# Horse brats/snobs?



## TerciopeladoCaballo (May 27, 2012)

You might've seen them. Probably seen them, really. The rider in the next field or in the clinic. (Maybe an old video of ourselves, too, :wink Anybody have some stories? I have a new one...

I'm not sure what obligations we have as a rider/horse handler when people having the brat or snob syndrome are having issues near us. I started thinking about it again when I was watching a young rider jerking her horse toward a 2ft cross rail and flapping her reins. Her heels were so high back that they touched the back of the saddle sometimes. She would keep flapping away, saying what a stupid horse he was being and how he was so silly. Laughing the times he stumbled and clipped his chin on the poles. 

What really fried my bean was when she finally did come off, the boarders watching laughed with her and made jokes about the little horse, who was gaping and prancing in place due to having his mouth yanked when the girl fell. His martingale was on too tight for him to get a good rear, so he just made a few hops and switched his tail a mile a minute. The trainer of this place always gets irked when I try to talk during the lesson, but I did any way since the little girl didn't mind me... I told her that her boy couldn't get over the cross rail because (my attempt to make this easy to understand by a kid) his eyes go one direction and if he can't see her legs on his sides and the reins are in the way, he forgets she's riding him. It sounded silly, but what would you know, she went around and got him over it. When the audience told her what a naughty sucker the horse was and how great she was for getting him over, she said "No, no--- he couldn't see me, he was scared!" I think the thought finally crossed her mind that there were thing she could do to either hurt or help the horse...

You DO need a sense of humor with horses, though, that much is certain, but there are times to be serious about. Like, "Hey guys, watch me jump my horse as high as he's ever gone even though we already have problems doing the basics and let's laugh when I fall off!" That isn't a silly mistake... Just recently a girl asked why she couldn't sit her horse's canter between jumps. I asked if she could sit the canter on the flat. "OH MY GOSH I DON'T! Thank you so much " *Facepalm*

For me, I was humbled in the first year of horseback riding lessons, I was always around riders who were much, much more advanced than I was in that year so there was no way I could look down on anyone, and no way I could blame the lesson horses when my trainer could get on them and have them look gorgeous. I did get a fat head when I became a solid intermediate and rode group lessons with beginners. It started out with me being irritated by confusing what the trainer was saying to either me or the beginners, the rest is history when I saw the beginners ride a lesson horse I once did and have trouble. For a while I thought I was hot stuff because I could canter without falling off and cue the horse right the first (or third) time :lol: When I had to take full responsibility of my first horse, though, that broke me and gave me a heck of a time to build back up.


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## TBforever (Jan 26, 2013)

pony club is the worst for snobs LOL, internet forums are huge for it aswel

but i always think..if they wanna big note themselves let them, they need to get there self esteem up some how

what irks me is when ppl say about themselves is "i suck" then u watch them and they are awesome riders! it annoys me LOL

and i love it when people say they are great riders and u watch them and they are not as good as they say


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## Sereno (Apr 21, 2013)

TerciopeladoCaballo said:


> You might've seen them. Probably seen them, really. The rider in the next field or in the clinic. (Maybe an old video of ourselves, too, :wink Anybody have some stories? I have a new one...
> 
> I'm not sure what obligations we have as a rider/horse handler when people having the brat or snob syndrome are having issues near us. I started thinking about it again when I was watching a young rider jerking her horse toward a 2ft cross rail and flapping her reins. Her heels were so high back that they touched the back of the saddle sometimes. She would keep flapping away, saying what a stupid horse he was being and how he was so silly. Laughing the times he stumbled and clipped his chin on the poles.
> 
> ...


Let's see. Spanish name. Tropical place. Stable with no control over the rich kids and afraid to say anything to the parents. Instructor is easy to offend.

Sea Horse Ranch in the Dominican Republic?

At least it sounds like it. I tried to work with the management and kids but got no where. I got so fed up with the kids AND parents I moved my horses out.


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## Ace80908 (Apr 21, 2011)

I was at a show last weekend, a high dollar young paint gelding was being ridden by just such a teenage girl - she snatched and pulled and kicked and spurred that poor boy the entire show, both in the warm-ups and the ring. She didn't place in any classes. It was the general consensus that the judge or the management should have done a public shaming and excused her from the ring (and the show).


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## TerciopeladoCaballo (May 27, 2012)

Sereno said:


> Let's see. Spanish name. Tropical place. Stable with no control over the rich kids and afraid to say anything to the parents. Instructor is easy to offend.
> 
> Sea Horse Ranch in the Dominican Republic?
> 
> At least it sounds like it. I tried to work with the management and kids but got no where. I got so fed up with the kids AND parents I moved my horses out.


Close 

I've heard un-professional things about SHR though.

I'm not one to give names, but the particular barn in question is quite the same. I try to stay off saying anything too bad about them (besides frequently telling people to NOT board or take lessons there EVER) and do my best to maintain a neutral relationship. I keep it simple: that barn isn't right, strange and suspicious things thrive there. I've no idea what they say about me there to the new boarders that replace the old, but almost everyone there treats me coldly. 

