Your Standards........for fun only!!!!

Sukistokes2

Sukistokes2

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Was sitting at home thinking( dangerous I know....sorry) about the things I accept and things I will not tolerate. For example there was a thread on here about treats, one of many and people got really het up about other people feeding treats and they found it a real no-no! Treats really don't bother me, my horses are well mannered, so even other people giving them a carrot really does not worry me. I am often stopped by a little girl in the village,who has special needs. She loves patting my horse and giving him a carrot. He is so gentle with her. However my real bug bear is horses standing tied !!!!! I expect my horses to stand tied up while I get them ready, I expect them to do so without fuss and without a haynet. I also expect them to stand tied up at shows, although at shows I do give a net because of the time periods often involved and distractions. Both my horses stand tied with no issues and with no fuss. ( and no I do not leave them on their own at shows) . However people I know just expect that their horse does not tie up and excepts it. Another person I know never ties up any horse at a show as they think it's dangerous.

So what are your two bug bears........what do you not worry about, which might get others hot under the collar and what do you insist upon?

Remember this is for fun because in the end it is up to the individual involved....:)
 
I hate horses rubbing their heads on me, it's incredibly rude and an invasion of space. Know loads of people who let their horses do it though, the minute they're out of the saddle the horse is rubbing all over them! If I ride said horses, I don't let them do it, so the owners pootle over and let them do it on them instead. Drives me mad.
 
I dont like horses tied to trailers/lorries at shows
Jumping wirhout front boots
No stoppers on reins with a running
Riding in jod boots without chaps
Bits fitted too high/too low and also nosebands / grackles fitted badly!

Im grumpy basically!!
 
ok Suki, mine our as follows, Mr P as you know is very naughty, everything within his reach is his and he unties himself all the time, but then just stands there so i am not bothered, he drives my fuss ass friend nuts, she thinks he is the most ill mannered beast alive whereas we think he is funny, her horse bolts on her, Mr P is lovely to ride so he can be a bit naughty if he wants as far as i am concerned.
i do however insist that both horses stand still when i mount, which they do! xxx
 
Copperpot said:
Biting and horses that can't be caught. I used to look after a friends horse and he did both of these. Use to drive me up the wall!!
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oh god, yes, these 2. And a horse that barges into you. Basically I like horses that are easy and pleasant to be around, and it's fairly simple to overcome these few things. Makes life so much nicer.
 
I'm another that expects them to tie quietly alongside each other or alone. I aspire towards not needing to tie them at all, and being able to 'park' them without actually tying, as and when required. They're not all 100% with this yet... but if one wanders off, they're returned and tied, until they 'get it' that it's a limited privilege.

I have a quirky little ask of my ponies, which is probably unusual. When I lead them out of a gate, I throw the rope over their wither and 'park' them for a few moments, whilst I do the gate. They've all got used to this, and will usually take a moment to grab a bite of grass until I pick up the rope again. Soooo much easier and much less wear on the gate area than turning them to do the gate, which they would do, no problem.

The 'park' command is used on other occasions. Friends were amused to see me bring a little stallion to the middle of the area of paddock we use as a school and have him stand perfectly for an hour with his reins around the stirrups whilst others continued their work around him. I also expect them to stand stock still without rider if I have to dismount and tend to a child for whatever reason... even (especially!) on a busy road. Obviously I wouldn't rely on this 100%, but I EXPECT it.
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
I hate horses rubbing their heads on me, it's incredibly rude and an invasion of space. Know loads of people who let their horses do it though, the minute they're out of the saddle the horse is rubbing all over them! If I ride said horses, I don't let them do it, so the owners pootle over and let them do it on them instead. Drives me mad.
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I love it when horses do that - provided they aren't so keen they start pushing you over. I wouldn't want a horse that did it all the time though, they do need to show some restraint.

Actually my favourite horse of the moment is both a head rubber and refuses to be tied up. The latter issue is far more annoying for me. Horses that are always diving at anything vaguely edible annoy me more though.

So far as human behaviour towards horses is concerned, I think the thing that annoys me most is people blaming their horses for things that are the human's error.
 
