Are 50% of horse owners scared?

[ajb]

Was talking to my lovely blacksmith the other day about all things horsey. We got around to talking about people who have horses they are not suited to and he reckons that about 50% of his clients are scared of their horses and scared of riding them! What a horrendous figure! He wasn't being disrespectful to anybody but was just genuinely very sad that so many people have landed themselves in this situation and don't know how to get out of it. I thought quite a bit about this and one explanation I could come up with was that too many people think they want a certain sort of horse, i.e. showjumper/dressage horse when really all they wanted was a nice steady neddy! A bit like buying a car - you get tempted by buying a flashy sports job but with that comes all the expense of heavy petrol costs, hefty insurance and maintenance costs when really all you needed was a ford mondeo to tootle on the school run and go shopping in. Myself I would love a dressage horse but with no access to a school and my current nervous nellie attitude to travelling horses I am a lot better off with my happy hacker!! What do you think?

[kya]

I would believe that 50% or more of people are riding horses beyond their level of competance. I was at an event today and you could see that. When you say you would love a dressage horse, what do you mean? If you bought a Riding club/hacking horse, you could still do some dressage schooling and some form of competing- a corner of a field is all that many people on this DG have. That would be a real learning experience rather than buying a push button dressage trained horse.

[wozzer]

I know of a yard where absolutely none of the adult owners actually ride their horses. And I am not exaggerating. I think it is such a shame.

[pip]

Yep, a non-horsey local farmer has a livery yard and he was amazed to find that hardly any of the owners actually did anything much with their horses. They looked after them, groomed them, fed them, and might go out for about 1/2 hour, but that is about all. Still, I bet the horses are quite happy.

There are other yards where the horses get ridden in the school, but seldom go anywhere else.

[wendyihts]

I know what you mean about buying the flashy horse rather than the one that fits your current level of ability. That can be a problem if they're basically riding a horse that they don't have the minimum amount of control over.

However, I'm not sure that everyone who has a confidence problem is riding a horse that is beyond their skill level or that everyone who is riding a horse beyond their current skill level automatically feels scared about that. I think that fear is a state of mind we get ourselves into about a situation because we believe or we've convinced ourselves that we aren't able to cope somehow. That can be totally independent of the horse or can even make the horse behave worse. And how many times do we see that people have a confidence problem with their horses that started out as a confidence problem in other areas of their lives. It's not uncommon. So, I don't disagree with the farrier saying 50% of people he knows are scared of their horses - I just wonder if it reflects the amount of fear and stress people are experiencing out in the 'real world'. It also makes me wonder whether people buy horses as a kind of therapy to help them destress but then find some stressful bits follow them into their relationship with their horse.

There's also plenty of horses out there who could be working at a much higher level than they are but they're waiting for their owners to catch up. But everyone is happy, the owners have a basic level of control and they know that what they need is some lessons to bring up their skill level. Fear or having 'a confidence problem' doesn't come into it for them.

I had a similar experience with Lutine yesterday - I popped my tack on her and had a sit on her in the garden. She's a whole lotta horse ;D she feels twice the size of Crystal (16.3hh sports horse compared to 15.2hh compact little Lipizzaner x ) and at one point she broke into trot and her stride was H-U-G-E. I thought 'hmmm, I'm going to need lessons again to be able to ride this horse' but it wasn't accompanied by any feelings of dread or fear. Just matter of fact - I need to be more competent to get the best out of this horse (out of all of them actually but it was Lutine just made me realise this ). For me, that was a very different feeling than when I'm out on the roads with any of them at the moment and I see those cars racing towards us..... then the stomach is going tight, the breathing stops and the jaw goes tight. :/ Out there on the roads, I know in my head that I have the ability to ride the horse but it's the fear of what the prat in the car is doing that gets me going!

[kya]

My level of confidence increases enormously when I get on. On the ground I'm filled with ideas of incompetance, but in the saddle I get my business head on for some reason. That doesn't mean I don't flutter repeatedly, but I'm much calmer if I can force myself through the catching, tacking, booting up phase. My horse was two young for me, but the personality is a fit. If I had got what I could easily ride (quiet aged cob of about 14.2 who jumped a bit), I would not be riding a year later. Somehow, I need that edge dispite everything.

However, there are people over-horsed to a dangerous degree all around me. I did go for the old head on young shoulders type. Some sense.

Horses don't have ambition which is a marvellous, levelling thought, but the obedience I feel has to be in place, whatever we are doing. I think as you say Wendy, some riders are right at their edge of competance. That scares me and I don't want to stray into that.

[wendyihts]

I agree that there needs to be that basic level of control in place and that there are some people who aren't at that point, for whatever reason. In those cases, they're nervous for good reason! It's their self preservation setting in!

[amarche]

I think I understand this statement a little - they are definitely certain 'trends' of horse breeds at the moment - around here everyone is into the WB's - without really understanding the breed and temperament and the extra knowledge I would say that goes into keeping and riding these horses (I know that from experience)

Also I think that most novice owners go for totally inappropriate horses, again IME from falling in love with the first one they view, budget, poor advice etc etc. And I think there was a thread recently about how unsuitable Sec D cobs are nowadays for novice horse owners/riders.......

On my yard I would say that more than 50% of the owners are wary of their horses but that doesn't mean that they aren't aware or happy with feeling like that - like me and my totally inappropriate horse purchase (novice no, but yes I did go for a WB ;D) I'm willing to do all i can to try and battle my nerves and do the best for us both