Things That Make You Sad

[Denbob]

Dogs (or cats) being taken on for rehoming and then sent back immediately because they're "not what I wanted", case and point we have a year old lurcher who went out to a new home for a single day and was sent back to us for being too excitable. It had been explained repeatedly that the poor sod had been in kennels for over half his life so it would take some time to adjust and he might be a bit of a handful to start with.

 

[SpringArising]

I don't have a problem with flash nosebands providing 1) The horse's teeth are definitely not causing the issue 2) The bit is fitted correctly and 3) It is NOT done tightly. You should be able to easily fit two fingers between the nose and the strap ONCE the horse is working. People never seem to take into account that the tissue expands once they start huffing.

I also agree with Cortez that the standard of riding now is pretty poor. I watched some unaff. SJ this weekend and it was truly painful. The worst part is that they were so painfully ignorant as to blame their horses for their cock ups.

 

[Goldenstar]

People backing horse too young; racing is obviously the stand out for this hence why so many broken ex race horse but backing almost any horse before it's 4/5 is too young for me. I've seen too many retired in their early teen because they were worked/worked too hard before they had matured sufficiently. It's part of the impatience culture imo.

I can’t think of any athletic endeavour when sitting about eating through your early years is good yet some think it’s best for horses .
Like ymcb my youngest writeoff was backed as a six year old dead at ten having cost a fortune at the vets .
Conversely we have had TB racing at two hunting at 23
Pulling a carriage at two still here at 19 .
If bad starting and inappropriate work that’s the problem not starting at three I do think racehorses are started too early .
Lack of shoeing breaks is wasting thousands and thousands of horses as is lack of exercise and turnout .
All the work on bone health on the long bones shows that just like people apporiate work young produces stronger bones soft tissues are another matter .
The thing that is wasting more horses than anything else is horses being kept far to fat all year round .
You see eye watering fat horses competing all over the place .

 

[holeymoley]

Folk that think because their horses are barefoot they don’t need to see a farrier/trimmer for months on end and the horses is walking on high heels.

Folk that have a couple of lessons at a riding school and buy a youngster and the youngster becomes ‘unrideable’ and ill mannered as they didn’t know as much as their ego thought they did.

 

[Goldenstar]

Folk that think because their horses are barefoot they don’t need to see a farrier/trimmer for months on end and the horses is walking on high heels.

Folk that have a couple of lessons at a riding school and buy a youngster and the youngster becomes ‘unrideable’ and ill mannered as they didn’t know as much as their ego thought they did.

Those things make me angry not sad .

 

[TotalMadgeness]

Oh my... Where do I start!

My pony was backed too young (at 3) by an enormous man judging by the photos. He is now rising 6 and sadly I'm beginning to think he is knackered. I have had him in & out of work since I bought him (he had just turned 4) and he's still not right despite time off, physio, chiro, medical treatment, careful exercise plan etc. So the vet is back out on Thursday to look at next steps. The worse thing is this pony is truly LOVELY and I should know as I've had some right bumpers in the past. He is a doddle to handle, perfect to catch, perfect to hack, clips, loads, stands at the mounting block, rides like a dream, very rarely spooks, stands still to be washed or shod, loves the dentist... you name it this boy has it.

So top of the list - backing horses too young.
Then - selling on knackered horses or old horses. Just cruel.
Followed by:
Neglected horses. Unbearable.
Tight nosebands and harsh bits/bits that don't fit and pinch the mouth. Hate this so much. Also tight browbands. Ouch.
Ill fitting saddles and especially horses being punished for objecting to the discomfort.
Showjumping ponies being ridden brutally by kids who clearly don't give a rats arse (and parents just encourage this hideousness). Once saw a beautiful pony dripping in sweat and bleeding from the mouth being brought back into the stables by a parent after a showjumping class. Who needless to say didn't treat it and simply let the kid ride it in the next class. Argh.
Horses being given a tiny net of hay overnight (and they're not fat/suffering from lami - just 'showjumpers' who apparently need to look after their waistlines).
Horses not being given enough (or worse - any) turnout.
Owners turning up at lunchtime and their poor horses have been stuck inside a stable from 4pm the previous day.