Horses that HAVE to be tied up. I expect to be able to go into any horses stable, groom incl. picking out feet, tack up/un tack and move / change rugs without having to tie up. I don't expect them to stand motionless but they should stay in pretty much the same spot for all of this.
Horses that are rude to have their feet done - whether picking out or shoeing. Mine stands loose, and picks up her feet for you in turn all done correctly from the near side, can't stand it if they snatch or ignore you and won't lift or lean on you - I am not a tripod and neither is the farrier!
 
It is funny how we all have different levels of tolerance for different things!

Things that I conciously train for:
Leading nicely
Tieing up
Not walking out of the stable without being asked
Standing still in stable untied while I fiddle/rug/groom/pick out feet

The one thing I'm very naughty about is standing rock still to mount, I actually rarely correct a horse that moves forwards (within reason). The only time I would train that is if I knew they were due to be sold.

I'm not to bothered about them asking for a light head rub after being ridden, provided I'm given chance to use my hand and not sent flying!

Any sign of nipping / lifting a leg is a complete no no and will result in a wallop.

I feed treats from the hand pretty frequently, but only if they are polite about it.

I have little tolerance for horses that won't be caught or won't load. Thankfully mine generally come to call and drag me up the ramp!

Oh, and neurotic ones that can't be left alone for short periods without having a nervous breakdown!
 
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milliepops said:
oh god, yes, these 2. And a horse that barges into you. Basically I like horses that are easy and pleasant to be around, and it's fairly simple to overcome these few things. Makes life so much nicer.
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He was awful. Used to grab my pony tail and pull me over. He was 17.2. One day he bit my back so hard, I lost the plot and whacked him with a tub trug I had. He turned round and tried to double barrel me. Only time I thought to myself, if I had a gun in my hand I would happily shoot you lol.
 
I cant stand horses under 4 yr old being ridden its ok to sit on a 3 yr old to back it and walk up and down the yard for 5 mins but no more. even a 4 it should be taking things easy 5 for starting proper work and competition. So you can see I detest the racing industry and the dressage industry for starting horses too young and doing too much with them. My other bugbear is people too heavy riding horses and ponies and being in denial saying they have a good seat and ride lightly ok its better than banging about like a sack of spuds but its still too heavy for the-poor animal.
 
I do feed treats from the hand but expect mine to be polite about it

I can't stand being rubbed on as soon as I get off or horses that graze the second you drop the reins. Both of which my friends horse does.

The thing I'm most strict about is backing up when I enter the stable I've been flattened by the stable door too many times by a maxi cob I used to share
 
I'm with you on the head rubbing thing. It's not difficult to teach them to stop - if you push them away and insist that they stand nicely with their head up before you'll remove their bridle after a ride, they soon learn... they really, really want that sweaty bridle off their ears (that's why they're rubbing in the first place). :)
 
☻ I expect my horses to tie up and stand quietly. I don't give them haynets when they're tied up.
☻ I absolutely despise being around horses who haven't been taught to respect personal space (although my issue is more with the owners who haven't taught it). I teach all my horses that me wiggling my finger at them = back up until I say stop.
☻ I don't let any of my horses stop to eat grass when I'm leading them, unless I explicitly say to them 'OK, go ahead'. I will also stop and make them stand nicely before I say it. Like wise for leading through gates - I make them all turn around with me and stand quietly until I've done it back up. I can stand horses who pull to get to grass while I'm trying to do something.

Other than that, I'm not really fussed. I am bad about letting horses move off as soon as I get on because that doesn't bother me, but if I've bought a youngster to sell on then I am strict with it.
 
ours DO all tie but i never tie to lorry or trailer at shows and cross tie at home.

hate them pulling back and yanking on back/poll and esp at a show all it takes it some other pillock and you've got a loose horse.....

no head rubbing
no biting
no kicking
no barging-we can leave all 4 stable doors open and walk away to get something and NONE of them would dare poke a foot out much less vacate the stable incl the 3yo stallion.

i just expect them to mind their manners basically-we can bring any two in (again incl the stallion) tie them not 3 foot from each other,put bowls of feed down and they will eat and never raise an eyebrow at each other because WE are the boss mares and we say thats how it is!

we are naughty about treating and hand feed more than some but they are all good and not nippy(i wouldnt want anyone else just randomly deciding to do it though, my horse my rules!)

we go in and skip,hay, change rugs, wrap legs etc whilst they are eating and anything that raised a leg would get a good hiding. again im boss mare and if i want to touch you i flipping well will, you can either eat and ignore me or get a tanned arse THEN eat and ignore me! simples!
 
