Poling punishes a horse for correct behaviour. It is the opposite of training.
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To answer your question, poling is when someone stands beside a jump holding a bamboo pole parallel to the top rail. As the horse jumps, they raise the bamboo and thus rap the front of the hind cannons to encourage the horse to jump higher/be more careful. I have never seen anyone pole fronts.
I haven’t seen anyone pole for decades but I am sure it is still done “behind the barn” sometimes. Back in the day you’d see it a fair amount on Mondays at shows. I have also seen horses that have clearly been poled…such that they won’t get near a fence with someone standing beside it.
Not condoning it at ALL of course, just explaining what it is!
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There are a million ways a horse can end up with a career ending injury that have nothing to do with turnout. If someone wants a guarantee then they should take up swimming or cycling, something that doesn’t involve a live animal. They are in the wrong business if they are banking their career on one horse, as well all know how quickly that can go south.
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THANK You for the maiden name context… now I know who this is… and can remember her rolling into SNOWBIRD ACRES with a 600k equitation horse in the early 00’s… when that was basically ridiculous. If I recall, threw a fit when she didn’t win. I had to laugh as she lost to someone’s ex-steeplechaser and another 10k TB special.
Yeahhhh, def not the person I’d be taking advice from… didn’t have the competitive spirit back then and sounds like things have only gone downhill. She was the polar opposite of Georgina, who also clearly comes from boatloads of money, but as a junior, was always congratulating or complimenting other riders in her classes.
FWIW, I know Grand Prix and 1.40 riders that send their horses home between classes and over Monday/Tuesday of winter circuits to get turnout and be left to chill. Gets a better, well-rested, clear-headed horse that’s more willing to play the game for the following week.
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You’ve entirely missed Chanda’s point.
Someone upthread commented with “well that’s what insurance is for” regarding a horse getting injured, indicating that injuries were no big deal with insurance to cover them.
Insurance doesn’t mean your injured horse will ever recover, regardless of where he injured himself.
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Watch some free jumping young horse sale videos from Europe.
Notice how certain horses from the same farm jump way over the top of the big jumps? Freaks of nature or poling? Typically, it is a direct result of poling. Poling can ruin a good horse.
And yet many people are impressed with this?
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You miss the point. Someone upthread commented with “well that’s what insurance is for” regarding a horse getting injured, indicating that injuries were no big deal with insurance to cover them.
Insurance doesn’t mean your injured horse will ever recover, regardless of where he injured himself.
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No, the point I was addressing was that people with very expensive horses are loath to turn them out because they are so valuable (financially speaking). To me, THAT is what insurance is for. I don’t think a horse’s price should have any bearing on whether or not it gets turned out. If you’re going to make a financial argument, which is what I was responding to, that can be remediated with insurance.
OF COURSE, it is devastating to have any horse injured, ever. Believe me, I am well aware that insurance will not bring back a great horse, I’ve certainly had my fair share of losses. But if you want to avoid heart-break, this is not the sport for you.
I continue to believe that the emotional and financial risks of turnout still do not justify a horse ten times my size living in a fraction the square footage of space I do for 23 hours a day.
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Unless you have a horse in training with her, how do her actions affect you?
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Is this the company line now?
People can do whatever abuse and neglect they want at home, as long as it doesn’t effect you or your horse?
Cool.
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Not sure why this seems like a big witch hunt for Dani. Lots of horses don’t get turned out and are well taken care of and their needs met, and lots of horses get turned out and are taken care of horribly.
I do what makes my horses happy. I have some living out almost 24/7, and some that absolutely hate turnout and get very little of it. And some in-between’s that get 6 and 8 hour daily turnouts.
I also never turnout on poor, slippery or horribly muddy surfaces. It’s not worth it to me.
You know what breaks my heart… people that ‘think’ they are doing the best for their horses… turnout all weather, surface condition, yada yada yada but they don’t actually notice poor Misty may have pulled a muscle slipping in the mud and wonder why their ride is going like shit and blame it on the horse, etc etc… miserable cycle.
