How would you handle this? Unqualified peeps blanketing horses at barn

[Alterration]

@SuzieQNutter

From the way you think you are so high and mighty and think that you are better than anyone else on this thread who dares comment. There is noway I would want you boarding at our place and I am so glad you are not.

This was actually my point earlier.

Horse sounds like a horse, no better and no worse than any of the others. OP sounds quite dramatic and like a PITA.

My horses longe at liberty, lead with just me getting into the correct position and saying let’s go with my energy, stop when I stop my feet, back when I move my feet backward or point at them (depending on where I’m located), move body parts with touches or energy sent to the correct location…and I can still fling blankets on them without any special treatment because they can tell when I want them to move and when they just need to stand still.

Even the fruitiest fruitcake in my barn can do this. It’s not rocket science. In fact the only issue I have with unwanted movement is one of mine who loves to pick up his feet for you at the slightest touch of his leg. Then he’ll pick up each foot in succession, thinking he is doing the right thing which is great for picking hooves and not so great for wrapping legs. I do appreciate his spirit of volunteerism though.

Horses are easy, people are not. It is likely the attitude the owners are reacting to - if we can sense it written in the thread, then imagine what it’s like in person.

And no one who is well-liked talks about how well-liked they are. They might say something like “I don’t think it’s me, but I could be wrong”. I sense none of that humility in the OP.

[2DogsFarm]

While I agree about Boarder Drama (having worked in a couple barns), there’s a flipside:
BOs who really shouldn’t be in the position.
Examples:
1-Friend whose late husband was apparently the one with the knowledge & horse smarts.
When I first met her & her friends/workers, I thought “Great! When having my horses at home becomes too hard, I can board here.”
Now, some 7yrs later, you could not pay me to leave a horse at that barn.
Care is not criminally bad, feed is adequate (though insistence on alfalfa mix hay doesn’t suit my horses), turnout is less than I like w/weather as the excuse < though my 3 are out happily in what they consider unsuitable.
Main problem is what friend laughingly calls her Board of Directors. These are long-term boarders whose knowledge of horses is sketchy & sense of entitlement huge.
One gal called the BO, when we were out having dinner, to report trough heaters weren’t working because “outsides aren’t hot”. She was referring to the cages that protect the heating element
If those had been hot, the heaters would have indeed been broken!
Another member if the Bd - with perhaps all of 10yrs experience w/horses - is a self-proclaimed NH guru.
When stall cleaners had a problem with handling one boarder’s horse, idjit took it on himself to “train” the behavior. Without saying a word to the owner. WtheEff?!?
Another’s specialty is annoying the boarders, she’s been “fired” by the barn vet for meddling & is a wealth of No Knowledge.
I found her in tears at Fair one year because her mare was acting “crabby”. I took one look & it was obvious mare was in season
Can we say “winking”?
Last member of the BD is sweet, well-meaning, but failed to recognize an obvious choke.
She had fed horses before joining us as we were having dinner at BO’s.
Reported “green stuff from his nose”.
Owner was Annoying - who had no interest in leaving the table to check her pony.
After dinner I suggested we look at him, found him w/definite choke.
She then was hesitant to “bother” the vet.
I strongly recommended she do so.
Vet came, tubed pony to resolve the choke.

2-New owners of longtime boarding barn - Dr. & Lawyer.
Neither has owned horses. From their website it seems the boarding business is but a small part of their Green Acres vision for the property.
I visited with friends considering moving their horse. Barn reeked of ammonia, looked the same as when I’d boarded there 22yrs ago.
Brand new indoor was built downhill from the barn. So in Winter you’ll be skating your horse there to ride.
Noone was present on the property save the BO Dr. who, when asked if stalls had been cleaned, or if anything would be done to make that downhill path safer had the same answer “Call my wife”

Boarders can be a PITA, but ignorant BOs can be a large part of the problem.

[LCDR]

Any way - ignorant or incompetent barn owner, or pain-in-the-ass demanding and complaining boarder, or a mix of these, the OP will likely need to be making other horse boarding arrangements in the near future.

