Very "knowledgeable" people- but they are wrong!

Some seriously deluded people out there.

I can't say I've come across any advice as bad as what I've been reading here:eek:, I can't think of anything off hand but then I've only been at one livery yard and previously kept our horses at home so I've obviously missed years of terrible/amusing/dangerous advice off other horse folk by the sounds of it....thankfully!
 
"you gave that horse colic washing it all over after a ride, you should only have sponged off his saddle patch" Admittedly in Switzerland, but a big reputable stables.

I almost sent them the research that was done for the Olympics which now results in hot eventers and racehorses being doused in iced water from head to foot.
 
brigantia said:
"Expert " advice I have been given:

Turn out is overrated because all the horses do is stand around. :rolleyes:

QUOTE]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahh!!!!

*stops for breath*


hahahahahahahahahahahhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!

The best I ever heard was from some teenagers on our yard who of course, are total experts as they have ridden since they were kids. Some one was getting a professional rider to school their pony through the week and these kids were sitting on the wall of the arena, criticising her riding under their breath. I had to stuff my fist in my mouth and bite down to stop myself from cracking up when she did shoulder in and one of the kids said (rather smugly), "Look at that - she can't even ride him in a straight line."
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Some real classics from the Shetland pony world!

Don't trim their feet because if you keep them splatty, they can cross the bogs better!

If you do trim their feet, put a ridge in so they can grip the rocks better!

If they eat silage, it will wear their teeth down.

Don't feed them from a black bucket, you need to start with coloured ones!

What else? Numerous ones that leave me either gob-smacked or laughing!

The classic - "I've had this saddle since childhood and this one saddle fits all horses I have ever ridden - it is nice and squishy" (yes, it has a broken tree, darling!)
 
That is scarey about letting the flies into the wound...not heard of fly stike then.

I had a large welsh cob brood mare on loan some years ago, went to pick her up from her knowledgeable stud home with the trailer. Owner loaded her onto the left hand kerb side(she was travelling alone). When I questioned this I was firmly told that this was where she would have the best ride. Unfortunately we were not familiar enough with her or her feelings about traffic to quietly swap her round when we were out of sight so she had a rough ride home.
The other gem was a former livery who told me he fasted his horses once a week "to clear their systems out". He didnt do it when he was on my yard:cool:
 
Haha its not just me then- I sometimes wonder if people just think i'm an idiot!

I remember another one- when i was slowly bringing my old horse back into work after an injury, he was 3 weeks in so walking only on the road in straight lines. A fellow livery one day accompanied me on her horse who had also been out of work (first time ridden over a whole winter) she wanted to canter- I said i couldnt as my horse wasn't fit enough and i didnt want to aggravate the injury, to which she laughed and told me "for goodness sake if you want to get him fit stop riding him, he needs to be turned away for 6 months like mine, mines ready to compete and i didnt need to do anything!"

ummm, yeah ok personally i will stick with what i'm doing in accordance to my vet!
 
A recent bit of advice given to me by a young lady who earns here living in the horsey world:

My cob dripping after a very hard schooling session, I hosed down, placed a sweat rug on and walked around with him until he was cool and dry.

'Just chuck him in the field' said she

' Like *******' says me 'dont want him tying up or worse'

'But cobs cant tie up' says she.......

Really????:eek:
 
Once when I was at someone's place and talking about her horse I noticed he was all alone despite her having two stables, a menage, and six acres. She was very experienced and competed him at medium level dressage. I asked if she had thought about getting a companion for him. She said: 'Oh yes, I have thought about it. He'd love a friend, but I know my close reationship with him would suffer.'

How selfish is that?!
 
Kerilli, I know cow parsley looks like hemlock (aswell as hogweed to some people) but cow parsley itself is not poisonous, hemlock is :)

They look the same like grass looks the same, except that grasses look anything but the same if that makes sense?

(I am not trying to be clever, just with my work doing botany surveys, I really should know that one! :D )
 
Omg there are some roasters in among that lot, worst i ever heard was to wrap a horse with some blankets round its gut and hit with a hammer to cure colic !!!!!I nearly fell of my perch at that pearl of wisdom :eek:
 
I used to do the stallion handling at my last yard and we used to have to turn the 16.1 stallion out with a schooling whip just infront of his nose (it would have been a short crop but I am too short for that!! :D) otherwise he would either drag you to the mares or rear or kick you with his front feet! With this whip he had respect for you, you didn't do anything with it though just held it there..
One girl piped up "don't do that hes only shaking his head" so i removed the whip and up went the stallion and waved at her.. stupid girl don't get involved when you can't do it yourself!!! :D

Another one was again "oh if the saddle doesn't fit stick 2 numnahs under it" ( I was only 15).. next day horse dumps me into a wall because she can barely move her shoulders!!

"Oats send them insane" - No they don't, as with ANY feed if they are in the correct work for the amount of feed they are fine.

"Tb's have to have all 4 shoes on else they go lame!" - Oh really my last tb went 2 and a half years with no back shoes, sound as a pound!!!

"Dad says I can't jump my fit 16 year old Welsh Sec D over 1m because hes too old, but we are going hunting next week!!!"..

And the most devastating one..
"Your horse isn't lame behind you are being paranoid" (Said by a vet)
Moved to Cumbria, got a different vet to look, horse had a slipped disk in her back, probibily for years, PTS the next day!!!
 
Stencilface said:
Kerilli, I know cow parsley looks like hemlock (aswell as hogweed to some people) but cow parsley itself is not poisonous, hemlock is :)

They look the same like grass looks the same, except that grasses look anything but the same if that makes sense?