Perhaps it's the snob factor at work, maybe they are trying to compete? I don't know. They're fairly well-mannered to my other neighbors. I did, however, get badly injured by one of their horses a long time ago when I worked there for free in an attempt to help the horses they were neglecting; the horse is apparently running a long record of injuring other people of various ages and is STILL there to this day in a shed-stall without any sign or lock on his door telling any of the wandering kids that he will bite you and swing you around like a jolly ball. There are worse things that have happened there, yet it is near-impossible to accuse them due to the fact that they are local judges and praised by a large group of people. It's a scandal, and I hate to be involved, yet being one of their victims automatically makes me familiar to the mess...


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Horses (and especially ponies) are great levelers of people. They don't give a crap for how wealthy anyone is or how 'posh' they want to pretend to be
They'll still dump them on the floor and leave them there.


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## TerciopeladoCaballo (May 27, 2012)

Ace80908 said:


> I was at a show last weekend, a high dollar young paint gelding was being ridden by just such a teenage girl - she snatched and pulled and kicked and spurred that poor boy the entire show, both in the warm-ups and the ring. She didn't place in any classes. It was the general consensus that the judge or the management should have done a public shaming and excused her from the ring (and the show).


I think I saw girl who must've been her twin; a teenager was riding a Paso Fino in a real mean-looking double bridle with a wire-thin bridoon, she forced the gelding around the Equitation pattern until she came to the backing part, to which the gelding, who already had his head extremely high and tucked at the same time (most disgusting thing I've ever seen) with a giant bulging under-neck, reared up and started falling onto one leg repeatedly. Judge kept saying, "Thank you, rider," about seven times while the girl continued to haul on its mouth and kick, til someone in line-up hollered, "Let go! Take your leg off!" and the girl paused, giving the horse time to stand on all fours, and walked him off to line up. Of course she still placed, until the next equitation class right after, where the same judge ordered a bridle check at the end and DQ'd the girl for the bits. Nothing about her riding, just, "That bit isn't accepted in this show."

I see some girls disappointed at shows, the last one I went to had a gorgeous black stallion in a terrific outline with a very precise, light rider. She was gentle, quiet, and probably the best of the day, yet she lost out to a girl who was fighting her horse every turn but apparently made the impression that it was simply the dumb horse's fault (and the relationship she had with the judge didn't hurt), she was definitely not enjoying herself. Sometimes if you have a mistake, and you make it really look like it's just the horse's fault in spite of all your valiant efforts, somewhere a judge will buy into it....


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## Bagheera (Apr 23, 2013)

Snobs are the worst! Especially when they get away with treating their horse badly. There was a girl at my old barn who had a lovely Warmblood gelding that came to her as a hunter. She decided to turn him into a jumper by putting on huge spurs and whipping the crap out of him to make him go faster, when she jumped him. The poor horse had bloody sides from the spurs after one lesson. The girl complained that her horse was a piece of crap to her parents and they actually consoled her! When I complained to the barn owner, she just told me the kid had a rough life and to leave it alone. It was just horrible!


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## OliviaMyee (Jul 31, 2012)

Honestly the horse forum is the only forum i think i can even survive and go on ! I go onto Vic Horse where there are people from my area from all over Melbourne or the world and they are just so judgemental and mean, they will put you down for not knowing something, they will call you names and they are down right rude they say how doomed i am and that i will never be able to ask a question yet i have had no major problems with horse people at my agistment and in real life ! I have many friends from my agistment and i never argue with them but on this vic horse forum.. There is so much bullying and abuse and snobby people they put down other businesses people and you can obviously tell every one is gossiped about.
Snobby people like a hierachy the people with most money and a better title/ranking think they are top s***. 

I love this forum so much ! And i have never been bullied, there is such mature people on this forum i believe the moderators are the BEST on this forum and you wont hardly ever any bullying or mean comments about you on here. 

Sadly some forums have a terrible hierachy where people compare each other and these are allot of the time the snobby ones. Maybe i got a bit of topic, but recently being told my parents should hit me ect on a forum.. When all i did was ask a question about a Mare with Milk, and i asked politely and said thank you for the answers !


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## SketchyHorse (May 14, 2012)

Hmmm let's see... I can't really remember any barn/horse snobs when I used to board my horse (I was like 12). Although I do remember a gal who boarded two horses at the same barn as me, one she gamed & the other she jumped. Well the jumper ended up getting sick with something & passed away. Well her mother bought her a very cute little TB mare, probably a bit much for the girl, & she REFUSED to ride this horse. Said she didn't want to ride english anymore. Hrm - sure your mom wished you had decided that BEFORE buying the horse & keeping her for a month.

