, neck and dock."

Well, that kind of proves the point really doesn't it? If horses can't be cared for properly at an equine college, under "expert" supervision, what hope is there for some some sort of basic horsecare certificate/licence? I wouldn't call that unintentional abuse though, I'd call that intentional neglect.
 
Ref the person who passed the level 1 stable management....
I'm not a horse owner but am thinking about it - I was looking into the BHS Horse Owners Certificate and had a look at the sample paper for stage 1.
I'm not sure what the pass % is but I reckon I could answer most of the questions on it without having studied anything or even read a stable management book in the last 16 years.
 
Yes, I think you could. Just make sure you've remembered things like temperature, pulse and respiration. The horse owners certificate, when I took it, didn't help much with advice about feed/turnout etc. The test question I had to answer about looking after some horses for a day bore no resemblance to what I'd do in real life. IE how would you work a timetable to muck out, ride and turnout two horses for an hour each? I wouldn't. I'd turn the poor beggars out first thing in the morning. Muck out. Ride each and turn them back out again until the evening.
The right answer involved all sorts of faffing about in order to keep the horses in all day, filling haynets, skipping out, "setting the bed fair" for the evening... raises eyebrows.
 
Tinypony said:
"
Well, that kind of proves the point really doesn't it? If horses can't be cared for properly at an equine college, under "expert" supervision, what hope is there for some some sort of basic horsecare certificate/licence? I wouldn't call that unintentional abuse though, I'd call that intentional neglect.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't too clear. The horse was not at the college, the girl was. The horse was kept in a field near ours.

You are right however, that a qualification does not automatically mean practical knowledge of the subject. When I studied electronics, there were only a few of us who could actually use a soldering iron!
 
I know people who have done their BHS stage two and still dont look after their horses any better, when i was at equine college i had taz there with me on DIY and the state of the beds of some of the loan horses at college was a disgrace and the way they got turned out etc, and some of the students didnt bother to do their own horses untill midday and i was up doing taz for half six every morning, just because people have qualifications doesnt mean that they are more likely to give their horse better quality care, if i had photos still at how disgraceful the place was i would post them to show that qualifiations mean nothing.
 
No, You don't have to pass a test to have children, so why should you to have horses. Those who are responsible will always be responsible... those who are not will not, There are laws that prevent cruelty but you can't legislate to prevent incompetence...

Blitz
 
I understand the op's point and their wish for better cared for horses and ponies.
I think when you work as the op does it gives a totally different point of view. A valid wish.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I take your point. But I've certainly seen an increase in ignorance over the last 40 years. These days, parents pay for 6 months of riding lessons for their child, then buy a pony, which they keep at DIY livery where the YO barely knows one end of a horse from the other. The child has never ridden anywhere but in an arena, on a pony which is used to following another one. The parents know next to nothing and expect the child to do the majority of the hard work involved. Not surprisingly, problems arise. The poor child physically can't look after the pony properly, has very little road sense for hacking, doesn't know the signs of illness to look for and is put off by a pony which doesn't plod round behind another one.
I know this is a worst case scenario but I've certainly seen many similar examples.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this.
We had a pony we were letting out on loan which my daughter had outgrown.
A lady rang and the home sounded perfect. She told me her daughter was at a stage where she could learn no more at the riding school. I expected they were looking for a pony to loan to have private lessons on.
Well when she tried the pony she was barely competant in walk. She could not trot. She told me she could jump but as the poor ponies mouth was already up to its ears i told them i thought the pony was not suitable and did not let her attempt a jump.
I advised them to try another riding school.
 
The people who REALLY wind me up, are those that buy a horse, install it in some poor unfortunates field or livery yard and then refuse to ride, attend to, visit or even sell the poor animal. These people are selfish parasites who would prefer to shove their heads up their own backsides than face the responsibility they have taken on
Click to expand...

I agree having had to look after others peoples horses when they can't be bothered to get off their lazy arses and see to them, makes my blood boil. Either look after it, pay someone to do it for you or sell or pts but don't expect people like me to do it, knowing that they would not let an animal suffer down to their selfish attitude.

This year due to illness, I have had to get a lot of help looking after my two. I have paid my friends to do this plus they have my total gratitude for being there to help me and no way would I expect them to do it for so long without paying them for their time.

With regard to a test, I think it would be difficult to arrange and those that are the ones that would really need to do it, would be the ones not to. I was lucky to be brought up with a mum who was a riding instructor, but even some forty six years later, still have so much to learn as well as knowledge to pass on.
 
NeilM said:
The people who REALLY wind me up, are those that buy a horse, install it in some poor unfortunates field or livery yard and then refuse to ride, attend to, visit or even sell the poor animal. These people are selfish parasites who would prefer to shove their heads up their own backsides than face the responsibility they have taken on. :mad:
Click to expand...

Don't come to my farm then:)
I have FOUR horses that would qualify.

