|
SOAP BOX
This is where you can have your say. You can have a 'Rave On' I'll select articles that can be hard hitting but not slanderous or identifying anyone.
25th June, 2008 I love this site. I read it
daily looking for any tidbits that may assist me. However it is very
tiresome reading the multitude of letters that criticize pony club and
or EFA. They are not perfect by any means, but then who can claim that
they are. We are all reading this web site and searching for other
sources of information because we do love our horses and therefore want
to improve our knowledge. My daughter takes her pony to pony club and
loves it. Sometimes she is told to do things that I don’t agree with so
I have told her to say thank you politely and then ignore it. If I see
anything I don’t agree with I tell the person concerned then and there.
What they do with that is up to them.
18th July, 2007 I also agree with your ranting page- the lack of basic
horse mastership 30th July, 2003 This week my beef is Horse Committee members/ administrators. Not Pony Club but, here is our State it is the E.F.A.and the Eventing committees that seem to attract FAILED/INCOMPETENT RIDERS / OR THOSE WHO NEVER ACTUALLY SAT ON A HORSE people to their ranks. These people have plenty of time to be on these committees, because they actually don't have any animals to feed and look after and compete on, in between working and looking after family members etc. These type of people love the POWER they wield( so they think!!) and give the rest of poor buggers who are trying to have ago the shits. When interstate trips( junkets- fully paid for by the members of course) they flit around the country hobnobbing, while the members are left to face the ever increasing cost of membership and entry fees as the clubs never have enough money!!! Going for a ride to the beach or through the bush instead of competing is looking more and more attractive every day ( we do this any way) and we wouldn't have to pay several lots of insurance as we do now!!! Cathy from Tasmania 19th September My family is involved in the rodeo world and I cant agree with you more, when you talk about pony clubbers and the rest of the "gentleman " horse sports. I see some disturbing things "behind the scenes" at rodeo but the majority of competitors are true horse people with a deep love and respect for their fellow equine friends. I find it sad when people talk about "cowboys" it nearly always means something derogatory and while sometimes it is true it is not always the case. The same goes for pony clubbers, people tend to think they are great, but sadly a lot of them aren't. They are exactly what you write, either looking for prestige or just have no idea. Keep up the good work Mandy THE CRUELTY TO OUR STANDARD BRED HORSES 29th September, 2003
Hi there
I am
just writing to you to say thank you for saying something about the
cruelty caused to standard reds. I used to work in the industry. I have
seen many a horse treated very poorly buy trainers. One horse I saw
sweating and trembling in it's stable (you know the ones they have for
SB at the races) and the owner calling it a Sl*t and B***H etc. he
wondered why the horse ran like a dog, she left everything at the stable
poor thing made me sick.
another
time I saw a certain man training a yearling. it had a head check ( a
necessity for a young sb) a harsh bit cant remember exactly what it was,
a complete waste of time, poor thing) spreaders of course a young horse
might hit they are growing, why not knee boots and tendon boots) and an
underhead check (poor thing couldn't move it's head at all) this young
horse ran a really nice time once (he had a lot of potential) much to his
own demise, as the man who owned him the spent the next three months
working him everyday, for at least 30-40 mins in hopples and pace
working to try and get that speed again he never gave it as in the
beginning he was growing, and was out of balance etc, in the end he was
just plain exhautsted). He used to pull the horse up and try to make him
stand for 5mins or so, he was a yearling and he just didn't have the
patience for it(derr does a 12 yr old child stand still) he would move,
man would fight, and oneday the horse reared over. The man tried to kick
the horse etc to get it to get up, but of course he had both his head
checks on, that is the one and only time I have seen someone have a go
at him, someone abused him and told him that the horse can't get up as
the head checks restrict his head to much, he undid the head checks and
the horse got straight up.
I used to
go down the track with my trainer and if that man was there with his
young horse, he would always say come on time to leave, it would break
my heart to see this little young horse go out on the track exusted
before it had even begun.
one day we
went down and i noticed that the little horse wans't in it's stable,
made an off hand comment to my trainer that the gentle man must have
finally woke up to his self and but the horse to pasture (where it
belinged, the horse only need to be broken, driven, taught to pace and
sent out again asap and he was a gangly looking thing that was never
going to make a 2yr old) my trainer told me no, apparently the day
before it had got it's head caught in the rails of his yard and snapped
his neck.
