Fed up of being looked down on!

[jurisfictionoperative]

TOTALLY NOT a rant at any mumsnetter, just getting it off my chest!..
We live in an area with a high population of Thoroughbred/Warmblood types.
We own and ride ponies. We never ride a pony that cannot happily carry us, none of our ponies cost more than £500, some were free. We take them, cure/mend/fix/help them when others think they are no good, and give them happy productive lives, and new loving homes where possible. We trim our own feet, and do it well, we call a farrier if we find anything out of out depth. We call out the vet but not for every chipped hoof, and try for minor ailments, to treat with sympathy and common sense and have never let a pony suffer. Our ponies eat grass and hay only usually, and are well covered, and anyone who needs it, gets appropriate supplements. Our tack is second hand, but well fitted and well maintained. When we go to shows/events, we go in the knowledge that although we take it seriously, if we don't win its not the end of the world, and when we show we are well turned out and smart. We would, and have, help ANY horse or owner in distress, and we also encourage and help anyone who we find who wishes to learn about horses and riding.

So why is it that every HORSE owner in our area looks at us and treats us like we are the lowest of the low? So its not 16.2hh and bay, does it make us less worthy? Our ponies are shiny, healthy and happy. Many of theirs have bald shoulders and hairless spur marks on their flanks. Do we call out the RSPCA? Do we mock you or slag you off for the choices they make? NO! We do not judge. Do us the courtesy of not judging us!...
There. It is out of my system All better now.

You sound lovely, if that's any consolation and I'm sure your ponies are very happy. Just 'flip ya crop up' at any of these up-their-own-arse-twats

You sound great, not unlike some people I know in RL who are v relaxing and fun to be around. We should all be too busy enjoying our ponies to give other people's choices much thought.

Are they cobs? I love cobs! Bet you have more fun with your ponies than they do. Ignore the snobbery, they don't know what they're missing.

some of my tack is synthetic

OMG that's atrocious, how can your ride your ponies with synthetic tack on!

Mitchy, if both the people you know are short, one is fat slightly overweight-- and the other has wierd hair, it could be us! Don't be ashamed of your synthetic tack, we all have to start somewhere, one day you might graduate to imported leather!

Lord, you sound a perfect horse owner to me. I bet you have jute rugs too

And stripey, they are a mixed bag of natives from Shetland to the worlds biggest registered welsh b (14.2)! My very little friend rides most of them, as I am a bit heavy at the mo, (my excuse for being a wuss after managing to fall of a 13h new forest in the ménage, when she spooked walking round a corner, breaking my arm and having to have six months off work!) her lifelong friend is her Shetland cross hackney stallion, who although only about ten hands will hack out for two hours and still return trotting on the spot with buggery! My favourite is the giant Shetland (5'3 rug) who I used to potter around on, am currently dieting to ride her again. In general my dd does the riding at the mo, and she is only ten, but even she gets dirty looks for taking a Shetland into a showing class round here!

Our one vanity, we like rhino wugs, they fit best, but there is one jute laying around somewhere, our favourite tack is that bought at auctions, green and rigid, and neatsfooted back into life, bitless bridles and cashell treeless saddles.

At least Arabs are big enough ( and lovely)! We have so much fun, we potter about at local shows, we load our newly renovated 50 year old trailer and go to the woods and beach, we stomp about the country behind our mad friend who loves showjumping and has just arranged for Jo Whittaker to visit her riding school an give everybody lessons. Don't get me wrong, we have both riden biggies, I used to work for the local bloodhounds, matey for the foxhounds, but small reject ponies are our thing now. ( myfriend does have a warmblood, but he cost £500 quid cos he has a wonky foot and was going to be shot, but he thinks he is a miniature so he doesn't count!)

People are horrible. I actually went out and bought my much-wanted warmblood - and promptly lost my nerve. Someone at the yard told me I should sell her as I only "deserved" a gypsy cob! Apparently the reasoning was that because I was scared I was "ruining her potential" - to this day I think she's perfectly happy eating grass and I doubt there are too many days she's in the field wishing she were being dragged around the country in a horsebox. So you can't bloody win anyway - even if you've got that "fabled" warmblood - if your face doesn't fit then you don't deserve it anyway!

