Boarding Woes/VENT

[sascha]

@trubandloki

And the bottom line is, anyone in a barn aisle with a unique item (skateboard, scooter, wheel chair, a new wheelbarrow, etc.) needs to pay attention to what is going on around them.

Huh, I see that totally differently. Having experienced a dramatic decline in a barn owner from healthy to frail to visiting her barn by specially arranged ambulance, it was OUR responsibility to keep her safe when she was frail, then using a walker, etc. Fellow boarder with a knee scooter - also our responsibility to keep her safe.

At the barn I’m at now there is one boarder in a wheelchair. The place does not “cater to people with disabilities” so it comes down to respect and courtesy and taking care of people who are less agile than the rest of us are. It’s OUR responsibility to get our horses good and bloody “chair broke” to keep everyone safe including our horses.

@trubandloki

the horse vacuum causes her to freak out and smash into walls. Everyone knows this about her. So, if you (general) plan to vacuum they do it in the cross ties not near her or do it when she is outside.

My horse was totally/can still be this way about clippers. Do I expect others to stop their grooming to cater to my precious little princess? No, my damn horse isn’t 100% clipper broke so if she can’t keep her shit together I remove her from the situation and go tack up/groom elsewhere.

[SpicyPRE]

@endlessclimb

Because her requests (+ a bathroom, unrelated) are due to inability to desensitize and lead. Instead, she’d rather imply the BOs are crappy, and the other boarders are crappy.

@endlessclimb

The implication about the BOs being negligent was abundantly clear, all the way down an insurance company attempting to sue them for it.

Well the assumptions continue. And assuming that 1. the barn where I was injured had the kid skateboarding regularly is not true. 2. That I am poor horse handler - again not true. 3. That the insurance company “attempted” to sue - not true. The insurance company was successful.

Why I am so triggering for you? And why are you blaming me for getting hurt?

[Jealoushe]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

Honestly, the average adult just wants to come to the barn and ride, not engage in “desensitizing” and crazy hijinks every day after work.

YES. THIS.

I would be on the brave scale of the riding end, not the bravest but braver than most. I don’t mind noise and things going on, but I also want a heads up. I want to be able to know what I am dealing with. What to be prepared for.

Sometimes at the end of the day when I’m tired and not all there mentally, I don’t want to deal with any drama.

Like this time of year I can only really ride outside on weekends due to light. So I always try and ride outside on the weekend to get out of the arena. Sunday my neighbour who is always doing stuff was doing a LOT of stuff. Big burn pile, dragging logs with a tractor, chain saw, dogs running barking. Rode one horse who was good then decided I woudn’t bother with my second ride outside because I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with any drama. She’s a seasoned show horse at this point, ex race horse and seen it all, but still.

There might not have even been any drama, and I could have handled it fine, but I didn’t want to put my horse in the situation where she would have to be forced to work with 8000 distractions and a circus going on next door. I’m also aware that getting injured is serious and not to be taken lightly when you are a single woman who supports herself and needs to work. Gotta make smart choices for myself.

[Angela_Freda]

@fordtraktor

Another thought about this…I think my main complaint is people who come to a barn knowing what the program is, how it is run, and then coming and expecting the program to change based on their preferences—and complaining when it runs like they were told it would. It’s like selling someone Product A, then having them complain to all and sundry because it isn’t Product B. Well no, it’s Product A!

Exactly.

And as stated, the converse of a barn who says at the tour that they have rules but when you get there you find they really don’t is also problematic.
.

[Angela_Freda]

If a person in a wheelchair came silently past the indoor doors, I’m sure many horses, especially those engrossed in their work, might be startled to some degree by it, even if they’d seen it before or often.

[Casey09]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

Honestly, the average adult just wants to come to the barn and ride, not engage in “desensitizing” and crazy hijinks every day after work.

