What is everyone's problem with teenage horse owners?

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Over the years of owning horses i have seen so many adults pick on teenagers and constantly nagging at them as though they know nothing about horses and they are doing every thing wrong! I have caught a few people behave the same way towards my 13 year old daughter who is very knowledgable about horses although no one seems to give her credit for it.

So.... what is it that makes people think teenagers have no clue about looking after horses when in fact they are more than often more knowldgable than many of us 'oldies':rolleyes:
 
I'm afraid the most experience a 13 yr old can possibly have is 13 yrs. A great many adult have lot more than that.
I have personal knowledge of a family of novices where the eldest daughter was the first to take up riding as a young teenager. Unfortunately the mother who now also rides (and the family now owns 4 horses/ponies) believes that this daughter knows everything any-one can possibly know about horses. In fact daughter knows very little, in spite of now having completed 'degree' in some horse-related subject and demonstrtes her lack of knowledge regularly. Her attitude also leaves a great deal to be desired. Next time I need help with my horses I shall ask either my 70 yr old friend who was 'hunting in the womb' or the friend in her 40s who has worked with horses, in preference to teenager with limited experience, no matter how much her mother thinks she knows.
 
I will never know but i totally know what you mean! Its one thing that really annoys me in the horsey world. There's no reason why people dont at least listen to what a teen has to say rather than just ignoing them as 'they're always wrong' some do actually know a lot and no not everything but who does know everything....
 
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Baffling isn't it!!! I got sick of being spoken down to on a yard. No ones rude/patronising to the kids or to the newbie adults - so why be that way to teenagers!?

Says more about the people doing the looking down.
 
Whilst many teenagers can be quite knowledgeable. If mine was anything to go by, the further into her teens she got the more 'common sense' deserted her. At 12 she was very sensible, at 15 she could be a bit of a twonck. Now she is 21 she is getting back on an even keel.

However, I wouldn't advocate anyone picking on anyone else, whatever their age
 
I had the same problem a few years ago, I understand that we many not be as experienced but there is no reason to automatically assume that we are dangerous around the horses and have no idea.

I moved yards a few years ago because of it as I was constantly told I was wrong and looked down upon, but my new yard is lovely. I don't have any more problems but whether that is because im now older or its a different yard I dont know.

TBH i think one of the main problems is that there are teenagers around who give us a bad name, who are rude/dangerous and inexperienced, but thats not always the case. I have always wanted to learn more/why etc and have always taken advice on board but still got treated the same when they didnt even know me.
 
I have met just as many appalling adults as appalling teens. The same goes the other way. I know some fantastic riders who are very sensible and willing to learn. Some of these unfortunately get tarnished with the teenage brush and get blamed for little careless things which werent done by them, nagged and talked to like children.

A lot of it comes with being on the same yard since a kid, and people forget they've grown up.

If you wouldn't talk to an adult in the same way, don't open your mouth.
 
Ditto the "we're just jealous" comment.
I don't have any issues with teenagers. The yard i'm on is 50/50 adults and kids, I do wish it was a bit quieter sometimes, and the gossip between the younger element is like nothing I've ever witnessed before, I didn't know news could ever spread so quickly😳😳😳
On the whole they're pretty good, and we all had to start somewhere😄
 
Some teenagers can be a bit snotty and know it all to be honest, but it very much depends on the person and their upbringing - how much other people have told them they are right. You can say a 13 year old has 13 years experience but that is not that same as 13 years experience as an adult. I'm not sure how much I can respect the opinion of a child who has only just learnt to tell the time, so it is probably more like 3 years, and you won't have had actual legal/financial etc responsibility in that time!

I respect teenage riders for a lot of things, they are brave, bold, ambitious and often knowledgeable too, but I wouldn't let one tell me what to do without researching for myself. That said, I don't go round telling teenagers what to do either, if they do something wrong it is most likely because whatever adult they learnt from told them wrong, or because they didn't quite understand. Nowt wrong with that but if its important they need to learn.

I have a very sensible teenage riding buddy, but have also encountered plenty that take over the school, rag their ponies around over jumps every chance they get, are bitchy and influenced only by each other!
 
