The demise of good horsemanship

[twistyizzy]

Thought about posting this on AIBU but couldnt face the backlash of "first world problem" comments 😊
So yet another livery has arrived on the yard: unhorsey parents + teenager who has ridden for 2 years at a riding school and has been bought their first horse. Priority given to have Le Mieux match match over a properly fitted saddle/tack, child isn't having lessons on new horse and is struggling so they have just shoved a Waterford in its mouth.
This is just becoming all too common: people asking for veterinary advice on Facebook instead of calling the vet, horses underworked but having tonnes of feed pumped into them, fashion over good quality well fitting tack etc. It just seems that common sense horsemanship has practically disappeared along with much of the knowledge about horse care etc.
People not even knowing how to take TPR to monitor their horse's health, correct feeding for work bring done, how to treat minor ailments and when to call the vet etc.
All just highly frustrating and as a result I honestly believe that the welfare of many horses is compromised.

Yes insurance culture has killed riding schools really.
I think a lot of people will never afford a horse (which is fine, no shade! It’s ludicrously expensive) but it means that instead of teaching young children to be good horsemen and women, it’s essentially just offering an extracurricular activity, so the “need” to learn to deal with something that will nap on a road, put in some huge bucks if it gets giddy cantering in company etc isn’t there and isn’t desired.

Ive had sharers for my horses for the last decade and I have seen even in that fairly short time a bit of a decline in the standard of riding. Also everyone is SO nervous because they’ve not been taught to deal with certain scenarios in a controlled and safe situation.
When I did my universities riding team a long time ago, around the time Henry VIII was still on his first wife, the “school” horses we used had some real quirks, there were some genuinely strong ones, some genuinely green ones, some genuinely very forward ones, and some really smart but really quite sharp ones, all available to clients. Same as a child around the time of the Norman Conquests, you could ride a really wizzy pony or an ex JA jumping pony which would have quirks but you had an instructor to talk things through and help. Now people come out of riding schools often having hardly ridden anything that’s nicely off the leg, let alone forward, or a bit strong to a fence or that can jog, and they pitch up and panic the second the horse… behaves like a horse.
Being exposed to these things for the first time when sharing or looking for a horse to buy is not ideal.

I don't think any livery yard should allow a novice child to keep a pony there without taking lessons. That's mad. The yard we're at wouldn't allow this I don't think. I also don't think any child with non-horsey parents should ever be allowed to keep a pony on a DIY livery.

I say this as a non-horsey parent of a horse-owning teenager. But my teen did Pony Club from the age of about 6 and always took lessons on our ponies. Our ponies were also on full livery at first and now on a 5/2 livery. My daughter still takes lessons 3 times per week (flatwork and jump lessons) and many kids on our yard take lessons 4 times per week. But the lessons are a bit cheaper than some of the other yards in the area. It's totally mental for novice kids not to take lessons on their ponies. And my daughter loves "quirky" crazy ponies 😃 She says they taught her so much more than a push-button pony.

They've had this pony for a few weeks.

I also saw that dreadful Martha letting her 12 year old clip a pony that wasn't tied up and she didn't have a hat on

Who is dreadful Martha? I’m intrigued now

MarthaHappilyEverAfter on instagram. Started out as a house account. Obviously had unfulfilled dreams of her own. 3 kids been pushed through a range of ponies fairly quickly. Some loans/some bought. Often disappear and are replaced with no explanation. Just lots of videos of her 'plucky' kids on push button ponies that they are socking in the mouth over every fence. Brag posts with rosettes.

This sums up everything I'm talking about!

This sums up everything I'm talking about!

My daughter is learning to ride. She's a good little rider and one day, she would love to have her own pony / horse but not until she's been riding for at least 4 years. At least! By which time, I will also be in a better position of having the knowledge that I would need to support her with this. I'm doing a course in horse care and I'll be learning as much as I can.

Horses / ponies are fragile in some ways as well as being strong. I have seen at our yard that the smallest things can set off problems. And having your own horse is a huge commitment which shouldn't be taken lightly.

So yeah, I can see why experienced riders would find this sort of thing frustrating.

my understanding is that you never stop learning when it comes to riding. The advanced girls at our yard still have a lot of lessons alongside having their own pony.

When I learnt to ride I remember doing lots of work with my hands on my hips so that I learnt not to rely on the reins for balance. I also did lots of work without stirrups to encourage an independent seat.
What drives me crazy is when a pony gets demonised for bad behaviour when it's tack doesn't fit it's fed too much and doesn't get enough turnout.

It's economics. Customer service: giving the customer what they want. If they come to you wanting to improve their competition results, that's what they expect to work on - horse performance in competition. They're so convinced they know it all, it doesn't even occur to them that the issue could be them. Or the gaping holes in their knowledge that they have no idea are there.

If you tell them how to improve the horse, preferably with instant results, you'll have a repeat customer. If you tell them the issues with the horse are caused by their poor standard of riding, they'll get offended and you'll never see them again. They'll also tell all their friends how shit an instructor you are, that you couldn't improve the horse and they've been riding for 5 years so of course they can ride and don't need lessons, it's just the instructor doesn't know what they're talking about.

