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

a livery at a neighbouring yard hadnt wormed her horse in over 2 years because she didnt know what with! said horse also got emaciated over winter due to lack of feed knowledge and not asking for help as they thought they knew best!
think the point being made is if you have a lack of knowledge but are on a good yard with help you can learn as you go along, its all too easy for someone to pick up a cheap horse and rent a field without knowing what goes into its welfare,
 
Its shocking the things some people dont know, i know people who think we are cruel because our horses live out 24/7,even though they all look good, and are given add lib hay and a feed in winter, and the ones who need it are rugged.
When i was kid i used to help at the stables i rode at but that seems to be a thing of the past in case they get hurt, its a shame. Weve had people on our horses who say the have been riding for a couple of years, but dont know how to tack up or change a rug. Another problem is people who ride at a riding school, in a school on a school horse and think they can ride, put them on a horse that doesnt follow another one in a field and they often get into trouble, finding they dont know as much as they thought.
 
following on from mithras' post,
I've had my horse turned out in a fleece with boots on the wrong way, tack put back together the wrong way after cleaning and feed instructions ignored - by yard staff :rolleyes:

in reply to the OP:
I can't sew plaits, my tail plaits are wonky and my bandaging could be neater :D
stable management never covered bandaging when I did it but we did learn basic first aid
 
rolsterlady said:
Sorry, looking back at that the plaiting part is irrelevant really. When i wrote it i was thinking of a particular person who had been showing for years but never learnt to plait and had to rely on others (including me) to do it for them, but wouldn't bother learning themselves.

It concerns me more that people don't know the basics of care or have a basic understanding of veterinary knowledge.
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Ok everyone calm down - I feel that this post was written as a genuine 'why do not riders want to further educate themselves.' Which in some cases is more than a fair comment.

I too believe that a basic vet knowledge is essential, and basic skills should be instilled, horse owners should be able to deal with cuts, strains, and be able to assess when to call the vet and when not too. They should have a basic understanding of the horses needs, and desires and be able to preform basic skills such as bandaging, fitting basic tack equipment and be able to, more than anything else - be open minded and willing to listen and learn.
Yes we all had to start from somewhere, but if we have our horses well being at the foremost of our hearts then we should - Stop, Listen and learn,
I have been involved with horses for 40 yrs - have been instructing for 27yrs and still have a weekly lesson from my trainer and attend as many demos and lectures as possible, We all never stop learining. So if some basic skills elude you - such as plaiting, clipping, long reining, or bandaging then get off your butts and learn !!
It's quite fullfilling !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The basics used to be drummed in to you and although you might not be very good at plaiting you knew how to do it. Same with banaging some people are better at this than others but you knew what to do and what was wrong!
 
Plaiting is a skill which improves with practice, though some people have no hope of ever getting any better, they are the hopeless cases!
Our local vet practice recently gave an evening talk on looking after horses, when to call the vet [before 11.00pm!]
Bandaging is something that can be hazardous, so needs done carefully.
One local practice put on a first aid night, we had a demonstration of bandaging a wound, and the opportunity to listen to the heartbeat. Ask your vet to organise this for you, with a donation to a charity. Also gives you a chance to see their facilites.
 
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These types have been at every yard I've been at I think we have to accept they will always exist and people like us will help for the welfare of there poor horse - I totally support yr rant and it's a shame that so many people who don't really have a clue buy horses and tend to ruin them!
 
But what about those of us who have entered the world of horses later in life? I don't have a horsey family, and was frightened of horses until I started learning to ride in my late 20s. No chance of me joining the pony club, and with a full time job no time for hanging round the stables... Riding schools teach you to ride safe ponies. For the rest of it, as an adult, it's learn as you go!

I don't know how to bandage, how to turn out for showing, or how to do things the "correct" way. I have learnt how to feed and manage my horse's weight, what to do when she's lame, when to rug her when it's cold, how to brush the sweat patches off her when she's hot.... all day to day things that other, more experienced owners, sometimes seem to struggle with.
 
Have this sort of argument with several people on my local pony club committee who look at HM as 'certificate work'. They are all horse owners themselves and think it uneccesary to teach HM at rallies as they can teach their own kids at home. They forget that many of our members are children who's parents have no idea about caring for a pony and these kids really need our help.

My thoughts are that looking after your horse is as important as learning to ride it well. I really loved learning about looking after my horses.

