Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AMA, I own horses and compete in showjumping

90 replies

Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 21:04

Possibly one of the most dull and boring AMAs ever sorry!!!BlushGrin

just a bit bored and thought I would do an AMA in case anyone had any questions about owning horses, jumping, riding, what it’s like to have horses, or anything else horse-related that anyone wanted to ask!

Smile
OP posts:
Honeyroar · 27/03/2022 22:55

@PinkSyCo

How can you tell whether horses enjoy it or not?
My horse is retired nowadays, but I evented with her previously (Eventing has three phases - dressage, show jumping over coloured fences, and cross country, which is jumping solid, natural looking obstacles faster over a longer course). She adored jumping and going fast. For the Xc there is a start box you have to go into where the timer starts. They count you down, a minute, 30 second, ten seconds etc. You’re supposed to go into start box on the ten seconds warning. I never could with her, she was so keen to go, I had to nip in at the last minute. She would set off like a train, her ears scanning for the next fence, and would pull me towards it. She just loved it. She was bred from a long family tree of jumping horses, it was in her blood. You really need a horse that enjoys it and helps you out to do wel imo.
Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 22:56

@CaptainThe95thRifles

Zara Phillips is an eventer, not a showjumper. Way posher than SJ Grin
And braver BlushSmile

I’ve done unaffiliated local cross country just for fun and it takes serious guts!

OP posts:
ForeverLooking · 27/03/2022 22:57

Hi fellow horse person, I'm the showing version of you Grin. Can be very bitchy in our discipline behind the scenes (we love a good HOYS side eye). Is it same in the jumping scene?

SevenWaystoLeave · 27/03/2022 22:57

Do you have a day job unrelated to horses?

How successful are you in terms of winning?

Isausernameavailable · 27/03/2022 22:59

So affiliated bsj then, what level? Do you lack the ability, bottle or class for eventing?

UrsulaPandress · 27/03/2022 23:01

You don’t make a living out of it do you ?

Llamasally · 27/03/2022 23:04

@Isausernameavailable ouch! You mustn’t be an eventer, always the friendliest bunch of the disciplines Wink

Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:06

@Gonnagetgoing

Are drugs involved in getting to compete?
As a previous poster said, the repercussions for doping are extremely serious!
OP posts:
Moppincraxy · 27/03/2022 23:06

@BadgeronaMoped

Do you drive one of those big horseboxes? If you do, is it stressful/do the horses mind? Do horses get travel sick?! One last question, does the horsebox have a WC? ...I do wonder sometimes as I'm driving about Grin
Just thought I'd pop in and answer this one as a fellow rider. The big horse lorries do have a toilet on board, and often a shower, mini kitchen Inc. cooker and fridge, and pull out beds. We live in them for a week or more when going to big shows.

I've never known a horse get travel sick but some horses have had a bad experience travelling or loading (usually due to poor handling but not always) and are reluctant to load. All of the competition horses I know love their job and are walk up the ramp themselves. They don't seem bothered by the journey but, like us, like to get out and stretch their legs if on a long journey.

For me the stressful thing about driving a big lorry is that I always leave loads of space in front of my so I can brake smoothly but inevitably someone pulls in front of me and doesn't leave enough distance so I either need to break harder than I would wish to or continually have to keep hanging back and getting slower and slower as people cut in front of the lorry.

Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:07

[quote MurmuratingStarling]I have a question.

Why did you put this on AIBU - and not HERE where it was meant to go?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA[/quote]
I just answered a previous question which was the same Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:07

@RedRobin100

I used to show jump when I was younger. Unfortunately fell away from it all when I moved away to uni
It’s never too late to get back into it! Smile
OP posts:
Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:09

@PinkSyCo

How can you tell whether horses enjoy it or not?
Someone else commented and answered this really well Smile
OP posts:
CaptainThe95thRifles · 27/03/2022 23:14

On the doping front, some sports do still have a culture of using banned substances, sadly. They're the sports (or, in some cases, levels of sports) where drug testing is rare, or worse, non-existent. It's one of the many aspects of equestrian sport that needs to be dealt with if we want to be able to continue to ride and compete with horses in the future. As a PP mentioned, the societal mood towards horse sport is changing all the time, and there's a lot that the equestrian community can do to improve the image and reality of the sport.

On the plus side, all the main equestrian sports - those you see at the Olympics - have very stringent drugs testing protocols at the highest levels and even accidental contamination can ruin careers. So we can be pretty confident that doping in those sports, at that level, is rare.

Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:19

@Emelene

What age did you start riding? Do you recommend it as a hobby for young girls or is it likely to get very expensive fast?
I started when I was roughly 4 years old and got my first pony not long after Smile

It’s a fantastic sport for children to get involved in, and they learn so much responsibility from it. I spend a lot of my childhood at the stables happily playing with my friends. We went riding, had picnics in the hay barn, went exploring and played games, groomed our ponies- it was great! But on top of all the fun we learned important skills and worked very hard. We cleaned, swept, mucked out, helped where we could and I learned so much from it all.

It does add up but it depends what you do with it. Most kids don’t get their own ponies and just take regular lessons which can be reasonably priced. There’s also pony camps, Easter/summer camps, pony days, clubs, all sorts of fun things for kids to get involved inSmile

it’s like any sport really- eg dancing can get very expensive if you buy the most expensive costume or shoes and if you take lessons everyday etc. Horse riding is similar to that Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:21

@CaptainThe95thRifles

ultimately a horse will always cost a lot to keep and it’s bullshit when people say otherwise

Well, relatively speaking, that depends on how you keep them - if you keep a straightforward horse on grass livery without facilities, don't insure for vet bills (which is a bad idea if you don't have substantial savings), keep them barefoot etc, it's a fraction of the costs you quote. Obviously it'll still be more expensive than knitting but it's not necessarily huge amounts of money if you're not trying to compete at the higher levels.

Yeah I agree with you. I suppose what I meant is that even if you do it on the cheap, it’s still expensive and unfortunately unaffordable for a lot of people Sad
OP posts:
MrsLegend · 27/03/2022 23:24

I'm aware horse riding is a particularly dangerous sport. Have you ever had a nasty accident?

I haven't ridden since I was bucked off, landed on my coccyx and had a struggle to walk properly for quite some time due to a pain in my lower spine (I don't bounce well as I've got older)!

SpikyJugs · 27/03/2022 23:31

I don't mean to ask this in a confrontational way, but I'd just like to know whether my stereotyped idea is true...

Do you vote Tory?

I've never met a horse owner that doesn't. But I'd like to be proven wrong!

ForeverLooking · 27/03/2022 23:34

@MrsLegend

I'm aware horse riding is a particularly dangerous sport. Have you ever had a nasty accident?

I haven't ridden since I was bucked off, landed on my coccyx and had a struggle to walk properly for quite some time due to a pain in my lower spine (I don't bounce well as I've got older)!

I've been kicked in the face (broke my nose and was lucky that was it) by a friends horse I was holding that got a fright, reared and lashed out. My Welsh C fell on me in the field in the pouring rain when she slipped...luckily again just bad bruising. My sister broke her wrist starting a new young one and got bad concussion getting side doored from a horse she was schooling for a client. I've seen some awful injuries and know of a few deaths Sad. It can be a very dangerous sport. The most injuries I've received have been on the ground handling rather than onboard!
PeriodDrama · 27/03/2022 23:38

Why do you and the other horse rider like to take your horse out at the same time as the morning school run..

How do you feel about horse poo on the road, my DH was in a bad accident just after Christmas, his car drove over some frozen horse poo. He was luckily to not be seriously injured after his car ended up in the ditch at the side of the road

PeriodDrama · 27/03/2022 23:39

Our car was 4 parts off being a write off Shock

oatlattetogo · 27/03/2022 23:40

@Isausernameavailable

So affiliated bsj then, what level? Do you lack the ability, bottle or class for eventing?
Uncalled for!
Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:43

@SpikyJugs

I don't mean to ask this in a confrontational way, but I'd just like to know whether my stereotyped idea is true...

Do you vote Tory?

I've never met a horse owner that doesn't. But I'd like to be proven wrong!

I know I’m trying to answer questions in order but I had to break that just to answer this question Grin

No no no no no no no no no no absolutely not Grin I would never, EVER vote Tory.

No you didn’t sound confrontational at all! Smile

OP posts:
CaptainThe95thRifles · 27/03/2022 23:45

I don’t vote Tory and I don’t hack out during the morning school run.

You’re totally right about it not being achievable as a hobby for many people though, troton. There are some great charities working on widening participation in communities that might struggle to get into horses otherwise, but it’s still a very elitist world in most competitive horse sports, and the financial barrier to ownership is a big part of that.

Original poster
Troton2022 · 27/03/2022 23:45

@Isausernameavailable

So affiliated bsj then, what level? Do you lack the ability, bottle or class for eventing?
What a shitty comment Hmm
OP posts:
SpikyJugs · 27/03/2022 23:45

Fantastic - I'm so glad to read that! Thank you for answering my question and breaking the stereotype in my head Grin