Top Ten Ways to Ruin a Good Horse

[snickers]

1. Let all of your friends ride him unsupervised- You wouldn't let an
untrained driver drive your car would you? Rough hands and mixed
signals can cause a horse to become frustrated and eventually start
misbehaving.

2. Put the wrong saddle on him-Have you ever had a pair of shoes
that didn't fit? Hurts doesn't it. Did you know that not all saddles fit all
horses? If there are any pressure points on his back, that is going to hurt
REALLY bad after awhile. Be sure to get your saddles fitted properly to
your horse for the most comfort.

3. Use the wrong bit- When you go to the tack store, have you ever
wondered WHY there are hundreds of bits to chose from? Different bits
have different controls depending on how the horse was trained and what
you are using him for, the wrong bit can be very uncomfortable, painful
and even useless for what you want to do.

4. Always blame the horse for the problem-Was the horse nice when
you bought him and now he is REALLY bad? Horses don't just become
bad on their own. A Horse will always act like a horse is supposed to act
when reacting to inexperienced handling. We have seen horses go from
good to bad in as soon as a week to a month with improper handling.
After having your horse evaluated by a good equine vet to make sure
there are no pain issues. Go and see a very good trainer or instructor
and ask them to evaluate you, your tack and your horse. You may be
surprised at what they find. Don't be surprised (or offended!) if it turns
out to be rider error. If your horse behaves perfectly for the trainer, then
it is you, and/or your tack, period. If your horse misbehaves for the
trainer, then you may want to consider sending him to one for a short
refresher course.

5. Never discipline him-Horses will test their riders, if you don't
discipline him immediately when he acts up you are telling him that it is
OK to be bad. Take lessons with a good instructor and learn how and
when to discipline your horse when he misbehaves. It is your
responsibility as a horse owner to make sure that your horse has good
manners.

6. Make excuses for his bad behavior-"He is young, that is why he
bites and kicks". "He had a bad experience in the trailer, that is why he
doesn't like getting in one" "I shouldn't of brushed my hair out of my eyes,
or he wouldn't have bucked me off" There are no excuses for this. Why
do you see other more experienced people NEVER having these types of
problems? Because they don't make excuses. They deal with the issues
until they are no longer issues and if they can't do it then they find
someone who can.

7. Stop learning - "Where education ends, abuse begins" One of the
things we tell all of our students is the more you learn about horses the
more you realize that you don't know. Most beginners think there are
about ten things to learn about horses, most advanced horse people
know there are about ten thousand things to know. Getting to that point
is one of the biggest break throughs that students have when it comes to
learning. It can be very humbling. Keep listening and learning, nobody
learns anything when they think they know it all.

8. Don't fix a horse that startles easily- One of our students notices
that the same horses seem to get hurt over and over again at the vet
clinic she works at. Horses that "become unglued" at every little thing can
become a walking vet bill, constantly hurting themselves. Spending some
time truly "bomb proofing" your horse and training him to think first rather
then react can be one of the biggest money savers you ever do.

9. Buy a horse that is too young, too well trained or not trained
enough for your skill level -One of our students said "Green on green
equals black and blue" A green (untrained) rider on a green horse will
not work. 100% of the time you will ruin the horse for life! That is one of
the biggest reasons why we see people who don't do anything with their
horses. Don't buy a young horse to "grow up" with your children. If you
are untrained you need to find a horse that has years and years of
experience and will tolerate and forgive your mistakes as a beginner.
Spending too much on a horse that is too well trained can be bad to. A
well trained horse will not tolerate a beginner who asks him to do ten
different things at once. They will become confused and eventually they
will just stop working. Never do the above two things unless you are
working diligently with a qualified trainer/instructor. Not spending enough
money on a horse or not getting help finding your first horse. You can
find low cost horses that are good, but there is a difference between a fair
price and a too good to be true price. It is a difference between a $300
car and a $2,000 car. Both are inexpensive, but which one do you think
you will have the most trouble with? Which one will need more repairs
and won't be reliable. And if you didn't know anything about cars, would
you just go out and buy one without bringing someone with you who knew
about them?

10. Think that reading books and websites are enough- You
wouldn't read a book on cutting hair and then go out and open a salon.
Book reading and studying are great, but it needs to go hand in hand with
hands on experience. Don't undervalue the benefits and savings that just
a few hours with a good trainer can make.

[mymaxx]

Good advise.

[Sunlei]

This is a great topic! Thank you for posting this info.

[gbarmranch]

Excellent thread Snickers...

[ToveroMom]

Well said

[Crookedblaze]

Great advice! I should forward that to a few horse people that I know, they will love it.

[walkerfarms]

Originally Posted by ToveroMom

Well said

I like your avatar,I mean I really like it

[Bandit]

You forgot #11. To treat a horse like a pet dog.

[snickers]

Originally Posted by Bandit

You forgot #11. To treat a horse like a pet dog.

Thanks.
Its good advice.

[HighHorse]

#12 Never assume that just because she's a gorgeous knockout of a filly that she won't actually knock you out...

What a great thread, Snickers. Every one is 100% true and should be told to all beginners. Even those of us who were in the saddle before we could walk still have a lot to learn! A trainer ( or fellow experienced horse person) is a wonderful resource, because a second set of eyes never hurts.

[BarnBum]

Originally Posted by ToveroMom

Well said

Ditto !!

Originally Posted by walkerfarms

I like your avatar,I mean I really like it

Me too !!!

[Slim Pikkens]

#12 Don't soothe your horse like a toddler as it's inappropriate for a horse and it doesn't understand your words. These horses soon learn it's ok to kick and bite.
#13 Don't buy a horse with the idea if you give it lots of loving it will come to love you-wrong!

[zippinalong]

how about the "never had a horse but want to use natural horsemanship techniques" and be my own "horse whisperer" in the next top ten. I also like "I have no background in horses but found a pretty colored stud colt and will only charge $50.00 to breed your never handled,badly conformed grade mare to pasture breed." That will inevitably be followed by the "yearling who is still not weaned or halter broke...we plan to use the "7 games" of Parelli" before the next killer buyer auction." I personally like the folks who plan to show BREED show classes like WP or HUS using only their videos and clicker training to win that world title.

[hunterjumpertrainer]

Very good advice,these are most certainly the rules to live by!

[sli92]

"I shouldn't of brushed my hair out of my eyes,
or he wouldn't have bucked me off"

HAHAHA very well said

I am with zippinalong on the "had no experience with horses yet natural horsemanship cures everything right?" people. They give good natural horseman's and their students a bad name.

as for the dog=horse thing... My horse does often get treated like a dog. He comes when called for treats, he follows me around like a dog, he plays with the farm dogs, he does some tricks that i would teach dogs... but not in the sense that he doesnt understand he could hurt someone.

how about this one
15. thats a gorgeous yearling, lets put my 5y/o kid on it without a helmet and walk and trot around.

[cameo05]

Oh these are soooooooooooooooooo true and I have heard them so much lately......... When will people learn......... Oh gawd these are good.......

[A J]

Very true. Too bad most who really need to hear it probably won't listen anyways

[sli92]

Originally Posted by A J

Very true. Too bad most who really need to hear it probably won't listen anyways

probably the most truthful statement I have ever heard

[lady dumpling]

Good article Snickers Thanks

[wollenberg6]

It makes horse selling so hard, because horses are smart enough to understand if you know how to handle/ride them or not. We train horses to sell, and even if they have never done a thing wrong, one week in the wrong hands takes an eternity to fix. Nice thread snickers!