Yesterday we had an unmounted rally and I did Feeding and Care of a Pony at Grass - the D certificate riders learnt about how to feed titbits with pictures to cut out and stick on a page with all the information. D+ did Care of the Pony and again had pictures to cut out and stick on a page with all the information. C and above sorted feed samples each in a tiny plastic bag, matched them to the jar of feed and then stuck them on a special chart I made. They had a great time and took home a chart with a sample of each type of feed on it. Then the littlies spotted them and they HAD to do the same - they had a blast. Picture below is of them engrossed in finding the feed samples
DSCF2848.jpg
 
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It really depends on what you do with your horse. If you intend to keep your horse at home or DIY, there is loads more you need to know to do a half decent job of it, however if you keep your horse at full livery you do rely on the staff. In the continent most ridden horses are kept at full livery and professionals have responsibility for the day to day care. My dressage instructor keeps her horses at livery (according to her why should she go to the hassle of having to employ staff when there are professional yard owners to take care of such things?) and as a result does not know who their farrier or dentist might be or how often they are done. To me that is shocking as I keep my horses at home and have to arrange everything myself, but at the end of the day it's just different practices.
 
This reminded me of a time at our old yard...

A group of teenagers were grooming (had ponies for years) and one of them asked another if they could use a metal curry comb on the horses coat, my 3 year old was walking past and overheard, she went straight over and very bluntly said (as 3 yr olds are ;) ) 'no that will hurt his skin, it's to clean your brushes with, don't you know that! :) '

Even though she was slightly rude, I was very proud of her knowledge!

Might put her in for her BHS exams!!
 
Horses24-7 though we were taught this; the old-school people - most probebly long buried now will tell you they always used a metal curry on the coat to remove the mud and to get rid of winter coat. I use mine on my Clydesdale.

The metal curry to my mind is far less damaging then the 'Furminator' hair removers with their clipper blade.
 
I think people are taking the post too literally and then getting defensive about individual aspects but I can see your point OP.

Yes, if you never show, there is no need to be able to plait. But I do think basic first aid is essential in any horse owner. You should be able to take a temperature and put a simple support bandage on. You should also be able to tell the difference between a 'vet-job' cut and something than needs a bit of TLC then leaving alone if, for no other reason, than to keep unnecessary vet bills down.

Feeding is pretty essential as well as you can make a horse really ill by getting it wrong in addition to affecting his temprament and how easy he is to ride and handle.

And mis-use of tack/bits is a personal bug bear of mine. If you don't understand what it does (and lets be honest so many many people do not) don't use it. In particular if you don't know how to fit it or ensure it is the correct size then leave it alone (thinking of the poor horse with the tiny pony sized martingale on that I visited a couple of weeks ago - he could barely lift his head without jabbing himself in the mouth).

The fact is, if you are going to have a horse - particularly if it is on DIY but not even exclusively then - you really should be duty bound to know the basics of how to care for him. Even on full liverly you ought to know what the standards are so you can ensure they are being met by the staff. Too many people see their horses as machines for 'riding' these days I think rather than animals that need specialist care and knowledge in order to be able to stay healthy and perform their jobs.
 
alcraw said:
But what about those of us who have entered the world of horses later in life? I don't have a horsey family, and was frightened of horses until I started learning to ride in my late 20s. No chance of me joining the pony club, and with a full time job no time for hanging round the stables... Riding schools teach you to ride safe ponies. For the rest of it, as an adult, it's learn as you go!

I don't know how to bandage, how to turn out for showing, or how to do things the "correct" way. I have learnt how to feed and manage my horse's weight, what to do when she's lame, when to rug her when it's cold, how to brush the sweat patches off her when she's hot.... all day to day things that other, more experienced owners, sometimes seem to struggle with.
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Get yourself a good stable management book, and join horse hero on the net, they have videos you can link in to that will show you everything from correct basic grooming to bandaging and using studs, they also have videos for training your horse, with top riders demonstrating their exercises
 
I don't think it matters how long you have had horses, or whether you come from a horsey background - it is more to do whether someone is motivated to continually learn more about horses and their care. I know some relatively new horse-owners who are keen to learn and always reading horsey books/magazines/forums and asking questions of professionals such as farriers, vets and instructors. On the other hand, I know people who have had horses for decades and still not even bothered to find out the basics about things like preventing laminitis, the principles of feeding etc. Unfortunately, in such cases it is often their horses which suffer as a result, which is why people such as the OP are concerned (despite the red herring about plaiting!)

