Are these things normal for a trail riding barn?
Made this post about bad habits this morning. Sounds like this place might be full of red flags, so I want some more experienced horse folk's opinions.
I've never been to a dedicated trail riding farm before this one so I figured maybe things are different because it's a different discipline? I guess you guys can tell me if these things are a matter of opinion or discipline or actually detrimental.
For one thing, the hitching posts don't have quick release snaps. Why would that be?
They use metal curry combs all year round. That seems like it would be painful to me. I always use a rubber curry, if I can find one. Keyword, if.
They don't pick out their horse's feet before rides. The times I have picked out their feet, they've looked freshly picked already. Idk if it's the terrain that makes it pretty unnecessary? But these horses are going out on a trail, shouldn't you at least check?
After the ride, they hitch the horses back up to the posts and that's it. No untacking. No grooming. Maybe they could be used for another ride later after I've left but that would be hours from then. They are always still standing around in full tack by the time I leave.
The horses are usually tacked up 2-3 hours in advance and left on the hitching rail until ride time. Some have shade. Some don't.
So overall, horses are in very tight saddles (liability to have the saddle roll essentially is what I was told) and bits for at least 5 hours with the actual ride being the only thing I could call relief for them.
I would expect a trail horse to be bomb proof. The owner has cautioned me against putting brushes on the hitching rail in case one falls and spooks a horse (and breaks a hitching rail). If a horse is gonna spook at a brush, I would imagine he'd be worse on a trail.
People who are busy shoveling poop and such rarely get a break. I go get some water and stand in front of a fan for a few minutes after working for hours on end and get told to get back to work. By people who don't have to do any physical labor. And then they're gonna be super nit picky too.
The owner seems very jaded. Like she hates people in general. Kind of has an "oh well too bad" attitude about any complaint. Ironically complains a lot about how work is being done and how no one ever helps. I've seen her drinking too. Can you imagine paying for a service and the manager is buzzed?
I've seen the owner float a horse's teeth. I know you have to sedate a horse for that. I know trimming your own horse's feet to save money is one thing but this? I hope she has some actual training.
The horses themselves actually look well kept for. Good looking feet. Shiny coats. Good weights. Long luscious manes. So I've argued that clearly they're well taken care of, maybe the horses are just used to these things?
I initially started volunteering here to get a good work out, make some friends, and enjoy the free rides but idk if I want to give them my free labor anymore. Sticking around could mean learning how to handle more difficult horses (and people) but idk. How much of this is common and how much of this is just wrong?
Submitted June 14, 2018 at 12:51PM by BlazedChestnut
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/comments/8r4bhy/are_these_things_normal_for_a_trail_riding_barn/?utm_source=ifttt
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