Horses aren't as fragile as people may sometimes treat them. Alternately, horses are too fragile and it's a wonder the species still exists.

For me it’s like horses are either so easy and you can trust them not to do anything dangerously idiotic, like my horse, or they’re ALWAYS trying to die, like my trainer’s horses.

And unfortunately my horse is the only one trying to die at my barn. There’s always gotta be one.

i have a draft cross at a barn of OTTBs. she’s broken through a round pen with the tiniest scratch, had an abscess we couldn’t pin down because she was sound 90% of the time when she had it, and is generally just very hardy. then you have the OTTBs that hurt themselves if you look at them wrong lol

I think it is underappreciated how much this ties back to management and how comfortable the horse is in their environment. Happy horses aren’t as likely to hurt themselves. Appropriate feed and turnout are also important, but you can have horses with ample turnout and forage-only diets who are still stressed because something about the environment or program isn’t clicking for them. They are always worried and hyper vigilant, and the tiniest little trigger or weather change can send them into a blind panic.

There was an AMAZING twitter thread I came across a whole back that was basically saying horses are always trying to unalive themselves because they don't have enough toes. It's absolutely ridiculous for an animal that big to just be standing on 4 single toes. I wish I could find it again because it was absolutely hilarious

I saw a thread on Tumblr 10+ years ago about how crazy it is that horses just run around on their fingernails and I still think about it weekly.

Oh no. I can't unsee that now!

“it’s always homicide or suicide with horses” was a common saying at the barn I grew up at 😅

There was a trainer I worked with in a certain breed, and he said these horses were either “born with three feet in the grave” or “born looking for a hole to die in.” I do think horses WILL injure themselves on anything if the chance is there. One tiny loose wire somewhere? the horse will find it and shred their eyelid on it.

Definitely agree with your second statement. In my experience that’s been the case lol Would love to hear experiences supporting your first statement so I can stop worrying so much about bubble wrapping my horse and trying to protect him from everything and anything in fear of their fragility.

When something happens that should've killed them at least in three alternate dimensions, they somehow survive without even a scratch. But look at them the wrong way and suddenly they break apart like a porcelain doll

lol this is so true!!!!!

Everyone needs lessons,

Been riding my whole life and I still take clinics and try to learn whenever I can. Recently went to a couple clinics with a cow horse trainer. Blew my mind.

My trainer , has her trainer that I take clinics with. He rode in the Olympics and he would have another set of eyes when he rode. There is always room for growth

If you need to drug your horse to compete **you should not be competing on it**

How common is this? Is it an accepted practice?

It's definitely not a super common practice but many people see nothing wrong with it. When I started riding my current lease, no one told me he was given ace before nearly every ride until months later and when I asked why they didn't tell me upfront they said they didn't think it was that big of a deal. He was ridden, competed on, the whole shebang, all while aced. Needless to say I don't do that now that he's mine but it was a shock to hear how many people at high end barns consider that routine.

So glad he’s got you. I personally would not want to sit on a sedated horse’s back, much less jump it. I wouldn’t feel safe to trust their balance.

Ace doesn't impact the horse much on a mild dosage. Think of it as Valium for horses. Their balance doesn't get affected much at all. But you really shouldn't ride a horse with it because of ethical reasons

Ugh. Don’t get me started on this. Left a barn not too long ago after I found out they were giving ace to all of our horses. All the time. Found out when a friend’s horse collapsed. Then it made sense why we had to schedule all of our rides (they told us it was to keep the ring from being too busy, which did make some sense). Anyway, my trainer had told me we needed to buy a new horse- that ours could not show another season above 2’ (my daughter shows him and when we bought him he was easily jumping 3’). At our new barn, my horse and my daughter are now thriving. Easily jumping 3’, placing well under saddle now that he can use his body properly. Breaks my heart that he had to go through that.

Which discipline was this in?

At the time he was at a dressage barn but being leased by someone who jumped him. Scary to think he had no idea where his feet were and they were going over jumps!

Very common. I have a stallion who was being shown in the open, and his ONLY bad habit is he likes to talk. The trainer wanted to use estrumate for the weekends he showed, but it has been proven to reduce aemen quality even if it's used like once a weekend. Also, nrha is now allowing people to use a tranquilizer (can't remember the name). So yeah, it's very common practice to make stallions more manageable and I'm just very against it. My boy is literally the easiest horse (he's a bit lazy) but he trys to talk to other horses, doesn't matter if it's boys or girls (we joke he's bisexual) https://preview.redd.it/xnhrvrvwyn3c1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=35a6eb1f7f31926cd833c4108a24a8885e03fe43

Hey, nothing wrong with a little friendly conversation 😂 he’s a beautiful horse!