People who rely on gadgets ALL the time and claim to know it all (they're the ones usually pointing out your flaws to you or commenting on everyone elses riding), but can't ride without them and would struggle to understand how to work a horse into an outline.

People who think quantity of work is better than quality and will ride and ride and rideeeee,

*ahem* over rugging (fickle I know, but it just bugs me!).

When I was little my biggest hate was my request to ride my favourite pony being ignored... If only life were that simple still!


Horse wise- I hate biting and lack of respect for personal space (the type that will happily move and turn and squish you in the process, or will dive for food without waiting for you to move out the way). There was one I use to handle daily, and even though he had been brought up as many others before him, who all had great manners, this one would quite happily come back at you with teeth showing and threats to kick. I hated the b**tard but he was the most stunning horse when ridden!
 
I hate horses looking at me in a disrespectful way, or thinking I am stupid and weak. I won't abide horses laughing at me. :mad3:
 
People that own horses and ponies, that are young,healthy and ready to do something - then promptly leave them for weeks and months , even years with barely any attention - just the very occasional 5 minute flying visit. Then claim they have no time and no money to do anything with them....why bother?

And another thing......people that over feed....pah!
 
fburton said:
I hate horses looking at me in a disrespectful way, or thinking I am stupid and weak. I won't abide horses laughing at me. :mad3:
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That made me laugh, thank you! You would hate one of my ponies, I've clicker trained him to 'smile' to amuse the OH, now the darn thing won't stop laughing at me. I stand talking to people who suddenly start giggling, and the pony is laughing behind my back.
 
I'm pretty easy going but I wont tolerate horses who cant spend time on their own.

I don't understand it when people say 'they cant be separated' or livery yards with rules that say no lone horse left out. Its possibly an irrational annoyance on my part and I don't doubt there are some genuine cases out there of separation anxiety but it drives me crazy how many people and yards are bending over backwards to accommodate it rather than train against it
 
fburton said:
I hate horses looking at me in a disrespectful way, or thinking I am stupid and weak. I won't abide horses laughing at me. :mad3:
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haha! You'd hate mine then, I think she's laughing in a pitiful way at me most of the time :D Fortunately I am able to laugh at her plenty to even up the balance.
 
I hate.....
People who jump every day. This includes 90% of people at my yard, encouraged by the YM.
People who overfeed then wonder why the horse goes nuts.
Horses that drag you for grass, why can't people teach basic manners!
Door kickers

I can live with....
Head rubbing, although I hate head butting
Fidgeting when tied as long as they don't pull back.
 
PonyIAmNotFood said:
I hate horses rubbing their heads on me, it's incredibly rude and an invasion of space. Know loads of people who let their horses do it though, the minute they're out of the saddle the horse is rubbing all over them! If I ride said horses, I don't let them do it, so the owners pootle over and let them do it on them instead. Drives me mad.
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And these are usually the people who then end up walloping them when they do it at a show on their nice clean white shirt.

I can't stand horses that don't move back when you enter the stable, there are 2 on the yard at the moment, they should just move back without even muttering a word, but yet every time you have to say BACK about 5 times whilst pushing them back for them to get the message
 
I can't say there's one specific thing but I do expect horses to deal with routine handling without too much fuss. Sometimes, however, especially if you buy a "made" horse, they have certain hangups that you just have to manage rather than get rid of.

