Stuff I should know but don't: advice & links please!

[Photosymphysis]

Hello,

At the age of 40 I finally have my first pony share. I ride (or visit) twice a week. Pony lives out 24/7 year round. His owner is lovely, all is very laid back.

But I haven't grown up with horses. I didn't do pony club as a kid. I've had lessons on and off over the years and can ride fairly competently. I know basics of racking up and a bit of grooming etc.

But I'm sure there's loads that I don't know that I don't know.

I've been looking on YouTube for a channel that includes really basic stuff, but haven't found the right thing.

Found some good US content creators, but things seem to be done differently than the UK.

Is it still right to tie up to baling twine, not a metal loop in the wall directly? (American vids seem to use the metal loop for directly).

In a lot of American content they seem to tie up using two lead ropes off to either side. I've never seen this done in the UK. Is this a thing?

Obviously I don't want to ask in real life. They'll laugh me out of the yard!

Congratulations on your share op!

Have a look at Riding with Rhi on You Tube, she is posting videos about owning her own horse for the first time. She's very practical.

And even This Esme (aimed at 11 year olds! ) has some quite good basic horse care content on there (but you will have to sort through a lot of irrelevant content too) but she's pretty good.

Fwiw, I still tie up with a bailer twine loop (bailer twine separated out in to three strands to be precise as modern bailer twine is quite strong).

If you join Chit, Chat and Tack on Facebook, this sort of question is discussed on there.

The q about tying up from both sides - this is usually done to wash down or groom and tack up your horse. Is that what you mean? Apologies if not!

Lots of trainers advocate doing everything (tacking up, grooming etc) from both sides in case you are in a position where you have to dismount or lead or tack up from the wrong side for some reason.

Op I would encourage you to take your horse share to a local BHS affiliated stable for the day if they hold horse ownership workshops or basic horse care training.

Good luck

Thanks @Bundttin for not calling me irresponsible for being so ignorant! Really helpful stuff.

The thing about doing everything from both sides is obviously the opposite of what I was taught 25 years ago!

I'll keep my eye out for horse ownership days. Though I'm led to believe that Pony is a bit of a nightmare to load & transport! (He was born on the yard he lives on and was a trekker for years).

The baling twine thing - is that because it’s better if the horse panics that it can break the twine, but if tied to the metal ring it would pull it off the wall ?

I’ve been watching heartlands…(Canadian ) they load horses backwards off trailers with no ramps - the horses literally step off ! It’s a revelation !!

Everyone uses baler twine. Leather halters too for turn out is a good tip - leather breaks in a tangle up emergency whereas nylon won't.
Make everything positive and reward based. If he's a nightmare to load, park a trailer in his paddock. Sit in there with a handful of carrots and practise reward based loading and unloading games and you'll soon get him used to loading.
Have a look at Pat Parelli Natural Horsemanship for good tips and confidence / bonding tricks.
Ask your riding instructor to come to the yard and show you the basics, and have a few riding lessons at the yard.
Never stop having lessons.

Thanks for the tips.

Some aren't feasible in my situation (very P/T sharing, I see him 2 days a week and work FT), but great advice going forwards.

I'll have a look at the Parelli stuff and will talk to his owner about the loading suggestions.

Definitely keep having lessons - you can never have too many.

Parelli is very marmite and the horse’s owner may well recoil in horror if you mentioned you were thinking of using Parelli techniques with her pride and joy …

You could go to a BHS centre for a couple of stable management sessions - no need to take your share horse

Don’t worry about asking questions!

Yes parelli is quite divisive. I have horses and would not let my sharers do it with them. But would be happy with groundwork so maybe look into some fun exercises rather than specific NH methods which all seem to have pretty ardent followers but split the room a bit!! I don’t mind NH at all as a general rule but I hate parelli and if the owner liked it she’d probably already be doing it. It doesn’t have many people who are neutral on it!

Thanks all.

I have actually found a one day course near me that looks ideal, except that it's not on till next July. Still, I've bookmarked it.

Thanks for the further detail about Parelli and NH.

Local BHS riding centres don't seem to have anything other than riding lessons for adults. It seems you have to be born into a horse world to be able to understand the horse world!

Give your local riding centre a call and ask them to give you a couple of stable management lessons - plenty near us offer them and they’re pretty easy to run

Or see if anywhere near you is running the BHS challenge awards - they would be perfect

I'm on the Warwick Schiller group lots of people from the UK there. Great group really supportive.

Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship is a very good and practical book. I’ve given it to my learning to ride DH and he’s found it very helpful. It covers all sorts of stuff and as it is aimed at Pony Club age children it’s easy to read.

Parelli is very marmite and the horse’s owner may well recoil in horror if you mentioned you were thinking of using Parelli techniques with her pride and joy

Yes, I'd be one of them. Some NH is fine, in fact some of it is brilliant. But do beware that much of it is dominance dressed up as kindness.

Yes the 2 ropes to tie up is really common now in the uk - I’d never seen it say 10 years ago.

I always tie up this way now as it stops my horse ducking under the rope and pulling his headcoller off.

Steer WELL clear of Parelli. It's bunk and borderline abuse imo. Not as "nice and kind" as it's made out. If the owner was a Parelli follower, you know by now. 😂

Cross tying is very common in the states but it's less common in the UK, mostly just down to the differences in barn/yard lay out.

Yes use a breakable link - twine works, or you can buy special tie loops that pop open.

You can put the lead rope over the nose if you need more control (I'll add a pic) or even lead in the bridle (just don't tie up in it!)

Lots of tricks for loading- the owner should be able to show you what they do.

Do you know about rugs and such?

@WildFlowerBees I love Warwick and am also on the FB support group. I’ve used some of his techniques with a very spooky Section D and my new 2yo stubborn Dales filly, both with very good results.

Cross-tying (the 2 rope technique) is far more popular in the US but it is used here for bathing and sometimes in a trailer if there’s no partition. Personally I don’t tie my horses up to tack up/rug/do feet etc, but I take a long time to get them used to this.

I second getting a copy of the Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship and/or doing the BHS challenge awards. Remember, there are no stupid questions; everyone is learning all the time and as long as you’re questioning and thinking, you’re on the right path.

Thanks for all these hints, they're much appreciated.

Thanks for the heads-up re: parelli.

Thanks for the Pony Club Manual, I'll look it up.

Thanks for the clarification on cross-tying (and the terminology!). Not a lot of tying up seems to happen around this yard. All seem fairly sensible and very well trained. However I have for anything I'm not 100% sure of.

Re: rugs - "my" horse has a gigantic wardrobe hanging around, but is a hardy type who will rarely need rugging. That said, he did spend yesterday in a 0g in the torrential rain. The owner gave me a brief walk through of his rugs, and promised to basically tell me which one he'd need when this winter! Hopefully I'll get to grips with it quite quickly.

And just like buses, after finding one horse another friend has asked me to come and ride with her too. Hopefully she'll help me top up my knowledge too. Though I'm not sure how I'll fit work & family in too 😆

Have a look at BHS stable management/horse care courses. You should be able to get the books that go along with the BHS stage exams.

2 ropes to tie up is called cross tieing, I use it in the trailer…

I find Ian Leighton to be very interesting on horsemanship and am yet to see the dominance stuff used in the way described, which I agree is troubling. I use it a bit for my youngster but wouldn’t need it on a horse that already knows it’s job. You will be fine watching and learning and doing the course/ PC stuff. I like This Esme too. In a few years you will be the one giving out tips!!

[quote ChiefClerkDrumknott]@WildFlowerBees I love Warwick and am also on the FB support group. I’ve used some of his techniques with a very spooky Section D and my new 2yo stubborn Dales filly, both with very good results.

Cross-tying (the 2 rope technique) is far more popular in the US but it is used here for bathing and sometimes in a trailer if there’s no partition. Personally I don’t tie my horses up to tack up/rug/do feet etc, but I take a long time to get them used to this.

I second getting a copy of the Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship and/or doing the BHS challenge awards. Remember, there are no stupid questions; everyone is learning all the time and as long as you’re questioning and thinking, you’re on the right path.[/quote]

Hello!

@CountryCob

I find Ian Leighton to be very interesting on horsemanship and am yet to see the dominance stuff used in the way described, which I agree is troubling. I use it a bit for my youngster but wouldn’t need it on a horse that already knows it’s job. You will be fine watching and learning and doing the course/ PC stuff. I like This Esme too. In a few years you will be the one giving out tips!!

😂 I like your confidence!

@WildFlowerBees Hello back Sorry for the delay!