I think that this is hugely true. Most of the clientele is adult amateurs, and so I’m sure that oftentimes, they’re horse handling skills are not perfect and a professional can get the horse to behave better in more situations than the owner. I’m sure that’s true of my own horse. Most of us are never going to be as good as someone who does this stuff everyday all day, or someone gifted with it enough to become a pro. Part of making this work is buying a horse that is less reactive than many “pro” horses are. Another part is teaching owners how to handle their horses in different situations. The final part I think is adjusting to the idea that sometimes people who are less skilled need to do things differently to stay within their capabilities. If there’s a lot of construction equipment at the barn, my trainer might ride my horse in the outdoor and do fine. Is that within my skill set? Maybe not. I’d probably start out on the lunge line to gauge the horse’s reaction.
I also think this is why it can be helpful to use the barn’s trainer. In that way, you can get some help desensitizing to whatever unique distractions that particular barn. That allows you to come up with a plan with the barn. I know that may not be for everyone, but aside from the difficulty of getting into a barn without using the trainer, I find it to be a benefit in terms of dealing with whatever you encounter (you can ask for help, at least).
I do think there’s a huge difference in my mind between dealing with dogs on a neighboring property and at the barn. I would also agree that I would think horses would be more likely to have a bad reaction to a skateboard than to a wheelchair or a knee scooter, mostly because of speed. In the barn aisle, it seems like most things don’t move all that fast. I don’t think people at my barn would react well to, say, running in the barn aisle. A skateboard is going to move at a faster pace. Most barns don’t really seem to encourage running in the aisle either.

I think that safety is everyone’s responsibility. I’m not going to put my horse in a position where he can trample or kick someone in a wheelchair. However, if I were using one and I started to come down the barn aisle and saw a horse getting ready to bolt or rear in the cross ties, I’d sure move out of the area until
the handler could get the horse settled down and moved into a stall or pasture to desensitize to the wheelchair. Everyone has to work together toward the ultimate goal of everyone staying as safe as possible around horses.

[atlatl]

@sascha

So how does everyone who gets bent out of shape about a kid on a skateboard feel about wheelchairs in barn aisles? What about walkers? Knee scooters?

Having been at the barn with a knee scooter, I can say it’s a world of difference from a kid on a skateboard. Same for walkers and wheelchairs and I’ll even add in baby strollers.

Skateboards, IME, have a very different sound and are quite louder. Kids on skateboards, in general, are not as careful about where they are going and their surroundings as are adults using a walker, wheelchair or a baby strollers.

[Posting_Trot]

There’s a lot of talk about the rider or horse being nervous of a particular hazard, but what I don’t see is the fear that the horse will attempt (and possibly succeed) at killing the hazard.

My fear with loose dogs is that my horse does not like loose dogs. She’s not scared. She’ll kick a dog that gets too close behind, and that’s gonna quite possibly kill or seriously seriously injure the dog. I don’t want that.

And I could totally imagine a horse (not necessarily my horse) doing that with a kid on a skateboard. This is the stuff of my nightmares.

[ltmac]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

Honestly, the average adult just wants to come to the barn and ride, not engage in “desensitizing” and crazy hijinks every day after work.

I’m all about making my horse “deal with it” and think that low levels of constant desensitizing are fine. I’m an event rider, if that makes any difference to my perspective. However as an ER/trauma RN at a level 1 trauma center who used to work nightshift, I don’t know what I would do if I came to the barn for a mellow ride during one of the only times I could go to the barn due to barn hours, my sleep/wake cycle, work schedule, etc. and there were crazy hijinks happening

Not all of us have the luxury of owning and/or running our own facility or being able to pick up and leave for greener pastures when we don’t like one small thing at our current facility so it means that we may have to settle for the lesser of the evils.

[Spudsmyguy]

@McGurk

It’s been tapped on in this thread, but deserves another hit - professionally run barns, with high care standards and well maintained facilities, tend to have a professional attached to them. That professional is not willing to give up a stall, let alone underwrite a horse’s care, to someone who isn’t in a program with them. And by “in a program”, I mean billing the stuff that actually has a profit margin.

So for a boarder like you, who expressly doesn’t want to enroll in a lesson/training contract, that means you’re looking at backyard/hobbyist type barns. With an indoor. At least in my part of the world, the two circles on that Venn diagram barely touch, let alone overlap

That must be a regional thing, having to be in a program in order to keep your horse at a facility. I can think of a number of barns out here in the PNW that don’t require you to be in a program and these are professionally run, well maintained establishments too.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I remember the horses’ reactions the first day I had to use my wheeled walker to get around the stable and out to the riding ring.

They were not happy. I was not making any real noise, and they had seen the walker, both with my saddle and pads on it and just standing there empty in the barn aisle.

Snort!!!

I tried to tell the horses that it was really like a wheelbarrow. That did not help.

They did get used to it somewhat, and then my body got better and I did not have to use it anymore to get around the stable.

