Skateboarding behind a horse

[Fransurrey]

Oh FFS, another age inappropriate activity that I need to try!

 

[Dave's Mam]

A girl on my yard does horseboarding. It's insane!
Look up HorseBoarding UK on FB.

 

[AntiPuck]

This is one of the moments where I question the reasonableness of free at the point of use healthcare.

But sitting on the large prey animal with a mind of it's own is fine I suspect riding is a lot more likely to result in use of said healthcare system, at least you can pad up and let go if you're on a skateboard!

 

[AntiPuck]

I do wonder what would happen on the down hill?

Probably a good time to carry the skateboard or scuff your shoes up a bit!

 

[ester]

I think then you go in front of the pony instead of the other way round d and they act as brake

 

[J&S]

I would say the photo should have had a caption line saying "don't try this at home"!!

 

[Boulty]

Not tried with a skateboard but did do this

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=744646013918401

Taught pony to longrein then dragged the sledge (a tyre or something would probably work in your case as an initial thing) whilst leading him then progressed to him dragging it empty whilst being longreined then to me being sat in it. Would imagine it would be a million times easier with a proper breast collar/ harness rather than my DIY jobbie.

Could always start at more sedate speeds and then up the excitement when you’re both used to doing it. Would guess you’d need a fair amount of core strength and to be fairly proficient at one handed steering in long reins (as you can see I kinda fail the second part a bit!)

 

[AntiPuck]

Not tried with a skateboard but did do this

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=744646013918401

Taught pony to longrein then dragged the sledge (a tyre or something would probably work in your case as an initial thing) whilst leading him then progressed to him dragging it empty whilst being longreined then to me being sat in it. Would imagine it would be a million times easier with a proper breast collar/ harness rather than my DIY jobbie.

Could always start at more sedate speeds and then up the excitement when you’re both used to doing it. Would guess you’d need a fair amount of core strength and to be fairly proficient at one handed steering in long reins (as you can see I kinda fail the second part a bit!)

This looks brilliant, thank you!

 

[LadyGascoyne]

But sitting on the large prey animal with a mind of it's own is fine I suspect riding is a lot more likely to result in use of said healthcare system, at least you can pad up and let go if you're on a skateboard!

Most horses have already been broken to ride. Introducing a horse to towing someone along on a skateboard is definitely going to be a higher risk activity than conventional riding of a horse which is already educated in ridden work.

Horses are prey animals and therefore have strong instincts against being chased. A horse that can’t free itself from the thing that is chasing it can be incredibly dangerous.

To compound that, skateboards are small, unstable and lack any protection - and their wheels struggle with less than smooth surfaces which usually means they are best suited to roads.

Being dragged by a panicked horse on a skateboard sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Now of course there are exceptions, and an experienced horse person or a professional trainer, especially in stunts, could probably safely teach a horse to do nearly anything. But these people are few and far between - I’m thinking the Cortez’s of the world.

In the wider public, it is likely to appeal to teenagers or young adults with tik tok ambitions, and it’s going to end up like the stupid eating washing machine pods craze where hospitals have to deal with injuries from someone trying to get views on the internet.

This just has abysmal plan written all over it.

Eta, not suggesting OP is looking to post videos on the internet. They may well be very experienced and do it slowly and properly. But social media idiots will follow and won’t understand that you can’t just strap a horse to a skateboard and hit the road.

 

[Gloi]

Not tried with a skateboard but did do this

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=744646013918401

Taught pony to longrein then dragged the sledge (a tyre or something would probably work in your case as an initial thing) whilst leading him then progressed to him dragging it empty whilst being longreined then to me being sat in it. Would imagine it would be a million times easier with a proper breast collar/ harness rather than my DIY jobbie.

Could always start at more sedate speeds and then up the excitement when you’re both used to doing it. Would guess you’d need a fair amount of core strength and to be fairly proficient at one handed steering in long reins (as you can see I kinda fail the second part a bit!)

I did that with mine
Sadly the snow wasn't deep enough in places and I wore a hole through the bottom of the sledge where it ran on gravel.
Still, it was fun while it lasted.

 

[Gloi]

Horses are prey animals and therefore have strong instincts against being chased. A horse that can’t free itself from the thing that is chasing it can be incredibly dangerous.

To compound that, skateboards are small, unstable and lack any protection - and their wheels struggle with less than smooth surfaces which usually means they are best suited to roads.

Being dragged by a panicked horse on a skateboard sounds like a recipe for disaster.

The horse isn't hitched to the skateboard. The person on the skateboard is holding the traces.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

The horse isn't hitched to the skateboard. The person on the skateboard is holding the traces.

Yes but the person is holding the traces and then being dragged on a weird item. And when the horse invariably dumps them, the traces are presumably still attached to the horse, like a lunge rein would be. So if it does object, the panic continues.

 

[AntiPuck]

All of this can apply to riding as well - social media idiots etc.

I didn't suggest I was going to just jump on a skateboard behind my horse with no prep, she would be "broken" for it in the same was she was broken to ride - I would have thought that would be obvious, and I did ask for prep tips in the original post.

The skateboard won't be attached to the horse, just the lines - if the horse broke away it would be the same as if I were lunging or long lining her and she got away, no difference. I already long line on hacks off-road, so same risk there.

You find the idea more dangerous because it's novel, but it isn't inherently any more dangerous at all as long as it's done properly. Riding on a horse isn't exactly safe by many standards, you've just accepted those risks already.

If you think it's abysmal, then don't do it! Always has to be one.

 

[stangs]

Horses are prey animals and therefore have strong instincts against being chased. A horse that can’t free itself from the thing that is chasing it can be incredibly dangerous.

Horses are also prey animals and therefore have strong instincts against things being on their back. A horse that can’t free itself from the thing on its back can be incredibly dangerous.

