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Strangest things people have tried to convince you about your horse?

11K views 92 replies 65 participants last post by  Corporal 
#1 · (Edited)
I was curious about the strangest/dumbest thing or things people have tried to convince you about your horse. I feel like this would make for some interesting stories... :lol: I don't have any right this moment but I'm sure to think of some when I read other stories. I'm looking forward to your replies!
 
#60 ·
Oh dear... Well, owning an OTTB with a quirky personality and riding english in a community full of barrel racers is interesting to say the least. I've heard all kinds of things...

Thoroughbreds never make good pleasure horses because they will never forget their racing careers and will always be crazy.
Thoroughbreds are known for bullying other horses.
All thoroughbreds have horrible hooves, they will never be able to go barefoot, and to even attempt it is cruelty.
A bridle with a nose band is torture for a horse.
Snaffle bits break horse's teeth.
Natural horsemanship means you ride only in a western saddle with a hackamore or a side pull.

I've learned to just smile and nod when people feel the need to share their infinite wisdom with me. How did I ever end up with such a sweet, loyal, happy, healthy horse without all of their keen advice?! :lol:
 
#62 ·
Beautiful horse picup! Every time I think I've heard it all, someone else blows my theory right out of the water. I bought a mare with a two day old colt by her side about 5 years ago. About a month later a guy delivered a load of hay, and asked me if I threw the colt on the ground when he was three days old. When I said no, why? he looked me in the eye and dead serious said;"If you throw them on the ground when they are 3 days old, they'll never buck with you when you break them." I still wish I had a picture of the look on my face, I imagine I hid my amazment very well.
Then I had a neighbor who had just "rescued" a horse tell me about her latest find. She informed me that the horse was blind in one eye and had surgery at the University of Kentucky and had a glass eye. I didn't think much of that until her husband chimed in and swore up and down that the filly could see out of that eye. In amazement I went over to see their new bionic horse, only to find a scawny little paint standing in the field. The only pretty thing about her was the blue eye she had.
 
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#63 ·
I've been told that my horse is too fat by an owner of an overweight trotter. She failed to notice, though, that my gelding is a light draft and is not supposed to be as narrow and lean as her horse should be, so I was given advice on how I should cut on his feed.

Also, when I just bought my gelding and was a first-time owner, the BM of the barn where he lived helpfully gave me a tip never to spend more than three hours a day with him. Why? Well, apparently horses become too attached to humans if so much time is spent with them and become "wild, dangerous and uncontrollable", if so. :D

I was also "taught" that horses can be given only very small amounts of carrots or a rare apple, but no other vegetables or fruits at all, as any of them bloat horses up and induce colic.
 
#66 ·
A lot of people try to be kind and tell me my personal riding horse is not that ugly. I love my horse, we are a fantastic team, and I wouldn't trade him for the world, but call a spade a spade - he is ugly...
 
#67 ·
This lady told me he'd mount me, and that he had tried to mount her! (I had just gotten him). Watching the two interact beforehand, it wasn't him trying to mount- it was him being a ****** and her running away from him, which didn't make my task any easier :/ but, he turned into a good horsey (a push over, really). She also claimed he was a stud (quite obviously gelding) after initially telling me he was a pregnant mare and moody. This, by the way, was all said in the same day.

Oi.
 
#68 ·
My friend was trailering home her big ol, gray warmblood gelding from a clinic and picked up 2 gray 10hh rescue ponies. Stopped at a gas station and this lady rushes her kids over and goes "Look kids, this is a very, very rare thing to see. It's a Mommy horse with TWIN babies"!

My friend tells her, Actually that's a gelding and those are ponies. The Lady goes "I know!! See kids, ponies are baby horses and their Mommy is a Gelding, that's why she had TWINS".

Ooooooook! Wonder how long before my gelding gives birth to twins?
 
#69 ·
Ooooooook! Wonder how long before my gelding gives birth to twins?
I know a gelding that used to look like he was going to have twins. He boarded at a stable I worked at and we all seriously thought he was a pregnant mare when he first got there. One of my friends actually asked the owner (who is now one of my best friends) when her mare was due. The owner said "Ummmmm...my horse is a gelding."
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#71 ·
Not about my horse, but about me: One woman I board with thinks I'm so abusive that she refuses to ride where I am. Why? Because I smack my horse when she cops her Abbytude. She has called my BO several times regarding this, who then called me and we laughed it off. I think it's hilarious and would love to tell her she's more than welcome to ride my mare, who more than knows her manners and training, but will let you know how much she doesn't want to do something.
 
