Young girl mistreating pony at show... WWYD?

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RIDMagic

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I just wanted to get people's thoughts on this. Went to a show at weekend and witnessed a young girl of maybe 8 or 10, clearly a bit of a brat from the way she was behaving. Jumps on her pony (maybe 12 hands at a push), and within a few minutes she is cracking the poor thing with a schooling whip, sets off across the field to 'warm up' her pony, along with her obviously horsey mother. She was booting the pony in the ribs, hitting with the whip, yanking and pulling like mad on the reins when he so much as took a step forwards so the pony was being continuously ragged with the bit... it was actually distressing to witness. Mother was with her the whole time and didn't feel the need to stop this behaviour. I looked around and everyone else seemed to be turning a blind eye. I was on the verge of speaking to the judge in the hope that they would exclude her from the show... but instead I walked away and spent the rest of the day feeling awful for this poor pony that is stuck with such a horrible spoiled git for an owner. The kid was basically in a bad mood and taking it out on her pony.

I don't know why I walked away, and in hindsight I really wish I had said something. If I saw someone treating their dog this way, I would definitely have something to say as would most people, so I'm not sure why it's different in equestrianism. It seems that every show or livery yard I have been to, I've witnessed some kind of nasty or even abusive behaviour and yet there are no consequences. So what would you do if you had been in my shoes? Would you have reported her to a steward/judge? Or spoken to the child/parent directly? Or just let it go? If it's reported to a judge, are they obligated to do anything about it? I'm not a confrontational person but I am not sure how to deal with this should it happen again. It's weighing on my conscience that I just walked away!
 
I wouldn't have said anything to the child - it's a kid. But I would have spoken to the mother or taken down the competitor number and had a word with the show secretary.
 
The secretary or steward would be the person to tell and it will be up to them to decide if they want to send them home, it is not going to be well received if you try a direct approach and you have no authority to deal with another competitor far better to leave it to someone who does have the power to do so, it is not something the judge should be told about as they are there to judge the class nothing else, although a good judge may have seen it if they were near the ring at the time or behaved the same way in the class.
 
I've suggested children deal with their horses differently
when I've seen this. They've always come to their senses and realised they were out of line. I suppose some would say I'm out of line, for interfering but I'm not bothered.

Kids only do what they know or what they've seen those supposedly older and wiser doing so there's no harm in telling them another way. Especially if the adults in their lives won't.

Although I've never been in a situation where a child has mistreated an animal with a parent present. When the parent doesn't tell the child not to do it then they're condoning it so the child knows no better. People generally don't mean to behave badly towards animals, they tend not to realise they are.
 
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Thanks to everyone for your replies. So if it happens again I will definitely speak to the show secretary and I guess it's up to them if they want to deal with it. Personally I think anybody seen mistreating their horse should be refused entry to any classes otherwise where are the consequences? Although it's very sad that anybody like that would own a horse in the first place - if they treat them badly at a show where everyone can see, goodness knows what they are doing at home :(
 
'm chair of a riding club, and deal with any welfare issues that arise. I have told people that they will be asked to leave the ring, or even the ground, if they continue with abusive behaviour. Fortunately, we don't see it very often.
 
I complained to our local show / riding club about the standard of riding I witnessed during a show jumping competition. Basically kids just ragging ponies over fences to beat each other on time, with no concern for the animals’ welfare, placing them correctly at fences, ensuring correct striding etc. It was testament to the honesty of some of these horses that they jumped at all! It seems I wasn’t the only one to complain as riding standards seem to be improving, whether through more sympathetic course design or riding standards enforced by stewards.
I would always encourage anyone witnessing mistreatment of any animal to report it.
 
Our local SJ venue warns then bans kids for riding as you describe. Effective enforcement is the only thing that will help change behaviour. Speaking to the mother/parent won't get you anything except a mouthful of abuse. You need to report it and hope appropriate action is taken.
 
be positive said:
The secretary or steward would be the person to tell and it will be up to them to decide if they want to send them home, it is not going to be well received if you try a direct approach and you have no authority to deal with another competitor far better to leave it to someone who does have the power to do so, it is not something the judge should be told about as they are there to judge the class nothing else, although a good judge may have seen it if they were near the ring at the time or behaved the same way in the class.
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This. My daughter and her pony went in for a family pony class a long time ago. The show ground was next to a quiet lane although the lane was hidden from view by a high hedge, but whilst she was waiting around a tractor and trailer went past and her pony was taken by surprise and was startled by it. Nothing major, daughter was only 10 and she didn't fall off or anything. When she went in to the class, her pony behaved impeccably, but judge didn't place her due to the incident. I let it go, but boy was I cross! I defy any pony not to have reacted and I did feel it should not have had a bearing on her performance in the ring. Never did like him :D
 
I would have reported to show secretary/judge.
There was a young girl in my local pony club that was a spoilt brat and encouraged by her equally nasty mother. She had a lovely pony from the riding school I worked at, he was a sweet little thing to handle and no problem to ride. She was once jumping at a show and the pony refused; it was her fault. She dismounted mid round and proceeded to smack the poor pony so hard with her whip, including in his face. Thankfully everyone saw and the judge dragged her out of the ring. She was banned from the pony club after that, including all shows and training events.

