[FutureVetGirl]

Thank you Fancy, I'm looking into either padding the saddle correctly or buying a new saddle. And I'm hoping to sneak in some extra hay to him. All of the horses are kept in "racehorse" condition, even when they're not racing. Like... slender, fed enough so that they're not fat... but enough to be considered "healthy".

The only ones that are chubbier (like you can't at even see the outlines of the rips) are the ponies, the standardbreds (they gain weight like crazy... and then you feed the Thoroughbreds twice as much and they're still bony!), and the one Lipizzaner/Nonius cross.


Thanks for those links JB!!

[taliacristianna]

Originally Posted by FutureVetGirl

Thanks so much for that Talia! Every time I WATCH him being tacked up... I see something that they did wrong (I learned how to properly tack up at my last barn), but since I'm just a rider right now, and I supposedly don't know much compared to this guy who has been riding and training for thirty years, I'm not allowed to say anything. But yes... I do believe that the major problem at the moment has to do with saddle fit. *urgh*

Oh man do I know that feeling... I'm about to start working with a mare that was put in a tom thumb bit as a 3 year old. Her owner is CLUELESS about horses. (As if a 3 year old + a VERY inexperienced rider isn't bad enough...)

Her "trainer" told her that a tom thumb was the next step above a simple snaffle... GAAAAHHHH!!!

[FutureVetGirl]

Argh... I mean... I've read the books. I have step-family (all of my blood relations are non-horsey... except for one far off grandpa who used to train racehorses) who are horsey... and I've learned a lot. Yet... I don't feel like I'm in the "position" to say, "don't do that, THIS is how you do it" to someone who is thrice my age. I mean... yes... when it comes to the actual riding and training and all... YES... he knows a LOT more than me. But he is kind of clueless on what is actually good and healthy for a horse. Or he made opinions... and is thinking on those... rather than thinking about what is healthy for the horse (which is why several of the horses are underweight).

I mean... I respect him... but sometimes I just feel like he needs to take a huge refresher course in what is "right" for a horse.

Edit: people... don't tell me to swap barns... that's not an option. This is the only "public" barn within a fifty mile radius... and we can't go any further...

[taliacristianna]

You'll come across people like that no matter WHERE you board. It's good that you are trusting your instinct and are not falling into the "he's been around horses for a long time so he MUST know everything" mindset.

I know a lot of people that have been in the horse business since well before I was born that truly don't know jack. Many of them have some downright SCARY training and/or caretaking methods...

They may have years experience, but is it years of experience in doing things correctly or incorrectly?

You can learn more in one year from a GOOD trainer then you can in fifteen years from a bad one!

[FutureVetGirl]

I so do agree. My first instructor was AMAZING. I am really dissapointed that he moved. *sigh*

I mean... when I say AMAZING... I mean AMAZING. He was only thirty-fourty years old... but after having lived two years in the USA training with top racing instructors, three or four years in Germany training with top dressage and jumping instructors there, as well as getting USA and European approved (unsure of the name) riding instructor licenses of the top level.

He not only trained horses that are now competing in Grand Prix level showjumping, but he also worked with young kids, and the local mounted police. He was absolutely amazing, and he was a great teacher. Strict, but not MEAN. I've had way too many MEAN teachers in the past, and tons of strict ones. Strict... I don't mind. But mean... is... well... mean. Hehe... I love it. Because I did lessons before and after the police officers, I often knew and talked with them. I was friends with these really cute 20 year old police officers. I cared very little at that time... since I was 11... but even still... if I was older... it would have been a lot more fun.


I really miss him though. I learned a TON during the one year I took lessons with him. *sigh* But he moved to Banja Luka, Bosnia, where he now works at a top showjumper training stable there, so I know he is content.

And the guy that manages the stable now... does know a LOT about riding... and I watch him every time he's able to ride (he has a lot of back problems that keep him from riding), and always learn something new. But he knows very... and I mean VERY little about the care and management of a horse. So... he doesn't quite have that balance. Both Nada and I are trying to change his mind on a lot of things. He's already begun feeding a couple of the thinner horses a bit more than the rest of the horses... and they ARE gaining weight.

[taliacristianna]

Your former trainer sounds awesome! (The cute police officers would have swayed me too..)

It sucks that the better they are, the less likely they are to stick around. I had the same thing happen with a trainer of mine. I can't hold it against her. She's off pursuing her dreams now!

[FutureVetGirl]

I know. I'm most definately not mad at him. I'm mad at myself for leaving first. >_< And then expecting him to stay in that tiny stable that offered no hope of truly advancing.

But it was awesome. My first lesson was on a pony and with a saddle, just so that he could see how well I ride (I bounced the entire time, only posted ONCE)... and then after that, I rode on one of the larger horses that fit me better, with nothing but a surcingle with hand straps. I never fell off. He began at a walk, then trot, and then canter. Without a saddle. Then I began working with a saddle... and forgot how to do it without. Urgh... it was annoying. But nice.