Update; girl hitting my horse rant

I am prepared for all opinions and I accept there will be negative ones too.
However, this post was not for people to critisise my horse care or say that my horse is miserable due to the fact he is grumpy. Especially once I point out my horse is cared for extremely well, repeat 'he is miserable' is deliberately being difficult and mean and offensive.
 
Henryhorn;

I totally agree most horses are happy outside with their pals, grooming eachother etc. and relish to be outside., and I am sure he would love to be outside. However, in reality for myself and other people - it is just not possible, as you said. I don't see how he is 'obviously' not happy inside just becuase he would rather be outside. He pulls faces by putting his ears back, don't biting, showing his teeth of lunging..so hardly showing fear and aggression but rather "You just woke me up, it's only 7am!" or "Mum where is my dinner".

I appreciate your understanding but at the end of the day, he is looked after very well, treated very well and the only issue is turn-out, which is beyond my powers at the yard and he, aswell as 250+ other horses have to put up with. There is nothing more I can do. Regardless of what you say, he is happy and this is not me being 'blind' but of having years of experience with horses and knowing the BIG difference between seeing a happy and unhappy horse in the stable. Granted, he would be happier outside, but aslong as he is happy inside - which he is. trust me. - then that is all that matters
 
I think you should re-read your own original post before being rude to people who were only trying to be helpful. You chose to be annoyed at the person hitting your horse - quite right, I'd have lamped her. Some of us read carefully and looked deeper to the possible causes why she might - for whatever reason - be reacting in this way. Even the YM, who is there, mentioned that it might be because your horse is grumpy and she might have thought he would bite.

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Eric's at Hartpury with me and has no option but to stay in a stable pretty much 24/7, whereas at home, we have stables but he just loves it outside and hates the stable! He was pretty badly abused as a racer in his stable so I understand why he gets a bit grumpy. He pulls faces and acts 'scary' but he is really a wimp, he doesn't bite or kick and his grumpy strops are generally when he knows it feed time.

Anyway, he moved stables to be closer to the outside of the barn so he could see outside and be a bit happier. Soon after he moved, I noticed he didn't spend much time looking out his stable, but at the back of it, and he used to shy away a lot when I came in his stable, which was very weird! So I mentioned it to Yard Manager who acted a bit dodgey and said he'd better move again, she said she thinks someone may have hit him thinking he would bite when he is grumpy.


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I have been to Hartpury several times, and each time seen signs of real stress in the horses (stabled all day when I was there). I just wondered if you could change his circumstances, because based on what YOU said he HATES being stabled. I accept that you don't want to, that's fine, believe whatever you think is best and do it.

Problem is, most equine colleges don't care much about the horses mental welfare, they are just there to put up with it all and do a job. You aren't going to get taught the sort of useful info that someone like Henryhorn can give you in college, which is a shame.

Have to smile - "years of horse experience", probably not as many years as Henryhorn.
 
Wel we always said she was the mafia god pony!!
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and she is teaching Lady all she knows!!!!
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I love her really

altia
 
bless, she really does take crabby to a new level
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shes very bad around food, ears back & will go for you if provoked, unless your a small human, cos they are nice apparently
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In my opinion she did not have just cause to hit your horse.

And you are doing your horse to the best of your abilities given the restrictions be that personal or yard. So don't get to worried about what the others are saying.
Yes in the ideal world horses would be out all the time but in reality this is very difficult. I know of yards where there is no turnout from Nov to May and you can't turn out in the school.
A little time out is better than no time out.

altia
 
My horse is turned out 24/7 and shows no sign of being unhappy at any time..... other than when he has to wait for me to walk over the field to where i put his feed down.

I choose a nice non muddy bit of the field for his hay and feed so that he can stand out of the wet.

All this I do so that his life can be more comfortable, but does he thank me........ nah..... he puts his ears back and hassles me (not aggressively tho) because he is impatient!!!

He also waits by the gate when he know that other horses are being turned out or brought in, looking longingly up at the yard...... but on the occasions that I take him into his stable he spends most of the time trying to escape again and staring longingly at the mud in the field.

So would people say he was unhappy, happy or just plain confused????
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You're doing the best you can for your horse in the circumstances and with the facilities available...don't worry about it.
In an ideal world, we'd have lush grass and sunshine all year....but this is Glos...with flooding...M5 closed....trains cancelled....so being stabled is no bad thing....
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Good luck with your studies; I am sure you will do well.
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This is the thing also................. are we all absolutely happy or are there things that we would change.

We might hate our jobs but have to do them, might not like the house we have to live in or the food that is put infront of us at tea time.................

But it doesnt kill us does it........ and we have the ability to anyalyse a situation and we know when we are not happy and why.