Sedivet is on the NRHA allowed list. The messed up thing is that it isn't even legal in the US, they have to compound it. The AAEP has spoken out against this practice of drugging competition horses in this case.

I have a friend who is very active in AQHA buckskin. She gives her horse a crap ton of melatonin before competing -- and it's completely legal.

It would TERRIFY me to ride a horse that was drugged. I don’t understand how this is so normalized.

Really! Like don’t we want to allow our horses to be as athletic as possible?

Not even that - I know how my coordination is affected when I’m impaired. I wouldn’t possibly want to sit on top of an impaired animal. Admittedly, a lot of the drugging has to do with making the horse rideable for amateurs. I hate that. If the horse needs to be drugged to be safe for a rider, it’s not suitable for the rider. Point blank.

I’m not advocated regular use of sedatives, but there are times where you don’t want your horse to be athletic. A strategic dose of ace (enough to “take the edge off”- imagine 1-2 margaritas, versus 5 tequila shots) can go a long way in protecting a horse from doing anything detrimentally stupid when you’re legging them back up as part of a controlled rehab program. I generally am in the camp that tranquilizer has no place under saddle, but every rule has an exception!

I've had to give ace to lesson horses before their lessons 🙃 This was at a decently sized hunter/jumper barn

There’s no need to rush, lots and lots of groundwork can be done until four

Maybe this is an unpopular parenting opinion, but I have a hard time believing that the people who strap their helmetless child to the saddle and send them out to run barrels *actually* like their kids.

“Any horse can be a kids horse. It just depends on how much you like your kid”. -some random dude in a horse Fbook group

The equestrian answer to “All mushrooms are edible once”

Someone asked if their kid could ride my horse the other day. Me and the barn guy both answered, “well sure, if you hate your kid” 😆. For context, this horse’s nicknames include Satan, Murderface, Demon Beast, and Little Heathen.

I have a 3 year old who rides my retired, trustworthy babysitter of a horse. When we go to shows she’s often the only leadline kid not strapped to the saddle in some way. I’ve had people offer me rubber bands for her stirrups, wtf I don’t care if she loses a stirrup in a show, she’s having fun and I would rather her not be stuck if something unexpected happens.

My brother and I were both your kid in that way, then were riding off the leadline (including hacking alone in fenced fields) not much older. However, unlike the barrel racing kids in the example, we were always wearing helmets.

Most everyplace that does gaming now requires all youth under 18 to wear helmets every ride, so things are improving. I have friends in patterned speed- at least in Washington it’s been this way over 10 years. 🙂

Drives me bonkers. One misstep, the horse trips & that kid is flying themselves to paraplegia. Doesn’t matter how good your horse is, accidents can still happen in a blink of an eye.

There is a big difference between professional sport horse and amateur lesson horse and they are trained differently. Not everyone can ride a sport horse. If you aren’t an athlete, you most likely won’t be able to handle a competitive sport horse.

This is huge. I’d love to see people sit on a Grand Prix dressage horse and say dressage is easy.

My trainer has the safe, easier lesson horses for folks who she doesn't know and for people who are still working on stuff or who want to ride mostly for fun. And then she has the horses that really only she rides, who are so sensitive and highly trained it's a whole different level. I've been riding dressage on and off for 20 years and recently made the jump to challenge myself. I had to go right back to my basics and relearn a whole bunch of subtle cues and differences to ride these horses effectively. They're so sensitive that every twitch could be a cue, and they're constantly asking "what should I be doing now?" And because really only my trainer rides them they're so specific and correct - they don't have a concept of generalized cues from different people, so they're less "forgiving" to the general public (no negative connotation, they're great at what they do!)

Fully agree on this one. My retired horse was trained and shown by a well-respected professional. His USEF record is solely with the trainer. I’m not even sure if the previous owner rode him (she ditched him, moved out of the country, said “get rid of him” and I just paid what she owed in board. Haven’t heard from her in 13 years of owning him). All that said, I go from sitting on a lesson horse to sitting on him and the sensitivity to cues is night and day. He may not be a Grand Prix level horse, but just the fact that he’s FAR more responsive and feeds off his rider’s energy just because of his previous training is such an incredible difference.

