Too many people don't know the basics! Rant!

I agree. A young girl at a livery yard said that she knew loads because she had lessons for a year, i asked her and her mother about there worming programme and they said 'we didnt know horses ate worms should we buy some'?:confused:

The problem i feel is that it is hard for people to get pratical experience. Some Riding Schools cant or dont allow clients to tack up. Often people from none horsey backgrounds dont have family or friends to learn from.
 
hairycob said:
Well I don't know how to plait, but having traditional Cobs it's completely irrelevant so I don't see how that makes me a bad owner.
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Agree, I did do a management course where we learnt how to plait, I never really saw the point of it personally, well not unless I want to plait a coloured cob up to go hacking.
 
my DH has been riding for 30 years, just hacking. He has been helping look after the horses too for about 20 years. I still have to watch him. the other day he tied the yearling up on the longest lead rein right at the end of the rope "so he could eat the grass". not a thought about him putting a leg over the rope and panicing. a couple of years ago he also tied the mare up to a gate which was unfixed to anything and just leaning against a wall. Some people have no horse sense at all. But hes brilliant at leading and riding difficult or young ones,getting them to pick up feet and so on. You just cant win sometimes.
 
I agree to some extent but at the same time I can't do many things on your list :o

I can't plait, I try but fail :D

Bandage-wise - I've never been taught and find it difficult to understand how to do it by looking at pictures in a book, otherwise I'd practice till I got it perfect :D

Before I got my horse I rode/volunteered at stables/became a horse nerd :p and its all paid off, however one person in particular knows nothing about horses, and it really bugs me. Headcollars are often twisted and far too loose/bridles pieced together wrong etc. I think everyone should have some basic knowledge because in some cases it borders upon compromising the horses welfare. :)
 
this makes me sad i can do all those things but am unlikely to have a horse for a long time :( i once had to take 20 horses temperatures in one morning and i love plaiting so if anyone wants me to sew their plaits in give me a bell
 
Someone I know went to equestrian college for 2 years and doesn't know how to bandage, not even theoretically.
 
I just thought I add;

3 weeks ago my horse was fed unsoaked sugarbeet by someone at my yard.
Now this was either someone making an innocent mistake or someone doing it delibrately.
I'd prefer to think its someone being ignorant to learning rather than being downright cruel, but if everyone had a basic knowledge of horses this may not have happened because one of the first things I was taught was "NEVER feed a horse dried sugarbeet".

Either way horse is now fine, but either ignorance or vindictive-ness nearly killed him. :(
 
i was a working pupil at a yard and one girl who had owned horses for years and was studying equine science or something and had never mucked out or had any idea of how to muck out
 
Most folks tend to learn as they go ..... is it the right way ? Probably not :D
I think it also depends on what youre doing with your horse as to how and why you learn things.
Bandaging tends to be learned when youre unfortunate enough to need to use it, unless youre putting them on regularly to exercise or o/n in the stable.
The fact that there are boots for most things now, so bandaging doesnt seem to be seen as a neccessary skill, until it is needed for health reasons !!!
Its also a skill that does need practice to do fairly well.
Sadly ive seen hellish damage done by "experienced" horse folks who dont know how to bandage properly.
Caring for horses is a bleedin mine field .... this forum is testimony to that :D whats right for one owner isnt for the other, whos way is the right way ? and lets face it, there is always someone whos happy to tell you how to care for your horse :D:D
I agree with some parts of your post op, but plaiting :p:p a definition of basic care will vary wildly from person to person
 
I don't know how to plait very well, coz I can't stand doing it, therefore never got the practice.

My god....I should be shot!

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None of these things are really that bad are they? I think people should take less notice of what others do and concentrate on their own horses!
 
Pale Rider said:
How come, on a post about basic horse care and management, or the lack of, it ends up about blo*dy plaiting. :)
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...because in my book, if you can plait or not, does not come into whether you are a suitable owner or not! :D

horsegirl said:
None of these things are really that bad are they? I think people should take less notice of what others do and concentrate on their own horses!
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Damn right they should concentrate on their own horses! :D

sitch said:
Hasnt OP aleeady said she thinks it was just her being picky? ...
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Yes the OP has, but to reinforce the fact that MANY people are perfectly capable of being horse owners even though they can't plait. I don't clip either, should I be be jailed?
 
I can plait AND sew them in nicely **blows raspberry**

I do however agree that some people have no idea how to treat a small graze/cut at home. I believe that riding schools would do well to include horse management and basic health care sections within the lessons.

Also Invest in a damn good vets book and have vets on speed dial - just in case!

We are constantly learning - it would be foolish to assume that because you have had horses for x amount of years that you are the oracle!
 
i can plait tails but manes leave a lot to be desired:p:D
i think it's harder to get experience these days but easier to buy your own horse! not a good combination !
When i was younger you could hang about riding schools all day on a weekend, now our local childrens riding school asks for payment to look after your child all day.
When i worked at the trekking place there was a lady who liveried there, she taught me loads, when she heard i wanted to go to college she taught me about feeding and basic stable management and helped me all the while i was doing the YT course. I was like a little sponge and soaked it all up, i wanted to learn. These days it's harder to find people like that woman who helped me, life is too busy, people don't have time and sadly people are more self centered:(
Horse riding/owning has changed, when i was younger it was all about the horses and riding, now with all the commercialisation it's about who has what in terms of gear, knowledge isn't deemed important! as long as you have the latest ariat boots and joules outfit you must be a good rider:rolleyes:
 
Dancing Queen said:
I can plait AND sew them in nicely **blows raspberry**

I do however agree that some people have no idea how to treat a small graze/cut at home. I believe that riding schools would do well to include horse management and basic health care sections within the lessons.