As mentioned in the post above, there are lots of resources available for people who want to learn more, whether it is on the internet, from the local library or via lecture/demos run by Riding Clubs, BHS etc.
 
Not being able to plait is the last thing I would worry about (but I know what the OP means). I've met horse-owners who couldn't tack up, didn't know what horses eat (or where to go to buy it), left the same set of shoes on for over 16 weeks at a time, left a fully clipped horse out at night in November (howling gale and pouring rain) with no rug on, then the same horse left in a heavyweight rug in July when the temperature was in the 70s (oh yes and were away at the time without telling anyone), brushing boots fitted with the stricking pad on the outside, buckles on the inside, overreach boots fitted above the fetlocks, pelham bit in upside down, tying horses up to a fence directly off the bit. You wouldn't believe the number of people who can't use a syringe wormer and as for bandaging - forget it. Then of course there are those who can't recognise a lame horse, fail to spot large girth galls, leaving a lame horse with a history of laminitis out in the field, decide to wait and see when their horse is rolling in the stable with obvious colic. Honestly, I could go on and on. You think you've seen it all and then another example of idiot owners comes along.
 
I have just completed my BScHons Equine Science Degree and this has given me so much confidence in my own ability but more importantly I am more aware than ever about how much I dont know.
I owned my first ever pony last winter. I knew the pony well and rescued her as she had been victim to someone with not enough knowledge. She was too fat with long feet and some vet had said she may have EMS or at the least laminitis.
After some cost anaylsis and knowing we may have to put her down, myself and a fellow student invested our weekly grooms wage in her and she's now fully recovered and a well rounded leadrein pony.
All she needed, luckily for us, was a good farrier and a strict diet.
Despite this I have no fantasies for owning a horse of my own just yet as I am very aware that although I could afford the cost now (estimated on worst case scenario) the current climate makes my job precarious and I am not about to invest time and money, only to have my heart broken when times change.

I dont mind new owners who want to learn, but ignorance is no excuse for bad welfare. On our yard we would rather someone ASK.
In my opinion it IS too easy for anyone to aquire a horse, but as someone said previously on this thread, you cant go far wrong if you try to see things from the horses point of view (especially their natural way of being, grazers, flight animals etc).
 
PwyllceffylBreninToo said:
In my opinion it IS too easy for anyone to aquire a horse, but as someone said previously on this thread, you cant go far wrong if you try to see things from the horses point of view (especially their natural way of being, grazers, flight animals etc).
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I owned a horse in the 1970s then had no contact with horses until recently. This year I've become a horse-owner again.

From personal experience, I can't say it's easier to become a horse-owner now than it was then to be honest. I bought my old horse quite cheaply and kept him at various farms owned by tolerant friendly farmers. This time round, pretty much the same. Allowing for inflation, I paid something not that different and keep her in much the same way as I kept my gelding nearly 40 years ago.

What IS definitely much easier, is the availability of knowledge and advice. Then, you asked the few people you knew, and had a couple of books to turn to. Now, as well as people you know there's so much available (with a bit of common sense) on the internet, and forums like this to turn to.

But surely, the availability of knowledge is a good thing?
 
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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That was the first thing that came into my head when I read that. Plaiting is not the "basics" of horse care. I know how to plait and can do it okay, but with 4 shetland ponies & 2 fjords, all which I show, there is no need for me to plait. I have never had a type of horse to plait.
 
I've owned my horse for 7 years now and when I look back in the early years, I was pretty naive about it all. Perhaps the OP peoples are fairly new to it?? The major part of horse ownership is confidence, once you've gained that then the basics come easily I think. Mind you I'm still on a massive equine learning curve 7 years later...yes started serious schooling this year....and I thought I could ride! LOL
 
Without sounding ignorant, why is it a bad thing to change a horses bit? I haven't changed my boy's bit since I brought him but am looking into different ones as he doesn't seem to be getting on with it so this is why I am asking :-)

I have a friend who regularly changes her mares bit (different types of snaffles, happy mouths and occasionally a cherry roller with a pelham for when she does things like funrides and hunting) and she always said it's so her mare doesn't get used to one bit and become hard mouthed and learn how to chomp down and avoid instructions .... is this not a good thing to do??

I'm asking for help as a novice who doesn't know a great deal about bitting so would appreciate friendly feedback! :)

p.s - no need for me to learn how to plait as ginge is hogged & pulled for showing! :)

xx
 
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