Well, a friend is a bit different than some random barn-mate, even if said barn-mate did used to lease the horse.
You know your friend better than we do, and every friendship is different. But personally, yeah I’d have been pissed if a friend had done that.
I had a friend snip some of my Old Man Horse’s tail for a gift.
She was nervous as a cat as I opened the gift because she knew it could go either way…
I certainly did not go Scorched Earth! I approached Susie and said “Hey Susie, while I appreciate you trying to make things easier for me by pulling Dobbin’s mane, please run these things by me in the future. I kept Dobbin’s mane at that length for braiding.”
Yes, hair grows back. Yes I was FUMING I saw it! But cooler heads prevail, so I waited a few days to say something to Susie. Susie’s response told me she totally lost the plot!
BO is a “Keep The Peace” lady and I recognize she was just trying to diffuse the situation. I won’t be moving over this but sure won’t be loaning Dobbin out to Susie anymore!!
That is a lovely gift and TOTALLY different!! What a nice friend you are.
then you have my internet stranger blessing and she’s just an a$$.
Suzie sounds young, hopefully she will learn that she just cut her nose off…
BO being conflict adverse can totally work in your favor. Tell her no one is to mess with Dobbin or she’ll hear from you. She will watch Dobbin like a hawk for interlopers.
Manes don’t get magically pulled. The horse had to be handled to do it. Either a fellow boarder has permission to handle the horse or doesn’t. That’s the line that was crossed. Excusable for emergency first-aid, or perhaps bringing in from turnout in seriously and suddenly inclement weather. Period. UNLESS there is an understanding.
Co-op/DIY barns are slightly different. Where I’m at currently, we all help with bringing in if we are handy, but beyond that, y’all better have a really good reason for opening a stall door, let alone handling someone else’s horse. It just isn’t done.
Hell, everyone knows my mare is allowed free reign in the “candy shop” but everyone, everyone, asks, “Can she have a mint?” before they give her one. It’s common courtesy.
Twice I have been to shows where they had “build a sundae” bar for your horse, both times the carrots were cut wrong, I was wondering if that wasn’t a ‘thing’ any more. I’ve always cut into sticks, NEVER EVER rounds.
I don’t cut into rounds or sticks. I let the horse take a bite as he sees fit. Some horses will take the whole thing. They know what to do. Never had a choke.
This makes sense, now that you say it, but that is my first time hearing that as a “rule.” I guess it depends a bit on the diameter of the carrot too.
I am another person who has never heard of the carrot cutting rule.
Me too. Although why cut it too much to give a large animal? I usually just let them take it as they want… or break it in 1/2 for little ones.
It’s more like another parent cutting your kid’s hair!
Yes, a mane will grown back – in MONTHS. Or maybe not at all. I have known that to happen. I would not have been so even keeled. You simply do not treat another person’s horse as though it were your own. But as you suggested, you do you.
My idiot, er, horse, choked on 1/4 of a very small pear. Another time on a half a handful of pellets. Literally half of a single handful. She is not allowed any fruit/veg that isn’t smashed to smithereens and no feed that isn’t soaked. It can happen, it’s just that it mostly doesn’t happen. As to the way they’re cut, I think that’s a load of bunk, I would no more trust my beast not to get a long skinny piece of carrot lodged edgewise than I’d trust her to not get a round stuck. The piece of pear she choked on was a long narrow piece.
I had a BO very similar to this, and she pretty much thought of herself as a vet and kept trying to “diagnose” my horses with nonexistent ailments, telling me they were severely underweight and needed massive amounts of grain even though three different vets confirmed they were both at their optimum weights, and called me to come out quick because one of my horses was “acting extremely ill”, but when I left work to go check out the situation, my horse was grazing and acting completely normal. She kept trying to bully me into veterinary decisions and with her obsession with playing “vet” with her own horses as well as the horses that belonged to the couple of boarders who trusted her, I was afraid she would do something to really make my horses sick and got them out of there ASAP. The entire situation was very weird and creepy!
I must also live under a rock. 50+ years on this planet and never heard of it either.
Another rock dweller here. Nor have I ever even seen a 2" long mane. (I know, I know, let it go).
My pet peeve is people who just stroll through the barn feeding everything. I just do not understand the obsession. Do they tie their toddlers to their strollers and stuff them with M&M’s?
A former student (fired for another reason) fed my mare with a 6wk old foal carrots. I had just caught her and asked her not to. Foal nursed and colicked within the hour. As most of you know, when a foal starts fading things can go bad quickly. Of course it was a scorching 4th of July and all the good vets were out of town. I managed with a tube of Pepto Bismol paste (good to have on hand) and wrestling skills. Please do not feed other people’s horses!
As already clarified there was no “complete loss of one’s $h!t”
One should never “groom” or frankly do anything to another’s horse without prior permission. It doesn’t matter why the owner doesn’t want the horse’s mane pulled and it doesn’t matter that it will grow back eventually. No explanation is needed and no need to tiptoe around it. A direct and firm “Do not touch my horse again” is warranted, modulated as desired by the speaker. Clearly from the response received, the culprit didn’t feel cowed in any way.
Missy Manepuller needs to keep her hands off other people’s horses.
When someone handles a horse; putting them in cross ties, leading on a paved aisle,… Much can go wrong
A barn that doesn’t recognize and even excuses that risk isn’t for me.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
