What do you do as an owner that is slightly 'obsessive'..

[Spottyappy]

My gawd, I am in slob camp here! Call it lack of time,fact I have a life away from the horses as well as with them- or laziness, not sure which but I can't be dealing with that amount of OCDness!
Bar poo picking daily, nothing else is of vital ocdness to me.
My farrier would have a heart attack if I asked him to book in 3 years ahead- what if an emergency came up elsewhere and he HAD to attend to that not me
He gives me a couple of days notice when he is coming- after I have told him when I can or can't be available, that seem to work well for us.

 

[Lexie81]

I'm not very OCD at all! I like feed/water buckets to be spotless, beds to be nice and clean with fresh straw everyday, and fields poo picked every day but other that that i'm pretty chilled. As long as she is happy, healthy, has her feet/shoes done regularly, wormed etc then i don't stress. With work, a house to keep, a child to look after as well it's a good job really!
I am just contemplating trimming my mare for the first time ever, she is a WB so i guess i should trim her but i hate the feeling of stubbly whiskers!!

 

[NeedNewHorse]

I am OCD about my Mare going out in the field.. to the point where she will go out alone if no one else turns theres out in winter! (summer now, so she is out 24/7 with others phew!)

I WISH I WISH I could be obsessive about being tidy, but I simply cannot... My tack, stuff is everywhere in odd different places, nothing is kept the same place twice, infact I have my tack in my car now which was supposed to be cleaned but I will have to take it back out tonight and ride and probably wont put it back. I can never find anything and take ages getting ready because of this and can often be running around the yard looking for my hat!. I still have my lunge whip in one of the schools and have been borrowing a friends ever since I left it there (even though I have walked past it several times!!)

I have poohy dirty travel boots/tail bandage left in my stable from the other day. Not sure what's going to happen with that, I suspect it will stay there until I put it back on her!

I have various sweaty numnahs which need cleaning and some dirtly MW rugs in my feedroom over my bins from ages ago when she was wearing a rug! I never really sweep or do so into my stable (she's out) and I just wish I could be like the above posters. I think I will have a sort out (which I do abouto once a month) and try and be like the rest of you.

X

 

[SusieT]

Beds-must be clean and level. Waterers must be spotless. Everything else, they can live with. I don't do dirty boots/numnahs etc. either. But I can hack out with mud on!

 

[WishfulThinker]

Definately with the grooming. Despite being field kept I like him clean like a stable horse. And I cant stand mud on him if I am going to ride.

 

[PurplePickle]

This thread is making me giggle, I do actually suffer from OCD like one other poster here, but its not cleanliness related, I was reading some of the replies like 'what' lol

 

[Lollii]

I'm ocd about not getting ocd!

I leave my horses dirty, they sometimes get a quick flick of the brush before I put a 'dirty' saddle on, tack only ever gets cleaned before an event but sometimes it doesn't, if it is a choice between me sleeping an extra hour or clean tack/horses/yard the zzzz's win everytime!

My rugs and saddle cloths are in a heap in the rug room, but I know where everything is.

My yard is lovely but very messy until some kind person offers to sweep it up for me.

The beds are left as they are when I chuck a load of straw in, I never straighten them out ... and I never want too - there is no point

I hope I am not the only normal one here

 

[ecrozier]

OMG WHERE do some of you find the time?! The only things I am obsessive about are turnout, I hate theme ever having to be in for 24 hours solidly, and if they are in they must have hay/haylage to last. Also water obviously.
I am a bit of a snob I wil admit and mine always have reasonably nice 'kit', saddlecloths, boots, headcollars, rugs etc. But my washing machine would pass out if I started washing boots/bandages every time I rode! I also like things to be where I left them and am quite tidy at the yard - probably more so than most of the others.
As a matter of interest those of you who trim their horses 4 times a week and keep everything white and sparkling and stuff like that - do you work with horses? I just can't see how I could do that in winter when I only see my horses in the dark under artificial yard ights 5 days a week?!

 

[Hanno Verian]

Poo Picking:

When we kept three horses at home with limited grazing, we had to strip graze and make the absolute most of what we had, so would poo pick every day when they had very restricted grazing.....

 

[shark1]

im completley obsessed with manes and tails they must be cut beautifully at all times (yes cut - showjumpers=cut manes, shocking i know)
NO WHISKERS . or any kind of hair at all. under any circumstances. ever.
sweeping the yard. i just feel all uncomfy if its a mess.

 

[Rowreach]

Good grief, do any of you actually work with horses? I do an average of 10-12 horses by myself (with sporadic help from 2 small children and an unwilling OH).

I think the horses on my yard are pretty well looked after, and some things go without saying, like giving them plenty of food, clean water supply, exercise and turnout and keeping their feet in good order - but so what if they have a few shavings in their tails and do they really care if their outfits match?

 

[zefragile]

This thread is making me giggle, I do actually suffer from OCD like one other poster here, but its not cleanliness related, I was reading some of the replies like 'what' lol

Same. Threads like this are funny, but get on my nerves a bit too, to be honest

 

[Serenity087]

I have to make sure everything is straight (but this is my 'ocd' trait and applies to everything I do!). bed, straight, haynets, level. Headcollars, bridles etc must be hung straight. Brushes, wheelburrows etc, stored straight. Muck heap left level and compressed.
Rugs must definitely hang straight!

Was always jingling other people's headcollars and rugs to make sure it was straight. Haven't dared on the new yard!

 

[Persephone]

But isn't everything being straight and neat, just being tidy? I don't see what is OCD about that!

 

[BentleyBelly]

I am totally obsessed with watching Bentleys weight, I'm convinced he's getting fatter and fatter despite my best efforts to keep it at bay. My friend that i share the field with is sick of listening to me going on about it and now just nods and smiles.