Ahhh the list goes on....

 

[kc921]

What makes me sad is people who keep horses for the wrong reasons
I know someone who has a few horses, all are fairly skinny (Yes the Y/O knows about it) but they just don't have time for them, the owner doesn't know how to ride/has never had any lessons and think they can just jump on and go. I just feel so sorry for them all and it does make me incredibly sad as they would excel in someone elses hands

 

[twiggy2]

We watched hangover 2 the other night (don't ask, it was a tough week and we needed something to take our minds off it), the monkey makes me sad, dressed up, smoking, just being used for human entertainment, very sad.

 

[SadKen]

Breeding from unsuitable mares who are broken due either to conformation or an injury (where that injury will make it uncomfortable to be in foal) or have psychological issues just to give it something to do.

Breeding should always be in the interests of improving the breed - breed only from the best. The breeder should have a strong market for the foal before it's conceived. Anything else is irresponsible.

 

[SpringArising]

I can’t think of any athletic endeavour when sitting about eating through your early years is good yet some think it’s best for horses .
Like ymcb my youngest writeoff was backed as a six year old dead at ten having cost a fortune at the vets .
Conversely we have had TB racing at two hunting at 23
Pulling a carriage at two still here at 19 .
If bad starting and inappropriate work that’s the problem not starting at three I do think racehorses are started too early .
Lack of shoeing breaks is wasting thousands and thousands of horses as is lack of exercise and turnout .
All the work on bone health on the long bones shows that just like people apporiate work young produces stronger bones soft tissues are another matter .
The thing that is wasting more horses than anything else is horses being kept far to fat all year round .
You see eye watering fat horses competing all over the place .

I wish everyone would see this. I'm sick of seeing people being overly precious in the UK thinking that any horse ridden before they're five is going to break. It's absolute nonsense. It's akin to saying children shouldn't be allowed to run in the playground otherwise they're going to get arthritis when they're 20.

 

[Ceriann]

Old horses being sold/given away when they no longer serve a useful purpose, horses in their umpteenth home due to behaviour and (it never fails to get to me) horses kept alone. So much other stuff makes me mad more than sad.

 

[Pinkvboots]

The way some people keep there horses in winter, chuck a few sections of straw on a concrete floor and think it's sufficient for them to lay on, and put a section of hay in a hay net when they come in at 5pm and that's meant to last the whole night.

 

[Chippers1]

People who don't come to sort their horses out until lunch time
Very large children on small ponies, especially when they try and mount from the ground.
Ponies being ragged around showjumping.

 

[SpottyMare]

Dogs (or cats) being taken on for rehoming and then sent back immediately because they're "not what I wanted", case and point we have a year old lurcher who went out to a new home for a single day and was sent back to us for being too excitable. It had been explained repeatedly that the poor sod had been in kennels for over half his life so it would take some time to adjust and he might be a bit of a handful to start with.

This makes me furious. I'm (very) lightly involved with a couple of sled dog rescues, and the amount of dogs returned in the first few days of adoption for the most trivial of reasons beggars belief. Both my mum and I have absolutely wonderful dogs that were returned from their 'forever homes' within 24 hours of being adopted. Mine because he 'wouldn't settle' and my mums because she'd chewed the door and window handles and scraped the flooring around the door - however she'd been dropped off and then been left her on her own an hour or so later for 5 hours...

 

[Tarragon]

Reading this post makes me sad
So many things listed that I agree with!

 

[hopscotch bandit]

They fit horses with a prosthesis?? Oh my word . That’s jut reminded me of something else that makes me sad not horses but dogs .. watching Noel the supervet fit all manner of mechanical feet on dogs .

Yes it was in H&H news last January. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/vet-horrified-horse-prosthetic-leg-642030

 

[Asha]

Yes it was in H&H news last January. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/vet-horrified-horse-prosthetic-leg-642030

I really don't know what to say to that. Just bloody awful.

 

[blitznbobs]

When some one who is a novice buys a 4 year old....

