Level of knowledge needed to own a horse...

[lovelylace]

I have had a bit of a nightmare situation on my yard, I have a few quite novice owners, and I dont think i quite knew how little they knew about owning a horse, and beco of both their lack of knowledge but also lack of commitment I have had rather a stressful autumn, anyway, one of them are off to another yard as i think I pissed her off by writing her a letter that she had to buck up her ideas, or else would be served her notice...
But i still have quite a few novice sharers and owners there...
I have previously given a few of them some theory lessons, and I am starting that up again next weekend....Now i was thinking of putting together a sort of test about things they would need before getting a horse...just to sort of point out that there is so much more to owning a horse than just riding...and to illustrate that there is a lot of things that they take for granted that I or Vickie, my rock and friend down at the yard , will just sort out for them and they just go on to live in blissful ignorance about everything from farrier appointments, to worming to even feeding at times.....
So if there would be a license to take before you were allowed to own a horse (which wouldnt be such a bad idea really) what would you include in the Theory Test?
So far I have the following

Feeding- how to calculate a horses feeding rations, both in rest and in work
what the different needs the various feeds are filling, ie the difference between forage and hard feed.
how much water a horse can drink

Bedding variations, what is their good properties, and what might not be so good

Basic conformation, what to look for when buying a horse..

First aid knowledge, what to do if something happens, colic for example? and how to apply a poultice, a bandage, etc...

worming, why, how and when, and what are the alternatives, and what can you do to reduce your horses wormburden without chemicals

farrier- why, how often and included some hoof care, ie recognising thrush, a puncture wound and how to treat the same

basic field maintanence, recognising dangerous plants, why strip graze? why poo pick?

tack knowledge- what different pieces of tack do, from bits to martingales, and how to care for the same, basic fitting knowledge, in this include some basic rug knowledge, fitting etc..In this also include how to apply leg bandages properly...

road sense when ridng on the roads...

anything else...?

cheers

[Jenna]

That's a great idea, lovelylace. I didn't realise how little I knew about horses until I got my first 'own' horse - before that they were at home and my Mum did most of it! My YO back then was a complete rock and came out with all sorts of help and advice when I asked really stupid questions!

One thing I would include, is how to find out what is normal for your horse, ie heart rate, breathing, weight and how to spot an unhappy or uncomfortable horse, before an illness becomes severe enough for major reprecussions.

[lovelylace]

good idea, I include that as well..

I am just getting close to a nervous breakdown at times when i just watch in amazement on how they treat their horses..and it is not out of malice at all, it is just not knowing how much a horse need to drink or eat, or how they just have no idea how tack etc should be fitted...aaargh

[jennyf]

I agree as well. The BHS Horse Owners Certificates should be a must for all horse owners and at least the first levels 1 & 2 should be obtained before anyone should be allowed to own a horse. Many welfare cases are the result of ignorance.

[blueali]

I never thought I was that knowledgable until I met other horse owners. I am now very grateful for all the knowledge I aquired before getting my own horse. So I think yours is an excellent idea, I do wish you needed some kind of license to own a horse.

What about when to rug and why and what type? And things like what if the horse is sweaty?

How to deal with behavioural issues that may arise? perhaps stable vices.

How and why to keep a tidy yard!!!!! I had this drilled into me and now just cannot leave a full wheelbarrow, I have instilled it into my helpers and now they've moved on they are in demand.

[highlanderpony2002]

It is a good idea to run courses but I think people buy and don't realise how much work, time and money it involves thinking it is a cheaper and more exciting idea than going to a reputable school. However I think it would be a little rude to test your liveries and they may resent it you could lose custom and fail to get new ones as although I have many years of horse ownership I would not be happy about a test before I could be a customer at any yard.

[eskimo]

Hey LL, i run Horse owners courses for the BHS they basically are what you are doing split in to 4 levels. I travel all over going to large & small livery's & private yard. I teach the syllabus in practical format as we'll as the theory then they are assessed by taking a written paper Exam . I love doing them!!

This is the syllabus.
www.bhs.org.uk/DocFrame/DocView.asp?id=417

I think every new Novice horse owner or prospective new Novice horse owner should do these courses.

[chloe]

Excellent idea!

We have a young girl at my yard whose parents bought her a pony. She didn't know how to do anything except catch, lead and tie up. She didn't know how to tack up, muck out, feed, fill haynets, etc etc etc. Her riding isn't great either but her knowledge is improving by the day.