I think the
saddest thing is that I ended up thinking to my self, that the horse was
so much better off, it made me sick to think how glad I was that the
little feller was dead.
*sigh* if
only people would realise SB for the gems they are, I have never meet
horses with bigger hearts. My mother made me realise that everyone
genuinely thought I had a good hand with SBs on the ground and on the
track, what they didn't realise was that I cared about them, treated
them as well as I could and I guess they respected me for that, as I
never had a problem with them, of the 25 r 30 horses that came throught
the stables I worked at in the 6yrs i worked there ( it was a small one,
mostly their own) there was only one horse i couldn't drive (it would
pull it's self down, he had some serious problems that I think he would
never have recovered from enough to race, we only had him for a little
while as he was to dangerous and we couldn't get any weight on him).
well I am
sure I am boring you. to get to the point, thanks for standing up for my
fav breed even if it was only in your Day in the life, and only reaches
a few people. I wish I had of had the guts to stand up for that
yearling, I should have rung the RSPCA, but I was scared to I was only
14, but I know now and would not hesitate in a heart beat. If only some
of the adults had of had the heart.
1st October Just caught up with
your comments on the treatment of Standardbreds. I have owned a OTT STB
for the last 5 months and am a total convert to the breed. Luckily for her
she was bred and trained by a local horseman who is very well respected in
our area for his years of experience and his calm kind way with horses. As
a consequence I have a beautifully mannered, honest horse with loads of
horsy personality - found my partner for life! (brag picture below) It
hurts to think about the thousands of this gorgeous breed that end up at
abattoirs each year - an unbelievable heartbreaking waste.
I'd like to add my opinion to the issue with
Standardbreds...
Firstly, they are not the only horses which
get the rough end of the deal. It happens. I wish it didn't. You only
have to look at some gallopers, Dressage horses, Pony Clubbers,
campdrafters etc etc etc... you name it. And their owners. There are
going to be people out there who do unspeakable things to horses in any
discipline, as much as it pains me to think of it.
You have only to visit the local sales...
Here, the majority of horses being sold for dog meat are either
ill/unsound (why can't people have them put down caringly?) or horses
that PEOPLE don't need or don't get on with. Sometimes that's an
outgrown child's pony, one that doesn't suit someone or horses surplus
to the racing industries. Ultimately, people are the reason why horses
have come to end up being sold as meat.
Yes, I transgress. In the wild, survival of
the fitness etc...
Where money comes into the equation, horses
HAVE to produce. And not all owners/trainers take the long view. I wish
they would, but that's how it is, sadly. I would like to think that the
majority of owners/trainers have their horses' welfare at heart.
Some, or I might say the majority
of trainers/handlers/owners are pressured to produce money from their
horses. Add to that personal issues and you have a recipe for some
dreadful things happening to horses. I would like to think that the
majority of trainers do care for their horses.
I have to say that thinking of things like
this happening to Standardbreds is utterly repugnant. I have found STBs,
without exception so far, (and I've owned a lot of them and trained many
more) to be the outstanding breed which has a truly genuine work ethic
and great temperament as well as being athletic individuals.
I am not by an means excusing the behaviour
described in the previous post! I sincerely wish that more people could
get to know Standardbreds at first hand and offer more good homes for
Standardbreds after racing! They are very much worthwhile working with
and the myths currently extant of them being "ugly", "clumsy" etc are
easily dispelled when you see some of the fabulous Standardbreds who
have had the opportunity to have a life after racing.