But more so than anything, the poor conditions some of our children live in and people living rough on the streets when I am supposed to live in a civilised society... oh and the universal credit screw up

 

[Mule]

They fit horses with a prosthesis?? Oh my word . That’s jut reminded me of something else that makes me sad not horses but dogs .. watching Noel the supervet fit all manner of mechanical feet on dogs .

I think he's extremely unethical.
I was watching an episode once where he put a dog through chemotherapy just to extend its life by a couple of months. It was terminally ill and he wouldn't advise it's owners to do the decent thing (presumably he wanted the money he'd get from treating it).

 

[holeymoley]

Oh and folk who have genuinely ‘saint’ horses who compete every weekend and bring back the rosettes and then go on to boast about not owning a hoof pick. Then selling on because it ends up needing care and box rest. Just machines to them

 

[holeymoley]

And laminitis makes me sad 😔

 

[pansymouse]

I think he's extremely unethical.
I was watching an episode once where he put a dog through chemotherapy just to extend its life by a couple of months. It was terminally ill and he wouldn't advise it's owners to do the decent thing (presumably he wanted the money he'd get from treating it).

I work opposite a vet referral hospital and see a parade of animals many of whom I can't help thinking would be better off just realised from their suffering. People don't have the balls to make the right decision and vets, facilitated by insurance, are conducting procedures of dubious merit for financial/vanity reasons.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I work opposite a vet referral hospital and see a parade of animals many of whom I can't help thinking would be better off just realised from their suffering. People don't have the balls to make the right decision and vets, facilitated by insurance, are conducting procedures of dubious merit for financial/vanity reasons.

Some vets/practices should remember the old saying - just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

 

[BBP]

I’ve been browsing some of the dodgy dealer pages and can’t help but look at these horses with ‘black beauty’ in my eyes. Poor looking, dull eyes, uncertain future, passed from pillar to post for less than £100. I compare them to my beautiful shiny bright little horse, who is and will be with me for his whole life, and my heart breaks for them. I picture maybe some of them were loved by a little girl (or bigger one) at some point in their lives and wonder if they wonder how they got where they are. I know there is a lot more abuse out there, but it does make me sad.

 

[Merrymoles]

I'm afraid most of the things listed on here make me bloody furious, although they are sad too!

 

[blitznbobs]

I think he's extremely unethical.
I was watching an episode once where he put a dog through chemotherapy just to extend its life by a couple of months. It was terminally ill and he wouldn't advise it's owners to do the decent thing (presumably he wanted the money he'd get from treating it).

I couldn’t agree more - I once watched him crack open the chest of a dog that was paralysed because it arrested on the operating table ... I’m a dr that works in a and e and there is NO INDICATION for this what so ever (the only time it alters outcomes is in penetrating trauma) ... I doubt that there is any research on this in dogs but there is plenty in people and that’s before we discuss the ethics of major surgery on a dog who was paralysed from the chest down - in my opinion, he should be struck off not praised ... but what do I know?

 

[Mule]

I couldn’t agree more - I once watched him crack open the chest of a dog that was paralysed because it arrested on the operating table ... I’m a dr that works in a and e and there is NO INDICATION for this what so ever (the only time it alters outcomes is in penetrating trauma) ... I doubt that there is any research on this in dogs but there is plenty in people and that’s before we discuss the ethics of major surgery on a dog who was paralysed from the chest down - in my opinion, he should be struck off not praised ... but what do I know?

That's horrific. I think he should be struck off too. What sort of life can a dog paralysed from the chest down live

 

[LeneHorse]

I’ve been browsing some of the dodgy dealer pages and can’t help but look at these horses with ‘black beauty’ in my eyes. Poor looking, dull eyes, uncertain future, passed from pillar to post for less than £100. I compare them to my beautiful shiny bright little horse, who is and will be with me for his whole life, and my heart breaks for them. I picture maybe some of them were loved by a little girl (or bigger one) at some point in their lives and wonder if they wonder how they got where they are. I know there is a lot more abuse out there, but it does make me sad.

This makes me sad too. There used to be a horse and tack auction up our way and seeing some of those poor old bewildered horses and ponies who must have someone's pride and joy in their younger years going through the ring just broke my heart. You would never sell on an old dog, why do people do it with horses?