 

[Halfstep]

Mildly obsessive about certain things:

Checking legs. Every day twice a day;

Picking out feet before and after riding, especially if I've been in the outdoor school which is rubber/sand and bits of rubber get stuck between the frog and the shoe - OUCH;

Cleaning water and feed buckets;

Cleaning bits as soon as they are out of the horse's mouth;

Putting up bridles properly;

Taking the girth and saddlecloth completely off the saddle every time;

If I use bandages they MUST match the saddlecloth and not clash with my clothes;

Saddlecloths, bandages, bandage pads and girthcovers must be clean;

Remove any poo from arena as soon as possible;

I must must wear gloves when riding even if just going for a walk down the road.

I'm not massively OCD about trimming and leave whiskers on. I trim legs in summer but don't clip legs out in winter. Am quite happy to take a scissors to a mane if required. So long as the mane can be plaited nicely, I'm not hugely fussed as to how it looks when unplaited so long as it isn't in the way. I will use scissors at the top of the tail too shoot me now!!!

 

[zefragile]

But isn't everything being straight and neat, just being tidy? I don't see what is OCD about that!

I totally agree

 

[Serenity087]

But isn't everything being straight and neat, just being tidy? I don't see what is OCD about that!

EVERYTHING has to be straight...

Before I start an exam, the paper, my answer sheet, pens, pencil, table number and ID card have to be positioned exactly.

On my desk at home, everything must be on straight angles, nothing to one side.

I can spend an age adjusting a quilt or blanket until it's perfectly level.

It's not just being neat and tidy - I will adjust until things are PERFECTLY straight.

The give away that it's obsessional behaviour rather than being neat is that I get aggitated when things aren't left straight or if I can't adjust them.

However, I don't have OCD. Hence the inverted commas.

 

[RuthnMeg]

I don't think iam obsessed but I do like;
* natural whiskers, I can't bare to trim them.
* water buckets have to have handles away
* double and treble check stable bolts / gate catches - I even tie a rope round our gate too.
* clean trailer after every use, this involves weeping and washing
* love neck straps, feels naked without something round the horses neck!
* Meg MUST have a polo when catching, after work, after turnout and just for the sake of it!!

Sure there is more, but that will do for now.

 

[TheCurlyPony]

Oo tack must match. Ie. The colour. My tack is brown. Ive even had tack made so the colour matches. I have to pooh pick at least twice a day too. Sado springs to mind.

 

[china]

any stray hairs get snipped off.
i should be more strict about how clean my tack is because its very expensive tack.
everything in my tack room has a place.
i have to wash out my feedbucket everytime after its used.
i always rinse my bit of after every use. dont like the thought of him having a skanky bit in his mouth.
he is groomed everyday wether he is being ridden or not.
he is rugged all year round. 2nite hel have his light weight sheet on as were forcast rain and he shivers.
my beds have to be immaculate
and my mega pet hate is when haynets are put back in the tub with haylage still left in them that just goes mouldy!
when ever i make a haynet i dont like any haylage straying out through the holes coz i think its looks messy.

 

[tabithakat64]

I'm obsessive about the following:
being prepared for every eventuality
wearing hi-viz
washing off sweaty horses after exercise
warming my horse up properly and also cooling down
cleaning the bit after every ride
worming
farrier visits
picking up poo out of the school
tidying up and putting things away properly.

 

[wonkey_donkey]

I'm obsessive about turnout and all mine go out whatever the weather as I cannot stand to see horses cooped up in stables.

I hate seeing layer's of tight, restricting sheets & rugs on horses so I'm obsessed with stripping off my horses rugs as soon as I can after the bad weather !

I'm obsessed with top quality forage so constantly sniff and shake all my hay & haylage !!

 

[LeneHorse]

I have thought of another one ( this thread deserves to stay on the front page for a while!)

When turning my horse out I always give her the same instructions ' don't get kicked or injured, don't loose any shoes, don't get various ailments... (there is a long list of these!'
I have to reel all this off every night.
Oh and she always has to have a carrot when she goes out.

 

[SonnysHumanSlave]

I think i can honestly say i am obsessive about nothing.

I do poo pik every day, but only because i know if i leave it they'll be twice as much the next day, and i'll have to walk up the field twice!!

 

[mahorse]

I have been known to drive home after doing horses, but turn round after 3 miles to go back to yard to check all stable bolts and kick over latches are done properly !

 

[TicTac]

I'm obsessive about everything, I must be to still keep horses after 40 years!

I must be clean
Horse must be clean with clean tack and numnah everytime I ride,
Under rug washed every week
fly rugs washed every 3 or 4 days max
poo pick twice a day
All horse equipment that goes in the back of my car must be hairless before it goes in there and is then put on a special towel should there be any stray hairs lurking.
All regular appointments booked well in advance.
And lastly but not least, in winter my horses get clean turnout rugs on a regular basis. I hate the thought of them being in the same grubby rug for 7 or 8 months!!

 

[Halfstep]

Under rug washed every week
fly rugs washed every 3 or 4 days max

You don't! Really?!!!??!! Blimey. I assume you must have an industrial washing machine? My rugs get washed twice a year max

 

[alcraw]

Oh my god.... have just got back from seeing my mud-covered, shaggy-maned, un-rugged pony and am wondering if she would be any happier or healthier if I cleaned her tack every day, or trimmed her tail twice a week...

I was going to put that I've been a bit obsessive about fly spray, applying twice a day religiously in the hot weather. That seems a bit tame now though, having read the other replies!!

 

[Sparkles]

Obsessive? Me? With these lot?

Nope.....not much