Thankfully her lovely pony was sold not long after to a lovely family who treasured him :)
 
Rosiejazzandpia said:
I would have reported to show secretary/judge.
There was a young girl in my local pony club that was a spoilt brat and encouraged by her equally nasty mother. She had a lovely pony from the riding school I worked at, he was a sweet little thing to handle and no problem to ride. She was once jumping at a show and the pony refused; it was her fault. She dismounted mid round and proceeded to smack the poor pony so hard with her whip, including in his face. Thankfully everyone saw and the judge dragged her out of the ring. She was banned from the pony club after that, including all shows and training events.

Thankfully her lovely pony was sold not long after to a lovely family who treasured him :)
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Omg that is awful. Some kids can get so caught up with winning they forget they are on an animal that has feelings.
The worst I have seen was at a championships where this pony had done a lovely round up until it had to turn towards the last two fences which were heading away from the collecting ring and the pony refused and started napping, the girl was swearing and whipping the pony so hard it's skin had got localized swelling from how hard she hit the poor pony. Once she came out her mother did have such an argument with her about how she acted. It was a two day competition and she was not seen on the second day so I guess the judges eliminated her for that behavior.
 
ShowJumperL95 said:
Omg that is awful. Some kids can get so caught up with winning they forget they are on an animal that has feelings.
The worst I have seen was at a championships where this pony had done a lovely round up until it had to turn towards the last two fences which were heading away from the collecting ring and the pony refused and started napping, the girl was swearing and whipping the pony so hard it's skin had got localized swelling from how hard she hit the poor pony. Once she came out her mother did have such an argument with her about how she acted. It was a two day competition and she was not seen on the second day so I guess the judges eliminated her for that behavior.
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Or the mother took the pony home, I know I would!!
 
I was at an evening clear round competition and this frankly very overweight girl's horse plowed through an oxer. She repeatedly whipped the horse as hard as she could and even took her feet out of the stirrups so she could jab it with her spurs in as many places as she could reach. Nothing was done or said and I have always regretted my own passivity and fear of confrontation.
 
I used to be afraid of confrontations but now (perhaps because I do a job where I can encounter quite unpleasant people) I won’t stand by. I probably would have approached the mother as well as definitely the stewards. But I don’t get loud and shouty, I’m pretty good at being measured in what I say and how I say it, so people don’t often bite back.
 
I would have reported it to the show straight away and if they didn't immediately say something (ie. tell them to immediately stop riding it so badly) then I'd have loudly spoken to the mother. I wouldnt approach the kid, thats dangerous territory and at 8 or 10, unfortunately they've clearly been taught to ride like this. Whats terrifying is what they do at home with it :(

Ive only had to step in once with a kid - I was XC fence judging, the kid got chucked off at our fence (clearly for the second time looking at the state of her), she got on to walk back and started laying into her horse with the whip while yanking it in the mouth. I got out straight away and told her to stop but the nearby medic was so horrified he ran over, grabbed the horse screamed at her to get off and walk home on her own, and he'd take the horse back to her mother to have a serious word with her. Was pretty nicely done and very effective!
 
I’ve told off an older teenager for laying into their horse after it had done poor round at an eventers challenge but I would do it in a measured way like “Why are you being so unkind to your pony?” Not sure why you shouldn’t intervene if you see something? By the time you’ve reported it to the show secretary who is usually miles away somewhere in a tent it’s too late and it’s surely your word against theirs anyway? Do secretaries really do anything?
 
Some of these stories are awful, those poor horses and ponies :( I feel so sad that people treat their animals like this. If I witness anything like this again at a show I will definitely report it to the show secretary - although as Sussexbythesea has pointed out, this may be miles too late and the moment will have passed. But I guess it's better than nothing, and me having a confrontation with the owner/parent would be unlikely to make any real difference apart from maybe embarrassing them enough to think twice about doing it again. Unfortunately nothing to stop them doing it at home though!
 