Amazingly enough I know a lot LESS now at 21 than I did at 15 which in itself speaks volumes!!!!

Teenagers think they are invincible, indisputable and incontestable.

This in itself is why they should be given the ego boost of being lapped around just because they show some knowledge.

Nobody knows everything about horses, indeed many older generations may be less concerned of the finite details of boots/leatherwork/supplements... but that is not necessarily a bad thing lol!!!

Maturity is shown when you admit to not being a oracle of horsemanship but watch, ask and adsorb infinitely from those around you...

oh and make lots of mistakes!!! then learn from them.
 
^^ Fully agree. No-one ever knows everything, even though a lot think they do ! I'm still getting unwanted advice at 43 (think I've put a stop to it now :rolleyes:) and I was a bloomin RSPCA Inspector !! Maybe that's why I got unwanted tips, to put me down - but not any more, since I lost my rag over it.

The trouble is, the people that want to give you this advice don't often realise they don't know what they are talking about. If I don't know something, and tbh, I don't know that much, I research on the net and in books. I am pretty sure teenagers would use the net too.

NO-ONE knows everything, not even close to, and giving unwanted advice is, to be frank, very rude. Unless there is a welfare situation.
 
I'll listen to and criticise anyone regardless of age, colour, creed or sexual persuasion!

I see most of the posts seem to be oldies bigging up their own knowledge - I feel they're mostly right - but of course if you've learnt something wrong the mere fact that you've carried on doing it for years doesn't make it any better!

The only thing I'd criticise teenagers for more than most other ages is the fact that they are the ones most likely to swan off around the yard or be messing about in the tackroom while their poor horse is left tied somewhere full tacked up. That and dubious music choices, hahaha!
 
Well I am 18 turning 19 shortly, and since being a horse owner have kept him on a private yard with one other person (who happens to be lovely and extremely helpful when I ask questions or for advice).

I haven't had that much contact with many people though in the equine 'world' since my recent ownership other than arranging vet appointments. Which I don't really enjoy as the bloddy receptionist ALWAYS adopts quite a patronising tone (and even questioned my age when I registered). I have a fairly 'young' sounding voice, but I do find it pretty annoying being spoken to like I am five.

My vet on the other hand is perfectly lovely. As is my physio.

As it is my first pony, I am always keen to learn more-- I want to give my pony the best I can, his health and well being is paramount.
 
I am 15 and feel like I am being patronised with every decision I make regarding my horse. The yard I am on are mainly people who enjoy hacking and gentle schooling. I got a new horse who has a BE record and who I intend to event which caused quite a stirr. Whenever I lunge him or pull his mane I get looks as if I am sprouting vegetables out of my head. I save up for months with babysitting money to buy rugs and other bits and bobs I need but I just get comments as if they think I am a spoilt brat. I don't "advise" others so I don't need some middle aged grumpy woman to butt in and tell me what to do. I know some teens can be obnoxious but it works two ways.
 
bgb, that is pure green eyed monster stuff. I know how hard it is to ignore it, as they have a knack of making you question yourself, but stuff em - they are jealous !
 
We've got some very knowledgeable teens on our yard who have a fantastic work ethic. One has taken a TB straight off the track and turned him into a really nice little dressage horse, and I wouldn't hesitate to ask any of them for help and advice. Teenagers are no more likely to be idiots than other age groups, I find, they just have a lot of pressure on them sometimes.
 
I tend to take them as I find them, like on here. There are some teens who are sensible, some who know what they're talking about, others who haven't got a clue but want to learn and yet others who I cannot understand how they ever managed to get as far as their teens. When it comes to the oldies on here it's just the same with some sensible, some knowledgeable, some new to the game and eager for knowledge and some you'd never believe were adults:(
 
Dee O'Dorant said:
I tend to take them as I find them, like on here. There are some teens who are sensible, some who know what they're talking about, others who haven't got a clue but want to learn and yet others who I cannot understand how they ever managed to get as far as their teens. When it comes to the oldies on here it's just the same with some sensible, some knowledgeable, some new to the game and eager for knowledge and some you'd never believe were adults:(
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Agreed.

Also its not the number of years experience that's important but WHAT experience you have.