[Ghazzu]

@J-Lu

He taught us about the concept of a “drive line” and where that is at the shoulder. If you approach with something like a blanket and are insecure more caudal to this, it encourages the horse to move forward away from you. If you approach cranially, it causes the horse to move backward away from you. I think experienced people have learned how body language affects horse behavior.

This isn’t any sort of NH secret.
It is Livestock Handling 101.
Even taught to kids in 4-H.

[BrownDerby]

It can be learned by watching horses in the field. Or a mare schooling her foal. Or my Tortie cat herding wild turkeys on my street. And even chickens have a drive line.

[endlessclimb]

No, guys. He’s a GURU, and this has NOTHING to do with how you lunge a horse.

Gosh.

[Ghazzu]

@BrownDerby

And even chickens have a drive line.

Back when Heifer Project had a farm locally, I used to take the students there to work with the livestock.
There was a flock of runner ducks that I loved using to deomnstrate these concepts.
If I got just to the edge of the flight distance with these guys, I could move them in either direction simply by shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

One class told me my name should be “Dances With Ducks.”

[findeight]

Back to the OP, regardless of circumstances or feedback. if you come on COTH complaining of barn management/communication issues (actual or perceived) you already communicated to BOs that remain unresolved?

You already know its time to go. Its just not working anymore. No need for anybody to blame, defend or find fault, just time to go.

[fordtraktor]

So true. Anyone who wants to learn about this ought to volunteer to help farmers move cattle from one field to another.

And ditto on the chickens. I used them to teach my kids about herding animals long before I let them in a paddock with a loose horse.

[sascha]

I used to take great pleasure in leg yielding heifers from pasture to the barn for breeding/medicating/whatnot. Most of them behaved like normal cattle but there were a few who delighted in learning new tricks. And then there were a couple who insisted on behaving like well-trained horses, “You must halter us and lead us in like ladies.” None of them had ever been show cows so it was a mystery as to how and why they made that decision.

[Scribbler]

Yes to all the posts on the myriad things you can do at liberty with a horse. In day to day life that certainly makes things easier. With the caveat that you can never 100 per cent trust that liberty work will hold in an emergency. Which is why we have halters and bridles on when we go outside of contained safe areas. No amount of liberty work will stop a horse from startling when he accidentally touched a hot wire.

[Warmblood1]

@J-Lu

As usual, you are are YOU and your typical poor posting status… Stalking me and talking about several different horses, ASSuming they have some connection to me, you consider they are all about my horse. You clearly did a lot of work to prove your bizarre point. And that says you’re willing to stalk people to inaccurately prove your narrative. Holy Sh#t.

You think someone is stalking you because they quote a few relevant posts of yours on COTH?

Um, no.

If I were the BO, I wouldn’t have an appetite for this level of drama.

[Scribbler]

@Warmblood1

@J-Lu

As usual, you are are YOU and your typical poor posting status… Stalking me and talking about several different horses, ASSuming they have some connection to me, you consider they are all about my horse. You clearly did a lot of work to prove your bizarre point. And that says you’re willing to stalk people to inaccurately prove your narrative. Holy Sh#t.

You think someone is stalking you because they quote a few relevant posts of yours on COTH?

Um, no.

If I were the BO, I wouldn’t have an appetite for this level of drama.

It’s really easy to click.thriugh to a list of a members past posts and started topics. I do this regularly if I feel like I half remember a similar post. Sometimes folks start several threads updating on an issue over several years. Sometimes folks have a history of drama or woe. And sometimes there’s multiple posters with the same general issue or with similar user names. Since COTH makes this search feature very easy, I would hardly consider that stalking. And also, this is a community where for better or worse people come to “know” the general tone content and circumstances of various posters, at least in their anonymous self presentation.

Sometimes for better or worse those personas and circumstances remain stable across multiple posts. Sometimes there seem to be discrepancies and then it’s good to ask for clarification (is the horse just diagnosed with kissing spines the same horse you bought 3 years ago who was going fine for 6 months then started bucking?).