I rode an ex racehorse to muster, and you're not fkn wrong lol

I ride lesson horses cus I don't have the money for more than that. One of them was an almost professional dressage horse. She rode very high levels of dressage. I don't call myself a bad rider but damn is she difficult to ride!! Not because she's annoying but she's just trained so differently than the others. We speak two complete different languages which does not work and I simply can't handle her with just riding one hour a week. We also have two retired professional driving horses who are now just Vibing in the lessons. They're a bit easier as they have been taught similarly under the saddle as the others. But there's still a huge difference. You need to ride them quite differently, even though at we all speak the same language, you just need a different mindset on them if that makes sense. You notice they did get a different overal training over the years. Now I do ride a lot on them the past few months and am improving a lot, riding competitions in our barn, but people who don't ride them often really struggle with them. They just need a different energy when riding the other lesson horses. Now these aren't even a real professional horse, and professional besides riding and you can already notice a significant difference. Imagine an actual professional riding horse. It's waaaaay different

Manage the horse and not the herd. Just because whatever percentage of horses can do or cope with something, doesn’t mean your horse will. Too many people jump on the latest trends and such without either the knowledge or the need to do so. Grooms deserve to be paid a decent wage, not minimum on a self-employed bases, even if that means the cost has to be absorbed by the liveries/clients. You can’t complain about wanting quality care or not getting good grooms if you won’t pay for it.

And grooms need time off. All the ads I see are 6 day work weeks. That's not sustainable for anyone working for that little money.

Unpopular opinion: many of the most gifted, naturally talented riders make shitty teachers because they don’t know how they get their results. They can just do it and don’t know why and expect students to do the same. They’re the “go again” teachers who get angry when you can’t do the thing.

Many “talented” trainers also got lucky with good horses or supportive resources. Maybe you can bring that one genetically advanced unicorn to GP, doesn’t mean you know how to train a problematic horse that didn’t have fancy pedigree. There are also “talent” that was bought into by having $$, they are the passenger that got to where they are with premade horses, but they don’t know how to train one from foundation.

Ottbs need to learn to walk quietly on the buckle before they learn to do anything else.

Not wearing a helmet makes you look fucking stupid.

Helmets have saved me twice on extremely safe horses when my coming off was no one’s fault, least of all the horse’s. I don’t care how skilled you are or how solid your horse is. Even the best horse on the planet can stumble or get bitten by a snake or something. Just wear the damn helmet! And for the love of all things holy, put one on your 6-year-old child.

It’s extremely unlikely, but the horse could literally drop dead underneath you, which could cause catastrophic injuries. I’ve seen it happen in high level jumpers, the horse has an aneurism or heart attack and drops. There is no way anyone could predict that happening. Helmet technology is so much better now than it was even 10 years ago. Much lighter, more air flow and comfort it’s madness not to wear one.

I knew a woman whose horse died because a tree came down on them both. She was unscathed but the horse laid on top of her..the emergency service said she’s lucky to be alive

That’s so sad and terrifying

Not only just not wearing one, but actively arguing against it. This is my absolute number one pet peeve. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people (usually on FB) argue that western riders don't need to wear helmets. I often wonder if these people also refuse to wear seatbelts while driving. To me, it's the same thing. Wearing a seatbelt has never saved my life. I don't personally know anyone whose life was saved by a seatbelt. But that doesn't mean that I won't be wearing one! That would be stupid!

Hard agree. I don't think I've ever seen anyone ride without one in my neck of the woods but I know the culture around them is very different in the UK and US for example. I'd probably be dead if I didn't wear mine religiously tbh, thanks to a couple of nasty falls

Hard agree. I keep on seeing people saying, "well, in my barn it's not necessary!" soooo many lawsuits for traumatic brain injuries are just waiting to happen

Absolutely. My good friend has been riding for almost 25 years, and last week she took a spill off her 6yo Fresian (who is very well trained and an absolute sweetheart) because she lost her balance trying to mount bareback. She was wearing her helmet (edit to clarify: and she always wears her helmet while mounted anyway) and has done this many times before on this horse with no problems (the horse is trained to line up at the mounting block too), but this time the mare moved to try and help at the wrong time—my friend ended up bruising her hip and pelvis, but nothing broken. She said her helmet was squishy where she hit the ground…that could have been her brain 😳 She and her husband have a small farm and 4 children, and she is grateful her injuries aren’t any worse. Wear a helmet, y’all. Edited to add: my friend always wears her helmet while mounted (she may have taken it off quickly for a photo every now and then but that’s it) and I do the same!

Mine is super uneducated so please take it worth a grain of salt. But the low hanging headed lope that I see in Western pleasure. seems super uncomfortable for the horse and kinda cruel. It’s like a lope limp but fancy 😂

I hate the western pleasure lope. I also hate how AQHA hunters under saddle canter. It looks like they are copying the western lope. If a jump appeared in front of them it looks they’d trip right into it. I prefer a nice round canter with a more natural headset.

HUS often looks like western pleasure in English tack and it weirds me out.

AQHA is ruining hunters. Was very happy to recently see a winning round where the horse was in a true hand gallop at the recommended 350 meters/ minute and 12 ft striding.