Horseboarding is no less dangerous (if not considerably less dangerous) than carriage driving, using a horse to plough, using a horse to pull cannons, chariot racing, etc, and all this has been done practically since we domesticated horses. Over the course of history, millions of horses have been trained to be desensitised to being ‘chased’; why should horseboarding horses be any different?

 

[Gloi]

Most of mine are used to dragging all sorts of stuff before I ever get on them.

 

[paddy555]

Most horses have already been broken to ride. Introducing a horse to towing someone along on a skateboard is definitely going to be a higher risk activity than conventional riding of a horse which is already educated in ridden work.

Horses are prey animals and therefore have strong instincts against being chased. A horse that can’t free itself from the thing that is chasing it can be incredibly dangerous.

To compound that, skateboards are small, unstable and lack any protection - and their wheels struggle with less than smooth surfaces which usually means they are best suited to roads.

Being dragged by a panicked horse on a skateboard sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Now of course there are exceptions, and an experienced horse person or a professional trainer, especially in stunts, could probably safely teach a horse to do nearly anything. But these people are few and far between - I’m thinking the Cortez’s of the world.

In the wider public, it is likely to appeal to teenagers or young adults with tik tok ambitions, and it’s going to end up like the stupid eating washing machine pods craze where hospitals have to deal with injuries from someone trying to get views on the internet.

This just has abysmal plan written all over it.

Eta, not suggesting OP is looking to post videos on the internet. They may well be very experienced and do it slowly and properly. But social media idiots will follow and won’t understand that you can’t just strap a horse to a skateboard and hit the road.

I'm a bit lost. I don't see this is anymore dangerous than driving. i taught my sec d to harrow. Not particularly dangerous. Horses get free and run off on long reins, this is no different.

 

[paddy555]

View attachment 114846
Most of mine are used to dragging all sorts of stuff before I ever get on them.

lovely pic.

 

[AntiPuck]

View attachment 114846
Most of mine are used to dragging all sorts of stuff before I ever get on them.

Lovely pony!

 

[Fransurrey]

Most horses have already been broken to ride. Introducing a horse to towing someone along on a skateboard is definitely going to be a higher risk activity than conventional riding of a horse which is already educated in ridden work.

Horses are prey animals and therefore have strong instincts against being chased. A horse that can’t free itself from the thing that is chasing it can be incredibly dangerous.

By this logic, horses aren't suitable for logging, driving, ploughing/seeding, potato picking...in all those cases the horse IS hitched up to the trailing item.

 

[Gloi]

Lovely pony!

So sweet and innocent baby pony then

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I hope you’re all right. It just looks like something that would appeal to an awful lot of young, inexperienced people and likely to end up causing accidents.

Maybe I’m being too skeptical but horse + skateboard does not seem like a match made in heaven to me.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

All of this can apply to riding as well - social media idiots etc.

I didn't suggest I was going to just jump on a skateboard behind my horse with no prep, she would be "broken" for it in the same was she was broken to ride - I would have thought that would be obvious, and I did ask for prep tips in the original post.

The skateboard won't be attached to the horse, just the lines - if the horse broke away it would be the same as if I were lunging or long lining her and she got away, no difference. I already long line on hacks off-road, so same risk there.

You find the idea more dangerous because it's novel, but it isn't inherently any more dangerous at all as long as it's done properly. Riding on a horse isn't exactly safe by many standards, you've just accepted those risks already.

If you think it's abysmal, then don't do it! Always has to be one.

If you’ll read my post, I did say that I wasn’t suggesting that you wouldn’t train your horse properly.

My comment was directed at the concept of this taking off in the main stream/ social media audience where invariably you have inexperienced people doing things for video views.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I'm a bit lost. I don't see this is anymore dangerous than driving. i taught my sec d to harrow. Not particularly dangerous. Horses get free and run off on long reins, this is no different.

Driving, harrowing etc does take a bit of know-how and equipment. That’s likely to attract people who want to do things properly. I suppose the danger I see is that anyone with a skateboard and access to a pony might decide it looks cool.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I hope you’re all right. It just looks like something that would appeal to an awful lot of young, inexperienced people and likely to end up causing accidents.

Maybe I’m being too skeptical but horse + skateboard does not seem like a match made in heaven to me.

I wouldn't fancy it either the thought of wheels on my feet is scary enough let alone going at speed behind a horse

 

[Gloi]

I wouldn't fancy it either the thought of wheels on my feet is scary enough let alone going at speed behind a horse

It's a good job I'm old and decrepit now because this is taking me back and I am so tempted to hitch the pony to a shovel
It was actually done as a competition at a show with a prize for anyone who could stay on for a certain length of time, hitched behind a ridden Dales pony who normally pulled a trap at weddings.
No H&S in the 1970s.

 

[ester]

TBF given it's this forum I do give people credit for mostly doing things sensibly and there's not a lot of teenagers here to get excited about it. Obviously if the OP has a large tictok following though (have I just spelled tictok wrong. . . goes to google ... yup can't even spell it myself

 

[AntiPuck]

NoTik Tok following to speak of

 

[SEL]

I had 2/3 of mine pulling random stuff last Dec cold spell. I didn't want to ride in case they slipped but they needed to do something

I was told the microcob had probably been broken to drive. As she vanished a full pelt around the fields with reins trailing I decided she probably hadn't.

I'd happily skateboard behind the Appy or baby cob. My biggest problem would be the Appy disappearing off to her next meal.

 

[shanti]

That looks really fun! Terrifying and something I would never have the nerve to attempt, but still fun!
My kids once took our Boxer dogs for a walk while wearing roller skates. Everything was fine until they came to a steep downhill road, it was not pretty

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Pontus Hugosson and Katitzi