Using Horse as Chairs at Shows?

Elsbells

Elsbells

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 April 2010
Messages
2,576
Location
Staffordshire
Visit site
I was so suprised today at how many(can't say this without offence)huhummm,... larger ladies were using their cobs as chairs at a show.

One woman sat there for at least 2 hours chatting to her friends and passers by without moveing from the spot???

Is this the norm?
 
Erm I hope not but I have to say I have seen this also at some shows.....I have been known to sit on my horse for a while longer than normal.....but usually my knee has locked and Im stuck!! ;p
 
Me as an adult no, always get off and on for the minimum time. But my daughter does stay on her pony for longer and uses him as a 'chair' but shes 7 and has a similar weight of the feather so i dont mind really, pony goes to sleep or munches grass.
 
I see far too many people at local shows sat on their horses for over 3 hrs :( alot have also hacked there,I trailer my lad everywhere,and mount when he needs warming up for his class,after I have cooled him down I dismount...they are not armchairs,yes we do sponsored rides etc which can last 3 hrs,however the horse is moving in walk trot and canter and hasnt a dead weight stood in one spot on his back! x
 
This has always REALLY annoyed me! You see them parked up with their legs hooked over the knee rolls of the saddle gossiping for hours! Poor horse!
 
Ditto, I hate it, 5 year old daughter hates me more when I tell her to get off, it usually results in an argument , but I always win.

If you want a rest get off and sit on the grass!!!! Sorry just my HO
 
hadfos said:
I see far too many people at local shows sat on their horses for over 3 hrs :( alot have also hacked there,I trailer my lad everywhere,and mount when he needs warming up for his class,after I have cooled him down I dismount...they are not armchairs,yes we do sponsored rides etc which can last 3 hrs,however the horse is moving in walk trot and canter and hasnt a dead weight stood in one spot on his back! x
Click to expand...

i totaly agree that there are not arm chairs and i do get on and of before and after each class but i do hack her to the shows and i am never going to appologise for that
 
hadfos said:
I see far too many people at local shows sat on their horses for over 3 hrs :( alot have also hacked there,I trailer my lad everywhere,and mount when he needs warming up for his class,after I have cooled him down I dismount...they are not armchairs,yes we do sponsored rides etc which can last 3 hrs,however the horse is moving in walk trot and canter and hasnt a dead weight stood in one spot on his back! x
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, I hack to shows, get off and she gets a minimum one hour rest before the first class and she also gets a minimum one hour rest before heading home.
After each class (providing the next one isn't soon), then I get off and untack her.

I'm not sure what the difference is, if you hack or not or why its a bad thing?
I like it as it means I don't have a thoroughly fresh horse.
 
I'm not particularly *fit* but I have a job in which I am required to be on my feet all day. I walk round lots, lift things and sit maybe for a few minutes at a time ( to have lunch) and then on my feet again. However I couldn't just *stand* still in one place for eight hours! And if you asked me to put on a heavy rucksack and stand I'd probably crumble after an hour or two.

At shows I much prefer to warm up, do my show/test, and then get off again. I wouldn't have a problem hacking to a show and then doing a test or whatever, and then hacking home again. It's different moving versus standing. But I also wouldn't expect the best performance from horse if it was a long hack!
 
So true.

Then again, some of those you see like the hunters, are very much used to it and just switch off as they would out in the field if they had to stand and wait - sometimes ages!
 
There is nothing wrong with hacking to shows- not everyone is lucky enough to have transport. I regularly hack 2 hours to shows, do showing classes and two hours back, my horse is as fit as a fiddle. :) I don't however, use my horse as a chair, as soon as I leave the class, I get off.
 
Not guilty. A bugbear of mine especially as many of the worst offenders are not even sitting still! As soon as we're 'done' with a class it's dismount, stirrups up, noseband and girth on sloppy setting and any tight boots (elasticated tendon boots) off.

I am not absolutely sure the horse 'minds' but for me, it's my thank you to them.

I trained my kids to because it's a good habit to have. IMO
 
mmmmmmm never really thought of it before but sure I will notice at the local show were doing to tomorrow...

