Horse sense

[Luna]

I volunteer at a horse farm that opened up by me. Last Saturday morning, we're all standing around at 6am complaining about how damn cold it got so fast and discussing which horses were being used today - blah blah...

I've only been there 4 times now. (They only need volunteers on the weekends when they are open to the public). I have ridden once in maybe 7 years and that was just 2 weeks ago.

A new volunteer was there. As I don't know enough yet to teach lessons or give trail rides - I took her under my wing and showed her how we get the place ready to open. As we talked, I learned she'd been riding for 7 years. I figured she didn't need much help, and so did the other girls. Not too many volunteers showed up that morning, so we were busting out asses grooming, feeding, and saddling.

At one point, I walked over to this girl - only to see her walk up behind a horse and then say "Hi sweetie!" really loud. The horses head bobbed up, ears laid back and he went into 'you scared the SHIT outta me and I'm going to kick you' mode. I screamed at her to move away fast, and she stood there not understanding. Luckily the horse didn't kick her - but for goodness sake!!!!!!!!! She's been riding for 7 years and she doesn't know you can't sneak up on a horse? You *never* walk up behind an animal that weighs 1000 pounds and startle it!!! :eek:

As we're saddling the horses up - she comes to me for help. So I go to help her out. Turns out she doesn't know how to saddle or bridle a horse at all. I want to ask her where the hell she rode where they didn't even teach her how to care for the horse at all.

Now when I came there and talked to the owners about volunteering - I was honest. I told them I've ridden a handful of times in the past, I know little to nothing about riding or caring for a horse - but I learn fast and will do whatever it takes to prove my worth and learn by example if they'd let me. This girl was telling the other volunteers about how long she's been riding like it's something to brag about. The other girls looked at her like she was crazy - why brag about how long you've been riding to people that have worked their asses off on farms around horse *their entire lives*? :rolleyes:

One of the girls needed my help with a large group of beginners during one of her lessons. She wanted me to help them tighten the saddles and mount. The new girl came with me, and she didn't know how to help the customers mount the horse or help adjust their stirrups once they were on. But she's been riding for 7 years??? :confused:

Is it wrong for me to be completely annoyed with this girl?

[Sphinx]

No I dont think you are wrong to be annoyed at her because I would be too!! Even if you have been around horses for just a little while that is one of the first things you learn is dont walk behind them!!
And there is no way she can have been riding for 7 years and NOT know that stuff!! I just dont see how its possible but i could be wrong.

[PuckishOne]

The only way I can think of that "7 Year Girl" doesn't know how to do any of that stuff is that Daddy hired grooms and stable hands to do it all for her.

I've ridden a handful of times my entire life, and even I know that you never so much as stand silently behind a horse - behind a horse is a bad place to be. :rolleyes: Sheesh.

[Tanasi]

Personally I don't have a lot of use for horses, now mules on the other hand are a lot more useful. Until you actually see her ride I'd say she's fed you a line of BS. You can't be around horses that long and not pick up on a few things especially coming up behind one.

[Athena]

I've discovered that being around horses for years, doesn't necessarily mean you have sense. At a Pony Club rally a few months ago, a lady who's had horses for close to fifteen years was having trouble loading her horse in a float (horse box). He got most of the way in, but wouldn't move his hind legs off the ramp. So she got her twelve year old daughter :o to get on one corner of the ramp and she got on the other side and started lifting it, trying to lever the horse into the box! If'd he'd gotten a fright and backed up suddenly, or even kicked they would both have been squashed like pancakes! Lucky he's quiet and just moved forward for them.

[One-Fang]

Hell no, you are not wrong to be annoyed!

*If* the 7 year claim is true, then it's either as PuckishOne said, or some kind of school that caters to the elite. The school I helped out at had two kinds of customer. One was the book-a-ride type: They'd book a session, come along, and meander about the paddocks on a horse. They didn't have to do anything else. Their horse was made ready for them and cared for after them by others. The other type was learning-to-ride girls. They had to prepare their own horse and care for it afterwards.

It's possible she is the book-a-ride type. She hasn't been seriously riding, but has gone along on 'fun jaunts' at various horse riding schools/tourist traps for seven years. She thinks she knows something because she's managed to get on a horse and make it go.

Even as a family friend rather than volunteer, I had to learn how to groom a horse, saddle up, make adjustments, and brush down after. Sure I got all the free riding I wanted (great! :)), but I had to do the work. And it annoys me now to see this kind of person that thinks they know something because they've actually *been on a horse's back* before.

[Lace Neil Singer]

She probably just rode a clockwork horse that Daddy bought for her. I used to ride, and we often had people like that turn up for lessons who bragged about having ridden for years but couldn't ride for toffee.

One girl was on a horse I'd ridden before being switched to this other horse, called Bill. The horse she was riding was a mare named Ebony who could be a bit of a bitch, and needed a lot of impulsion. Anyway, the girl couldn't get her to do anything and was whining loudly about the "mule" she'd been given. I was really annoyed, cuz Ebony was a great ride and it was the girl who was the problem, so I offered to do a demonstration. I mounted Ebony, and walked, trotted and cantered her round the school. Never heard another peep out of the girl again, and anyway, soon after she stopped going to the riding school.

[Barefootgirl]

"Riding for seven years" means nothing, really. I've been riding since I was five years old, but so what? For a good many years i was a "book-a-ride" type, and never learned any stable management until I was well into my twenties. i can stick on (and jump a bit, play a bit of polo and polocross), but I'm certainly no expert.

My husband has ridden precisely three times in his life, knows nothing at all about horses, and but even he, with the benefit of common sense would think it a bad idea to scream behind a horse...

[Lace Neil Singer]

I have over 10 years riding experience, including stable management... then again, I also have something this girl obvious lacks; common sense.

[AFpheonix]

Alas, some of the crap I've seen at all levels of horse competition....common sense is not all that common, unfortunately.

Although, I have to say I've never been kicked while standing directly behind a horse. I've been nailed when I've been clear up by one's shoulder (she leapt forward and cow-kicked me in the side of the knee before I could even react) The other times I've been next to their hip.
The last time was this spring when my mare got me in my ass cheek. I had enough time to turn and get my arm out of the way before she got me. In her case, though, it was a "kick first, ask questions later" thing, because as soon as she figured out what she'd done, she REALLY wasn't going to let me get anywhere near her, she was worried I was going to kill her. Ah well, it was my fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so she didn't get in trouble.
Egads though, I have a dent and a leftover hematoma still.

And really, misrepresenting what your level of knowledge is can really be a safety issue, especially in a case where there's paying clients coming in who could be affected by her bad judgement.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I was once kicked on the shin by a horse who hated the horse I was riding... ouch. X_x

And really, misrepresenting what your level of knowledge is can really be a safety issue, especially in a case where there's paying clients coming in who could be affected by her bad judgement.
I couldn't agree more. Why can't people just be honest about this sort of thing?