Also not saying the people turning poor Misty out in crappy footing are wrong either. In the end it’s whatever works for your horse. NOTHING we do is natural IMO.
Happy horse, happy ride.
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These are my thoughts as well . I’m far less concerned with this trainer that’s not turning out show horses that are presumably tended to by grooms nigh on 24/7 than Susie Q’s horse that lives in a 24x12 pen 24/7 except the 5 hrs a week Susie gets to the barn. Meanwhile Susie Q is on COTH crying that her horse is lame/crazy/frogs rotting out from standing in filth all day/bleeding ulcers cause the barn only feeds 2 flakes a hay twice a day.
Yes I believe turn out is best but this feathered chick is not the big problem here. She, and those with similar programs, represent a tiny fraction of the horses living without turnout. And that tiny fraction probably has it the least bad of the horses living without turnout.
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I’ve have mentioned upthread how I believe turning horses out in different footings (maybe a little wet grass, a tiny bit of mud here and there, definitely uneven ground) actually benefits your horse’s ability to know where it’s feet are and actually keep you safer while riding.
Dani’s horses in Wellington would be turned out on pristine, perfectly level, groomed paddocks (if they had the chance).
Personally, I know going to the big grass field, or the soaking wet silicia, or that one corner that’s a little deep, my horse knows how to handle herself in those situations. Therefore, we are both safer.
If you (general) blame your bad ride on the horse, you’re in the wrong sport. Period. They do this purely for our vanity, and because so we should at the very least let them have some free time to buck and play. Whatever that means, 1 hour or 24.
I think the conversation regarding Dani was especially unsettling because she was giving advice on instagram to not turn your horse out when replying to a young/possibly uneducated rider. She had the chance to clarify and instead chose to doubled-down. I don’t really have much sympathy for her.
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Dani cried poor at the beginning of the pandemic how she has 600 horses she’s struggling to feed…one month in…so, highly doubt she is checking 2,400 frogs, 2,400 legs for scratches every day if ya can’t feed 'em. Just saying.
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Once again for those in the back.
This is not a witch hunt. It’s a call for icons to be conscious & ultimately responsible for what they say. Especially when such advice is given while conducting a tutorial on horse care.
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It’s not a witch hunt. It’s understandable outrage over a “celebrity” rider with a fan base just willy-nilly telling people to not turn their horses out, knowing next-to-nothing about their horse or facility situation. Influential figures have to start realizing the damage they can do - they make random off-hand comments that many of their young, uneducated followers take as God’s word, and it can cause huge problems that the pro rider will never know about. They absolutely need to start taking a standard response such as “I can’t provide specific suggestions as I don’t know enough about your situation. I suggest you discuss this with your vet/trainer/etc.”
This has been discussed in fair detail in this thread, and many of us argue that, no, without turnout their needs are not being met.
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I’m not overly familiar with this lady. Does she really have 600 horses? All of which are never turned out? That seems a stretch.
In my area, several local horse people were in a pinch in the beginning of the pandemic. Quite suddenly they had no income from lessons, training, show fees etc. And we all know boarding isn’t the most profitable endeavor.
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Abusive? Oh my…
Do carriage horses in CP get turned out? Do the touring Budweiser horses get turned out? Do rodeo horses on the circuit get turned out when you’re trying to hit 4 rodeos in a 3 day weekend? Are you marching on the Saddlebred barn down the road? The halter horses? The petting zoos?
Abusive?
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Add to the list “bigtime A circuit hunters for large stretches of their life when they’re on the circuit.” The kind of horses you see week after week in the results at big A shows, they might get turned out during “off peak” times but they likely see very little quality time in areas where they can really run and stretch when they’re on the road showing.
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Also, looking at the property videos, “something” is getting turned out in those small paddocks. The terrain is fragile enough to show the wear and tear near the gates.
