"Casual Horseowner"
Note: This is a bit of a rant to get some things off my chest.
Maybe I'm just an odd horse owner, but I believe that I am responsible for much of my horses' behavior.
For example: I do not believe it is my Farrier's responsibility to make my horse stand still when being trimmed or shod. It isn't his responsibility to make sure my horse stands tied, nor is it his duty to catch a difficult horse. I heard one person say that you let "your farrier train the horse" and couldn't help a brief, bitter laugh from escaping me. It is the farrier's responsibility to trim my horses' feet and keep them sound through it. I pay him to take care of my horses' feet, not to train them.
Similarly,it is not my vet's responsibility to make my horse stand still during exams or injections. He shouldn't worry about being pushed round or kicked in the head. He is there to help maintain the health of my horses, not to train them.
Then there is my mother. I board her three horses. Two are middle-aged mares (both around 15) and one is a near-yearling colt. As the boardee (or whatever word is proper) I am responsible for making sure her horses have a safe place to live and are fed and watered. I let her know if something weird is up with her horses or if they need medical attention (sometimes supply the attention). It is not my responsibility to train her horses either. I get paid for feeding her horses and handling their daily care. I will water, feed, fly spray, and put masks on them as required. I will catch them for the farrier or vet if she isn't there. That, I believe is my responsibility linked to her horses. I shouldn't be responsible for getting her new mare used to being fly sprayed. I shouldn't be spending a HALF HOUR trying to get her colt to accept having a fly mask on his face, much of which consisted of trying to get near enough to him to touch him with it, let alone get it on his face. Forget the fly spray.
I missed the bus because I was trying to get the fly mask on her colt. Thankfully she was able to drop me off at school, but still! She comes out once, maybe twice a week and rides. If I'm lucky she might pet the baby a little. And yet she goes on daily rides on her road bike, spending an hour or more on it, but can't seem to find the time to come out and spend even twenty minutes messing with the baby to get him used to things. It's not like she has a whole lot on her plate either.
I admit that I don't get to ride my horses much. I don't make the time to ride and work with them as I should, but I at least interact with them on a daily basis (partially because they're in my backyard, yes). Two of them get worked on a regular basis through lessons I teach and a third (Kash) is being leased by one of my older students. I've been pretty good about working Panda once or twice a week, but again, I'm not as good as I should be about it, yet I do have the added responsibility of having to be there daily to feed, water, and generally care for them.
And I'm not bashing on people who board their horses. I know it isn't a choice for many, but ARRRGGG! My mother is driving me a little nuts in her lack of commitment to her horses. And to note it shouldn't be my in-law's responsibility either (they live next door to us and my mom's horses are technically on their property). She's had the Rockie pair (Mare and colt) since December and I could probably fairly say that I've worked more with the colt than she has. I keep telling her she needs to come out, she can spend just 30 minutes doing something with him. The mare doesn't need much work, mostly just desensitizing to the spray bottle, but the colt needs to be caught, handled, pestered all over in general and he is going to be a mess if she takes him up to Utah to "grow up" without getting these basics in now.
The term that comes to mind is "casual horse owner." Casual in the sense of how she is about them. She comes out, rides a bit, but leaves all the other responsibilities to someone else. I almost feel like a parent whose child got a puppy and then was left with all of the chores related to said puppy even though the child insisted it could take care of the puppy.
My in-laws aren't avid riders. I think Marty's been on Sunny once, maybe twice. Toby hasn't been ridden in a year and a half, however, they feed, water, and take care of them. For a time Marty was packing a sore on Sunny's face twice daily for months. They might not ride, but they do actively handle and interact with their horses, even though it might not be "work."
And I sigh and shake my fist and mutter irritably, but I still take care of her horses. I'm not going to just kick them off the property or stop taking care of them because y'know, I do need the board to feed my own horses (hopefully not for much longer) and she is my mother after all. But it does build and spill over from time to time and I do get tired of nagging her to work her horses. And I hate seeing horses go to waste and seeing problems that could be nipped in the bud grow out of control.
What are your thoughts on "casual" horse owners? Do you know some? What are your thoughts on owner responsibility?
This was posted at Backyardhorse at the beginning of March. Since then my mom has come out a bit and at least loved on her colt a little, but it's still not what he needs, nor what she said she'd do when she purchased him and her mother. I made it VERY plain that I would not work with the colt unless she was there. Her horse, her responsibility.
I know she is more interested in just getting on and riding. She likes to go out on trails and such and doesn't have much interest in working in an arena or roundpen. That's all well and good if you have older horses who are already trained, but a yearling colt can't just sit around and be expected to lead, tie, be trimmed, and stand still for the vet if you never work with it! That said he was good for the Vet when he came out Wednesday (Mom was in CA ... in her defense she's over there taking care of my grandparents). He stood still for the shots (better than Cinnamon did), but trying to lead him was not so easy. He wasn't being bad per-se, but he wasn't leading as he should be at this point.
Mom asked for help teaching Rayo how to load in the trailer for her birthday/Mother's Day. I told her she needed to be there, she said yes. We'll see if it happens.
Not that I'm not willing to help out, but I do have my own horses that need work. Panda needs miles and desensitizing (need to start longeing her), Kitt needs miles (she's coming four), Kash can always use some more training, though he did wonderfully on Wednesday, and I have Cinnamon Strudel to start riding. She has some three rides thusfar, but I haven't ridden her with a bit yet (she's had the bridle on just once) and I need to start ponying her places again so she can see the wider world. I don't plan on working her hard at all, she won't be three until December, but there's nothing wrong with teaching her how to respond to basic cues now, nor getting used to a (light) rider on her back. Did I mention that she's 15.2hh now?
In other news, I had the family again this morning. Last week I ended up just working with the horse, and this week I ended doing it again. The parents noted that the kids have been a bit lethargic in getting up to do the lessons so they've decided to swap places. I'll be teaching the parents riding lessons (and groundwork) the next month or so until the kids decide whether or not they really want to do it and if they miss it. The good news is that both of the parents are rather excited at the prospect of learning. The dad has been terribly enthusiastic and wants to know everything from the ground up. (If only another horse owner I knew were so excited!)
And I should get off my duff and go give Panda a thorough scrubbing (she gets to go see her "man" today ... I should post some pictures of him *drool*).