(I am not trying to be clever, just with my work doing botany surveys, I really should know that one! :D )
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ah right, fair enough, i wasn't implying that you don't know...
i feed my horses cow parsley all the time but i'll be checking harder to make sure it's not hemlock, i guess. as a non-botanist, they look very similar to me. but, hemlock's smooth and cow parsley's got hairy stems, and is a bit purplish whereas hemlock stems are bright green, yes?!

some of these would be classics, if they weren't so bloody depressing to read. poor horses. ffs.
 
kerilli said:
your teeth. definitely. ;) ;)
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Always good to know these things!

Just remembered one:

I got a TB when i was 13, he used to suck polo's- just did- and pony nuts etc etc- Older woman told me "it is because he was taken off his mother to early, and so will never reach his potential"



I secretly think she was jealous that I had moved on from ponies before her daughters!
 
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BHS AI (Judge) at local show - "Your horse is lame"
Me: "He's tölting"
BHS AI: "Your horse is still lame"
Me: "He's pacing"
BHS AI: "I don't understand these gaits"
Me: "Ok, ok, I'm leaving"

Oh yes, oh yes, "all horses can trot, if not, I can make them trot"! Go on then, get on mine and do it! He has never trotted in his life.
 
One of the most respected girls on the yard told me to walk my new share pony round to the school in the dark, then put the light on when I got there, as her 4yr old could do it, so this mare should be able to as well. Of course, 20mins later I'm still battling with the mare, who's known to be spooky and not used to being ridden in the school after dusk, as she won't go anywhere near the dark school, let alone near the light switch which is in the school.

I could have kicked myself after listening to this advice, because I'd been planning to put the light on in the school first before I took the mare round. But because I've never owned, I just assumed this girl who owns 2 must know better than me. In hindsight, the girl who gave me the advice didn't like the horse or the horse's owner, so she was probably just setting us up to fail. Or maybe she really does just believe all horses must be capable of doing what her 4yr old can, regardless of what training (or lack of) they've had.
 
I like the cure for a rearer......'just break an egg on it's poll and it will think it's blood or its brain dripping out and never rear again!'

All cured for the price of an egg!!!

Oh yeah ha ha ha ha ha!
 
I have often been told my mare is a NOT a Welsh cob, she's a Welsh section D...
They look at me like I'm an idiot when I tell them they are the same thing.

Someone else also stated a friend's Welsh Section A was different to a Welsh Mountain Pony which was why she's so pretty. Friend and I exchanged looks of grimace!

Argh.
 
A good laugh at some of these examples, and a little bit scary that someone, somewhere, actually believes some of it to be true.

However its a fine line between picking out poorly given advice, or even good advice that doesn't suit the horse/rider/situation, and assuming no one knows anything about horses at all, except you.

Also try to remember that millions of parents will tell you "We did xyz for years and it never did OUR kids any harm".... and although medical science has come on eons, they are almost always absolutely right!
 
My old horse had COPD. I was told he had HOLES IN HIS LUNGS! AND I should give him a pound of lard in his feed, this would go into the lungs and block the holes up!Needless to say, I didn't do it.
 
a good one i heard was a YO, her horse had some lumps/bumps on his back and a bit of hairloss (we think it may have been sweetitch as he was always, always scratching) however she said that what is actually was, was a burn as she had bathed him under really hot sun and it had boiled on him causing the burns!! I said to her i didnt believe it could be so hot that it would be 100 degrees on his back, and he would have possibly moved around when it was happening!
 
Hedwards said:
a good one i heard was a YO, her horse had some lumps/bumps on his back and a bit of hairloss (we think it may have been sweetitch as he was always, always scratching) however she said that what is actually was, was a burn as she had bathed him under really hot sun and it had boiled on him causing the burns!! I said to her i didnt believe it could be so hot that it would be 100 degrees on his back, and he would have possibly moved around when it was happening!
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I know of a horse that was left in the sun all day after having a bath, that got a burn on its back, that meant he couldnt be ridden for ages waiting for it to heal! Was left tied up to a trailer at a comp. Doesnt sound the same as this one though ;)

bexcy-bee x
 
I was told that my pony who had chronic laminitis was just stiff and should be out in field! Needless to say I didn't listen.
I was also told horses not to get turned out in light fog, as they wouldn't be able to find each other and might run into each other. Wonder how they manage in the dark.?
Another one was, not to let pony cubes break down in the feed as they need to swallow them whole so they dissolve in the stomach like a capsule!!!

:eek:
 
Worst I have heard:
We had a pony from a treking yard over one winter.
It was a bit of a s*** to be honest !
It fought with our poor little mare, bit and kicked humans too. So we phoned up the yard.
................
The advice from the trekking yard : He needs to be cornered and tought some 'respect' with a crop.
So basically corner him and beat the crap out of him until he stops fighting back.


Poor thing probably why he was like that to humans in the first place ! :(
 
kerilli said:
hmm, as an alternative to something literally breaking its neck trying to jump out, though, i think that's better.
i had a youngster with ridiculous separation anxiety. i had to put a board across her top door for quite a while. she survived it and now happily copes with being the only horse 'in'... she would definitely have tried to jump out before, and over a 4'3" stable door, i don't think she'd have made it...
sometimes these 'cruel' things are done to protect the horse from itself.
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I completely agree with this and don't find it cruel at all. I had to do this with my daughters new pony as he had been grazed with his friend for 3 years. When we brought her in to break her, Charlie would go in the stable and I shut the top door as I knew he would try and jump out.

After a few days, he got the idea and now he is more than happy to come in.
 
Someone told me once that when their horse refused to jump a hedge they tied it to the back of a tractor and dragged it through the hedge.
 
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