As a child i usually competed 2 ponies so constant swopping, but I'm pretty sure I was on one or other the whole time. As an adult I show jump with no extra help so need to put Z back on the lorry to walk the courses and loo breaks etc and I do like to get off in between.

My girls will ride the pony for 3 showing classes on the bounce tomorrow followed by a couple of snack/lunch/loo breaks before gymkhana but they are 4 & 5 so seriously doubt they cause him discomfort.
 
I got told off by my yard owner when I was a teenager at a show - I had got back on him on him after we were done and he was in his summer sheet ready to travel back, and I tootled off to watch my friend in the championship.

I didn't like being told off at the time, but she had a point.
 
My daughter first started going to shows on a pony belonging to a local YO who became a good friend. She was very strict about daughter getting off the pony between classes to give him a rest, it is a lesson that has stayed with daughter into adulthood. She stills gets off Murphy as soon as she comes out of the ring and if its a hot day and there is a bit of time before next class she will take off his saddle and tendon boots to give him an airing.
 
How about some problem solving?:) Perhaps some show organisers should provide more mounting blocks for the larger ladies, who've hacked there or those with arthritis to get back on again? I tend to get a leg up from the floor but in another 2 years, my guess is that I won't be able to do that:(.
 
Achinghips- Good point.

I'm not large in any way shape or form (I'm 5'4" and a size 10/12), but I cannot get on my horse from the ground as I have various problems with my knees (he's also a 16.2 shire). So If I get off, and I have nobody to help me back on then that's the end of that. I sure as hell am not going to ask some randomer for a leg up of that height, and you try getting my lad to stand next to a ramp at a show for me to clamber on. Not gonna happen.

So, I ask you this. For a smaller lady, is staying sat on my horse at a local show in which we only usually do one/two classes then leave, the best option? Is it kinder for me to stay sat on his back between a class, or to attempt to get back on, inevitably pulling his back because I really can't get on without a massive effort and pain on my part, and due to the distance he would be stood away from the lorry ramp, it would involve some kind of death-defying stunt to get from said ramp onto said horse.

Now as it happens I always make sure that there is something I can use to get on & off with fence/xc fence/box. Because obviously getting on and off is an important part of riding lol. However, it is ultimately less stressful for both involved, for me to stay put between classes (which are relatively close together).

I think this has two sides to it. I will also probably get shot down for being cruel.
 
achinghips and sophieloubee

These are very good points and not ones I had thought about, I must admit. I have a bad leg/hip so cannot get on 14hh pony from ground. I usually know someone at show so can borrow a mounting block or use a fence and have used to a corner of water trough before, but this would not work for everyone. Another show does have a mounting block available.

Just shows though, you can't judge everyone the same. Yes, there will be some people simply being lazy and with easily accessible mounting blocks etc but there could also be some people that don't have a n option.
 
I used to hack to shows before I was lucky enough to get my own transport. I would get off between classes and then would ask someone with a box if I could use their step/ramp to get back on to come home. Nobody ever refused.
 
This is one of my biggest pet hates, I never stay on my mare at shows unless my next class is straight away. I have to say though I often do tell off my other half for staying on his horse.
~LozzyBell
 
I wouldn't say I used my horse as a chair as such however, he enjoys standing at the side of the ring, while we both watch the other competitors? Not for super long periods of course, but I guess it would look the same. If I were to get off and hold him he would just try for attention and rub or nibble and be annoying, but if I'm on him he'll just stand, so I think this is better. I also don't like a lot of messing around with getting on and off etc. We usually hack to shows, but if not then we will go back to the lorry.
 
Bit of an over reaction in my opinion, as for "I always trailer my horse to shows" well not everyone has that option.

I will sit on Pickle for some periods when he isn't competing purely because he is 17.1hh and hates people getting on from floor, and the more you get off him the more stroppy he gets about you getting back on. I don't sit on him the whole time but I am on for more than just his class.
 
I'm a bugger for doing that! It's a pet hate of my mum's though and if she doesn't say to me 'that horse isn't your armchair ...' i usually go 'well i've done now so i'll jump off.' i'm not quick about it in honesty, but neither do i sit there for 2 or 3 hours! maybe 10 mins after i've cooled off...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top