The worst-natured owner you've ever worked with or met?

I knew someone with a few horses that were never turned out and always had something wrong with them, when she brought one out to exercise it would go a bit loopy and she was only small.
I once saw her trying to get a bridle on a young horse, screaming shouting and smacking at him for not wanting to accept it.
She also would be really nice one day and blank you or whinge at you the next day
 
I've lost count of all the owners who I have seen smacking horses to get them to load, when the horse is quite obviously afraid.

On a light hearted note, I had to disappear to the loos to have a fit of giggles when one owner (a full livery who went to boarding school, as opposed to us other kids who helped and got mucky for a free ride) couldn't catch her mare, purely and simply due to poor horsemanship - she was stomping after her yelling at her for being such a cow and generally presenting herself as anything but a nice person that the horse would want to be caught by. So the mare didn't, and she ran rings around her, for ages, must have been nearly an hour. She came in to get some food to bribe the "witch" with, and the groom went over to the gate and stood quietly, whereupon the mare came over to see the groom and came in quiet as a lamb with her. It was hilarious :D
 
My old loan mare was 24 when I gave her back to her owner after nursing her back from an injury (which fair enough she pulled a tendon while in my care).
Apparently the mare came from some gypsies and I was told had been beaten as a youngster. We knew this from the way she would run to the back of the stable if you raised a hand or your voice. Now this mare was the sweetest, kindest, gentlest old thing you ever could meet. She looked after me for 5 years of loaning her and never threw me off, or did anything to hurt anyone. She was an absolute saint and worth her weight in gold.
She had one small vice which was she was a bit nippy being girthed. Not a problem, I could keep out of the way of teeth. She had terrible sweet itch so it was probably a reaction to that.
The worst most heinous thing her owner, at the time a 19 year old girl, ever did was go into that stable and beat her because she 'was getting too nippy'. At the time I thought this was acceptable horse management, I didn't know any better. I wonder how many times this had happened and whether it was the REAL reason the little mare was so fearful... What makes me even more cross is that the mare never fought back. If I tried to do that to my horse he would quite rightly try and kill me!
It was 4 years ago I gave her back. I keep seeing her advertised for loan as the owner 'hasn't got time for her'. Poor old girl :( Hope she doesn't still get a beating.
 
The worst I've seen was when I was 9 ish. The horses were stabled in a American barn but with back windows that you could open.
My friends pony had had to have the vet out as the pony had pulled a tendon.
My friends dad came onto the yard and went into the stable were he beat the **** of the pony for costing him the vet. The pony put up with it for a good while, then the pony tried to jump out of the back window. The poor thing landed oddly and broke her pelvis and ended up being put down.
I think the worst part of it was my friend had been locked in the car and I could hear her screaming, I was stood in shock and no adults went to stop him.
The mother ended up divorcing him the next year, I believe that he hit her too and more then likely my friend but she's never told me.
 
There are a lot of cruel people in the world.

Some of the things i've seen include:
Horse i used to ride because his alcoholic owner (and everyone else) was scared of him. He could be quite aggressive, but he got back just as much aggression if not more. Someone came to tell me once that he had bitten his owner, who then took a shovel to him until he broke free and then chased him around the yard with it until someone stopped him.

At a riding school i went to for years, the farmer thought it was ok to hit a horse in the head with a long pitchfork handle, so hard it seriously bent the handle because the horse bit him. He frequently kicked and punched the horses and his brat of a daughter was the same.

And there was a teenage girl on the livery yard where i rode for the alcoholic nutter. She had a stunning black welsh C x, very sweet mare. However this girl was a nut job and would go from cuddling and saying how much she loved the mare, to beating it with whatever was to hand, or kicking it in the ribs. This change would happen in the blink of an eye, and then back again. Poor mare didn't know what was happening. Seeing that every day broke my heart, i did try to teach her how to be a better horsewoman and look for the body language (she often saw submissive behaviour as aggressive!) but to no avail...
 
not an owner as such but a guy I worked with, he was at the yard to gain more experience as he had only been riding for about 2 years (although this changed depending on who he was trying to impress) and had aspiration of being a professional show-jumper. He thought he was God's gift in short and wouldn't listen to anyone even the YM as he had trained with 'top' showjumpers.