Then I took lessons at a barn that considered itself VERY high scale. The BO was a complete moron. She rode all her lesson horses into the ground, but then didn't want you jumping them because well hey - they'll probably break down from too much work. She would take horses she had in training that were freshly started under saddle and ride them DURING your lesson. They pretty much preferred to give group lessons so there would be 4 other horses in a relatively small arena with inexperienced riders (I got grouped in the adult beginners and was not happy -_-). She would give lessons to her son at the same time lessons were going on and would make the people PAYING for their lessons either stop or be constricted to one part of the arena. I do remember her actually stopping my lesson & making us all stand in the middle of the arena while she had him jumping. THEN she proceeded to lecture me one day that to have a nice jumper it really needed to be a $10,000 horse. That you didn't take cheap horses and turn them into good horses that could do bigger shows.

The worst though? I boarded my Arab in '08 over the winter so we could continue her Dressage training. Towards the end of us being there we got a new boarder who had just purchased her first horse. She was an adorable 3-4yo Paint x Draft mare who had been Amish raised. Very, very sweet mare who would do anything, yet was still very green. The gal had actually been kicked out of the barn she had been taking lessons at for years because she purchased this horse & didn't buy one of theirs (or buy something through them). Felt kinda sorry for her. That is until I watch her ride this mare. Don't get me wrong this girl was a great rider, but had absolutely no patience towards this mare. She would yank her mouth, excessively use the whip on her. It was disgusting. I watched her attempt to force this mare over 2ft jumps EVERY ride. The mare would refuse & she would slap the crap outta her with her crop. It was just absolutely heartbreaking to watch this mare turn into a nervous wreck because she was so confused. Eventually the trainer told her that she needed to give the mare 30 days off & then she would work with her because she was ruining the poor horse. Last I had heard after I left she'd gotten kicked out because the trainer was sick of the way she treated the horse.


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## TerciopeladoCaballo (May 27, 2012)

SketchyHorse said:


> Hmmm let's see... I can't really remember any barn/horse snobs when I used to board my horse (I was like 12). Although I do remember a gal who boarded two horses at the same barn as me, one she gamed & the other she jumped. Well the jumper ended up getting sick with something & passed away. Well her mother bought her a very cute little TB mare, probably a bit much for the girl, & she REFUSED to ride this horse. Said she didn't want to ride english anymore. Hrm - sure your mom wished you had decided that BEFORE buying the horse & keeping her for a month.
> 
> Then I took lessons at a barn that considered itself VERY high scale. The BO was a complete moron. She rode all her lesson horses into the ground, but then didn't want you jumping them because well hey - they'll probably break down from too much work. She would take horses she had in training that were freshly started under saddle and ride them DURING your lesson. They pretty much preferred to give group lessons so there would be 4 other horses in a relatively small arena with inexperienced riders (I got grouped in the adult beginners and was not happy -_-). She would give lessons to her son at the same time lessons were going on and would make the people PAYING for their lessons either stop or be constricted to one part of the arena. I do remember her actually stopping my lesson & making us all stand in the middle of the arena while she had him jumping. THEN she proceeded to lecture me one day that to have a nice jumper it really needed to be a $10,000 horse. That you didn't take cheap horses and turn them into good horses that could do bigger shows.
> 
> The worst though? I boarded my Arab in '08 over the winter so we could continue her Dressage training. Towards the end of us being there we got a new boarder who had just purchased her first horse. She was an adorable 3-4yo Paint x Draft mare who had been Amish raised. Very, very sweet mare who would do anything, yet was still very green. The gal had actually been kicked out of the barn she had been taking lessons at for years because she purchased this horse & didn't buy one of theirs (or buy something through them). Felt kinda sorry for her. That is until I watch her ride this mare. Don't get me wrong this girl was a great rider, but had absolutely no patience towards this mare. She would yank her mouth, excessively use the whip on her. It was disgusting. I watched her attempt to force this mare over 2ft jumps EVERY ride. The mare would refuse & she would slap the crap outta her with her crop. It was just absolutely heartbreaking to watch this mare turn into a nervous wreck because she was so confused. Eventually the trainer told her that she needed to give the mare 30 days off & then she would work with her because she was ruining the poor horse. Last I had heard after I left she'd gotten kicked out because the trainer was sick of the way she treated the horse.


I remember the first time I yanked a horse in the mouth... When my current horse was my lesson horse years ago, I didn't own her and she was a pig about the reins, I had been busy training my dog for the week and that included yanking my dog's leash by reflex. So... when my horse would lean a bit or pull, I yanked her hard. WOO that was one of the few times I've ever seen that trainer angry!


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## AnalisaParalyzer (Apr 25, 2012)

i put a student on tack room duty after something like that the other day. she was trotting and couldnt keep her hands down and kept jerking her horse in the mouth, so the horse kept stopping, thinking she wanted him to stop. she whaled on that pony with her crop and yanked his head around and threw an all out tantrum after about twenty minutes of me yelling about putting her hands down to let him have his head. cleaning tack adn sweeping was the rest of her lesson.


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