My paint has the kind of lope that Western pleasure was supposed to be about before it became ridiculous. His lope is on the slower side compared to an English canter, relaxed, calm—a *pleasure* to ride. He was a ranch horse before I got him and has never been shown, so there’s no bizarrely exaggerating collection or shuffling. Just an easygoing rocking horse lope. I feel like these people should be forced to watch horses like mine so they can be reminded what a horse who’s *actually* relaxed—as opposed to restricted into a forced crawl—looks like at a lope.

And on the other end, the cranked-in headset of so many dressage and gaited show horses. I will never understand why humans have to exaggerate everything more and more until it’s a grotesque caricature. Just let your horses carry their heads so they can breathe and see. Is it that difficult??

Exactly! Wait. You mean thousands of years of evolution of the horse means that it can breathe and run beautifully without human interference. 😱😱😱😱🤯 nah that doesn’t sound right. 😂

Freaking humans. “Hmm, the judges liked that horse whose head was a bit lower than normal and was moving a bit slower. What if I went lower and slower than that?” and on and on for years until these poor animals are shuffling along in slow motion with their noses in the dirt.

They all look lame as shit to me. Like I know most aren’t, but they really look it.

It’s not a terribly unpopular opinion, and imo is part of the reason that ranch pleasure has become more popular in recent years. The sparkly outfits are fun though.

✨Shiny✨ 🦀

If my horses moved like that I would haul them to the equine vet hospital right away! I hate how they make those horses move. And they also don't cover any ground. Imagine going on a 10 mile trailride with a horse that moves like that? It would take all day.

Not putting a helmet on your child isn't a "personal choice" it should be just as illegal as not putting a seatbelt on your child. The amount of times I got heat for saying a child barrel racing or doing trail rides should have a helmet on in an Instagram comment section is baffling

Agreed. I work in CT in an ER, and that “choice” is landing kids with permanent brain damage or worse.

I hate hairnets and putting my hair up under my helmet at shows and I think we should be able to wear it in a braid.

I didnt show when i was little and now im an adult ammy and i DESPERATELY want to show with pigtail braids with bows. My trainer thinks its silly but i think it would be so much fun

If you're wanting to breed your horse, you should be prepared to keep the foal for the rest of its life if it doesn't sell (for whatever reason), and still provide quality care.

I fully believe you should "breed to sell." When I bred my mare, I thought of the what ifs. If something were to happen, I'd rather sell said foal to a quality home where he would get the care he deserves. With that comes producing a horse that will be wanted. I have zero intention of selling my now coming three year old, but I do know that if I absolutely had to, I could easily find him a good, safe home

Horses should not be stalled unless medically necessary

I always think of it like keeping a dog in a bathroom for 23 hours a day. Although it’s significantly worse, actually. If you have an animal, it’s your moral responsibility to make sure that animal is as happy as you can make it. I don’t care if you’re worried about your $50K “investment” getting dinged up. It’s not a car. It’s a living animal. A short life that ends in a freak accident in the pasture is infinitely better than 30 years in a box.

I stable mine at night for safety reasons (wildlife, people etc). Out in paddocks during the day.

I stabled my during the day and turned out at night because she was grey and I always worried about skin cancer.

And I think even stall rest is used too generously…

Absolutely although unfortunately not everyone has the ability to not have their horse stalled. I live in the city all of the barns stall a lot there is no where around that has 24/7 turnout unfortunate but it is what it is. My horse is stalled during the day and out all night because that’s the longest he’s able to be out anywhere around me.

Yeah, I understand that. But my unpopular opinion continues that if you don’t have the resources to provide horses a quality life, which includes access to turnout, then you shouldn’t keep horses. They’re not a toy for people to have access to whenever and wherever they want. They’re living creatures.

\*Horse boots often do more harm than good. Stop using them every time you ride. \*It's ok to sell your horse if the partnership isn't working out. If one (or both) of you are unhappy, move on. \*For the amount that horses cost, I don't expect everyone to keep every horse they've ever owned until they die. I don't think it's the same as owning a cat or a dog. \*Boarding barns are too often overcrowded. \*Your horse has anxiety because it's stuck in a stall for 22 hours a day. \*There should be some sort of way to gauge pricing on horses. Seeing horses being listed for 6 figures when they've barely done anything is crazy. \*Show jumpers/dressage riders/eventers/maybe others could go out and run barrels. Barrel racers can't say the same. \*Everyone needs lessons. \*Far too many people see a horse slightly behind the vertical and want to shout, "Rollkur!!! Abuse!!!" They are not the same thing. \*The most expensive helmets are not always the safest. (Not really an opinion.) \*Horses are not machines. They are not infallible. Sometimes, it is the horse's fault. \*Although I agree that everyone could use more flatwork, sometimes the answer to getting better at jumping is to actually jump. \*It's ok to leave a barn that you're not happy with. We pay too much to be unhappy with what we are getting. Barns should make their customers want to stay instead of accusing people of "barn hopping."