A horse just is what it is and unless it is displaying extreme behaviour is probably as happy as it needs to be.

At least it is being fed, watered and looked after.
 
also, that isn't a lot of turnout - ours are out 24/7 in the summer, and at least 7 hours during the winter, and they'd be out 24/7 in the winter if it wasn't yard rules! i know lots of eventers and things only get a couple of hours out a day, i just think plenty of turnout makes for a happier horse...
 
Tinypony. I have re-read my post several times when answering. I am not being rude, but I do not respect people who accuse me of something not true.

My YM didnt even know this girl hit her until I told her..she said someone who didnt know him may have thought he was going to bite. I do still care if someone hits my horse, obviously, but if it was someone who didn't know him, i wouldn't have cared as much..hence I have put a sign for when he is back saying he is grumpy at times but does not bite.

I said at home he hates the stable. That's becuase there's only four and non of my other horses are stabled, so he dislikes being in there becuase he is alone. I can see he is unhappy in them, so I don't stable him. If I stabled my others and he wasn't alone, he would probably like it a lot more.

At Uni, he is with a lot of horses, so he isn't alone and I can tell he is happy. There's a big difference with the main yard and the academy yard, which Eric is on. I agree, I can walk along the main yard and always find an aggressive or miserable horse, but with over 200 horses..there will never be 200 happy. And the ones on the main yard are not kept in 24/7, they are ridden quite a lot and turn-out is only restricted in the winter months. The Academy yard is totally different, all DIY and although I am not saying all horses are happy, the majority are. I think you would have had to see both and how they are run to understand that.

I didn't say I had any more years experience than Henryhorn! But it doesn't take a lot of years to know a happy horse and an unhappy one.
 
my horse can be the teensiest bit grumpy in the stable in the mornings, and that's because he is unhappy! he doesn't like being in, so i make sure he's in as little as pos. he gets turned out at about 8am, and bought in at about 6pm in the winter, we chose our yard because it had the best and the most turnout.
 
Oh dear! I don't want to offend you, but, having read your posts and other peoples replies, I did lol. It is a good job that you cannot see my horse, he is the demon from hell (well he looks like he is), most of my horses are turned out all day, weather permitting, but when they are in their stables they tend to look grumpy. NO ONE has the right to wack your horse, I would not tolerate anyone hitting any of mine. Just do the best you can and don't stress yourself about it, everyone has their OWN opinion. Good luck
 
Finally, people seeing my point. Hallelejah!!

He's happy in or out. Happier out (god knows why when there is no grass and it is pouring it down and cold) but still happy in.
He is unhappy about getting hit around the head. Oh almost forgot, that was the purpose of this post in the first place..:P
 
lets face it, most are happier out, i know jay used to be, now hes not fussed as long as hes warm , dry & fed
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you know your horse, we only know whats written here, so you do what you thinks right by him
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It's good some action has been taken
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With regards to your other comments - this is a public forum open to all kinds of people... some are laid back, some are like dogs with bones
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I've had several posts run away with which I've abandoned as the point of the original post was lost and I've got tired of abusive pms. It's something that happens sometimes unfortunately.

With regards to people commenting on your horse's mental welfare - well I think the whole Amersham incident should make us all realise that while we all disagree with other peoples horse care regimes at one point or another at least he is being well looked after and loved, even if he doesn't always appreciate it
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No offence intended but you are obviously quite upset at people's opinions on the forum and so I don't understand why you have put on another post if it is going to upset you further? I know it can be frustrating when people don't understand what you are trying to say but I think forum members were generally trying to help.

As far as grumpy horses go - I completely understand. My mare is out 24/7 all year round but she can still be a right grumpy bum, it's just a part of her character. I'm really lucky turn out wise, but if you have to keep yours in and he's only grumpy at feeding times then well done - mine would be climbing the walls with that much stabling. I'm glad the girl has got a warning, although she deserves worse - I admire your self-restraint, I think I would be wacking her with the head collar
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It was a bad idea of mine to post this, I was trying to clear up some small misunderstandings so people don't think he's agressive and unhappy..incase they thought that is why he was hit. Instead, it seems to have attracted pretty opinionated people with some pretty opinionated thoughts, regardless of me trying to clear it up and say errr no he isnt unhappy.

I felt like whacking this girl but..I am half her size and probably would have got thrown off the yard!!
 
My OH says we are all menopausal middle aged cows and god forbid we all ever meet - can we all go and hit him with a shovel too?
 
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My OH says we are all menopausal middle aged cows and god forbid we all ever meet - can we all go and hit him with a shovel too?

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PSML!!! I'm sure we're all lovely really
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No pretty opinionated people being the ones who keep on insisting points such as he is not happy if he is grumpy even if I insist he is happy
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