Dani Waldman admits to never turning out horses

[atl_hunter]

Yes, horses thrive on routine. Does she ship her aqua treadmill, treadmill and equicizer to every show? I highly doubt that so it’s a moot point.

While we’re on that topic, has anyone ever been on a treadmill or treadmill-like device every day, 3x per day in an ongoing fashion? Without a TV or any source of entertainment? With high walls around you so there is nothing to really look at? Tell me, what was your experience? This training environment reminds me of the Soviet and East Germany Olympic athletic era. Remember when all the athletes could finally speak and share their experiences? They did not have nice things to say. But the horse unfortunately doesn’t have much of a choice and it can’t speak…

And I also agree with the poster(s) above that the schedule she outlined doesn’t add up to show regular hand grading and time outside in the sun.

I do think there has been a lot of unnecessary mean girl commentary. But there have been some good points as well. For me, her videos simply show me where NOT to send my horse. If a facility has three electronic exercisers and is not a rehab facility, and horses don’t get turned out, then it’s not for me.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

@vxf111

If it’s just the case that she does not turn out actively competing horses during their heavy show season then sharpen your pitchfork because at least 2 of our likely team members do the SAME THING and at least one walks in water according to this board.

I wasn’t aware of any pro who walked on water according to the Mighty COTH. Surely no one is immune to a good popcorn, wine, and guacamole fest?

Tongue slightly less in cheek–I do agree that the Internet can be a bit arbitrary in terms of who is picked to be the Social Media Main Character of the Day. (No one wants to be the Main Character of the Day.) Part of the issue is that Dani–because of her feathers, yoga tights, and the fact that she’s Very Online about her style–has always courted attention for her online persona before, so when she seemed unaware of the fact that not turning out her horses wasn’t a normalized practice in the larger horse world, the backlash was much stronger than it might have been for Ms. Mousey Under the Radar Showjumper.

Social media mob justice can be unfair–remember that amateur lady who ineffectually kicked at her horse after falling off in a display of poor sportspersonship who was piled on? (Of course, what she did was wrong, but the level of vitriol was pretty disproportionate.) And putting on my social media (not my horseperson’s) hat, Dani has done all of the wrong things in response to the outrage she sparked. Posting more to undo the harm of saying something stupid (i.e. the truth) is like trying to put out a gasoline fire with lighter fluid. If she’d have any sense, she would have just clammed up, taken a social media hiatus, and people would have moved on to the next shiny thing. I certainly don’t think people are jealous of her (I can’t think of anyone I know who would have put her on even a long list of admired equestrians, even before all this scandal). But once the pile-on starts, it’s impossible to stop.

Putting on my horseperson’s hat now, along with my social media hat. Perhaps she should just hire a nice college kid with some social media/PR degree to give her advice AND watch the horses when they have some free time outside. (I still don’t understand the point of walking a healthy horse to graze in a paddock, when the same person could, you know, let the horse out and watch from the fence.)

[vxf111]

Woe to the person who negs Beezie or McLain and they’re not the only ones fairly immune from criticism by the masses. But if you’re a woman who dares to be a little eccentric and you’re rich (or fat or unpopular or from the wrong side of the tracks or people don’t like your dad or or or) woe is you because here come the claws.

[Ghazzu]

Alternatively, people who put themselves into the social media spotlight should expect that not all reviews will be favorable.

[RND]

I must have missed it - where are folks here seeing evidence that Dani gives a crap about what people on the internet think of her?

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

If she’s posting videos in response to criticism of her comments about not turning out her horses, and was maintaining an active enough social media profile to respond to comments (which touched off the firestorm in the first place), she’s certainly giving a pretty good impression of someone who cares.

[RND]

Eh. To me, she’s just engaging in a dialog on social media. I don’t see any indication that she feels that she needs to do damage control, or is upset that there are negative comments, or needs to hire a PR person (wtf?). She said she would show people a day in the life of her horses, and she did just that. I just don’t see where she is at all concerned that people on the internet don’t like her housekeeping practices.

[iJump]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

the same person could, you know, let the horse out and watch from the fence

Especially where he paddocks are so small and full of grass. They wouldn’t get enough speed up that the groom couldn’t catch them, and the horse would probably just stick it’s face in the grass and not even come up for air anyway.

[Spudsmyguy]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

I still don’t understand the point of walking a healthy horse to graze in a paddock, when the same person could, you know, let the horse out and watch from the fence.

Because it was done for the video only. I’d be willing to bet that horse was brought back inside as soon as the camera went away. The abundant grass available leads one to believe that hand grazing is not a normal occurrence.

[TwiSedai]

Watching the video, one of the biggest things I picked up on was that the mare appeared to have no connection with either Dani or the groom. She was quite aloof about them being present. I know some horses have that attitude naturally, but…my mare is like that with people she doesn’t really know or like, or just doesn’t care about. They are just existing in her world. But when I’m there, she’s coming up to the stall door, saying hi, wanting to nuzzle and get scratches, being goofy and affectionate and wanting to be right there with me (all politely BTW, I’m a stickler for ground manners). I get comments on how different she is with me, we just have a really good relationship, that required lots of time together to build. I get the impression that horse doesn’t have much of a relationship with any of the people I saw around her, along with just being sort of disinterested in her activities.

I wouldn’t call it abuse exactly, but there really wasn’t much personality there either. She just looked like a machine, completing one task after another. Not looking sad, just…existing. I think I would feel better (not great, but better) about the no turnout if there was at least some clear affection and relationship with the humans handling her every day.

[Spudsmyguy]

I know someone like this; her horses are a means to an end. She wants to ride in the high country so she has horses that can do this for her. In all the years I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her pat, praise, or even talk to her horse. She takes good care of them but they have zero personality unless they act up then she slaps on the draw reins.

[sharonbrown127]

Lizziemary was injured kicking her stall. She has stall kick pads throughout indicating it’s a regular occurrence. Horses that kick their stalls are sending a message they are frustrated. I would guess from being cooped up….it’s well documented turn out is important for mental and joint care reasons. My horse is very pleasant when he gets TO, but difficult to handle without. The horses I know without turnout have more injuries than those turned out. Could do what McLain does, have the groom watch them while turned out to bring in if they get crazy.

[dani0303]

She announced the retirement of Lizziemary today with a video of the mare turned out in a small paddock. Sad that the mare has to kick herself into a permanent injury to finally get a little paddock time

[Night_Flight]

The comment in her video of “As you can see, she’s now retired” while pointing to a horse turned out in a small paddock is telling. If the only time anyone sees her horses out in a small paddock (fully booted, of course) is after retirement, the working horses definitely aren’t getting time out there, even for short grazing sessions as I think she mentioned they were given in her day in the life video.

[beowulf]

Man, that’s an awful lot of Spency when all day turnout would do just as well to warm up muscles and condition if not better. Ooof!

[Davignport]

It amazes me how the importance of turnout time for horses escapes some people. How would you like to spend most of your time in a small box??

[AffirmedHope]

Doubt the mare will get much more turnout in retirement. Can’t risk getting injured and being unable to carry a baby!

[Night_Flight]

Not even that, it sounded to me more like embryo transfer so they’ll likely have other mares doing the more dangerous parts so she can be protected.

[Horselove5]

@Night_Flight

so she can be protected.

It’s about quantity. They can harvest several follicles from her on a monthly basis when she’s not pregnant, Opu&Icsi them into a recipient mare.
Sad news about this mare’s retirement, such a career.

[findeight]

Just in case you cant resist the “ view ignored content” notation any better then I could, its a non horse related ad and likely a scam. Dont click the notation,