My horse is almost fully blind on the left side. I walk on the right side so he can see where I am. They spook away from the things they see.
My first horse was trained to be mounted from both sides as he was also a therapy horse, so I did it to keep him in practice.
I clean the feet in the correct order for a rider, and then sometimes I clean them in the order that the farrier does to keep my horse in practice for both.
My horse is retired, so I’m afraid it doesn’t get much more exciting than that.
I also barely pick their feet, maybe once every two or three weeks? I used to pick their feet every time they came in the stalls but I have a back issue and when they jerk their feet around (older horses with arthritis, etc.) it wrenches my back and inevitably I have to make a same-day chiro appointment. My farrier agrees that unless they are standing around in their own shit (which they never are) having their feet packed with mud is totally fine.
I also pick their feet all from one side (usually the right side because of how they stand in the stalls).
I groom and tack in the stalls, almost never use the cross-ties.
With my older horse, who is big (17.2h) and my absolute heart and soul whom I trust implicitly, a few times I have been known to duck under his belly. He is a complete saint, and it’s usually in the context of putting stuff on his legs or something where I’m already crouched down and just one “step” takes me to the other side to do the other leg. I cringe a little when I do it, but he doesn’t move a muscle.
I have my one horse in a straw stall with pelleted bedding under his pee spot. I only muck the pee spot once or twice a week. I pick poops religiously and it is a very big straw bed (2+ bales in a 10x12 stall to make a bed) but because it’s so fluffy, it’s difficult to muck out and I don’t want to waste the pellets so I wait until they’re all fully expanded. Some might think this is gross but trust me, the horse is never standing on wet bedding, it’s all under the top layers of straw.
I don’t generally pick feet. I got out of the habit with a highly sensitive horse who went barefoot. Most horses I ride are barefoot and they don’t really get dirt or mud or snow or anything trapped like shod horses do. Of course that means I forget often with shod horses and was riding one one day and wondering why he seemd just a bit off - not off so much as uneven. Initially, trainer said we’ll take a look but once I got out of the sand arena, she looked down, looked at me, and just shook her head. Yep…he had lost a shoe and I hadn’t noticed…
I can think of a few. I accidentally mix up the dressage exercises when teaching my horse. When I am caring for and feeding my horse at nights and in the mornings, I like to turn on a small portable heater that I use to heat up the stables. I also like to vary the format of the lessons to keep my horse on their toes. So one day last week during a lesson instead of flatwork, I had laid out some low poles in the arena on the ground and had my horse try that instead. I mix up my left and right as well. Today during the lesson I made my horse do a trot and also work on some more difficult dressage movements. I need a bit of variety in my approach to teaching my horse. I even do a bit of work on the basics from time to time as a means of recapping. Next lesson I might try to fit in some flatwork.
I tend to feed my horse warmed up leftover peeled vegetables. Today he had half of a baked apple from my dinner last night.
I tend to mix up my dressage exercises. One day last week in a dressage lesson I accidentally confused trot and walk. I frequently do this.
I also mix things up in the lessons. Today I decided to try to do something new with my horse. Instead of the flatwork lesson I originally planned to do, I had him do a hour of hard work jumping over some poles instead. He is new to pole jumping and I wanted to see if he would understand what to do or not as well.
I let my horses drink immediately after exercise. I know some people think they should not and take buckets away. I’ve also seen people forget to put the buckets back. I read an article that indicates if you don’t let them drink they can lose the desire and not make it up. So I don’t think it’s wrong but often against conventional thinking.
I let my horse rub it’s head on me when I take off the bridle. I find it to be a really soul satisfying bonding moment and I love how it feels for me and how happy it makes them. I’ve never had a horse turn into a monster because of it.
