why are ponies treated like toys?

[dolygaseg]

i have just come back from our local riding clubs fun day.
what has really annoyed me today is that children and parents think its acceptable for ponies and horses to jump 3 or 4 times then be galloped around the field as if its a race track. these poor ponies have been jumpinh there hearts out, trying there best and then been treated like this.
after watching one cob jump 3' + his rider gallopped him out of the ring over to the far end of the field to join her friends. nearly mowing my husband and daughter on the lead rein down. she showed no consideration whaat so ever. i asked the girls to be more aware of where they are gallopping only to be met with one girls mother who told me i should mind my own business and her daughter was there to have fun!!! also not one of the girls patted there ponies after going clear. is this the done thing this year?
im not a kiljoy and i used to enjoy having fun with my friends and there horses but i would of been killed if my parents saw me doing what these girls were doing today.
sorry for the rant but it really anoys me that these people treat there ponies like this no thank yous just toys to be passed around among friends.

[horselover82]

i went to a show last weekend where it was the same, one girl in a showing class couldnt get a young obviously inexperienced pony onto the right leg resulting in her coming 4th only to be met by her mother on the way out who smacked the pony on the nose and called him a useless animal! then proceded to tell her daughter its ok we will buy you a proper pony! saying that the parents can be just as cruel and nasty as the kid's! one woman last week told her poor daughter (who had come 6th in both her large classes) that it was her daughters fault not the ponies she was useless and shouldnt ride! poor girl was in tears while her mother shouted and screamed at her!
xxx

[ellieraga]

Dont get me started on this one !!! I think it happens more at local shows as well, it really annoys me at our local riding club when riders, parents have no respect for there horses/ponies !!!

Will jump a class, come out of the ring and then jump the practice jump until they go in the next class, if you dare say anything to them they look at you if you are stupid Some people

[elliebee]

You do tend to get these yehaa riders that have no clue or consideration for their pony/horses fellings at Local shows. You mainly find it's the people that go for the jumping and games. Most of them look like "Silly girls that got none".
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people going out enjoying themselves but when they canter through the lorries and bomb around the show ground with no respect for others then I have a problem.
Went to a local show and the secretary even put annoucment over the tannoy for a certain person to stop cantering where the lorries were parked did they listen "NO" the poor pony was in and out the jumping it must of gone round about 20-30 times. Then they stayed to do the games it was being yanked about it really made me cross but what can you do? if you open your mouth you just get a mouthful back. You complain to officials and no change (probably because they are spending so much money keep going around the jumping)xxx

[poniesrus]

Not all children and parents are like the ones you mention .... although I've myself seen a fair few who are - the thing that really annoys me is kids doing jumping with spurs on, yet ruddy great pelhams in the mouth, kicking with one end and yanking like mad on the other.

But our ponies are treated with the upmost love and respect, my kids dote on their ponies - they never gallop them round showgrounds, they never jump them over and over and over and they only ever do two showing classes max per show or one showing and one jumping.

The relationship between child and pony is of paramount importance to me, that is the basis on which a solid trust and bond is built. To my kids, there is a lot more to having a pony than going to a show - they are just an extra !

Couple of wee pics to show what mean about the trust and bond that rider and pony put in each other -

i16.photobucket.com/albums/b44/vicpoyser/lazybarney006.jpg

i16.photobucket.com/albums/b44/vicpoyser/Tottymanbathtime001.jpg

[shaddow]

I find this happens alot at local shows its disgusting!!!
The poor ponies!people shouldnt have ponies if they cant look after them.fair enough if the kids want to have fun let them do a couple of jumping etc classes but why parents and kids feel the need to bash the ponys round all day i do not no!

[Milliesmum]

I don't have a problem with ponies doing multiple classes during a show, in my younger days at RC it was not uncommon to do a ridden showing class, an in hand class, a workers class, a show jumping class plus handy pony and gymkhana games. But the ponies would get a break in between classes, they wouldn't be hammered round the showground and would get a proper break with tack off and a haynet/water etc at some point during the day. And it was common to hack to and from the show too, but the ponies were always fit and well.

[fredaf]

One of the problems these days is that ponies aren't as fit as they used to be. Yes they spen d hours trundling around arenas and jumping but there is very little proper fittening up done at the start of the season and little hacking out with walking and trotting, as a result limbs on ponies are becoming increasingly poor with swellings/lumps/bumps which no one seems to bother about.
It used to be fun to go to a show and do two or three classes but now people seem to want to fit in as many as they can, and if they win and are in a championship would still expect to do all the other classes they had entered despite whether the pony has already done very well.
Think we need to find a way of bringing back the old fashioned grooms or the very fierce but kindly PC DC's often with a hunting background - those peeps who were real horsemen and able to give correct advice in any situation. I certainly remember people going round suggesting that the pony needed a little rest, saddle and bridle off etc, how often does that happen in todays busy world?

[armada]

How true is that fredaf? I see ponies being hammered up and down showgrounds from morning until evening without any apparent rest, going into class after class, the jumping being the worst, and it comes down to a total lack of knowlege and I find it very sad that these people seem to neither seek or take any experienced or qualified help, thinking they are doing right by their animals. I have over the years with the increase in novice horse ownership, noticed a marked decrease in standards, and unfortunately although the unaffilliated circuit is the worst, there are those competing at affilliated level who could do to pull their socks up where their horses management is concerned.

[lucretia]

This happens with youngstock sometimes when showing in hand. Last year I judged a lovely section D yearling. It won the youngstock class. Then it came back for condition, welsh, open showing and stayed for the championship. It just became tireder and tireder, poor little baby could hardly lift one leg in front of the other by the afternoon. I suggested the handler take it home after the second class as it totally lost its sparkle but was told no because they had paid entry fees and couldnt reclaim them. !!

[hollycane]

armada so true about the lack of the old nagsmen and women who were our DCs or whips or huntsmen etc. they would always have a word to say but be respected because of it. Also totally agree that so few people know how to judge what is fit. So whilst we used to hack to shows and stay all day, the ponies were undoubtedly fitter and harder.
So I did wade in with a comment regarding a very overweight young animal with the other day who was misbehaving badly because it was tired and had enough. Got accused of slander and threatened with legal action... :-(

[ladybird]

omg hollycane, sounds like these people have been watching too much tv, slander and legal action??? what a world we live in, well done you for trying to point out the obvious.

[brt]

My pet hates are spoilt kids who throw their rosettes on the floor if they didn't get placed 1st, AND kids and adults alike that use their horses/ponies as grandstands. Give the horses a break! get off its back if you're not riding them!!

[iluvmyponies]

I was at a local RC a while ago, me and my friend were waiting to go into the ring and we saw a girl that was riding the pony alllll day, she did about 10 classes too
I always give my pony a pat after the go round, after my show and alot in the line up too. I give my pony a pat after the class too. I saw somebody who didnt give their pony a pat atall during or after the class My friend said that the pony is like a robot, it does anything, you still pat your pony. It does seem to happen more at RC Sometimes at higher level, people take their ponies good behavour for granted, i never know what my ponies might do, ponies are unpredictable
xxx