#74 ·
not about my horse, but about horses.......

on our way to a show once, our trailer got a flat tire. we had my liver chestnut, my friends sorrel and a big chestnut/flaxen. there was a woman who came out of the gas station we stopped at, who threw her hands up and thanked the lord these big beautiful blessed creature came to visit her today! Amen amen holy Jesus, but where is the white one? she asked. apparently, all horses must travel with a white horse, to keep them safe.....

she was very upset. And she was so sweet, she sat with us while we waited for the shop truck to come with our new tire, fed them apples and talked with us about horses and dogs and "kreeters". but we ended up telling her there was a white horse where we were going, and we'd be ok :) she took a couple pictures of us and the horses an her with the horses and then we all went on our way :)
 
#75 ·
strangles- two days after her stable mate died windsongs face was vary baddly swollen and she reared uo and spun away when i reached up to pet her forhead, swelling went down then a few weeks later it was swollen agine one gal wouldnt back off she has strangles -saddly my horses paid the price becuse a young gal that wanted to help improve horses lives ****** a lot off ppl off and the horse that died is the one i let her ride.
 
#76 ·
Okay a long time ago i went to look at a horse advertised as a Norwegian fiord, and it turns out it was a little black/dark bay mustang with its hair cut short so it stood up like a Norwegian fiord's, and these people sold/trained/traded horses for a living! I could not believe it, but i did trade because he was a good little horse.
 
#77 ·
My neighbors called animal control on me because my horses had a few flies buzzing around their face...they had flymasks on and the yard was clean... they were laughed at and asked not to file another complaint about us again.

Someone at my barn tried to tell me not to groom my horse or spend extra time with her that isn't work because "that's not how the cowboys did it". So therefore, it's completely unnecessary and it makes me a "horsemanship rookie"... even though I've been a successful horse owner for years. Also told me not to kiss my horse on the nose because she could swing her head up and knock my teeth out... ok... that's just as silly as saying you shouldn't ride because you could potentially fall off and break a bone. >_>
 
#78 ·
Haha anyone who sees me riding my horse for the first time says:

'Oh he looks so worried' �� and I just say 'so he should be' (some think I'm serious!)

He's not! He has a tendency to fiddle with the shanks on the bit and try to grab the reins while he's resting, so I put a nose band on him, so the fall out from that is he wiggles his top lip all the time and it gets exacerbated if I happen to be getting after him a little...doesn't help that he has one beady wild looking eye either!

So now, after all that, the next question was 'oh you have a nose band on him, does he gape his mouth?' �� My reply: 'never'! And I don't even bother explaining about the fiddling mouth, he's into everything. I give up��
 
#79 ·
One time I had a lady vet out and she had this big guy that worked with her, like a bouncer, grab my gelding by the ear when she was going to check his teeth. Keep in mind this was my first horse and he was dead broke and lazy and never gave anyone a lick of trouble.

I told her that isn't necessary and she said "how do you usually restrain him?" And I replied "With a halter."

That still irks me to this day. Why would someone go grab a horse by the ear for no reason when the horse was standing politely? :evil:
 
#81 ·
I told her that isn't necessary and she said "how do you usually restrain him?" And I replied "With a halter." :
As Sheldon (from The Big Bang Theory) would say...Bazinga!
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#80 · (Edited)
This isn't about my horse, but my friend kept trying to argue with me. They said that they'd seen an albino horse and I stated albinism has never been found in horses. "It was so, I saw it. It had pink eyes" After a couple minutes of arguing I gave up. And today at dinner she piped up "You know there are only 3 horses in the world with green eyes?" "Uh no, there are hundreds." "Uh no, my friend told me there's only 3" Then when I tried to explain the pearl gene, she shrugged me off like I was crazy. COME ON.
 
#82 ·
Let's see, some of my favorites:
~ you can't post in a western saddle

~ Odie isn't a true Quarter Horse because he's a buckskin

~ A friends chunk-a-lunk halter horse was a perfect example of what a huntseat horse should look like.

~ A horse couldn't collect & use his a** end because he had an issue with his neck.

~ When a horse is resting their leg, that means they are going to kick you.

~ Cross ties are only for untrained horses.

~ It's not safe to lunge when the horse is tacked up.