Lisa 3rd October
Hi, he was raced from 2 1/2yrs for 6 months around
the nsw country pace races. He was last in nearly all his 7 starts. This
is from his freeze brand info. I also have his breeders name but can't
find anything on the net about him. .......... has been flogged with a
halter or bridle and a rope. He shows me this went I pick up or hang on
his fence either one. He is also very ear shy on the right side that I
haven't been able to work through. I gather it was twisted to restrain
him at some point. He has some leading manners but will try for dominant
horse. It's subtle most of the time, but having raised horses from foals
in a herd environment, I see it, it only takes one reminder though, in
the situation. When I am leading, he stops with me, walks slow or fast,
trots, turns with me, left or right , lowers and raises his head with
little pressure. BUT as soon as someone or something else comes into the
area, he'll spin away to face them/it up or bolt away. I can pick up his
feet after a battle of wills (he try's to sit down), I guess the farrier
wasn't kind. He ties whilst I'm there, but if I walk away he panics and
pulls back, he broke a fence paling doing this, so I dont leave him
alone tied now. If I leave him untied in the roundyard, he'll pace the
fence till I'm back insight. Once he even started calling out. This
doesn't happen when he's free in the paddock. I have found that if I
don't talk to him whilst working with him he works things out quicker
and more relaxed. I guess he was yelled at a lot. I have never ridden
him, I would not have control enough. I can tell from the ground. The
woman I got him from hadn't, she could never catch him. She got him from
the sales, his pen gate had "doggers" marked on it. She was told he was
in a paddock for 10yrs after being raced. I put a bridle on him once. He
was calm till I went to take it off. He started shaking his head like a
dog does when it's wet. It traumatized ME to much to try again. I don't
mind if he's just a lawn mower, we have a sort of bond. He has a home
for life, I just thought maybe there was something else I should be
doing. I spend a lot of time sitting in the paddock reading or watching
him and I think he might even like my company, as long as I don't invade
his space too much. I'm hoping one day something will click, but I guess
the damage is too deep. Thanks for listening to me. Sorry it's so long
winded. Your the first person who hasn't said "what did you buy a dud
horse for" "you should send him to be canned". In --------- defense, he
has NEVER struck, bit, kicked, reared, charged or run over me. He's not
that way, thank God for him. If you have any advice, I would appreciate
it. Again, thank you. Kylie
Kylie, To utter the immortal words of Slim Dusty..... "Well he's lookin kind of jaded and his sight is not the best and the hair around his muzzle is turning grey. He has seen a 100 musters and I think it's only fair, that we leave him in the long yard here today." You are a very nice horse owner and your horse is lucky to have you. Cheers 15th October, 2003 I have ridden most of my life (38) and I still feel like I know nothing. My Father bred/rode/trained/campdrafted etc.(A million years ago.) He was a quiet unassuming small gentle man, I hope I am the same, except for the man part. I have a bit of trouble with the old know it all's at Pony Club,(kids) Adult Riding Club (me) etc. An example: My Daughter rides a beautiful conformed and well behaved 14.2 quarter horse mare. someone rode up her backside at a hundred miles an hour at pony club and she made it clear she was'nt happy, now she has an unjustified reputation, I've even been told by an aged old bag to tie beer cans to her tail and leave them there untill she stops kicking. The Point! I will get there!!! I like your style, I am always scared to speak up and more than likely let people behaving badly walk all over me I really enjoy your soapbox and "A day in the life of" Thankyou Madge Madge, ignore the old bags. Every Pony Club has at least one. Anyway, from a training point of view, wouldn't the 'old bag' be better off teaching the kids to stay away from the rear end of every horse instead of just selected ones? The ones with red ribbons for instance? They all have their days and they can all kick given the right circumstance. Perhaps you may dress all the other Pony Club horses up as beer cans after the re-education. That aughta fix her! name: sue 18/1/04 I love your site, it is wonderful to see some good old fashioned
horse 2nd September, 2004
Hi
I am
responding to all those people regarding pony club committees.
I am
pleased to say that every one on the committee of the pony club of
which I attend all own and ride horses at all different levels. It
makes the club alot more interesting and fun for everyone. Not just
beguinners or those at such a high level you know the only reason they
attend is to get enough quallies so as to attend at state level shows.
The
comradery at our club is exceptional.
I was a
breed shower years ago and up until recently felt the same way about
pony club. People were bitchy, never helpful and flat out SNOBS! I
flat out refused to go, until a friend of mine kept telling me about
her pony club. It's only been around for a few years and is still
relatively small. The best part is that the bickering and backstabbing
found in some of the older clubs is non existant in ours. Well, it
took her about 3 months until I finally caved in. Now I am on the
committee!!
We are
active in Zone events and participate in alot of fun activities. We
were also selected to go to the State Champs this year! Sure there are
mothers on our commitee, but they all ride and so do thier kids.
Northern Hills began by a few people who got sick of all the bull
found in other clubs, so the left and began their own.
If you
want to have some fun, further your instruction (we get alot of guest
instruction too!), go on a few trail rides amongst some fantastic
scenery (rolling hills, grass, creek etc etc) and we also have our end
of year party. No boring presentation night for us. Get the DJ, pump
out the music and have a barn dance!!! YEA!
