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"Rules" You Break?

12K views 123 replies 65 participants last post by  tinaev 
#1 ·
There are a lot of horsey "rules" that people follow because their instructor/friend/whatever told them way back when they first got into horses. I tend to break a few of them from time to time...

Such as feeding treats from a flat hand. I don't always feed from a flat hand, I just feed from a partially closed fist or for carrots, like a lot of people, I just hand it to them. For really small treats (Peppermint for example) I still feed it from a flat fist though.

And sometimes if I'm just going from stall to crosstie (Right next to the stall) I'll just lead by the halter (Very unsafe and a no no, right :rofl:). There's also putting a girth on starting at a certain side. I just put the girth on whichever side is closest first. (But I'm also using a girth with elastic on both sides)

What "rules" do you guys break from time to time?
~Stormy
 
#78 ·
That's it in a nutshell, generally speaking.

My horses have been with me since "Moby **** Was A Minnow", lollol

I break so many rules with them, I would be a really poor example of what to do around a horse, lol

This morning, I was vacuuming mud off my oneriest horse, that is 16.1H (I'm 5'2"). I went to his tail head, then down to his hocks before I remembered to say "pay attention". He just stood there but it reminded me how very complacent I have become.

I wonder if I could remember all The Rules, if I brought a new horse home; especially if that horse needed some manners instilled back in him. I'd sure hate to get my head kicked in --- I've already got two concussions on the score card and only one was somewhat horse related:D
 
#3 ·
Those little safety tips are there so that inexperienced horse people don't get hurt. Of course they are still good ideas, but a total beginner who didn't have the reflexes or timing, or wasn't used to horses, would get their fingers taken off if they didn't give treats on flat hands...For example.

I also don't always feed from a flat hand. Just depends.

I also lead by the halter sometimes. With little Selena, I just unsaddle her by the arena and let her loose. She puts herself back in her stall.

Not walking behind horses - Shoot, it'd be really hard to get anywhere if I didn't occasionally go behind one. All of mine fear their lives over kicking me anyway. All comes with being savvy, if you let the horse know you're there they probably won't kick at you.

Picking out feet before riding. I usually do, but if I get in a hurry I'll leave them. The arena sand cleans them out well enough after a few minutes anyway.
 
#4 ·
Those little safety tips are there so that inexperienced horse people don't get hurt. Of course they are still good ideas, but a total beginner who didn't have the reflexes or timing, or wasn't used to horses, would get their fingers taken off if they didn't give treats on flat hands...For example.
Yeah, I told my friend to feed the pony with a flat hand and she just said "But YOU'RE not!".

Not walking behind horses - Shoot, it'd be really hard to get anywhere if I didn't occasionally go behind one. All of mine fear their lives over kicking me anyway. All comes with being savvy, if you let the horse know you're there they probably won't kick at you.
My mom laughs because I always say something like "I'm behind you Brandy" when I'm behind her. She wouldn't kick me, she's been a lesson horse for too long to do that.
 
#9 ·
Let's see.
Broken rule:
The "no yelling in the barn" rule.
Why:
We don't board, we have our own barn, so we don't have to worry about spooking other people's horses, and I want my horses to hear people yell so they won't be scared of yelling.
Broken rule: "Do everything from the left side."
Why: It's a stupid rule with no rhyme or reason.
Broken rule: Don't walk behind a horse at all.
Why: I'm lazy.
Broken rule: "No running in the barn."
Why: I want my horses to not be afraid of me running.
 
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#10 ·
Oh, and the "Don't lead with a halter" rule. I broke that one yesterday while I was ground driving Mav. He had a rope halter on under his bridle and I led him by the halter briefly.

I also make a point of saddling Maverick from whatever side is most convenient. :P
I do mountDixie and Pistol from only the left side though because that's how they're trained. But I am working with Mav on both sides
 
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#11 ·
I agree the doing everything from the left was not really made with real purpose in mind, however I do have to say that after growing up doing it that way - It is just natural. My left leg is more flexible than my right, so when I'm getting on something big (I'm short) I flat out can't get on from the right side. Just can't. Not gonna happen.

A well broke horse won't care though. They don't give a hoot what side you're on if somebody actually started them right.
 
#26 ·
I have been told the rule came from when men would have to mount from the right because of the side their swordsheaths were kept on in war. It was easier for them to get on from the right, so in war everyone got on the right. Then someone created the superstition "right means war, left means peace" and I guess you support war if you get on the right? That's what I was told it was anyway.
 