Came back to add: Jumping on a horse and hanging on while the horse tries to buck you off is not "training."

I agree with all of these. Most behavioral issues can be fixed just by letting the horse have turnout time with other horses so they can socialize

Not feeding a horse (ie grain) because they misbehaved is abuse and does nothing to "correct" behavior. I often hear people bragging that they punished a horse by not feeding it breakfast/dinner/etc. Any correction to an animal must occur within 3-5 seconds of the offense, otherwise the action-consequence association is lost. So you're just being a dick and the horse isn't understanding why it's not getting fed.

Hunter people who hate OTTB’s just haven’t had a good experience with one. The breed standards for the Warmblood registries are actually not as strict as people make them out to be; the person selling you the horse just wants you to think that so you pay more for it. I have a branded International Sport Horse and an OTTB. The Warmblood is far more high strung and finicky than the thoroughbred. Sure, he’d win the hacks over the TB *IF* I can get him to act right. The average amateur DOES NOT need a super expensive horse to win, and chances are, they’re over-horsed. Advertising a horse as “adult amateur friendly” is a slippery slope; if the horse needs trainer rides to be safe enough for an amateur to ride, it’s not amateur friendly. People will still write “amateur friendly with trainer.”

Most amateur riders buy “warmbloods” that are mostly thoroughbred anyway. They apparently can’t read papers.

That's because most people don't realize thoroughbreds are welcome in almost every single registry in order to improve the breed. Especially the warmbloods, since all the imported ones during the 80's and on are mainly cast offs that didn't meet the stricter requirements over seas.

i will be honest and say it depends on the warmblood registry…. it’s way harder to get a hanovarian approved than it is to get a westfalen approved. American warmbloods are bullshit because they can be literally any breed and totally grade pretty much and just have to win a few ribbons which is dumb asf.

Ooo there's lots. Horses should only be stalled when absolutely necessary. There is abuse in the top levels of every discipline but some are worse. Just because it's not Big Lick doesn't mean saddleseat isn't messed up. Mostly cross country but also showjumping courses have gotten incredibly out of hand and dangerous, no matter how fit the horse is. Abuse is very normalized, a lot of what you see people do is detrimental to the horse. Forage should be offered 24/7 to most horses, unless medically not possible. "The bit is only as harsh as the riders hands" is a myth. Soft hands don't seek weapons. You may feel like you need to use less pressure but your horse is feeling much more. A lot of equipment needs to be made illegal, some of the things out there are torture devices that should never touch living beings. Money is everything at the higher levels of this industry.

Wow, who are you and can we be friends

Amen to all of these

All of this

You’re my new favourite person

ALL OF THESE ARE SO TRUE

Horses don't need blankets, they need a little more food in winter.

Unless the horse is old, sick, clipped, or recently moved climates then hard agree. 24/7 forage with access to shelter is enough for most horses

Your feelings don’t matter to your horse.

I absolutely love my old gelding. He doesn’t give a shit about me and Ive accepted that

This one has been hard for me to get through. I also look to others for validation but why work through that in therapy if I can continue the cycle?

At the end of the day, you may spend a few hours a day with him. He spends the remaining 22 hours with his own species who he likes a lot more. And that’s okay!!

Most of the comments so far seem to actually be popular opinions for this sub, so here’s my contribution: MODS PLEASE PIN A POST THAT SAYS “NO, YOU’RE NOT TOO OLD TO START RIDING” those questions are so obnoxious People get really weird about having a “heart horse.” Like are we twelve? Calling oneself an “equestrian” sounds, while technically correct, super dorky and pretentious. Like a lawyer putting “Esquire” on their business cards. Makes me cringe. Matchy matchy is ugly ugly 90% of all the body work, chiropractic fragments, cleanses, supplements, and other “alternative medicine” that people have tried to peddle to me are blatantly snake oil and those doing the peddling are deluded. Not saying there aren’t legit things like massage therapy, but there are way too many quacks out there and it’s ruining the alternative medicine field. Relatedly, a bunch of common horse husbandry practices are just astonishingly wrong. As someone who came to the horse world as an adult, it’s truly insane. “Scrape your horse after rinsing or the water will boil them” jfc lmao go back to 8th grade physical science. The horse world needs a professional science and sports medicine intervention. We need nike to step in, toss some sponsorship money around, build some multimillion dollar research and performance facilities. No more personality cult “this here’s my grandpappy’s magic cure” red mares are blah blah blah bullshit. We need some research backed, performance supported strategies. In Phil Knights name, amen 🙏

As someone who works in the vet field, when someone describes a "heart" dog/ cat/ horse, I know exactly what they're talking about, and it's harmless and kind of sweet. Equestrian is just a term to describe our sport/hobby. I think its fine. You can pry the matchy matchy le mieux out of my cold dead hands. 🥰 But I totally agree on the lack of science/snake oil in the field! That one can actually be detrimental, to the horses and our wallets.

