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.

As I said, I'm sure there are some. I've never seen one.

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to be obnoxious with my question but I've noticed at our yard, there is more frustration directed at 'overweight' people on horses. Only adults, not kids.

My own daughter is a tiny thing and I do wonder if that's why riding has come naturally to her because her balance is really good.

If someone is too heavy for their horse, too big for their saddle, or the saddle needs to be too big for the horse to accommodate the rider, that makes anyone, not just overweight riders, a bad rider. The problem I see a lot with hairy cobs is shit confirmation making it difficult to get well fitting tack. Quite often they are very short through the back not leaving much room for a saddle. Quite often overweight and round, and then a massive shoulder. Add someone who is heavy and novice, hence buying a cob in the first place and it can be a recipe for disaster.

But overweight does not equal a bad rider. As long as tack fits horse and rider, and rider is not too heavy. Being overweight just makes you overweight. And I am overweight, but ride 5 times a week, me and my pony are probably fitter than most of the rest of the horses (30 odd) and one of the few to keep going over winter.

In reality there’s crap and good riders of all shapes and sizes.

I had this problem with my mare. I am not overweight but is short backed, with big shoulders and movement and couldn’t really accommodate more than a 16” saddle to allow her enough clearances and I needed at 17” saddle. Had some clever saddle making with flexi shoulders, a more working hunter cut (I wanted GP), cantle extension to keep us both comfortable. She has plenty of bone and could accommodate a heavier rider but not a bigger one if that makes sense!

Bone = weight carrying is a bit of a misconception tho! Weight carrying ability is based on the complete confirmation of the horse, and even difference between the type of bone. Flat bone is much better than round bone but you need the rest of the confirmation to be good and a short back reduces the available weight baring surface for a saddle and the saddle is to distribute the weight of the rider across the surface of the back.

Think of shires and clysdales. They are built to be workhorses. But pulling not carrying. The shoulder is massive and the arse but relatively short through the back for the height of them, but people assume that they can carry a lot of weight. But my 17.5 inch saddle would have been about right for the 18h shire that lived next door to my 14h highland because they are so short coupled. My mare takes a 6ft 6in rug, she's basically a 16h horse on shetland legs and could easily carry 15st I reckon. But highland ponies are bred to carry stags off mountains, not plough for hours hence the confirmation difference.

Im overweight but not 15st but there are bigger ponies on our yard I would be too heavy for because of the confirmation of them.

I was just trying to say she was capable of carrying more than I weigh but couldn’t take up much leg because of her confirmation. If I didn’t understand that I wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of having a saddle
mocked up to keep us both comfortable. I sat at 8.5-9stone so was not too heavy, I’m petite too at 5’3”. It’s the combination of small back AND big shoulder that cause the issues.

Sorry I wasn't intending to say you were too heavy for her, and obviously you have spent a fortune making sure tack fits both of you, but in general novice owners seem to assume a hairy cob will weight carry and be quiet enough for a novice when that's not always the case.

Thanks - it can be a minefield. The issue of weight and horses ability to carry are tricky. My horse is a great example of that! On paper she should be able to take 10-11 stone (using 20% rule) but she would have too much weight on too small an area for that.

In fact 20% is 14 stone - there’s just no way!

20% rule is too much. Should be 15% + tack as average tack weighs 1.5 stone

I’ve always taken tack into account too. But whatever. I agree it’s too much.

The problem is, most cobs are too fat as well. So using the 20% rule, the poor animal is expected to heft around its extra bodyweight as well as its riders. A slim, fit horse will be stronger than a fat horse, but the bodyweight percentage measure fails to take that into account.

Absolutely.