The Cadence of Hoofbeats

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equestrian-confessionss:

Submitted by (reallynoneedtorush)

all the school ponies/horses at my old barn

The schoolies at my barn sure do! Scamp is like worshiped. Seriously, that horse is amazing.

But I know at one of my olllld barns from when I was like 9, the school horses are treated like absolute shit. It’s sad when they don’t have a stall or have to share a 12 x 12 stall with another horse. Or when they’re worked into the ground until the day they die. Or if they’re foundering and no one really gives a shit. And fed the cheapest grain you can buy. All have ill-fitting tack. yeah, not a good place to be a school horse.

^^^ hence why I would never let my horses become school horses. Oh, I’m sure they’d be great at it and all the little girls would love them - but I don’t want them getting thrush once a month or being ridden without a shoe because people don’t know how to check/pick feet before riding - or getting back problems from ill-fitting tack and such. They’ve taught me so much, which is why they’re fat and happy, being spoiled as my pasture pets! I’ve let them go away for a week or so when they were leased out for finals/other shows, but I wouldn’t want them away for a long time.

School horses are absolute SAINTS. Of course some of them are nasty, but you would be too if you had that many people riding you so many different ways. But they all have so many different things to teach you, they don’t deserve to be treated or thought of badly.

The horses at my stables aren’t treated bad, they’re really well looked after and get tons of attention. The only bad part is they have their tack on most of the day, which can’t be helped as its a seriously busy riding centre. I just think riding school horses put up with so much, having beginners on their backs, going endlessly round an arena for a lot of the day, having little kids messing around with them and they still trust and put up with it. I think riding school horses should get the same amount of recognition as a winning racehorse, cause for most of us, we wouldn’t be anywhere in the equestrian world without them.