The athletic thing is throwing me for a loop. I’ve never in my life heard someone say, “caution handling that one, he’s athletic.”
One could argue that the most conditioned horses are likely trained horses and, therefore, more likely to be used to blankets. If you were to say an unruly young colt that has never been blanketed, sure. But athletic? That makes no sense.
Ah, but alas. Here at COTH we are mere bumbling fools blanketing our horses with a lowly 4 minute blanketing education.
Well, J-Lu - my advice is to move your athletic horse. You are obviously never going to be happy with the owners and handlers at your current barn. You are obviously never going to quit worrying at this particular bone. Nothing will ever be right. It is better for everyone involved if you just find a place where blanketing requires some kind of weekend certification course and even stall cleaners must be level 4 Parelli disciples and have attended at least two Buck Brannaman or Clinton Anderson clinics. 
But in all seriousness and said kindly… move on. Find a barn where you are happier with the handling and management.
Static was mentioned above… at the therapeutic riding center where I volunteer, a large 16.3 hand gelding was being blanketed after an evening lesson - and the very experienced person blanketing him accidentally zapped the poor guy as she swung his blanket onto him.
Yes, a horse that is about as bombproof and experienced as a horse can get (which IMO is about 75%) can move amazingly fast - vertically and forward, snapping the cross ties off and sliding to a halt about 20 feet away. It took patient work over a week or two to get him to feel okay about blankets again.
So if something like that can happen when both horse and handler are very experienced… well… horses. 
Boarding stories…
Back when my BO still owned the adjacent 33 stall boarding barn and arena next to this place, we had one particular extremely odd boarder who thought her two horses were precious magical unicorns - to their detriment. She was deep into whatever or whoever the current NH craze was. She carefully demonstrated how they must always be handled - with kid gloves and much fussing and crowding and endless mints… and they must never be corrected by anyone but her - and those corrections consisted of shaking the lead shank at them a bit and saying “Naughty!”. Fortunately she was a weekend warrior - and during the week her horses got to be horses… and not pampered Pomeranians. They settled in and were happy… but spent their time with their owner with wringing tails and stressed faces. They often nipped her in sheer frustration - but never me or my coworker. There are all kinds of boarders - and that one was extra special. It was a sad day for us when those two Very Good Boys (thanks to us and good, patient horsemanship and horse sense) loaded up into the trailer to go to the brand new very fancy barn a few miles away. We missed them - but not their owner.
To me this means the food bucket was moved to the hotwire.
Oh jeez. I think you’re right. I assumed she left out the word “near”.
All horses are athletic, not all are trained.
Yes, I have previously trained unhandled horses including mustangs to do many things, including blanket. I have never seen “Athletic” or “mature” being described in the manner in which you are using it.
Once a horse has had proper handling and has been blanketed it is not an issue. If the horse is spooky, reactive, or has never seen a blanket then training for the HORSE is needed and possibly tying the horse while blanketing. Your issue is an accident related to his food bowl being placed on hotwire, something I have never seen anyone do as it increases the chances for an accidental touch. While horses can and should be trained to respect a person’s space accidents can and do happen especially in a situation where the horse is electrocuted. Including young and mature horses.
Without going back and checking, I’m pretty sure the feed bucket isn’t on hot wire, but there is a strand along fence/shelter wall well above it.
Yes according to that post after it was on the hot wire and the shed or whatever was fixed.
Moving a feed bucket from the shelter to the hot wire doesn’t mean hanging the bucket on the hot wire.
If I had a paddock with an entirely electric fence I would say that I moved the feed bucket to the fence and you would realize I meant on the ground near the fence without my saying so. If I had a wood fence with an electric strand to keep horses from leaning over it, I’d still say I’d moved the feed bucket to the fence, and you would realize that I wasn’t putting it on top of the electric strand without my saying so.
You’re allowing your dislike of the OP to nitpick a normal description into something no one would do. And encouraging others to do the same.
No one has told Mr Spicy that due to him being a well trained horse (GP) and crazy athletic and older, that last week’s running me over when he got spooked was not possible. Oh how I wish that rule applied to Mr Spicy.
I do not dislike anyone. Hate only hurts the person who hates.
We were getting in trouble for not reading the posts.
Now I am getting in trouble for reading the post.
Moving the feedbin to the hot wire to me, means that, not near the hot wire or above the hot wire or in the vicinity of the hot wire, or in the paddock with the hot wire or in the shelter with a hot wire…
Presumably the poster missed out the word near.
But then I would be assuming facts and we are getting in trouble for assuming facts.
Basically running an Agistment place means you see a lot of dumb people doing a lot of dumb things around horses. So do not assume that someone would not do something you would never do.
The not-so-subtle insinuations that the OP’s horse is beyond the blanketing skills of “unqualified” people because he’s “athletic” is so silly.
I blanket an OTTB mare that is very athletic. I blanket her loose in 1+ acre field (that has electric fencing) with my gelding also loose in the same field. I blanket her when she’s eating (not near electric fencing, obviously). This mare can run, buck, rear, leap, spin, etc. at the drop of a hat. She doesn’t, because she’s a good girl. Now, obviously if she is cavorting about in high spirits, I’m not going to just walk up to her when she pauses the shenanigans and try to blanket her while she’s still loose, but I cannot even remember a time that was an issue. Blanketing is done at feeding time and feeding time is for stuffing your face in a feed pan or pile of hay. I do not tip-toe around her or my gelding. Blanketing means I’m going to toss this huge piece of somewhat heavy material over your back, sometimes against the wind, and things are going to flap and rustle and buckles may hit you somewhere, etc. The horses seem to know and accept this. Athletic or not (which I would imagine the OP would deem my gelding because he’s…very stingy with his energy, lol).
I feel like “athletic” might be a euphemism for sensitive or something less flattering. If this horse’s “athleticism” is such that he cannot tolerate being blanketed by someone without extensive horse-reading experience lest he may be driven into a hot wire fence, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest “Sir SpooksALot” earned his nickname from his owner because he…spooks a lot. Not because he’s “athletic.”
I tell you one thing though. Even my Saintly Slug-o-Saurus is going to become instantly “athletic” if he hits a strand of electric fence.
Does ANYONE know if the unqualified young woman got the OP’s horse blanketed on this fateful occasion?
Rubbing dryer sheets on a horse’s coat helps with static, too.
Rebecca
We have racehorses. My DD’s BF can blanket them. His first introduction to horses was last summer. I would say they are athletic.
Top 5 unanswerable questions:
I’ll hazard a guess she did, simply because there was no hint of not getting the paid for service in any post. There probably would have been some support for a complaint of the barn staff upsetting a horse to the point of not being able to get the blanket on.
But, yes, I’m guessing.
[athletic, adj. & n.]
Characteristic of or appropriate to an athlete; demonstrating the strength, agility, endurance, etc., that characterizes athletes.
There are seven meanings listed in OED’s entry for the word athletic , one of which is labelled obsolete.
None of them appear to say anything about any issues pertaining either to a propensity to misbehave or to require expertise in getting dressed.
I don’t know about meaning, but the answer to the great question of life, the universe, and everything is 42. 
If you’re going to get that specific… what’s the difference between the OP’s “to” and your “on”?
The fact that a Douglas Adams Hitchhiker’s Guide phrase made it on here makes this thread perfect.
Well done 
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