Trooping the colour. I have horse questions.

[Tock]

I have no hose knowledge aside from what I have learned from Jilly Cooper.

why do they nod their heads up and down so violently?

how do you ride with no hands like the band?

do they get to choose the colour of their horse? I’d like a grey one but there aren’t many of those.

what happens if they are really bad? Is there an understudy?

My knowledge of horses comes solely from those Carousel ones at fairgrounds. I find them to very slippery and can't understand how those chaps managed to stay on. They haven't even got a twirly pole to hang on to. 😰

I used to read the 'Jill enjoys her ponies' series(Ruby Ferguson) as a young girl. Something must have stuck in my brain. On the one time I had an hours lesson on a horse, 30 years later, I spent the hour repeating(in my head), "Head up, hands down, toes up, heels down."

Never had the chance to pour coffee in the ear of a colic stricken downed horse. Or perhaps I shouldn't take Enid Blyton and similar, literally.
I think I am going to find TtC to watch now.

Towards the end of his life, my horse was my touchstone. Knowing that I had done right by him every day, in his retirement, gave me a peace that I have never been able to recreate.

This touched me deeply LoveMyPiano

I’m with you. 🌻

Hang on, they didn't pour coffee in the ear of Thunder, the Enid Blyton horse

I ways get muddled up with the thing that sharks can't stop swimming or they die, and colic horses can't lie down.
I'm like, oooh, no the shark can't lie down.

@SheldonesqueTheBstard

"This touched me deeply LoveMyPiano

I’m with you. 🌻"

Aw, thank you 😊 🦄
(no grey horses in the emojis - so a unicorn will do nicely....)

They mustn't get down though....To be serious for a second; my friend's horse (not unusual for him...he was bit of a worrier) had a bad attack one Christmas-time. We walked him round and round the yard waiting for the vet. He desperately WANTED to get down, and I have an awflu abiding memory of his legs starting to bend the way they do when about to roll, and we HAD to stop him (and it is unfortunately possible to overrule a half-ton horse when they are ill), to keep him moving.

What part of what I said are you disagreeing with specifically?

They can lie down whilst colicing and they will try to but they mustn't, as it can cause their gut to twist, which could be fatal. If you catch them, you gently walk them round and keep them moving.

I haven't finished reading the thread so it may have already come up but if not, take a look at this...the cavalry horses taken to the beach
Or Google Household Cavalry at Holkham
It's amazing to watch

@SpudsForBreakfast nothing you have written has really added anything to the thread. And just for a laugh I've @ you just because of your sanctimonious tone towards @DrawSwords who by contrast has given a real insight into how things work (I'm realise they could just be anyone off the internet but I choose to take it at face value)

As I've got older I have in all honesty started to feel uncomfortable with certain aspects of horsemanship, and wondering if we do right by them with keeping them in stables and riding them, using them for policing or ceremonial duties like this, for leisure.
But, I also think that domesticated horses probably have it better than their wild counterparts, and I mean truly wild, not the managed wild herds that are in places like the New Forest - now I think those ponies have the best of both worlds, no natural predators, live free and wild with no being ridden, but also have food provided if there's not enough and veterinary care if they're ill or injured.
Horses in the wild take their chances with not just predators but weather, illness, injury, droughts, food becoming scarce - domestic horses don't face these things (well, I accept some do because of crappy humans but in theory they shouldn't) because the humans provide that in return for riding them.
I agree they're not making an informed choice in the way a human would, but there are advantages for the horse being domesticated and used as leisure or working animals that wild horses don't have.

At the risk of repeating myself. It was Churchill not Reagan.

Maybe they both said it; I mentally (and have checked, now) is attributed it to Ronald Reagan 🤗

www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ronald_reagan_165092

I had a pony which had colic. Managed to keep him on his legs, vet came, injection relief all round. Our vet was Alf Wight, better known as James Herriot.

@Maverickess I am not sure why you think the New Forest ponies are so well-cared for. They often have to survive harsh winters with very limited food supplies (in theory owners are not allowed to feed their ponies on the forest), are often infected with lice or rain scald and minor injuries. Older ponies will take themselves off somewhere quiet to die without veterinary attention. A few lucky ponies are spotted when they are struggling and rounded up by the Agisters to be returned to their owners to keep as a domesticated pony until they can be re-released. It is definitely not an easy life.

