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RE: [RC] others riding out-of-control: advise sought (OT) - Catfish DanielsWell, you're right, that sometimes it's better just to look the other way and to leave things alone. I don't know how old the girls are - some people call 20 year old adults "kids". But I assume since you mentioned the word "pony" in your post, that these girls may indeed be young. The way they treat their horses is really no different than what they probably learned through cowboy and adventure horse movies. You can't really blame them for their actions if they have never had proper guidance I suppose. If you choose to do something about it due to the danger of the girls hurting themselves and their horses, it sounds to me like you need to talk to someone who CAN make them listen and learn - someone that they respect (hopefully) like their parents or the manager of your barn. Definitely the parents. Perhaps a nice conversation over a friendly cup of coffee would be a good starting point. Remember that "ignorance", unfortunately, can be a valid excuse for someone's actions. Good luck :-) Catfish DBL Realtors -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of A. Perez Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 10:06 AM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] others riding out-of-control: advise sought (OT) There is a situation at the stable where I board that I'd like your opinions on. There are two teenaged girls whose idea of 'riding' is bombing around at a dead gallop, and jumping. They usually do their galloping in whichever of the two pastures is not being used in the grazing rotation. They go to the far end of the field and gallop back to the gate. Frequently by the time they reach the gate, the horses are compeletely out of control and only the fence stops them. I've suggested to them on more than one occasion that by ALWAYS galloping BACK to the gate they are teaching their horses to be run-aways, but they continue to do this... again and again and again. One of the horses, a lovely saddlebred, gets sick of this game after awhile and starts rearing to refuse (I once saw him try to crawl UNDER the gate to avoid this game). One of the two girls is my next-door neighbor. I have seen her get dumped more than once - she is riding WAY beyond her ability. Her parents just bought her an OTTB that was about 200 hundred pounds under weight - spine sticks up, every rib shows. She cowboyed and jumped that poor mare so much she wore a nice huge fistula in her withers (instead of backing off when she saw the saddle sore forming she just put on another saddle pad). Vet said 'no riding for a month', so now she's running the pants off the other girl's 20-year-old-pony, who is probably not being done any favors by being ridden this hard (these girls will do this literally for hours). When they aren't galloping the fields, they are in the ring jumping... and jumping, and jumping.... Last weekend, after blasting around the fields for a few hours, they went into the ring and started jumping while another girl was trying to teach a private lesson. After watching them goof around and get in the way of the lesson for awhile I finally suggested to them that since they have all day and 20 acres to ride in, it would only be polite to leave the ring until the lesson is over. They said 'they can't control their horses outside the ring'. I said that is not surprising since all they do is gallop and maybe they should work on keeping their horses under control instead of racing, to which they gave a smart-ass reply. Many people have complained to the owner of the farm but I don't think he's said or done anything. Should I say something to the parents (my neighbors)? I'm sure my neighbors don't know their daughter has fallen off (twice that I've seen), or that she is riding unsafely... or do I just mind my own business? I don't know her parents especially well though they live right next door. There is no talking to the girls - they think they invented horses. I hate to see anyone get hurt, and they are putting others at risk. I remember being a kid and goofing around with horses and doing things that in hind-sight are pretty stupid, so I'd be willing to cut them a little slack, but they have so little regard for their horses that it is sickening, as well as dangerous. If I were a parent, I'd want to hear about it if my kids were risking themselves and others... thoughts? (PS one thought I had is to post this email, and your responses, where they can read it!) ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag ============================================================ One would think that logic would prevail. But then, if logic did prevail, men would ride sidesaddle. ~ Bob Morris ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================ ============================================================ REAL endurance is sleeping in the tack compartment of your trailer w/the door open, and your horse snorts/snots on your forehead every 30 min! ~ Heidi Sowards ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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