I'd be more inclined to listen to a teenager that has had 3 years experience, but on yards, ie like my last riding school - none were plods, 50+ horses to care for, and the experience was well rounded - as opposed to an adult that's got 20 years experience - but with 2 horses of their own - but with calm, quiet horses.

Listen to everyone and discard the opinions that don't ring true.
 
Well when I was working on a livery yard/ riding school/ stud farm I wasn't even allowed to make a feed, despite owning my own horse and loaning several before that, the horse world is bonkers
 
perhaps some of us can still remember the daft things we did as teens because we thought we knew it all and were invincible;) if i caught my daughter doing some of the things i did at 14 I'd slap her legs:eek:
 
"What on earth were you allowed to do then?"

Lead horses down road to fields, brush and tack up school horses, fill up water buckets, I once was told when telling owner that ponies had lice that they didn't have lice at all because there microscopic. ??????!!!!
Needless to say I shortly left.
 
On the occasions I've witnessed teens being treated unfairly by adults, then 9/10 its been a lovely, competent teen, & a very inexperienced adult/s, who are either jealous, or under the illusion that being older means their relatively brief experience counts as more. Some teens can be a pita, however I just take people as I find them, regardless of age.
 
I don't judge people on their age. I am only young myself, but I think there are quite a lot of knowledgeable teens. I prefer the ones who also listen and take in advice than those who obnoxiously dish it out where it is not needed. Plus there are far less knowledgeable people who have had horses 30+ years and have no clue what they are on about and what to do in certain situations as they don't take it upon themselves to learn and educate themselves before they have to. It can work both ways of course, you can have a teen with a pony that knows nothing or a older person who is very experienced and has had every type of horse and situation under then sun. Everyone is different.
 
bgb said:
I am 15 and feel like I am being patronised with every decision I make regarding my horse. The yard I am on are mainly people who enjoy hacking and gentle schooling. I got a new horse who has a BE record and who I intend to event which caused quite a stirr. Whenever I lunge him or pull his mane I get looks as if I am sprouting vegetables out of my head. I save up for months with babysitting money to buy rugs and other bits and bobs I need but I just get comments as if they think I am a spoilt brat. I don't "advise" others so I don't need some middle aged grumpy woman to butt in and tell me what to do. I know some teens can be obnoxious but it works two ways.
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Thank them profusely for their advice, then say you're struggling with the horse jumping when the fences get over 1m, and could they get on and show you what you need to do, watch them back track and fade into the woodwork!

I agree with the previous poster, its jealously.

I think some teens are dreadful, others are wonderful (same as adults, even experienced ones!). We have a teen that does the yard for us on Sundays who is very concientious and sensible. She spots things, listens and learns. The previous teen was the same. A bit like I was at their age, soaking up everything I could learn. I would trust them with my horses without question. Most of the older kids at PC are fantastic too. There are two other teens up the road that gallop everywhere (saying they can't stop when you tell them off!) and treat their horses like dirt. I think I drive them mad as I do pull them up about things all the time!

I don't think years of experience is always wonderful, some with less experience have a lot more common sense!
 
i have been in livery with my horse(s) since i was 10 - now 17! in every place i have always been the youngest and treated as such. i understand i have to learn!!! i want to learn, that is why i ask questions and ask for advise.

but i have never asked for patronising comments on the way i make a bed, the way i sweep the floor or the way i tidy up my 'space'.......i feel these are un-nessessary and not needed to help me learn! but the thing is these comments are often passed by staff employed by the yard, who infact have nothing to do with me!

these staff would never dream of speaking to my mum like they do to me (shed give them a right old bo**ocking :) ) but they are all far younger than her...but she cant even tie a haynet up! instead due to my age they feel that i cant do anything right or the 'way they want', so often complain to me directly over my sweeping, or leading, or washing out of a food bowl!!!

obviously i would never say anything back - it would be to rude, but on many occassion i have been right on many issues e.g. tendon injury 'i think my horse is lame'.... while ym just kept saying 'oh you dont want to ride, keep it going'...

so yes, we all need to learn, but we should also be listened to as sometimes we make valid points!

edit!!! i would like to say im not a complete idiot! ive ridden to medium level, so must know something....i hope! :S
 
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