Also Invest in a damn good vets book and have vets on speed dial - just in case!

We are constantly learning - it would be foolish to assume that because you have had horses for x amount of years that you are the oracle!
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~Titters!~
 
Ibblebibble said:
i can plait tails but manes leave a lot to be desired:p:D
i think it's harder to get experience these days but easier to buy your own horse! not a good combination !
When i was younger you could hang about riding schools all day on a weekend, now our local childrens riding school asks for payment to look after your child all day.
When i worked at the trekking place there was a lady who liveried there, she taught me loads, when she heard i wanted to go to college she taught me about feeding and basic stable management and helped me all the while i was doing the YT course. I was like a little sponge and soaked it all up, i wanted to learn. These days it's harder to find people like that woman who helped me, life is too busy, people don't have time and sadly people are more self centered:(
Horse riding/owning has changed, when i was younger it was all about the horses and riding, now with all the commercialisation it's about who has what in terms of gear, knowledge isn't deemed important! as long as you have the latest ariat boots and joules outfit you must be a good rider:rolleyes:
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I really do hope thats not true.:)
 
Well...
I don't bandage to exercise after witnessing a bandage related accident which resulted in a broken pelvis (rider), but can vet wrap when required.
I can plait to a very high standard
I know how to take horses temperature, but not how to read it.
I don't panic when horse gets a small cut, but doubt myself treating it and need to check the book through lack of confidence.
I stick with feeds I know and ride both in Happy mouth snaffles.

Which I suppost makes me a pretty shoddy owner although I'm aware of my failing and I am booked in for a Equine First Aid course which I hope will give me some confidence and fill in my blank spots of knowledge.
 
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I think a lot if the problem now ha that it is now so easy to buy a horse without knowing anything, rent a field off a farmer and hope for the best!! :( :( I was very lucky to be of the generation where it was the norm to join Pony Club where we were taught our horse management or a local Riding School. Also if you did buy a pony/horse and you were a novice, you were encouraged to keep it at the Riding School where there was help on hand. I know several people who keep horses in my area who hardly know the back end of a horse to the front end and don't want to learn!! :( :( They also treat their horses like a fashion accessory, trade them in when a smarter model comes along, grrrrrrrrrrr
 
marydoll said:
Sadly ive seen hellish damage done by "experienced" horse folks who dont know how to bandage properly.
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This!!!! One mare I had (black) had lots of white hair in her tail where she had been bandaged too tightly - and she had only ever been in top professional yards (i.e British team riders).

I do agree with OP that horse owners should either posess certain minimun skills or keep their horse in a yard where those skills are on offer. Everyone has to learn and what better way than in a good, supportive yard.
 
DragonSlayer said:
Yes the OP has, but to reinforce the fact that MANY people are perfectly capable of being horse owners even though they can't plait. I don't clip either, should I be be jailed?
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Yes! :P

Only kidding, I don't see a problem with things like that, I've never clipped a full horse myself, but will be getting a hand (ah no pun intended!) to do mine this winter (our first one together.)
 
Its bad enough, but when you come across full time grooms employed in yards who cannot plait or clip, thats when I feel a bit surprised...

Why make your career with horses if you have no interest in learning these basic skills?
 
People seem to think that I think I am a 'better' horse owner than everybody else because of my post! Not the case at all and i completely respect that everyone has to learn, and I am still learning every day like the rest of us! It just suprises me that so many horse owners (who are often very good riders) don't know the basics of horse care that I learnt when i was very young, and to me they ARE basic things but I have learnt from the replies on this post that maybe they're not as basic as i thought.

I shouldn't have added the plaiting bit in, looking back on it, it's definitely irrelevent, so please forgive me for that one! :rolleyes: :D

I did add on my starting post that most of the horse owners I am talking about have owned and ridden horses for years... compete every weekend etc. I wasn't talking about complete novices who have just bought their first horse. I think it's completely expected that new owners don't know how to bandage, take temperatures etc as long as they are willing to learn and have help along the way, but when someone has owned horses for years and has never bothered to learn, that's what suprises me!
 
rolsterlady said:
I did add on my starting post that most of the horse owners I am talking about have owned and ridden horses for years... compete every weekend etc. I wasn't talking about complete novices who have just bought their first horse. I think it's completely expected that new owners don't know how to bandage, take temperatures etc as long as they are willing to learn and have help along the way, but when someone has owned horses for years and has never bothered to learn, that's what suprises me!
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I had that, first time my horse cut himself, a bit clueless, got help and now handled it well myself :D
 
QR
There are a great many things I don't know even after a great many years with horses. I am hopeless at plaiting especially. Luckily my horses have survived!

Rolsterlady- you were lucky,as I was, to be started early with horses, not everyone has that advantage. As long as people are aware of what they can and cannot do and are willing to turn to someone more knowledgeable then there is no harm. Certainly never heard of a horse getting ill from being badly plaited! Feed of course is a different matter, but luckily there is a wealth of knowledge on here. Everyone has days when they are unsure and it is great to know that there are people on here willing to give good advice.

FDC
 
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I guess some people like to learn along the way but I like to learn in preparation for if something does happen and I need certain skills! I'm sure most of the stuff i've learnt i will never use but it's good to know, just in case! :D
 
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