I bought mine at 9 and didn't realise until he was home that he HATES being brushed. Try as I might in the 10 years I've had him I've never managed to improve it much, he's just way to ticklish and physically can't deal with it. It's no big deal, he gets cleaned with a rubber mitten, bathed if he's very dirty and he has learned to put up with a brush on the upper half of his body. Tummy and legs with a brush are still a no however and always will be. It's not ideal and wouldn't be what I choose, especially as he's grey and loves the mud, but as he's fine in all other ways I put up with it.
 
Blurr said:
That made me laugh, thank you! You would hate one of my ponies, I've clicker trained him to 'smile' to amuse the OH, now the darn thing won't stop laughing at me. I stand talking to people who suddenly start giggling, and the pony is laughing behind my back.
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AHAHAHA! :D

My horse has learned to 'ask' for a treat and her dinner (I didn't teach her that's for sure!). She stands with one front leg tucked up or waving underneath her and when she gets excited, she swaps legs quickly, making her look hilarious.

Not so funny when you go to grab her in and she is the other side of the field waving a leg around waiting for you..... It would be a pet hate as clearly she does it on the days I am pushed for time.. but it is funny!
 
Blurr said:
I've clicker trained him to 'smile' to amuse the OH, now the darn thing won't stop laughing at me.
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Haha! I trained one of mine to give me a kiss for a treat. If I had something to give him, I'd just say 'Kiss!' and he'd put his lips on mine, then do it over and over until I gave it to him. He learned to do it ALL THE TIME, whenever he wanted a treat. I also taught him to give me his paw, and I honestly regretted it so much once he picked it up. He would strike out whenever he wanted something and often kick me in the shin or my crotch by accident!

When people eventually came to view him, I had to explain to them that he wasn't trying to kick them and that he just wanted a treat. Definitely learnt my lesson with that one.
 
I've just remembered another one. Only applies when I'm horse shopping as it's very fundamental.

I can't abide horses that refuse to look at what's scaring them - you know, the throw your head in the air, spin and leggit type. Any horse or pony which isn't a moron should freeze, stare and snort.

Jumping 4ft into the air with surprise is acceptable, so long as it then LOOKS at the hedge dragon.
 
pennyturner said:
I've just remembered another one. Only applies when I'm horse shopping as it's very fundamental.

I can't abide horses that refuse to look at what's scaring them - you know, the throw your head in the air, spin and leggit type. Any horse or pony which isn't a moron should freeze, stare and snort.

Jumping 4ft into the air with surprise is acceptable, so long as it then LOOKS at the hedge dragon.
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It's funny you should say that.

I have an odd buying quirk ...

I like to throw a jacket/jumper over the fence and watch their first reaction.

The best horses I have bought have at first glance, stopped a few strides out and gawped. Then come round a second time and given it an extra foot.

I like that they looked and thought about what they were jumping. All the horses I have bought that have reacted in that manner have ended up careful but genuine.
 
misskk88 said:
People who rely on gadgets ALL the time and claim to know it all (they're the ones usually pointing out your flaws to you or commenting on everyone elses riding), but can't ride without them and would struggle to understand how to work a horse into an outline.

People who think quantity of work is better than quality and will ride and ride and rideeeee,

*ahem* over rugging (fickle I know, but it just bugs me!).
!
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Ha ha - are you me?

I hate dirty water and feed buckets as well.

I put up with a lot of stuff from my horse which would drive other people nuts - he fidgets and paws if tied up for more than 20 minutes, rears when tied up if anything bothers him and will not stand to have his legs brushed at all. He had very sore mallenders and sallenders when I got him and I think the leg issue is remembered pain more than anything but it does mean I can't sort them without help. He is terrified of the clippers as well.

However, he is as good as gold to have his feet picked up, has nearly stopped biting - although still very mouthy - which used to result in ripped clothes and bruises when I first bought him, has more or less learned to stand at the mounting block (we usually only have to line up twice these days, rather than the 20-30 in the early days), believes that he really should groom me when I groom him and has to be gently dissuaded, and can now often take a treat without taking your hand off.

Typing this reminds me why I believe that patience is essential with horses. We've come so far since we started, although there is still a long way to go before he behaves exactly as I would wish! However, I think he is a much happier horse, likes knowing where the boundaries are and tries his heart out for me with everything except the legs...
 
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