The changing face of horse ownership and livery yard bullies

[LegOn]

There are so many blogs online that are based on parody & I think this is just the same - its an over-exaggeration of a stereotype & at the end of the day, there is some part of all of us that is a stereotypes & you just have to laugh! And I dont mind what anyone does with there horse as long as there are no welfare issues and unfortunately obese horses are a welfare issue

I have been on yards with a version of this person - the difference being they didnt let there horses get obese & would be meticulous about everything in the horses routine & care - except for the actually riding it!!! To be fair, some of them paid people to ride their horse aswell so each to their own!

I funniest ones are the ones that are always saying 'my horse is crazy & SO strong, omg I cant control them - I couldnt let anyone up on them, they are just so difficult' when the horse is standing yawning & plodding out a trot that I can overtake with a walk!!!!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I am so glad I am not on a livery yard if people deem it acceptable to write such trash!

FYI - I don't ride any of mine due to time restraints. I ride plenty at work though!

 

[stormox]

I thought this article funny, and written very 'tongue in cheek'.
I do think horse ownership is changing as more novices seem to own horses now.
I have seen on many local yards that a lot of people NEVER hack out. Never gallop across the fields and never pop logs and ditches when out.
I have seen yards with indoor schools where people never use the outdoor.
I have even seen ( luckily only a couple of times) people give their horse sedalin before their weekly walk round the indoor with a fresh horse bursting for a gallop.
I see people saying they have 'daily turnout' when the horses are being turned into electric fenced postage stamp paddocks and stand eating hay. Horses with necked turnout rugs on a warm day.
Personally I have never encountered bullying on a yard though.
A tongue in cheek article, an exaggeration, but there is a trace of truth in it.

 

[9tails]

And the non-riders are bullies? Interesting viewpoint.

 

[Goldenstar]

For some , doing things differently seems to equal bulling now .
we have a growing culture of conformity that’s is beginning to eat away at people ability to be different .
if You are truly the only rider in a yard on non riders then you are bound to feel a bit out on a limb the writer of the article clearly feels superior but seems peeved the others don’t get that .
The writer was writing one of those get a reaction type articles that make people at different ends of the spectrum laugh or get outraged .

 

[pansymouse]

I am a live and let live sort of person but the article is so close to reality that I could not say it was spiteful.

I have nothing against people who do not ride their horses, but the over stuffed sofa of a horse that is enrobed in the lastest coloured rug for that season, and fed every single feed that builds top line, well thats what the ads say, so when spring comes it has a creast so hard that you wonder how on earth has it not got laminitis, has become more common. Saying it doesn't need a rug over its thick wooly coat is tantamount to admitting your a horse abuser.
I get the loose schooling, usually an excuse for either lack of knowledge or idleness, I have yet to see anyone do it properly on a livery yard. The horse charges around with no control or purpose and skids to a halt in the corners. I suppose better than those that buy the latest gadget strap the horse in and then lunge the legs off it in a tight circle.
Then there are the ones who spend all their time in the tea room, to pull people to pieces. We had trouble on the yard I was at livery, I got a whole load of abuse,which was water off a ducks back, from someone who said I was talking behind her back. I pointed out that I was the only one not talking about her, but it did make me wonder who gave her the misinformation.
I once fed my horses for three days on the foot deep 'waste' hay in the barn, and yes people do just dip their hay and then drag it in the mud across the yard. I have also seen people use rubber gloves to muck out, what ever floats your boat but I just wouldn't have the time.
I am completely fed up with all the guff that is written and sold to people, and I just can not get my head round how gullible people are. They want something magic to make the horse bond with them, then everything will be OK. When in reality it either needs more turnout, more consistant exercise or less food to 'give it topline'. When you tell them this, if they ever ask you for advice, which is rare, they would rather listen to someone who they have paid to get the crystals out.

I do not care if people are fat, thin or have a drink problem, but I do care when the horses welfare needs are not met because the owner refuses to realise that their welfare needs are not their horses. There are now some excellant guides produced by World Horse Welfare,https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/advice but looking at Facebook no one is reading them.
A horse does not have to be ridden, I have several who are not, they are quite happy in their herd, they group round the water trough like men at the bar, there is no shame in not competing, I never did, but not knowing how to do things,not even trying to get information from reliable sources and pretending that the horse thinks like humans is just madness.

I have some lovely horsey friends, I suppose we all get along because we are the same ageish and started riding, and worked with horses when horses where worked towards a purpose and treated like athletes even if we did not use modern terminolgy.
Yes I am a grumpy old women, so it may not be your yard but I have seen enough over the years to know these people do exist.

I agree with everything you've written; I'll be your grumpy old woman twin

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Well me and my friends at the yard would have a Baileys Coffee in the winter months, but we kept the bottle in the cupboard not the fridge lol and never had so much that we were encroaching the drink drive limit. And I must admit that I like my banks so level that they would be spot on if you applied a spirit level. Most of it's just taking pride in doing a good job and there's nothing wrong with that. I take longer than most to muck out my bed in the winter, but when I see people taking a poo out of their stable with the equivalent of 2 pints of shavings on their shavings fork at the same time I realise my efforts of bouncing s**t around on the top of my snow shovel so the clean shavings fall away and only the poo goes in the wheelbarrow are very cost effective!