Those are the only ones I can think of right now
 
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#83 ·
When Poco was still a stallion I was boarding him and it was farrier day. We brought all 7 horses in the barn (him, 2 geldings, and 4 mares). Poco was the last horse to be done and had eaten quietly in his stall the entire time with mares all around.

The farrier finished 2 of his hooves and was mid discussion picking up the back hoof when he looked up and realized Poco was a stud. He dropped the hoof, JUMPED AWAY, and demanded I put him on a war bridle, stud chain, or twitch. He also demanded all other horses were taken out of the barn and told me his fee was doubled since it was a stallion. Because all stallions are immensely dangerous and untrustworthy. Mind you Poco stood quietly and half asleep the entire time and never moved an inch.

The farrier was fired on the spot.
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#84 · (Edited)
I've got one woman at my barn that takes everything her riding instuctor (who is a class act herself!) says and spews it back out.

To this day, she has said that Friesians are only good for driving a cart, and that none of them should do dressage.

She leases a 20 year old warmblood mare, and talked about buying a younger (10ish) warmblood someday, but complained that the price would be around $16,000. I'm in dressage training with my tall quarter horse mare. She had the audacity to say to my face something like, "Well, I wish I could find a cheap quarter horse, that moved correctly, to buy up and do dressage. But they only do well in the lower levels anyway."

My mare was shown extensively by her previous owner (a woman in her late 20's, so it wasn't 4H or anything), and has won the title of Champion Western Pleasure mare many a time. She had lots of trophies and pictures to prove it. AND she can walk off the lot and go down the road without freaking out! Something that her warmblood can't even contemplate. This same woman keeps trying to say that my mare must be an appendix quarter horse, since she's so tall. I practically have to shove her papers in front of her to show that she's foundation bred, throughout the entire line.
Oh well! To each their own, I guess.

I also visited with the barn owner about bringing another horse to board. They asked what breed, and I said, "Saddlebred." They looked worried and said, "Saddlebred! I've heard they're pretty hot!" I couldn't help it! I busted out laughing! Yeah, George is hot alright! About as hot as a firefly fart lit up by a candle! LOL!
 
#85 ·
I was riding a horse at a barn up the road that some friends had just got. They were Mexican, and they had the authentic saddle and bridle. The horse had been worked quite a bit that day so I walked him a few laps before having a go at trotting and cantering. When I was started trotting I started to post, and I got some strange looks. I actually heard the BO explaining to the horse's owner what I was doing. I honestly think the horse would have given me the same look if it could have! But the saddle had a huge horn, about the size of a dinner plate, and I occasionally hit my pelvis on it and that was not pleasant. The BO and I were the only two who actually got the horse to trot, everyone else cowboy'd it into a bouncy walk. That horse definitely had some trot, so I opted for posting.
 
#86 ·
Massage therapist told me that Ronan has lots of toxins in his system, and she knew this based on her hands being filthy after the massage. Um. No, he just hasn't been on the business end if a hose lately.... And if there were toxins, probably from the gallons of fly spray I use on Mr Sensitive.
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#87 ·
I had a woman tell me that my horse who was standing still was going to kick because his hind end was "engaged".

I had a dressage instructor when I was 16 tell me that if I wanted a career in horses I was going to have to get more serious about my riding. Which to her meant less goofing off, going on trails or jumping and riding more then three days a week. That was the last lesson I ever had with her. A career in horses was the last thing my parents wanted. I split the difference and cowboyed for a few years.

I had someone tell me that my steady eddy trail horse was "dangerous" and "going to kill someone" and that we should sell her to the next person who marched down the road.
 
#88 ·
My horse has a really straight shoulder and her scapula is set a little further back than most horses, so her saddle is a little further back. If it was in the "normal" spot it would be right on top of her shoulder. I can't tell you how many people have TOLD me (not politely mentioned or asked about) that it is too far back.
 
#89 ·
without fail, every time i tell someone that my horse doesn't like apples they try to feed him an apple. and every time he will either not take it or will mouth a piece and then spit it out. somehow *I* am the crazy one as "every horse ever loves apples!" and no.

but of course, a barn owner/manager will always know more about my horses than i do even though i've had them for 9, 7 and 2 years (the last being a coming 3 year old) so clearly i shouldn't be making any management decisions on my own as to their care. I'VE HAD THEM AT HOME UP UNTIL THE LAST 4-6 MONTHS. oye - i think i know how to care for them. *headdesk*
 
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