What a f****** Cheek! - RANT

M

moneypit1

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 January 2007
Messages
2,246
Location
North Devon
Visit site
Sorry to rant.....BUT..................I rang my new neighbour this morning and said I was riding and did she want to come. She replied "No, but G (her husband) would be riding instead. So off we went. Said to G that I wanted a canter and was he up for it, (he is a novice rider) but he said he was definately up for a bit of a "run". So, got to canter track, Fly (being Fly) took it very seriously and went for it quite strongly, when I got to the end, G was walking up track and his horse was loose!. He had baled out, apparently his horse had shied and he thought he would be better on the ground. He came off apparently at some speed and grazed his arm but otherwise ok. He was angry with me and said my horse was dangerous as he spooks which upsets his horse. True, he does spook but I never invited him, he invited himself. It is a case of too much money (rides once a week) and not enough experience! Feel a bit peeved that my beauty gets the blame!!! Rant over!!!
 
Did you make him aware of how your horse is when cantering? If not then I can see why he would be upset with you, if you did then it was his choice.

When cantering Bert with new company I make sure to tell them of his quirks so they can decide if they want to canter or not......
 
Oh yeah, he knows Fly all right. What gets to me is that he has bought a green horse and he puts no time or effort in. He expects to get on once a week and hack out without problems. I needed to let Fly go and have a blast today and told him so at the start. He is a grown man of 35 and I am not babysitting him!
 
Maybe you shouldn't have gone out with a novice rider if your horse "needed a blast"??
If i felt my horse was fresh and "needed a blast" i think i'd sooner be by myself so i only have my horse to worry about and not if someone else is controlling their horse too. I definately would not go out with a novice rider.
 
Smokeybabes, if you make him aware from the start what you intend to do and he still says its ok and he will go with it then what exactly do you suggest I say next? At the end of the day he is 35 not 15 and i wouldn't dare to presume to "tell" someone not to come. He is a grown man not a child after all. When I first met him a few weeks ago he told me he was a dressage rider and had achieved high scores. I took him at his word, why wouldn't I? I refuse to accept responsibility and am peeved that he thinks I should? It was only after this ride I realised just how "novice" he was.
 
But if she told him so from the offset that she was going for a blast and he was old enough to decide for himself that a) he wanted to join her and b) wanted to have a canter then I really don't see that a terrible crime has been committed here?
confused.gif


It is not as though a fast canter is beyond a novice rider?
confused.gif
 
If he was told and fully aware then as you say it is his decision and he shouldn't blame you.

Bert can be a sod in canter, takes off like a rocket and often shies at things as we go, does not like being over taken at the start........ etc etc These things don't bother me or the person I usually ride with but it can put others horses off and make them a little wobbly. I really try to ride out with only people that are tolerant or want a plod, in which case we just walk.
 
I don't blame you having a rant and it sounds to me like Izt said that he has had his pride dented.
A few years ago my novice partner went on a trek with me up near the angel of the north where he used to live. The riding school let him ride a horse for a short while in the school to see how he was. He was fine. We went out for a hack and he even galloped and that was his first time on a horse and his and mine spooked a little and none of us came off.
I guess some people are more natural riders than others and in this case he sounds like he doesn't fit into the aforementioned category.
Cazx
 
lol, sorry but i got a novice friend like that, she rides the best schoolmistress on yard, yet she always comes off 4 no reason, last time the horse went to eat grass and she slid over her head , and poor hor was like wat u doin,.. but she still goes 4 big canters but she stiff as a board, u no them riders that dont sit in2 the saddle, , but we always tell her hold on...
 
I think there's an element of male pride here - when asked 'are you up for it' I doubt he wanted to make himself look like a 'wimp' or show himself up to be less experienced than he claimed to be.

He probably felt a bit of a prat and so it's easier to blame you (or the horse, or the ground conditions....) than to accept that he fact that he needs to take ownership of his own mistakes.

I have images of him going home in precocious-showring child mode - "Darling! I demand a new neighbour!"
 
Having a blast and going for a canter are two completely different things! I agree with BEX7 that you should have explained your horses quirks especially as you were already aware the guy was a novice and then let him decide for himself.
 
I agree with lzt that he's had his pride dented and is blaming you. Novice rider and male ego are not a great combination. Sounds like he's nowhere near as good a rider as he thinks he is but doesn't want to accept it.
HOWEVER, knowing he's novicey, not very responsible and a bit of a numpty, I would've let him canter off first, or not cantered at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top