Noodlethetrotter
Member
Matchy matchy is a trend I will never understand
Your cancellable takes...
- Thread starter duncollector
- Start date
ponynutz
Well-Known Member
I was still a kid when matchy matchy started so I got involved slightly and was fun especially as a lot of us had Instagram accounts specifically for our horses and it made pictures look great!
As I've got older though must agree brown, white, and black matchy is much smarter!
As I've got older though must agree brown, white, and black matchy is much smarter!
McFluff
Well-Known Member
I have loads of unpopular views/opinions - basically I’m a weird cross between fluffy bunny and grumpy bag 
For example
Tack just has to fit, the colour is not vital (and yes, I have had brown bridle/black saddle and vice versa)
Buy quality kit and look after it, and keep it for years…( I really struggle with throw-away approaches)
Flashes should be put in room 101 - along with bandages worn for fashion (appreciate some injuries need bandaging)
Why do we still have to have vaccinations done every 6 months to compete BD?
I don’t like plaiting, and I suspect that they hurt (I get a sore head from ‘up‘ hairstyles, and just can’t believe that tight plaits don’t pull and hurt)
Cutting whiskers is abhorrent
I enjoy just hanging out with my horse, and I enjoy grooming (but if time is tight, then riding is prioritised)
I give my horse treats. By hand.
As long as a horses needs are met (company, turnout, good body condition) it doesn’t matter if their ‘potential’ isn’t met - they have no competitive ambition.
I hate it when people shout around horses. They have sensitive hearing, you don’t need to yell.
I don’t like the online culture of being rude/offensive about your horse. Even in jest. We are very privileged to have horses, an£ it really doesn’t look good to non-horsey people. Sets a bad example.
For example
Tack just has to fit, the colour is not vital (and yes, I have had brown bridle/black saddle and vice versa)
Buy quality kit and look after it, and keep it for years…( I really struggle with throw-away approaches)
Flashes should be put in room 101 - along with bandages worn for fashion (appreciate some injuries need bandaging)
Why do we still have to have vaccinations done every 6 months to compete BD?
I don’t like plaiting, and I suspect that they hurt (I get a sore head from ‘up‘ hairstyles, and just can’t believe that tight plaits don’t pull and hurt)
Cutting whiskers is abhorrent
I enjoy just hanging out with my horse, and I enjoy grooming (but if time is tight, then riding is prioritised)
I give my horse treats. By hand.
As long as a horses needs are met (company, turnout, good body condition) it doesn’t matter if their ‘potential’ isn’t met - they have no competitive ambition.
I hate it when people shout around horses. They have sensitive hearing, you don’t need to yell.
I don’t like the online culture of being rude/offensive about your horse. Even in jest. We are very privileged to have horses, an£ it really doesn’t look good to non-horsey people. Sets a bad example.
SaddlePsych'D
Well-Known Member
Grey horses 
People who own grey horses
People who enjoy keeping their grey horses clean
People who complain constantly about keeping their grey horses clean
People who own grey horses
People who enjoy keeping their grey horses clean
People who complain constantly about keeping their grey horses clean
spotty_pony
...
I got blocked off there! Can’t say I am bothered! ?
Berpisc
Well-Known Member
I feed straw in certain situations.
When I was still riding I would groom the bits of the horse that mattered when time was short.
When I was still riding I would groom the bits of the horse that mattered when time was short.
Cob Life
Well-Known Member
I have one in the winter it gets to 4:30 and she wants in, if it’s particularly rainy or cold it might be lunch time, and she wants in even if there is nothing in her stable but loads of hay and all her friends outside. she might actually pack her bags and leave if we made her live out 24/7 before April!
SatansLittleHelper
Well-Known Member
Not my intention to make you feel bad, I appreciate that alot of people have zero control over their horses' turn out etc.
I do strongly feel that yards need to have less horses and put prices up if needs to be in order to accommodate all year turnout, as it is s basic need.
Perhaps I should have worded my thoughts more sensitively, apologies. It's rubbish when things are out of your hands
alibali
Well-Known Member
Grey horses
People who own grey horses
People who enjoy keeping their grey horses clean
People who complain constantly about keeping their grey horses clean
Ummmm what about people who've just got a grey horse and have no intention of keeping it clean?! (beyond basic necessities of course!)
LadyGascoyne
Well-Known Member
Mim just did five months on livery where they were in 24/7 after living her whole life as an outdoor horse.
The yard do usually turn out for a a few hours a day during winter but there were issues with the fields this year. She only went out to go on the walker, lunge or be ridden. I think I could count days with turnout on one hand.
Mim was absolutely fine, if not a bit fatter than I’d like. I don’t think she even noticed. I worried! But Mim was fine.
Then I brought her home and chucked her out 24/7. She’s also fine.
I’m sure that she’d be equally fine with being in half the day and out the rest.
I do think we over-complicate things. There are pros and cons to every set up. We just have to balance the situation as best as we can, and listen to the horse in front of us at the time.
SaddlePsych'D
Well-Known Member
Completely fine. It's not the greyness or the cleanliness, it's the complaining! ?