[Casey09]

That’s definitely a huge concern.
When I boarded with all of the dogs, I was hand grazing my horse when one of the dogs ran up and dropped his ball for me. The horse hated dogs and struck out with his front leg. Him killing another boarder’s dog would’ve been very upsetting. Another dog went into the pasture and ended up at the ER vet for surgery.
My first thought also was that a horse might kick out at a skate board whizzing past its rear end. It would certainly make me nervous about that. I think a lot what we are taught about not running in the aisle is to prevent being kicked. I’ll never forget seeing one boarder kicked by another boarder’s horse when he was being shoed. He was a nice horse and the farrier was unlikely to be transmitting “scaredy cat” vibes, the owner was very experienced, and the other boarder had been around horses a lot. She just managed to startle him coming up behind him too suddenly.

[sascha]

@Posting_Trot

My fear with loose dogs is that my horse does not like loose dogs. She’s not scared. She’ll kick a dog that gets too close behind, and that’s gonna quite possibly kill or seriously seriously injure the dog. I don’t want that.

Would you allow your horse to kick a child that accidentally got too close behind?

[sascha]

@atlatl

Skateboards, IME, have a very different sound and are quite louder.

Louder than a tractor? Louder than the radio blaring? Louder than a herd of shod ponies being led down the concrete aisle? Louder than a drill? Louder than a set of clippers? Louder than (the ear-piercing, pain inducing sound of) a lid going on an empty metal feed bin?

Louder than a breadbox?

[sascha]

@Jackie_Cochran

They did get used to it somewhat

They actually get used to it pretty quickly, especially if high-value food rewards happen to be involved

Fingers x’d your body continues to cooperate though, it’s far easier getting around without clunky mechanical assistance.

[trubandloki]

@sascha

@Posting_Trot

My fear with loose dogs is that my horse does not like loose dogs. She’s not scared. She’ll kick a dog that gets too close behind, and that’s gonna quite possibly kill or seriously seriously injure the dog. I don’t want that.

Would you allow your horse to kick a child that accidentally got too close behind?

Who ever LETS their horse kick things?
It is not a matter of letting.
That is a strange question.

Horse in aisle being groomed and something comes up behind it, like a kid on a skateboard, that it was not expecting, it kicks out.
That is not letting it kick. That is a kick happening.

[candyappy]

@endlessclimb

And yes, extremely nervous riders ruin horses. They’re clenchy/grabby/deathgrippy and can’t manage to take a leadership role when a horse is unsure, leading to the horse being confirmed in the unsureness

I’ve seen it too. Nervous person bought what was a 100% bombproof horse who had been there done that and pretty much unflappable. Made a mess of him in short order.

[candyappy]

@sascha

Where else? If the kid lives there they don’t have access to city sidewalks or bike lanes or parks. They’ve got a nice wide open concrete aisle or they’ve got gravel and grass.

If they must skateboard then they do it after hours when no boarders are there?

[atlatl]

@sascha

@atlatl

Skateboards, IME, have a very different sound and are quite louder.

Louder than a tractor? Louder than the radio blaring? Louder than a herd of shod ponies being led down the concrete aisle? Louder than a drill? Louder than a set of clippers? Louder than (the ear-piercing, pain inducing sound of) a lid going on an empty metal feed bin?

Louder than a breadbox?

Maybe don’t take a single sentence out of context. Just a suggestion.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I do not own a horse, but when I did I went by what I read in the first non-fiction horse book I read as a kid, “Album of Horses”. The author said to never hand feed a horse since it leads to biting. Occasionally I will hand feed a horse, very rarely. I am unsteady on my feet and I cannot afford a horse’s over enthusiastic mugging of “where is MY treat?”

I am still walking on my own two feet. This last year there has just been one occasion where I felt unsteady enough and used my walker to walk around. RIDING HORSES is what keeps my body able to walk without much help, yes I use two canes when I leave my house but if necessary I can walk without assistance if I am VERY careful and I am ready to use my arms for balancing like a tight rope walker.

After over 10 years of giving me lessons my riding teacher is now a true believer in the efficacy of horseback riding for helping MS patients keep on walking. Several rides I barely made it out to the riding ring leaning heavily on my two canes, and after 30 minutes in the saddle I can carefully walk back to the barn without using my canes, though it is much easier if I use the canes.

Before I started riding again my electric wheelchair was on its last legs. When it broke down completely I never replaced it since I did not need one, riding the horses fixed me well enough. My riding teacher is wonderful with me, and her horses are the ones who gave me my ability to walk relatively securely back to me.

Even my neurologist believes in horseback riding now, which is good because he often sees me after I ride in the morning before my appointments.