[lovelylace]

well basically I wont test any new liveries before they come on the yard, but, I have one girl that is a sharer and I know she is thinking oif getting her own horse, and she just do not know enough, then I have another owner who is rather clueless, I already give them some lessons in theory and also in riding however, I though I would say, something along the lines of, this is a test on what your basic knowledge needs to be before you buy a horse, I though we do the test and whatever you didnt know we will cover specifically in the upcoming theory lessons...

maybe it is a bit rude but I am getting very fed up with people mistreating their horses, and me and Vicky having to try to pick up the pieces....plus many of them ask for advice and when they find out that solving it would take some time and effort put in they just go, " ohh well i think I will do it my way instead", and you just have to stand there and see the problem worsen..

I used to rent this yard of a woman, who is a dressage trainer and as I was just geting so stressed out with it all, plus working full time in london, she said she would take over the main running of it, which is good as she isn't quite so soft as i am, which means she will tell people what is expected of them in no uncertain terms rather than just do the work for them and being a mug, which I seem to be great at ;D
anyhow, she seems to think it is a good idea, and I think they would benefit from realising that it is a huge responsibility to own a horse...

[lovelylace]

eskimo- thanks for the link and agree completely ;D

[highlanderpony2002]

I take it they can opt out and do things their own way without repercussions though. The reason I ask and I do think it is a great idea to get people to cooperate but many yards are a nightmare of bossy basically ignorant people and I personally if I was on a yard would prefer to keep myself to myself. I totally agree it is difficult to watch others make mistakes but I also think it is up to them to ask for help or if anyone else offers it it is the persons right to refuse it. We have a yard situation and there is constant bitching and back biting because others interfere with the way some wish to keep their horses. As I have said and I will say it again You are right they do need to learn I just think the best way is by example and by sorting out the courses which they can attend or not as the case may be.

[fin]

I did the BHS horseowners part one and while it IS useful, it's all a bit Old School. I didn't see why I was being told I had to wear cotton jodhs, a shirt and tie halfway up a mountain in Wales, or why I needed to use straw under a rug to dry a horse when I could buy a wicking technical thermatex rug, and then I totally blotted my copybook by asking about barefoot. I think it was worth doing but it would be better to take what's useful from the various syllabi and update it to include some rather more progressive methods I think!

Mind you EVERYONE should own the BHS Stable Management manual. It has the odd moment (check out what they say about boiling the goodness out of oats! I mean, what does that mean, exactly? It isn't exactly scientific, is it?) but for sensible hands on day to day care of a horse it's excellent.

[eskimo]

Finn, I'm sad to here you found it old school. I try my very hardest to keep up to date with every thing. Yes i do have to teach the syllabus but the BHS are well aware that things move on & i think they do move with the times. Putting straw under a rug to dry a horse is still an option to those who don't have a wicking rug to hand. I myself have had to do it last year when my wicking rug got shredded. Its still great to no all the options available on ways of doing things, & to learn as much as possible.
I'm far from traditional so to speak, i have one barefoot horse, one horse i ride in a Treeless now, i feed SS feeds i do lots of ground work with my dressage horse. But it always helps to have a sound background to fall back on especially when starting out in horse ownership.
The thing about reading books is it never sometimes works out that way in reality, i recently had a girl that had read many books & was hoping to do her stage one. But she could not lead the horse correctly & safely, she also couldn't apply a bandage & didn't have the first idea how to go about poulticing. She desperately needed someone to show her & work with her.

Good luck LL.

[pip]

It is frightening really, that anyone can just go and buy and horse and not know how to look after it.

I remember once where we kept out ponies one pony was shut in the stable with no water. My sister lent the owner a book on basic pony care (probably the Pony Club book) and noticed that the water bucket then appeared in the stable!

It is OK if the owners WANT to learn and the BHS Horse Owners Certificate is a good idea, it is the ones who think they don't need to learn are the problem.

I remember picking up an Eventing magazine once and thinking that some of the advice was extremely basic, but I was assured that it was necessary!

I am a product of the Pony Club as my parents were not horsey and I guess I have done plenty wrong in my time. Luckily ponies are pretty forgiving most of the time.

[misty]

With the lack of riding schools it would be helpful if the BHS and welfare organisations ran 1 or 2 day courses for would be horse owners. Many moons ago the ILPH ran at least one which I went to. I think it was free or a very nominal fee (may be hard for BHS to do!) with demo horses and everyone sitting on straw bales. It was a very informative and enjoyable day.

Today there are so many different methods, types of tack, magazines offering advice it must blow a new owners minds!