Fortunately, their owners DO care which is why the horses live with me. They all live miles away, visit occasionally, email frequently, just don't DO anything more than take pleasure in the fact that they own a horse that would otherwise have been in a can. I don't see the problem if that is what people want to do, not what I'd do myself, but I get paid and the horses get the best of care and want for nothing. Cushy life.
 
Tinypony said:
No, and here's why. It would be another course directed and overseen by the BHS that honest horse owners would have to pay to take. While so many others, the ones who really neglect their horses, would flout the law as usual.
Click to expand...

although it is a nice thought - i totally agree with this
much the same as tightening gun laws - just penalises the law abiding citizen
 
I do think that anyone owning an animal (or even having kids) should have a liscence(sp) (showing that they are able to give correct care etc - failure to do so - immediate prosicution/removal of animals) which should be shown when purchasing an animal. Mainly because if such a liscience existed my aunt would never be able to own animals (so non of hers would have been neglected to the point of starvation!) Also think a separate liscience is needed for those breeding animals.

Maybe I'm nieve or stupid but having seen first hand the results of people being able to buy animals when they know nothing of their care I'd rather see animal ownership and breeding as a privalidge and liscienced (with strict rules and monitoring)
 
horses13 said:
I totally agree with this.
We had a pony we were letting out on loan which my daughter had outgrown.
A lady rang and the home sounded perfect. She told me her daughter was at a stage where she could learn no more at the riding school. I expected they were looking for a pony to loan to have private lessons on.
Well when she tried the pony she was barely competant in walk. She could not trot. She told me she could jump but as the poor ponies mouth was already up to its ears i told them i thought the pony was not suitable and did not let her attempt a jump.
I advised them to try another riding school.
Click to expand...

I think much of the problem stems from the fact that riding schools are not what they used to be anymore - and a BHS certificate is absolutely no guarantee that the ponies will be well cared for. I took a job in our local BHS certified riding school last summer and lasted three weeks - I was 'let go' when i pointed out what a terrible state most of the ponies were in. The owner wouldn't even call the vet out to a pony that was going blind.

It also seems to me that riding school instructors feel that they have to keep clients 'entertained' nowadays. A friend of mine took up riding, and I was astonished to find that she was having jumping lessons within about six months. I'd been on a hack with her the week before, and she could barely control the horse in canter. I joined her for a jumping lesson to see what was going on, and she fell off three times in half an hour because her seat was not well enough developed, and she didn't yet have meaningful control of the horse. I told her to try another school. That sort of thing is not good for a rider's confidence, for a start, but it also means you get parents buying ponies for their kids because the kids come home saying they can jump.

When I learned to ride as a child, my instructor made me do rising trot without stirrups week in week out and wouldn't teach me to canter until I could prove I was properly balanced and in full control. She also taught me stable management on Saturdays in return for lessons - something I believe has been all but outlawed on health and safety grounds nowadays, so no wonder kids buy ponies without having the slightest idea of how to look after them. They can't learn until they have some poor pony to learn on (unless they happen to have horsey parents).
 
Kittykins said:
It also seems to me that riding school instructors feel that they have to keep clients 'entertained' nowadays. A friend of mine took up riding, and I was astonished to find that she was having jumping lessons within about six months. I'd been on a hack with her the week before, and she could barely control the horse in canter. I joined her for a jumping lesson to see what was going on, and she fell off three times in half an hour because her seat was not well enough developed, and she didn't yet have meaningful control of the horse. I told her to try another school. That sort of thing is not good for a rider's confidence, for a start, but it also means you get parents buying ponies for their kids because the kids come home saying they can jump.
Click to expand...

Agree wholehearteddly, look at some of the posts that appear from users on this site along the lines of 'Sitting trot is really difficult, help me!' followed by 'Look at me jumping, wheee!' The basics of being able to control your mount competently at all paces should be firmly in place before things like jumping are even attempted! What are these places/instructors thinking when they teach???
 
Thank you for all your comments im so glad there are still knowledgeable people out there.

To the person who asked if my organisation vets the new homes of rescued horses, yes we do they have to:

Ride the horse first on our premises (if its a riding horse)

Their property or yard is vetted.

They have to fill out various questionnaires and have interviews to establish their level of knowledge.

It takes about 4-6 weeks before they actually get the horse/pony.
 
Erm, I'm actually slightly outraged by the person on here who said that the reason there are so many bad horse owners is because horses are so cheap nowadays.

Erm - What?

I cripple myself financially to look after my horse. My parents bought my first pony when I was 8 (I had been riding since I was 3) and I got up every morning at 6:30 to walk to our loaned field before school to look after her. They have since fallen into financial difficulty themselves, so I now look after Fleur myself at huge expense - she costs me about half my salary.

I really take objection to the idea that only wealthy people should be able to own horses - it's exactly the kind of attitude that put me off Pony Club many, many years ago - just a club for rich kids to compare fancy horseboxes as far as I could see.

Rich people can neglect horses just as much as poor people. Anyone, no matter what their situation in life, is capable of taking responsibility for an animal or child if they want to. If they don't, it doesn't matter a bit how much money they have.

Sorry. That was a bit of a rant.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top