*I got my confidence back and ride fine now.

Unfortunately horsey people are frequently arseholes... I have previously ranted about the snooty 14 year old with designer handbags, Pikeur jods who kept throwing my headcollar on the floor.

I totally agree. People should look for the beam in their own eye, before casting stones!

sounds awful.. where about's are you?

can you not stick to M&M showing classes?

I'm in the new forest and mostly all ponies round here... we get all sorts turning up at shows.

North Essex. It's very much show pony territory round here. You do get m and m classes, but ours are mainly cheapy unregistered. Were buggered all ways!

We had everyone's cast off ponies when we were little, and we WORKED for them! Couldn't afford much, so hard work had to do instead. The hard work ethic stayed with me, and I got a job my teachers would never have expected me to have got with my background. I am now lucky enough to be able to buy more or less what I want, horsey-wise, but I would NEVER look down on someone who was going the 'hard work and ponies' way of doing things.

A lot of these people need to quite literally get off their high horses and realise that riding need not be elitist, and a pony of mixed breeding is at least as good in it's owners eyes as any TB.

And a lot hardier, cheaper to run and reliable most of the time as well!

Backinthebox - yep, I remember those times - putting notices up in the tack shop begging rides in return for work. As for pony club? I went to one on the welsh border - mein gott, what a mish-mash of thelwell ponies there were in attendance!

Oh, for the record, the woman who originally told me to go and buy a "gypsy cob" was a German lady who'd bought her "Welsh D" in Germany. Now... I didn't run a DNA test on the little fella - but as my parents live just outside Builth Wells I know my Welsh cobs... and hers would've been laughed out of Wales! Full o' shite!

Ski, Builth you lucky thing. My one equine vanity is that one day I want to have my own welsh a stud. Fayre oaks is bliss! I've been twice with my old job and I'm like a kid in a sweet shop!
One day, I might actually buy something!

Very lucky! I was brought up on quality Welsh cobs! Why I went over to the dark side (warmbloods) I'll never fathom.

I've got a soft spot for section C's - but of course a shiny Welsh D stallion gets me frothing at the mouth too!

Was a D at the show I was atthe other day, beautiful and black and shiny! , but it will always be A's for me. Our first pony polly is an A, and gorgeous, we were given her because she had been hammered in a ponyclub home, gone lame, and was labelled dangerously unsound. She has never had a days lameness with us, and we found out she is very well bred, half sister to many of the ponies at the top A stud where I used to work. We are trying to get her in foal right now. I traced her pedigree back to 1540 through all 3 founding thoroughbreds, and am now totally hooked on As! Tried to get dp to move to Wales, but he won't play!

At the show the other day!

I love As, was really sad when my daughter started getting a bit big for the one she had on loan. Wonder if people look down on us for having hairy cross breeds? Barney does look a bit of a mutant sometimes. They are beautiful to me though, is like being a teenager with a massive crush - am besotted

My sister has a welsh C, with a bit of D blood in him. She has been tracing his ancestry and has got back to sixteen hundred and something, and has written letters to previous owners. Turns out her bargain pony has had very good career in his time. She already knew from one owner that he'd won a championship at Ardingly, and this week she got a lovely letter from the lady who bred him saying that as a foal he came third at the Royal Welsh! She still has his dam who is 30 years old and looking very well and is going to send some photos of him as a foal which we are really looking forward to.

I expect hacking about with us is a bit of a comedown for him, especially when he has to act as lead-rein pony for ds .

There is a lady who has a paddock at our place who has recently moved from Wales. Her husband died and she has had to sell up the farm and his welsh pony stud. She brought three of the ponies with her (one has since died but she was 29) and wants to put the remaining two in foal to keep the line going. I must say they are beautifully made little ponies, but little devils with it!