Anyhoo he used to smack the 2 year olds round the head with a head collar for not leading 'correctly' when in fact they were very well mannered, adjust horses tack when it wasn't necessary so they no longer fit and the bits were in upside down aand gallop them round the xc fences, scream at me and call me stupid for trying to explain how to muck out as he had no clue, randomly disappear when actual work had to be done in order to brown nose owners, rode one mare who was not fit and had virus round 1m competition when told not to (sweet thing tried so hard) and many other little things. All in all not that bad compared to the horrendous things on this thread but everyone loved this guy and he could do no wrong because he was FUN regardless to the fact he treated the horses like they were his commodities and they were stupid dumb animals :( oh and Daddy was going to set him up with his own yard when he reached 27 :rolleyes:
 
I went to work in a private yard. The previous groom warned me not to and that I would not enjoy it, but I needed the money. They were people who had loads of money but very limited experience. One horse had an injury on its leg which I treated with animalintex. I was changing the dressing, and I got severly told off for using a new piece of dressing, and that I should re-use the one I had taken off, which was all gunky, obviously. I was told I was wasting money. (They were millionaires). Also the man bought a showjumper, despite just being able to walk/trot/canter. We went jumping and he fell off (no surprise) I found him back at the horse box kicking the horse in the stomach and the cannon bones. We had a stand up row. They were really nasty to their horses so I left.
 
It is horrible to think of these poor creatures getting hurt, but at the same time it makes you appreciate how much you love an care for animals. It's hopefully always going to be the minority.
 
i once had an instructor who was one of the "speed is better than impulsion" types. she would continuously whip and spur on her young horse. he turned nasty after a while so she thought hitting him around the stable would fix it. i often caught her with him tied up whilst she kicked his stomach and legs because he kept trying to nip her.
she would also smack all the riding school ponies with the lunge whip going into a fence just because they weren't going "fast enough" for her. she was a right piece of work!!!
i also had another instructor who has ridden all his life and has a good reputation, however, my shared ride is difficult to catch. it can take anything up to an hour, so one night he had me open the gate onto the yard from the field, he chased him onto the yard, got him in the stable and smacked him all over with the leadrope. i then had to tack him up and ride him. he was petrified. he now shakes and sweats like mad whenever he sees him and also tries to run off if he comes over when he's teaching me ...:mad::mad:
 
I have my own yard, and as a family we have been in horses for over 40 years. I have had many staff come and go, and had one girl who apparently didn't like horses but took the job as she needed something to do. This girl however did the horses properly and was very kind to them.

However, I recently employed a girl who had an impeccable CV - having worked for several seasons for top event riders, both here and in Europe, winning all sorts of groom prizes etc. However, she was sent packing after 3 days. Apart from the minor stuff like hoiking all the bits up at least 2 holes on each side, tying the horses up so short they couldn't even nod, wanting to lock the two lami ponies in their stable all day and night instead of letting them wander around their strip and be sociable to the other horses, not brushing them until after they had been ridden (I really didn't get this at all), the way she spoke to the horses was appalling, she was constantly flicking them on the nose with her fingers like swatting flies, and shouting at them for being rude (they are very well mannered), doing nosebands up so tight you couldn't get one finger inside, she rode them all in spurs even to go around the block. I just didn't want her around my horses, and didn't trust her when I wasn't there. She also wasn't prepared to be told otherwise. It really made me think about how things are done on some of the top yards, where you expect it all to be top notch, but in fact could be just hard and tough on the route for quick results.

NO, some people have a love and tenderness, and understanding where animals are concerned, and some people just don't. I know which type I prefer around my yard.

And I won't be sharing the story of the YO's kid who sat below one pony's stable and burnt her muzzle with fag ends every single night..
 
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