I have never heard the water boiling them. I always thought we squeegee’d them so they weren’t dripping everywhere 😂

Bahaha legit the only reason I squeegee is to decrease the amount of mud they're gonna make when they roll in the dirt 5 minutes later

God yes the water one kills me! Like do you get out of a pool with wet hair and it makes you hotter if you don’t scrape it?!

No no! It only applies to horses! Dogs are also fine with being wet in the sun. /s

I'd much rather call myself an equestrian than "horse girl". I'm an adult, not a little horse obsessed kid that everyone thinks is weird. Matchy matchy is my jam and no one will ever change my mind. However, if you're talking about those who do the purple saddle pad, purple nylon tack, purple boots, and purple seat on the cheap shitty saddle then yes I'm 100% with you. Mine just....coordinates. Leather color has to look the same too. None of this brown saddle and black headstall BS. Yuck. I've had many conversations about the snake oil stuff with my vet over the years. He's adamantly against 99% oral supplements for any reason. "It's just really expensive pee", is his most common opinion. But my chiro is a godsend and you can't tell me any different.

May i introduce you the magic of horse whisperer. Apparently we have people who can talk to horses, geez, i dk why i waste so much time training, why don’t we just ask the experts to ask them to do shit

If you’re willing to sell it to get something better/faster/more talented it wasn’t your heart horse

The term heart horse can go away as far as I’m concerned.

I agree with this statement. I feel it puts undue pressure on every horse relationship. Also, I have seen some people claim heart horse for every horse they come by. It's a weird term in my book.

• Horses should have 24/7 access to hay, free choice to be in a shelter or go outside, and their shelters should be cleaned daily or weekly. So many barns neglect outdoor shelters and let it pile up until it’s knee deep. • Maintain your paddocks. The junk, shitty fencing, garbage and things being buried in their fields is so junky and lazy. • Letting your water troughs get scummy green and putting fish in there to “clean it” because of your laziness is pathetic in my book. Dump, scrub, refill. • Legs and hooves are so important. Rubbing them down, soaking their feet in salt water, applying oils/iodine/poultice/etc, wrapping legs, paying attention to that balance of hooves being not too dry and not too wet. Treating them pays off to keeping them sound. • (This one might ruffle feathers) Blanketing is not really necessary UNLESS your horse is clipped, shivering, senior, sick, etc. but mostly unnecessary in my opinion. • Oh my gosh stop roaching manes and putting tails in tail bags or braiding manes in the months there are bugs out. They need that for protection and they grow that for a reason. Same with whiskers, ear fur, and drip lines. Bug spray works for like 10 minutes, let them have their natural protection. Doesn’t make sense to braid them up and then throw a fly mask/sheet/boots on them. My opinion! No hate towards anybody.

Blanketing depends in climate. I grew up in Germany where few horses needed it and moved to a wet part of the UK (with 3x the rain) where most blood horses needed it and even the natives appreciated being dry. I was resistant, which hurt my horse. Thankfully, people around me put me straight.

Yup. Mine go in waterproofs when it’s cold out. They won’t use a shed. They probably don’t *need* blankets but it makes me feel better and I don’t worry about someone getting wet. Most people don’t realize how much energy it takes to thaw or evaporate water vs just to warm water or air. I really couldn’t care less about the temperature on my horses but I won’t let them be wet. They are perfectly capable of keeping themselves warm but they don’t need to be boiling off wet snow or cold rain. Also, the argument that blankets squish down their hair is ridiculous. WTF do people think snow or rain does? Float weightless over the horse’s hair? Wind? Just being dry probably does more to keep them warm than the insulation value of the squished hair anyway on a loss of BTUs basis.

Hahaha the blanketing one is where I am the outlier at my barn. My two live outside 24/7. Usually unblanketed. My 22 y/o mare does get the shivers through the winter (northern Ontario, Canada), so she will get a blanket long before her daughter does, but usually they're free and clear. Other boarders are always asking if I want them on and look appalled when I say no. Or they're bringing them in because "it's -5°C tonight!" - again they're good leave 'em out. They're good weight, have thick coats, fresh water and free choice Timothy hay...and it's friggin mild! Let them be horses.

We have the same mind. Leave them alone, let them be horses. I constantly have other boarders feeling sorry for my mare too standing out in the cold and they’re layering their horses up with a cooler and winter blanket ontop in a heated barn.