Shilasdair
Patting her thylacine
I'd quite like to complain about the amount of grey hair coming off my grey horse- and somehow it gets EVERYWHERE. Or perhaps it's just more visible on things than the black hair from my other one.
Elf On A Shelf
...
I am one of these people! The last time I groomed Gray he looked dirtier when I had finished than when I started! The brush dragged all the grease up to the top and he looked black ?? leave it alone and he looks white-ish! He is retired so it makes no difference as to how minging he is in reality. Though I did chop 4in off of his tail the other day as it was just on about on the floor.
teapot
Well-Known Member
Not everyone who rides at riding schools is incompetent…
I’ve met many a client with competition results some could only dream of.
I’ve met many a client with competition results some could only dream of.
SaddlePsych'D
Well-Known Member
Also acceptable. Share horse (who may or may not be a cob...) is skewbald and it's never the ginger hairs all over me, my stuff, in my mouth and up my nose. Always the grey hairs!
Wishfilly
Well-Known Member
If you want someone to ride your horse and improve it, then you need to pay for the privilege. This goes double when the horse has recently injured you. You're not doing anyone a favour by giving them "free riding" on your difficult youngster.
To add to this, plenty of riding schools also have nicely schooled horses that aren't dead to the leg/brain dead as people like to stereotype them!
To add to this, plenty of riding schools also have nicely schooled horses that aren't dead to the leg/brain dead as people like to stereotype them!
stangs
Well-Known Member
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
I’ve started hacking the pony in a Pelham with roundings, works great!
Wishfilly
Well-Known Member
Agree with this- I think "join up" when compared to some methods that were used in Western "breaking" etc historically is kinder, but not compared to the traditional, slow process that is more common in Europe which is arguably a process that takes years from beginning to end!
I think "join up" and other things that go with it can be very stressful for the horse (and even worse when people are doing it without a clear idea of what they are aiming for, or what they are trying to achieve).
Hepsibah
Well-Known Member
But that's not PROPER!
Caol Ila
Well-Known Member
Wishfilly is right -- join up is more humane than some of the other old methods used for breaking horses in the American West. But it's ultimately grounded in the pragmatism and the history of the frontier (when the West was a frontier). People needed to turn totally rank, unhandled horses into functional riding horses, quickly -- their lives and livelihoods depended on it. It was one of the least-worst ways to do it. In the late 20th century, join up was repackaged as 'natural horsemanship' and marketed as being more 'horse friendly' than pretty much everything else. Trainers incorrectly stated that you were imitating how an 'alpha' horse communicates and establishes dominance (nevermind that 'dominance' in horses isn't what we think it is, either... c.f. that other thread). You were speaking 'horse,' they said. Lots of people bought into it, including me. Then some years later, I read some of the studies that stangs cited and writings by people like Mark Rashid, and went off it, for most horses, most of the time.
I guess my unpopular opinion is that it's useful for some horses, some of the time. But if you need to do it, do it once, and when you get the join-up, never do it again. Horses who already want to be with you get very confused when they are sent away.
Still, the groundwork stuff and the emphasis on pressure-release that comes with it is still very useful. Sometimes, it can fry a horse if not used carefully. You can totally tell that my Highland has been OD'd on NH stuff, because anytime you introduce a new concept to his groundwork, i.e. sidepassing in hand, he resorts to turning in frantic NH-style circles around you, like he's afraid someone will shank him with the lead rope if he gives the wrong answer. Not ideal. But used judiciously and sensibly, with skillful timing, it teaches excellent ground manners.
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Wishfilly
Well-Known Member
Yes, in the historical context of dealing with e.g. Mustangs which are feral/wild and making them into riding horses it makes sense. Transported into a European context where most horses have a lot of positive contact with people, and handling/backing is a much slower process arguably done over the course of years, it doesn't necessarily make a lot of sense.
I do agree it can be useful in some contexts- but I think it needs to be done by someone with experience and a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve, and with the knowledge that it can be a negative/stressful experience for the horse. I don't think it's fair (?) to regularly use it on a well handled, ridden horse with no issues with the aim of improving your bond, or something- and then criticise other people's training as "cruel".
Caol Ila
Well-Known Member
I agree. I think it went a bit wrong and got overused when it was sold to people as a way to improve their "bond" with their horse. That's not what it's for. I used it for about two minutes on Foinavon once, last summer, when he got tricky to catch. I hiked into the field and did the join-up dance, but kept the energy low, as I didn't want him galloping away in a field or the whole herd getting razzed up. Two minutes later, I had him. These days, he comes to call for me and OH and other liveries, but still won't let the staff catch him.
I suppose my skills at using it for hard-to-catch horses in a field came from learning how to do it in a round-pen. Like a lot of horses, Gypsum did not need it (sorry, Gypsum) but she taught me the timing and observation needed to do it well.
Miss_Millie
Well-Known Member
Most 'funny' horse videos on social media of horses repeatedly bucking, rearing and spooking, with silly music played over the top, are not funny at all and are horses exhibiting pain from poorly fitting saddles, possible underlying health issues etc...