Flicker said:
I complained to our local show / riding club about the standard of riding I witnessed during a show jumping competition. Basically kids just ragging ponies over fences to beat each other on time, with no concern for the animals’ welfare, placing them correctly at fences, ensuring correct striding etc. It was testament to the honesty of some of these horses that they jumped at all! It seems I wasn’t the only one to complain as riding standards seem to be improving, whether through more sympathetic course design or riding standards enforced by stewards.
I would always encourage anyone witnessing mistreatment of any animal to report it.
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I was at a show one time and was never so glad to hear over the tannoy “will competitor “name” please leave the ring. You have been disqualified for three refusals and your pony is lame so stop trying to beat it over to end on a good note” or words to that effect, there was a whole conversation between tannoy and the child’s mother who had went in the ring to try and chase said pony over the jump.

If my instructors child ever was getting too big for her boots (just over confidence and showing off) she was dragged off the pony by her parents and banned from riding for a week. Turned into a great little competitive rider.
 
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When I was a kid I went to a show on my pony, I was very novice and very new to ponies. I was trying to jump a jump, my pony kept refusing, I hit him with my crop because I thought that is what you did. After about the fourth time it occurred to my child mind that it was not working so instead I gave him a pat and of course he flew the jump. This is because he was lacking confidence not being naughty. A young woman walked over to me and put her hand on my leg and spoke softly to me saying " see how much better your pony goes when you treat him kindly, rather then hit him" She was kind and pleasant and her words stayed with me. Sometimes it does pay to speak tp young people but I fully understand that times have changed and kids can be very rude and parents even worst.
 
I think its best to speak up in these situation, in a calm and composed way. I have done it a few times at shows and also spoke to a man once who was hitting his dog for barking outside the collecting ring. People are usually quite shocked that a stranger has challenged them because it happens so rarely. If more of us stood up and embarrassed riders who are being unkind, or worse cruel to their horses it might make them think twice. One of the reasons they carry on doing it because they get away with it. I don't blame you OP for walking away because it takes time to consider what you might say and whether its the right thing to do. But if it happens again I would just walk over and say 'is everything alright, you seem to be struggling to do whatever it is, perhaps you could ask for some help rather than keep whipping/kicking your pony which doesn't seem to be helping'.

I was stewarding at a showing class and one young girl was periodically slapping her pony in the face with the end of her reins, she was obviously bored waiting for the judge to move along the line and this was how she kept herself amused. I walked over to her and asked her to stop doing it, she was so shocked that I had said something that she barely looked up for the rest of the class. Like another poster said, I don't think some people think about what they are doing until its pointed out to them.
 
WandaMare said:
I think its best to speak up in these situation, in a calm and composed way. I have done it a few times at shows and also spoke to a man once who was hitting his dog for barking outside the collecting ring. People are usually quite shocked that a stranger has challenged them because it happens so rarely. If more of us stood up and embarrassed riders who are being unkind, or worse cruel to their horses it might make them think twice. One of the reasons they carry on doing it because they get away with it. I don't blame you OP for walking away because it takes time to consider what you might say and whether its the right thing to do. But if it happens again I would just walk over and say 'is everything alright, you seem to be struggling to do whatever it is, perhaps you could ask for some help rather than keep whipping/kicking your pony which doesn't seem to be helping'.

I was stewarding at a showing class and one young girl was periodically slapping her pony in the face with the end of her reins, she was obviously bored waiting for the judge to move along the line and this was how she kept herself amused. I walked over to her and asked her to stop doing it, she was so shocked that I had said something that she barely looked up for the rest of the class. Like another poster said, I don't think some people think about what they are doing until its pointed out to them.
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I didn't think anyone hit dogs anymore:eek:
I didn't think that was considered acceptable for a long time now ( as in someone wouldn't do it in public)
 
Yeah I see this all the time - usually after a loss, it's an absolute shame and I'm glad there's been action taken now (from what I've read).
But I have to agree banning from Pony Club events, may exacerbate the problem!
 
I have, when judging Pony Club dressage, eliminated children for swearing at their ponies and jabbing them in the mouth. I have also dealt with the purple-faced parents afterwards, but I'm not easily frightened.
 
Cortez said:
I have, when judging Pony Club dressage, eliminated children for swearing at their ponies and jabbing them in the mouth. I have also dealt with the purple-faced parents afterwards, but I'm not easily frightened.
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Some of theses parents take the whole horse riding thing so seriously. I volunteered at a hunter trial last year. A boy's pony refused a jump in the warm up arena and the father said to his son that if the boy didn't get the pony over the jump he'd sell it:eek3:
I thought it was supposed to be a hobby:rolleyes4:
 
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