 

[paddy555]

I wish everyone would see this. I'm sick of seeing people being overly precious in the UK thinking that any horse ridden before they're five is going to break. It's absolute nonsense. It's akin to saying children shouldn't be allowed to run in the playground otherwise they're going to get arthritis when they're 20.

children don't run in the playground though with a saddle strapped to their backs and around 9st on top of them. Young horses run around fields with others so I don't see your analogy.

However on the backing at 3 or 4 debate I see only 2 view points. That which comes from riders and owners, the "mine was backed at 3 and never came to any harm brigade". Those people are just owners like me. They may have trained a few horses, broken them, hunted, jumped, competed or whatever.
The 2nd viewpoint for me comes from people with professional experience. Those who are experts in horse anatomy. When I tried to decide what age I should break a horse I looked to their views. They inclined to 4 or 5. I studied my chiro working. His experience dwarfed any of the general owners/riders brigade. He taught chiropractic, had dealt with horses all day long, he had worked, very successfully, on me, OH and our horses. I listened to his views, watched him work with many horses, watched him point out problems and give talks.

So I wondered who to believe, the average horse owner or the professional. Not suprisingly I inclined to the professionals viewpoint.


What does make he sad however is the ageing of young horses. My horse is now 4. But he is not he is really 3 yrs and 7 months. That might not make much difference when discussing a 10 yo but in a young horse those months make a lot of difference.
So the 2yo born in June is not really 2 in Jan he is only 1 year and 6 months. That extra 6 months he is perceived to have is a lot when you are only 18 months old.
That same 2 yo will be a 3 yo the following Jan and could therefore he broken yet he is not and if he is broken in that Spring as often happens he is being broken at 2. Leaving aside the physical side does he have the mentality to be broken that year?

I speak as someone who took on a 3 yo that someone had decided MUST be broken as he was now 3 (just) The horse was not ready mentally and was basically ruined for a life as a riding horse. If he had been mine he would have been broken at 4 and a half or even 5 and would have made a lovely riding horse. So very sad that someone, in their impatience and with their rigid views, did that to him.

 

[Mule]

children don't run in the playground though with a saddle strapped to their backs and around 9st on top of them. Young horses run around fields with others so I don't see your analogy.

However on the backing at 3 or 4 debate I see only 2 view points. That which comes from riders and owners, the "mine was backed at 3 and never came to any harm brigade". Those people are just owners like me. They may have trained a few horses, broken them, hunted, jumped, competed or whatever.
The 2nd viewpoint for me comes from people with professional experience. Those who are experts in horse anatomy. When I tried to decide what age I should break a horse I looked to their views. They inclined to 4 or 5. I studied my chiro working. His experience dwarfed any of the general owners/riders brigade. He taught chiropractic, had dealt with horses all day long, he had worked, very successfully, on me, OH and our horses. I listened to his views, watched him work with many horses, watched him point out problems and give talks.

So I wondered who to believe, the average horse owner or the professional. Not suprisingly I inclined to the professionals viewpoint.


What does make he sad however is the ageing of young horses. My horse is now 4. But he is not he is really 3 yrs and 7 months. That might not make much difference when discussing a 10 yo but in a young horse those months make a lot of difference.
So the 2yo born in June is not really 2 in Jan he is only 1 year and 6 months. That extra 6 months he is perceived to have is a lot when you are only 18 months old.
That same 2 yo will be a 3 yo the following Jan and could therefore he broken yet he is not and if he is broken in that Spring as often happens he is being broken at 2. Leaving aside the physical side does he have the mentality to be broken that year?

I speak as someone who took on a 3 yo that someone had decided MUST be broken as he was now 3 (just) The horse was not ready mentally and was basically ruined for a life as a riding horse. If he had been mine he would have been broken at 4 and a half or even 5 and would have made a lovely riding horse. So very sad that someone, in their impatience and with their rigid views, did that to him.

People definitely have to listen to the horse. Mine was started at three but he wasn't strong enough so his then owner left him another year to mature.

The Irish draught was been ridden in a riding school at two she didn't physically mature fully until she was about seven. However she's tough as nails and only retired at 18/19 due to arthritis.