@LoveMyPiano

well I’ve just googled again and apparently it was a John Lubbock who preceded both of them.

🤷‍♀️

@Maverickess
I agree (even havng been around them so much - or maybe especially).
Maaaybe (as I posted) they did allow themselves to be domesticated, in order to live a "better" life, and the relationship grew - until here we are....
The mustangs in America are now (I have heard) culled, due to being so many in number, but their resources are inadequate, even as big as the country is. And here on our small island, the animals are not left to be truly wild (apart from Dartmoor, even there, there are issues), so there is some kind of management, nd it can include rounding up and going to market.
I cannot stand to think of horses being stabled for long periods, it is physically and mentally harmful - but then just turning them out and forgetting (as sometimes happens)is, as they are unable to wander, and fend for themselves and kep warm/cool etc. - just as bad, although that is both ends of the spectrum.

We owe them a lot, once we take them on, whether they are ridden or not - and, like you, I am starting to really struggle with what we "use" them for. I had a miniature horse who onbviously could not be ridden, or driven - and my husband once asked "What's the point of her?" [he is, of course, an ex-husband], and in effect, we almost killed her with kindness, as she was not allowed to be out with the big horses, so gained weight wih her limited turnout and exercise. She also beamee quite grumpy. She went off to a new home with more space and lots of mini friends!

I kept my old boy in retirement from 2007, to 2013 - and he did not need to be ridden to earn his food and shelter and care. I was just as happy to be on the ground alongside him out for a stroll - and we usually didn't need a rope.
(He was a thorouhgbred e-racehorse, so I considered myself very priveleged that he would be so calm.)

Horses, like every other animal on this planet, were not put here for our enjoyment, entertainment, company, service or food source. I often refer people to the documentary "Earthlings" in case you haven't seen it or might want to (once is enough). My already strong beliefs were very much reinforced after seeing it.

Well there we go then. I had only heard it attributed to RR, so I consider myself educated today 🎓😊

This is what you posted and it was in reply to my earlier post:

Highly unlikely that a horse with an unsuitable temperament will be pts. Not unless they're truly unsuitable to be re-homed into either a quieter life or a more demanding, competition home, depending on where they're best suited. Some horses might lack the patience to stand quietly in a line up all day but would be brilliant in a busy hunting yard. Some might be overwhelmed and never get used to the noise and atmosphere but would excel in a quiet one on one yard just hacking round the lanes. Pts would be a last resort.

Your post was conjecture. Despite my disclosure that I had served and said I would post some facts to assist other posters, you decided that your own beliefs, opinions and general feelings would prevail. That is why you came on here and posted some generic and I will also say reasonable thoughts on what might happen to army horses if they were unsuitable to be part of the regimental stock. They were only your thoughts though.

It is the case that some horses do leave and have a competition life outside the army, but that is because they also had a competition life in the army, at saddle clubs etc, and may also occasionally leave the army with a sponsoring serving member. That is not the default position and unsuitable horses are put to sleep. Honestly, I have said my farewells to a few in the past.

Some folk could cause an argument in an empty room.

@SpudsForBreakfast Also, as for your experiences. Toy soldiers could be as close as you've got to the military for all I know. You may well have served time in these regiments but anyone can say anything online.

If you have trust issues it might be sensible to stay off the internet. As a previous poster said, on internet forums one generally accepts what a poster says at face value if there is no evidence they are trolling. Maybe you are one of those people stuck in a bygone age where respect has to be earned, but I believe respect is due to people unconditionally.

Respect leads me to another matter. Taking into account your comment about 'Toy soldiers', perhaps you might like to take a look at this:

Obituaries of The Queen's Life Guards

Men and women serve in our armed forces to give us the freedom we want and are prepared to lay down their lives for that freedom. The same freedom which allows you to post whatever chip you have on your shoulder regardless. You might want to apologies for calling members of the Household Division 'Toy soldiers', but I don't suppose you will.

@Serriedranks Your earlier post was great and on the nail. Humans and horses can bring out the best in each other with a great deal of patience, care and devotion. Horses that are emotionally bruised can heal in the right hands, but each in their own time.

Yes, they could (or attempt to) 😉

Isn't that the plot of The Horse Whisperer? 😊
Seriously though, it might depend the the horse and the person.