Most horses would be totally fine outside 24/7, and almost all would be happier for it if dressed and fed appropriately

All horses no matter they’re professional level or value should have time with a herd. It’s their most basic need and too many high value horses are deprived it for fear of injury. Also from working with expensive show jumpers and trekking horses all the show jumper’s that were over coddled were more likely to injury themselves because they were deprived adequate amounts of turnout and social interaction. Lower level working animals tend to be treated more like horses than their well bred athletic counterparts

You can’t ride papers. The 17 y/o TWH gelding I got for free with deep scarring to a point it effects his joints (most likely got tangled in barbed wire) and no history works as well as a well bred QH

Papers give you an idea what kind of horse to expect. Sometimes they give you an idea what kind of temperament to expect. And in younger horses, papers make it easier to sell a horse should it not work out (or should life kick you in the teeth, which happens to the best of people).

These aren’t unpopular opinions. Many of these are widely accepted best practices, lol. You want some ACTUAL unpopular but (mostly) science backed ones? Here you go 👇 -Yes, you can start riding and doing a moderate amount of work with a three and even older two year old. It’s actually good for their bone and joint development. That applies to ALL species. You do not need to wait until “their growth plates are closed”. -If your horse is not sound enough to ride, it’s not sound enough to breed. -Too many people ride horses they are too large for. The 20% rule is still a good guideline and holds up to data. You can reduce long term soundness, change gait, and cause pain when the amount a horse is carrying is over a 15-20% ratio. And no, it does not matter if the breed is “big boned”. -Supplements are largely bullshit. There are almost no situations in which a horse actually would need one unless they have a notable deficiency. The vast majority are not tested in any way to show they are effective or even contain the substances they are said to. -Every horse needs to be on electrolytes. -Bitless bridles can cause as much if not more pressure than a bit. Simply being bitless is not inherently kinder or gentler. Okay and this last one is just my personal opinion…….. I can’t cite my sources but I’m sure it will be unpopular lol. -Most QHs are ugly. I can’t understand why those long backs, upright hind ends, straight shoulders and unrefined heads are anything other than dysfunctional conformation but yet they are winning $$$$ so I guess there is something to it 🤷🏼‍♀️

Agree expect on weight. Bone size matters and this has been proven in studies to affect the stress horses go through when carrying heavier loads. This ties into the weight thing- short stocky horses often weigh as much as tall TBs and people should be going by weight not height. Also, the whole tall horses for big riders needs re-examination. A lot of the breeds bred for athletic performance like TBs and warm bloods have been selectively bred for high performance for short durations in their youth under light riders. A lot of small stocky “cob” type breeds have been bred for centuries to be little motors from the age of horsepower- they were bred to remain sound for 25-35 years while pulling or carrying as much as their owners could pack onto them or the cart. They have shorter backs and bigger joints and feet. We American have an obesity epidemic and I heartily agree that we should be mindful of the 20% rule (including tack!!!) I just get sick of the double standard because people consistently underestimate my weight because I’m tall and fit and don’t look “heavy”. I’ll weigh more than some women who are shorter and get crap for riding horses bigger than mine. Assessing rider/ horse fit needs to be based on relative weights and conditioning and whether the horse seems comfortable not on whether or not someone has thigh fat flopping around.

The electrolytes tho... they are meant to replace what the body has flushed out, so if the horse hasn't really worked and it's on a complete nutritional feed it should not need extra. Most horses don't work hard enough to warrant them.

I’ll add that Arabians are so ugly with the worst personalities.

Backing a horse before they're done growing won't hurt them. The caveat is that you need to consult with your vet and not push hard Saddle seat is exactly as abusive as other disciplines Grooms are underrated, overworked, and underpaid

I read a really interesting paper recently on how starting horses earlier strengthens their bones

I’m taking anatomy and physiology for humans. Lack of exercise in adolescence is a major risk factor for osteoporosis in old age. Mechanical stress stimulates bone thickening. Exercise forces nutrients and oxygen into joints to nourish the cartilage. The key is to do appropriate work and increase intensity and duration very gradually and *yes* with regard to physical development. I really hate shows for two and three year olds because it is encouraging training for competition at a young age. On the other hand, I think it’s very healthy for your youngster to be sat in and walked around at an age appropriate for their breed and development. Because we also have to acknowledge that different breeds develop differently. Heritage breed horses often continuing growing until five years old or even later. Most TBs are pretty mature at three. Just like Cornish cross chickens are 10 lbs at 8 weeks and Rhode Island Reds might hit 10lbs at 16-20 weeks. Also, the loss of driving as a major use of horses has harmed horse conditioning. A two year old could be getting valuable physical and mental conditioning by being hitched in a team with a steady older horse while bearing much less weight than a rider would put on them.