All women when together on a yard will bitch, it's what women do, none of us are perfect. That's why I like working with men.

Finally I feel that the article is taking the pi** somewhat, out of novices or inexperienced horse owners. We all have to start somewhere. None of us are actual 'experts' although there are many that think they are. I will always offer to help if I think someone is struggling, only last week I convinced a 'newbie' that they didn't have to keep switching off the horse walker to take their horse off, just putting the 'stick' in neutral was enough.

As for the overweight and underweight, well you could say that about any walk of life. People aren't always overweight because they stuff themselves with food. It can be for other reasons entirely and no one has a right to look down on people for that. My favourite programme at the moment is my 600LB life and I am immensely proud of those people demonstrating their journeys.

So not really a nice article, I have read better - it's not that well written to be honest.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

Hey I muck out with rubber gloves lol! Only because I find it easier with flax bedding to be fair... Otherwise I'd use a shavings fork I swear!

But I also work very hard to appropriately feed and exercise my horses. Both are very good doers combined with joint problems and have to be stringently managed as a result. Both have had lots of ground work training and are regularly loose schooled because they cannot be lunged without impacting their joints (and their ridden work needs to be hacking rather than flatwork). But they have been trained to be schooled that way plus the school I have has very high fences.

Funnily enough I learned all of that by observing the best and the worst horse management at both large and small livery yards... And by listening to my vet, saddler and physio. I also lost my confidence a few years back so found the ground work training excellent as a way of working with horses until I could get back on board.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Do we think op may be the writer?

Nope https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/03/is-not-riding-the-new-riding/

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

The original post is humerus, if not a little over the top but it has some valid points. We were at a yard years ago and there was definitely 2 factions. There were the people who went down mucked out, turned out, groomed & rode, whether was in the school or hacked & there were the others who came down, mucked out, turned out, sat & drank coffee & slated all the people who rode. They would also sit & watch people in the school & pick faults with their riding/schooling etc but they would not ride themselves. The feed their non ridden horses were given was astronomic, most were obese & a couple got colic & one died. For some reason they could not see that their horses were massively over weight. They were incredibly bitchy, we were glad to move on to another yard.

 

[mini_b]

Mmmm chips

anyway.... This does little to quash the generalisation/stereotype that the horse community is generally quite bitchy.
but sadly from my experience, you get it anywhere there are groups of women congregating.

Over feeding is neglect end of - whether you ride or keep your horse as a pet it’s not ok.

There are plenty of horses that can’t be ridden, if you have the expendable income to enjoy the companionship big expensive pet whose sole pleasure you get from being in their company, well that’s lovely.

it’s a shame really that people in general, not just horsey folk, are so consumed with what others are doing and feel the need to pass comment. If someone is doing something horribly “wrong” - dangerous or neglectful, fine, but I think the world would be a lot kinder place if people zipped it.

Ponies don’t give a s**t so maybe should take a leaf out of their book, we oftentimes learn a lot from them!!

.....I’ll get back in my box now 😂

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

How ironic that an article moaning about bullying is in fact doing it's own bullying

 

[Buckoff901]

Am I the only one who can't see the article? It says 'copyright removed'.

Due to the replies, I would like to see for myself

 

[ycbm]

Am I the only one who can't see the article? It says 'copyright removed'.

Due to the replies, I would like to see for myself

Post 39 has a pointer to it and you can read it if you sign up to a months free trial.

It's a vicious little piece and not worth the time or the effort.

The author is the kind of hunting person (shes written stuff about it) who looks down her nose at 'lesser' equestrians.

.

 

[Littlefloof]

Can we please at least agree on a moratorium on the misuse of the word 'bully' to mean 'someone who does not agree with me'? Actual bullying ruins lives, discovering that not everyone thinks the same as oneself, is, by contrast, an important life lesson.

 

[cobgoblin]

Hmmph!.... I never found any wine boxes in the feed room when I was on livery.

 

[Littlefloof]

Hmmph!.... I never found any wine boxes in the feed room when I was on livery.

you need a better class of livery

 

[HanniRT]

Well said. The stuff she's written about vets is nothing short of vitriolic.

Post 39 has a pointer to it and you can read it if you sign up to a months free trial.

It's a vicious little piece and not worth the time or the effort.

The author is the kind of hunting person (shes written stuff about it) who looks down her nose at 'lesser' equestrians.

.

 

[cauda equina]

Quite right, it seems as if she's been trying to outdo Katie Hopkins in horribleness

 

[Buckoff901]

After signing up for the free trial and then having to end said trial... it really wasn’t worth it.

It’s over exaggerated to bring in readers which *wallah* is exactly what it’s doing.

It reads like something ‘Clueless Dressage Mummy’ on Facebook would write. People seem to like it; I’m disinterested in the nasty humour myself.

 

[Kat]

Nasty article and not funny.

I wanted to like it, I'm starting to feel like riding is a minority sport on my yard (honestly that's mainly not through choice), and have been tempted to bring bedding back from the muck heap on more than one occasion but that article is just ott and nasty.

And anyway the wine is shared at ours!!!!

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Am I the only one who can't see the article? It says 'copyright removed'.

Due to the replies, I would like to see for myself

Read the link on reply 39