I like how romantic you make this sound, meanwhile my horse is giving me black eyes and knocking me over then pushing me around…she just has the itchiest head in the world and forgets herself… or something…
I always always always let my mare rub on me, and it was always my back she loved the most. I would be doing something with her or taking her bridle off when I rode her and her favorite thing was for me to turn my back to her and spread my feet out to ‘brace’ myself and she would just rub and rub and rub. She also loved her blaze down her face being curried hard, so it was just her thing. I loved her so much and when I asked her to stop she would, so how could I say no? I kinda wish my pony, her son, would do it more but when he does it just reminds me of my Katerbug 💓💓
I would also mount from either side, neck rein while riding english, take lessons in shorts n tennis shoes, jump on her in the field with baling twine as a neck rein and nothing else…sigh…being a 90’s kid was great!!!
I also sometimes get excited or am in a hurry posting on here and forget to check my spelling and all my punctuation lol.
Is this wrong? Presumably you’ve taught your horse to stand still on command so you’re not at unusual risk of getting trampled, and if she spooks and runs off, she has better odds at avoiding you than if she spooked and careened around in a stall.
I change rugs out in the field on a quasi-regular basis. The time I did this in a cocktail dress and heels by flashlight wasn’t my best decision ever. I’ll also treat scrapes, freshen up fly spray, etc. Sometimes the horse is in the field and there’s no point bringing him in to do what you need to do.
Just one of those things that the Pony Club frowns upon. Admittedly, Pony Club standards are a bit … anal about some things.
Anyway, she’s not necessarily going to stand still because I tell her to. Some of this stuff happens while she’s eating hay. She’s a spooky thing at times but has not once, in 12 years, run me over or even bumped into me during a spook. For whatever reason, she spooks away from me. She’s quirky and limited in some ways, but super-safe. Not a “heart horse” necessarily but she’s pretty wonderful.
I can’t imagine why anyone would call this wrong. The last barn I boarded at had a mounting block tall enough that I didn’t need to use the stirrup to mount my 16.2 horse, so I didn’t. It has to be better for their backs, no twisting/pulling. Now I have my own mounting block tall enough to do this.
Also, my first horse was a still-at-the-track TB. No vetting, no test ride, etc. I had started riding 15 years before though.
I do that all the time. I always “park” my horse next to something high enough that I can just (lightly!) vault in the saddle without using the stirrups. Tractor, xc jump, whatever.
Things that are considered wrong by most:
I let my mare (Ottb, bought her at the track) walk off when I get on. She is polite about it and usually waits that I have one leg over to walk off. That is why I prefer vaulting on: she walks off, I am already centered in the saddle.
I let my mare graze while I ride her. She is hot, and that pacifies her in “hotness-inducing” situations, such as our first trail rides solo of the season, or jumping in the cross country field. If she knows that I will let her graze a few strides after a jump, she is less likely to take off squealing and boinking on landing. Yes, it’s wrong and yes, it works wonders for us. It also forces me to really stay balanced and centered after a fence or else, hahaha!
I “handle” my mare while loose in her paddock or stall, all the time. I can change her blanket, groom her and pick her feet etc in the field, no halter. I tack her up in her stall without tying her. Always have.
one “wrong” thing that I quit doing years ago is ride (even jump) without a helmet.
Right?! I gently eased myself on to the horse and the seller at full volume yelled “NEVER get on one of my horses like that again”. It was like a movie where I legitimately looked over my shoulder expecting to see someone beating a horse at a mounting block. Super weird.
Doing it with a horse you know is one thing, I’m not sure I’d give that a whack on one I was out trying to buy.
what is the horse took a few steps when you were halfway to getting on? You’re in a better spot if your foot is in a stirrup, so at least you go with them instead of sitting behind the saddle
When I first started riding, some 30 years ago, I was riding a 12.2 hh welsh cross pony. She had very narrow shoulders, and a very bushy mane that sat on the right and blocked my view of her right shoulder. Thus when it came to looking at the shoulder to check my diagonal I could only see the left one. I learned that if I was tracking right I went up when the left shoulder went forward, and tracking left I went up when the left shoulder went back.
These days I feel my diagonal about 90% of the time, but if I have to check it I still only look at the left shoulder.