Some training courses these days aren't actually in instructing anyway, they're coaching qualifications. People don't want to put the time and effort in to learn a skill, they just want to get to whatever they want to be doing as quickly as possible. They don't care how they get there.

The parents buy the horse because livery is cheaper than riding lessons, they have no understanding about all the other costs and don't really want to pay for them. Teenager doesn't want horse sold so keeps quiet about anything needed. Adults looking down on them doesn't bother them one bit, but they can't bear to not fit in with friends, so any money goes on new numnahs etc while the horse doesn't get the vet because it's "not that lame and it's only been a few weeks anyway".

It's not just teenagers either. A middle aged woman skipped a shoeing cycle because she was broke and "needed" the money for spends on an upcoming holiday. All her stable pals justifying it because "she's had a hard time lately" and "needs a break away" etc. Someone else ranted at the vet because they wouldn't provide the life saving medication needed for free because the owner couldn't afford to pay for it. As if the vet is a public service and somehow owes them. It's all me me me these days, the animal is secondary at best. People are becoming increasingly selfish.

As for "we all make mistakes" - you should make them during training, not once you have full responsibility for an animal that's relying on you to meet its needs. Another living being suffering needlessly because you "made a mistake" isn't acceptable. Except unfortunately, to many people it is. They believe their right to make a mistake trumps their pet's right to a decent standard of care.

My daughter's instructors certainly don't mince their words 😂

But I did notice that a few of the sharers that tried out our extremely good-natured cob were absolutely terrible novice riders, but their parents were convinced that they were super talented and disgusting take kindly to being critiqued. One nearly flee to the ceiling when trying to canter and was a total hazard to herself and other riders and her mum was going on and on about how experienced she is 🙄

didn't take kindly*

I think it works both ways actually...a lot of the experienced horse owners I know think they way they do things is the best and only way and can be extremely blinkered about any other point of view and don't bother to keep themselves up to date with new techniques or alternative approaches. I'm a new-ish horse rider and I at least think being new means I'm open minded to everything- I'm aware I don't know much so I'm keen to learn as much as possible from as many sources as possible. A lot of the time you find middle aged women owners who've been doing it their way for donkeys and so think that's the only way.

I just don't see any of these clueless people. Thank goodness. We tend to ride and train with people of a similar standard though, plus Pony Club. I do remember a riding club ODE full of very overweight older women who were terrible riders though. We try and avoid those nowadays.

I do remember a riding club ODE full of very overweight older women who were terrible riders though.

Does being overweight make you a bad rider?

Actually I agree with you here about experienced owners sometimes being set in their ways, i try to always keep learning! Good that as a novice rider you are keen and willing to learn 😊

I think the problem with sharers is they’re usually straight from a riding school and that doesn’t often translate well to real life horses (for want of a better phrase). It’s a great way to make that move in a supervised way though as owners usually want a good match and have a vested interest in horse and rider getting on.

Ive not rtft, but agree completely about non horsey parents and novicey kids being a complete recipe for disaster. Kids don't seem to do their time at riding schools anymore, not just lessons but helping out as well. Which is a bloody shame as 1. You learn a lot 2. You learn how to bloody graft and 3. You realise that if you fuck up, you get bollocked by a feisty yard owner.

Lots of Princess's with matchy matchy gear, an entitled attitude and unsuitable horses do the rounds locally, from one yard to another always blaming the last yard for Doris being rude, bargy, bangy, bucky. 99 times out of a 100 Doris has no routine, is overfed and underworked and is stressed to the max.

We are lucky, our yard owner is very hands on, doesn't tolerate princessing in any way shape or form and people either shape up or fuck off.

I put little pony on loan back end of last year, was a bloody disaster. Riding school kids wanting to 'learn about having own pony'. I wouldn't let him move so observed the arsey kids, idle mother combination and when mother realised it was actually hard work, they decided against it, funnily enough in the New Year after they had taken lots of Christmas Day photos of their dedication to the cause to share on FB.

Yes of course if you are too heavy for your horse.

And I've never seen an overweight person riding a chunky cob who is a decent rider. I'm sure there must be some somewhere but I've never seen one. They are the ones who tend to have the matchy matchy and bounce around hanging onto the reins. Worse than the teen riders being criticised here anyway.

But you have nailed it right there - you said 'when you learnt to ride'. It should be an ongoing process of deepening the seat and improving balance. You don't learn to ride and then not need it any more.

This is EXACTLY what I mean in my OP !

Have been riding over fifty years , have my own horses and have at least one , often two lessons a week on them. You can always improve !
...also have a lot of le meiux

I'm an overweight rider, riding a chunky highland pony. I am not too heavy for her. But ride much better than some of the skinny minnies I see hanging onto mouths, booting in ribs and going around overbent, riding hand to leg instead of leg to hand, then collapsing forward like a wet fart when pony objects or is sharp. I'm balanced, polite and kind. Might be a fat arse, but that arse can sit a decent buck. And I have regular lessons and know there are much, much better riders out there I have no hope of being half as good as.