Anyhow, finding that another members recalls your past posts is not them stalking you. It’s just how discussion boards work.

[SuzieQNutter]

@Scribbler

Yes to all the posts on the myriad things you can do at liberty with a horse. In day to day life that certainly makes things easier. With the caveat that you can never 100 per cent trust that liberty work will hold in an emergency. Which is why we have halters and bridles on when we go outside of contained safe areas. No amount of liberty work will stop a horse from startling when he accidentally touched a hot wire.

I totally agree and I should add that I do all that on my property.

My horses also lead from a halter and tie to baling twine at a float. So at the riding school the halter goes on and if they need to be lead, they will lead from whatever the person does to ask them to lead. I do not train other people horse’s my way, I do not bring attention to myself.

I get told I am lucky I have quiet horses. I just smile.

I am sorry but the words attune and discipline I have never heard a horse person use and are really icky to read.

[Scribbler]

@SuzieQNutter

@Scribbler

Yes to all the posts on the myriad things you can do at liberty with a horse. In day to day life that certainly makes things easier. With the caveat that you can never 100 per cent trust that liberty work will hold in an emergency. Which is why we have halters and bridles on when we go outside of contained safe areas. No amount of liberty work will stop a horse from startling when he accidentally touched a hot wire.

I totally agree and I should add that I do all that on my property.

My horses also lead from a halter and tie to baling twine at a float. So at the riding school the halter goes on and if they need to be lead, they will lead from whatever the person does to ask them to lead. I do not train other people horse’s my way, I do not bring attention to myself.

I get told I am lucky I have quiet horses. I just smile.

I am sorry but the words attune and discipline I have never heard a horse person use and are really icky to read.

Yes. I feel that whatever liberty or ground work you do should make your horse easier for everyone to handle and shouldn’t contradict normal standard handling procedures. For instance if your horse will stand quietly “ground ties” in the liberty pen that’s a foundation for standing tied quietly to a trailer. If your horse will follow you at liberty then they should be that much easier to lead and be attentive to the handler when you put a halter on them. Most of the time when I lead my mare I never put pressure on the halter (unless she dives for grass or is having a very bouncy day!). But she is also easy for anyone to lead, because that’s the point of doing ground work and liberty.

The one WTF moment I really have with the whole scenario here is feeding and handling the horse next to hot wire. It doesn’t matter if horse is haltered or handled by a level 1001 NH master guru. If a horse touches hotwire accidentally he will startle. I think both the Barn Daughter and the OP have missed this point And quite likely the Barn Owner too.

[Marla_100]

Totally agree@Scribbler-
The immediate fix for this whole problem is “Ask the BO nicely to
remove the dam* hotwire away
from the feeding area.”
Problem solved.

[candyappy]

@BrownDerby

And even chickens have a drive line.

I wish mine did. They cluster around me when I enter the henhouse and nothing I do gets them away from me.

I am forever stepping on some unfortunate hens toes…

[Djones]

Our hens are all over us if the feed room door is open. The room has a cat door set up in the window. Last week I herded (thanks, driveline!) two hens that I needed to catch into said feed room and shut the door. Both made a great effort to fly to freedom only to learn what closed windows are both were so surprised to run into “nothing” that I could grab them

[J-Lu]

@Ghazzu

@J-Lu

He taught us about the concept of a “drive line” and where that is at the shoulder. If you approach with something like a blanket and are insecure more caudal to this, it encourages the horse to move forward away from you. If you approach cranially, it causes the horse to move backward away from you. I think experienced people have learned how body language affects horse behavior.

This isn’t any sort of NH secret.
It is Livestock Handling 101.
Even taught to kids in 4-H.

People who are taught how body language affects animals get this. That includes 4-H kids. A good friend of mine teaches FFA at a local HS. If you (g) haven’t been exposed to that kind of thinking, you (g) don’t get it so much.

[J-Lu]

How constructive of you.