#23 ·
If the horse decides to spook or bolt or something, your arm is going with it. AND if you let go before you're arm gets yanked out of it's socket, then you can't control the horse and must catch it again. (Not as big an issue as the arm thing, but if the barn is crowded or at it show it may not go well)
 
#18 ·
Mounting on the left is ALL because of soldiers, who were mostly right handed, and needed to mount a horse withOUT stirrups, and, at the same time, keep their scabbard on the LEFT hand side, going back to Roman times. That is the ONLY reason and then tradition, etc. Think about it, and it makes sense.
But, with lessons, you GOTTA start somewhere, and so we do. I mount on the right and lead on the right.
I won't ride in shorts, EVER!!! I value my 20 something looking legs, pretty much covered up for four decades, to risk rubbing them raw! =b
 
#20 ·
Oh gosh I am probably the queen of breaking rules. I have a few "green" friends that I bring to the barn occasionally, and allow them to plunk around on my super quiet gentle giant; I always tell them "do as I say, not as I do" haha.

(just note that I only 'break the rules' with my own horses, never with others)
- I use the fence to get on my horses, rather than a true mounting block.
- I don't feed treats with a flat hand
- I don't let me horses know when I am walking behind them
- I run in the barn, of course only if no body else has their horse outside the stall in the barn
- I don't always halter my horses to bring them inside, sometimes I lead them by the halter, or simply put the lead around their neck and use that to lead. I know, bad habit.
- I've worn sandals in the barn more than once :oops:
- I ride in shorts during the summer
- I don't always tie my larger mare to groom/tack up (pony yes, but she has a hidden agenda)
- If I am dealing with my larger mare and have her tied, I go under her neck to get from side to side, she's a moose and I don't always feel like walking around her because of this

There's likely loads more 'rules' that I break. Again, "Do as I say, not as I do" :lol:
 
#22 ·
I don't even have a set of rules with my own horse. I duck under his neck, walk behind him, approach him from behind. I've known him for so many years and we read each other so well that it's just kinda natural.

I go by the books a lot more when I'm handling a horse I don't know well.
 
#24 ·
Until I get to know a horse, I am pretty much by the book as well (other than the left side thing).
With my own horses, I lead them by the halter, by a chunk of mane, I walk behind them, I pull their tails to back them up a step, I cross under their neck, I pick up an off side hoof from under them, I go out in whatever shoes I have on, I feed treats from my fingers or a fist. They get stuff tossed over their backs, they get scratches with the broom or rake. I even leave gates open momentarily because I have taught them not to pass through before me. I let one horse run around loose in the riding arena while I ride the other.
Again, only with my own horses.
 
#29 ·
Like others, I tend to only break rules with MY horse whom I trust not to kill me.

At my previous barn, the owner had a sign posted, "No Smoking in the Barn" and included it in your contract that you signed for lessons or boarding. At the same time she was lighting up a cigarette every 10 minutes IN THE BARN and even had a table set up with ashtrays for her and other smokers. Countless times I watched her tacking up a horse with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.:neutral:
 
#31 ·
Walking under crossties- I will walk under any lead they're tied from, sometimes I will go under the horse if I need to.
I also feed treats with my fingers- I know how quickly they try to scoop it up and I'm always aware of that.
I walk around the bum without a hand on it too.
I also mount/dismount from whatever side suits me that day.
I sit on the floor of the barn while one is loose to roam.
I sit on the ground to wrap polos (OH GOD)
I read in the pile of hay while they eat.
I'll lay in the water trough in the summer, and drink from it too.
I eat salt lick
I apply lots of goo with my hands.
I purposefully drop loud big things in the barn to see what their reaction will be - now they don't flinch at any loud bang.
I sometimes spray them with a hose in the barn, sacrificing a lightbulb one night that exploded (never trying that again)
I regularly sit backwards bareback on the horses in the pasture to read over their butts, going wherever they go.
I do loads of stuff that could get me killed- the way I see it is if some freak accident kills me, so be it. I'm going to enjoy my horse.
I've also sat on a 2100 pound stallion yarding wood by himself when I was four. He was my absolute favourite horse.
 
#43 ·
I purposefully drop loud big things in the barn to see what their reaction will be - now they don't flinch at any loud bang.
This reminds me of something the guy I do horselogging with did/does only with saplings/branches

Because when you're in the woods sometimes things come whipping around when you're a horse that just pushed past them, which one time resulted in a sapling whipping the back of one - which promptly set him charging forward.

So the rest of the day the horse got many a deliberate smack with a sapling until learning that just because something strikes your bum doesn't mean you get to charge forward at full speed.


Kid gloves with animals are certainly important in the early days of getting to know them and them you, but I think that people create more problems than they solve by not allowing an animal to experience different things and learning that these new things are not scary. Granted it often takes time to teach that, but the bonus is a horse (or any other animal) that can live within an environment without one having to worry that anything could set them off.
 
#33 ·
I have probably broken them all at some point. Leading a horse by just the halter? I was recently reprimanded for bringing a horse in from the back paddock with NO halter. So now I halter her and throw the lead rope over her back. The BO hasn't caught me bringing the others in without a halter, at least not yet. I do teach beginners all the safety rules though. It's better to know them and break them than not know them at all
 
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