No
Northern Hills Pony Club is not your average pony club. And you know
what? We are all very glad about that.
Contact
me via email at
agos@chariot.net.au for more details.
Cheers
FROM AN AMERICAN BREAKER Dear Mr. O'Leary: Thanks for that. Very interesting. I guess the difference is in the number of games that people learn and how they are restricted within them. There are the 7 games, good ones of course and then Ray Hunt and the like would have about 10,007 different games . I am still inventing new games, every day and on every horse. I'll catch up with you one day soon. 22/3/05 HP,
27/3/05 Dear Mr and Mrs HP, This letter, makes me think about Pony Club in yet another way and brings the reality of the problems within it, into the realm of simplicity. You have put it perfectly. My motivation has always been to make things better for the horses of Pony Club and for the Riders' of Pony Club. What you have described is reality. That is what happens. Exactly. So how bad is that? It borders on the terrorization and almost cruelty of the one we are supposed to love the most. The horse. We want them all to hang off the mouths of these poor unfortunate animals, for hours on end and yet we won't teach the kids why, how, to thus bring relief to the horses. You are dead right. They should all ride on loopy reins until such time as proper, qualified, proven and experienced Instructors attend. That means NCAS, EFA Instructors, NOT PONY CLUB INSTRUCTORS with the phony accreditation that means nothing. It is an appalling state of affairs and just another reason why I get so frustrated about it. Pull rank on them or leave.
In response to your ranting page, I'd just like to add my 2 bobs worth
just recently had and new outside mare and foal arrive from a very
respectable stud. The foal had a very wonky for use of better term hind
leg, hock swivelled to 90 degrees from body when he walked and his hoof
on that side was half the size of his other hind hoof. Hence after
advising new client his foal was stuffed we had it exrayed and scanned
to reveal the poor little bugger had had a crushed and dislocated pelvis
which had healed suprise suprise incorrectly. 17th August, 2005 I have read some of the stories about the pony clubbers in the world.Well I found out the hard way if you say to much they give you a hard job to try and shut you up (made me Chief Instructor), but I am glad to say that I am now very proud of our club, we do lots of different things, we introduce ground skills, presentation, in hand showing, care of the pony and horse all hands on, some theory thrown in for good measure, we also pride ourselves in being a club were all instructors still ride (in some form or other) and some even compete against their children in jumping and hacking. To say that some even have to lift their game and jump a little higher to be in front of the 11 and 13 year old competing on ponies and already jumping 85cm. We also have a great club when traveling and share our uniforms if they are in short supply for events. When I took over Chief instructor (with much input from the outgoing one) and advice from the parents who ride through their kids, I have developed a system for lessons from one rally to the other, I encourage the children to watch other people having lessons, even their average mum or instructor learning new ways, I also find that our instructors are always passing on what they have learnt from another person. I went to pony club with my instructor never having even sat on a horse (and good thing to a 19hh Shire would have been the only horse to carry her) and I believe that text book instructors are not the best at times, there is no fear factor if a pony bolts past they don’t know what is going through the child’s mind. I like the idea that all Level 1 trainees (EFA) have to pass a riding test which includes dressage scores and jumping 90cm. At our club we also include other horse industry people (being parents mostly) race horse trainers, camp drafting people, harness drivers etc to give these children a broad view of the horses in general. But mostly we do need to educate the owners and parents of the good feeding and care of the ponies they buy, I have also invited the local RSPCA person (who happens to be my good friend) to talk to kids and show them the horrid things that some uncaring and uneducated animal owners do to their charges, that did shake a few kids up but they also learnt a very important lesson about feeding and care. I as a horse owner spend more on horse feed each week than the family meals, we don’t go without but buy cheaper and grow our own, I was always taught to feed my horse first as he cant go shopping for the things he wants and cut back on the luxury we don’t need. My children would rather go to a horse event and compete than the movies or have a lunch order each week, and funny enough the movies is nearly the same price as the entry fee to a horse event. We love doing things as a family having 4 out of 5 that ride (partner has a boat and keeps us in fresh fish). I believe that the pony club is the cheapest form of instruction we provide and is the one day a month we (hopefully) have the attention of the little dears so lets try and make the best of it and teach them the life skills they need to enjoy their ponies/horses until their old age. 28/12/05 I was wondering if you could post this on your soap box.
|
