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Riding without permission!

5K views 28 replies 21 participants last post by  Saddlebag 
#1 ·
My son has been at church camp for the last week, so I have been taking care of his horse for him. This horse is his baby and he takes incredible care of Jake, especially for a 14 year old! As some of you might have read, we had problems with the horse at first, but they have come a long way with lessons and training. Since he has been gone, I have been working with Jake with some groundwork, but nobody has riden him...at least that is what I thought. I went out to feed and wanted to take a few pictures of Jake. I called him and he came running, as usual. These were the pictures that I took:





Then, I noticed that there were girth and saddle marks on the horse. You could also see where it looks like he was kicked while being ridden! Now, like I said, my son has not even been home to ride him and even when he does, the horse is spotless by the time my son leaves the barn! My neighbors behind us have been on vacation, so I don't know who it could have been. It was obviously someone with a saddle, because my son keeps his saddle in his bedroom, not in the barn. So, I moved the horses from the back pasture up to the one closest to the house and I also padlocked the back gate, although if someone wants to ride they could just climb over.

People have some nerve! The horse seems fine. I just hope that he doesn't have any setbacks! He's been doing so good.
 
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#3 ·
There is a thread in here somewhere that helps tell if someone is riding your horse. From what I remember, you get red koolaid and then rub it into the horse's back and when the horse sweats, it turns the horses coat red. It would be great since the horse is grey!
Tell me if it works and if someone is riding your son's horse.
 
#10 ·
Frankly on those pics the horse looks like he rolled in mud, not like a girth sign really. But those are small pics too so I may be wrong. Yes, there is a thread somewhere about Cool-Aid (I'd suggest to do the search).

BTW, lovely horse!
 
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#11 ·
Roperchick, we are in Southwest Louisiana.

Kitten_Val, As I was taking the pictures (with my zoom lense) I noticed the marks. I put the camera down and went to check the horse. He had definitely been ridden. It is hard to tell from the far off pictures, but when I got to the horse, I could see where the saddle and girth had been. And, Jake is a pinto arabian and his markings are a light grey, so from far off, he just looks dirty lol.

I think that I may know who rode him. The couple down the road have the husbands kids every other week during the summer. They were here this week. I know that the woman use to have a stallion (but she couldn't control and got rid of him) that she kept in a pasture that is to the side of our back pasture. She did have a saddle at that time. These kids are not bad kids and I don't want to go accusing anyone because they are good neighbors. We will just watch and make sure that it doesn't happen again.
 
#12 ·
for safety though since you think someone was riding him i would put a sign on the fences saying no tresspassing or do not ride horses or something...so if by chance someone is riding your horse and gets hurt and you find them in the field hurt you will not be liable.

but he is a pretty boy :)
 
#18 ·
I really think you have cause to talk to the parents. You don't need to accuse them, just state what happened, as you don't know it was them. Just ask them to keep an eye open, or have their kids tell you if they are aware of someone riding.

In addition to the no trespassing signs, it might be an idea to have one of those warning signs so you are not liable for any injuries.

Equine Liability Signs, Liability Signs, Horse Signs, Natural Horsemanship Signs, Trail Riding Signs, Barn Signs, Trail Signs, Signs
 
#24 ·
I really think you have cause to talk to the parents. You don't need to accuse them, just state what happened, as you don't know it was them. Just ask them to keep an eye open, or have their kids tell you if they are aware of someone riding.

In addition to the no trespassing signs, it might be an idea to have one of those warning signs so you are not liable for any injuries.
I very much agree with Alex here.

I'm afraid though depending on state you can be still liable of someone's kid get on your horse on your property and is injured whether you have signs around or not. Crazy as it sounds, but I've heard about such lawsuits. So I'd spread a word that it happened, you are very upset, and you put up some cameras in field to get a prove for police/sheriff (even though you didn't :wink: ).
 
#25 ·
Well, mystery solved lol.

Seems the neighbor behind us had their son house sit while they were gone. They use to be rodeo people and my son had asked their son if he would ride the horse a couple of times, just exercise him a little, while he was gone. He has been keeping up with my son's progress and knew what was going on with the horse. But, my son told him to call me and let me know when he would be doing it. This all came to light when I picked my son up from camp today. And, when I got home, I checked the caller ID and my neighbors phone number was on the ID, apparently left before he rode.

So, I just jumped to conclusion and I'm glad that I didn't go storming over to the other neighbors house LOL.
 
#28 ·
I'm glad it was resolved!
 
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