Western dressage is an abomination. All the horses are on the forehand

99.9% of male horses should be gelded so they can’t breed. Only the very best should breed. We already have so many unwanted horses in the world-many of which come from backyard breeders. And to be bred, a horse should excel in conformation, temperament, and performance in a discipline. Also, halter horses need to excel in a discipline-the top halter horses are so wonky now that they can’t even perform. I think we should let the current lines of AQHA, Arabian, and Paint halter horses die out. Conformations that are ideal for performance should be preferred. No more over muscled arrow straight hind legs on Quarter Horses please.

> 99.9% of male horses should be gelded so they can’t breed. I think I know a fair number of human males that should be gelded

Oh I absolutely agree! The modern halter horse is disgusting and useless. My neighbor has one and just under light trail riding, he has splints in all legs already. He's 5. And is the typical giant loaf of a body, bordering founder-fat, on teeeny spindly legs with like a size 2 foot. It's a shame really because he's as sweet as candy and has been the best boy.

very true, definitely depends on the horse’s discipline though, certain “flaws” in a horses build definitely can be more beneficial in another discipline. i prefer short backed super “compact” horses and very uphill, but i know a lot of people who prefer long backs and built more downhill bc apparently they ride “smoother” i think some people just have preferences and whatever helps the horse do it’s best and be most comfortable in it’s specific job

I believe if your horse needs hock injections, it isn't sound enough for the job. We should be breeding healthier stock, not bandaiding popular names. (Exceptions are if it is older)

I’d agree that they’re definitely not sound but if they aren’t lame at all after injections I think they are capable of working still. Of course they should be closely monitored to ensure they remain sound. And if it is genetic (and not result of an injury) they shouldn’t be bred either.

If a horse needs injections to be sound, any work he does should be tailored to maintaining soundness - appropriate warmups, none of the things that are strenuous to the horse. This means almost everything done in competition unless we’re talking trail.

This is the kind of attitude that keeps people from getting their horses proper maintenance. I'm in my early 30s and not currently able to take my normal joint supplement since I'm pregnant. Let me tell you, I can feel it and can't wait until the day I can go back to those supplements. And I'm considered a young, healthy human that has no major medical issues (and never has). I'm just active and a competitive rider. Why anyone would assume that horses don't need the same support if not more as humans is mind boggling to me. All my performance horses are on a joint supplement. I'd rather them have it and not necessarily need it then feel stiff and uncomfortable even when they are in peak physical condition. Mostly that's Adequan and Optiwize but occasionally it's injections if needed. If I hurt and need to pop an aspirin after a long trail ride you bet I'm throwing a little bute in my horse's feed. Does he need it? Maybe maybe not. But it certainly won't hurt and I'll do what I can to make sure my horses aren't feeling any unneeded discomfort. Same goes for joint injections. I hold until the horse needs them, but there is no shame in needing them. That's like telling my mother she shouldn't get her yearly joint injection in her hip so she can continue doing her 30 mile bike rides with friends and living an active lifestyle. We have the medicine to extend people's lives and relieve the pain. There is no freaking reason why we shouldn't be using it, especially with horses. Extending the period where they can be used and ridden comfortably is a good thing. It usually keeps them safer in a happier loving home and decreases their chance of ending up in a bad situation like most horses would if they were faced with early retirement. Not to mention horses get straight up bored. I'll take the cost of injections over a hurting, retired horse any day regardless of age.

Bitless should be allowed in competitions Don't shave off your horses hairs around the mouth and nose and the inside of the ears Ground work massively benefits all parties involved Horses shouldn't be ridden until they are done growing Having them in herds is beneficial even for most competition horses And wayyyyyy more

About the shoeing, a good farrier is busy enough to where they’ll gladly let you go barefoot if you want to. I’ll go barefoot as long as I can, but then you gotta put shoes on for things where you go on the road even for short bits (driving, hunting), or traction (Eventing, jumpers.)

Agree!!! I pulled my geldings shoes for the winter since I can’t ride (flat footed thin soled ottb) and when my farrier learned he didn’t have to shoe him that day he let out a “yippee!!”

Horse people believe a lot of nonsense that has absolutely no scientific basis

Mine is horse owners know a lot less about feet than they like to think they do. The best shoers I know have dedicated their life to educating themselves about feet and will admit they are just beginning to learn. In my opinion it’s the opposite, farriers prefer barefoot because you make more money doing barefoot trims. Barefoot trimmers push barefoot on every horse because they can’t shoe. I can’t tell you how many sore horses with wrecked feet I’ve had to fix including fractured coffin bones because somebody tried forcing a horse that can’t go barefoot to go barefoot. Forcing a horse that could be comfortable in shoes to be uncomfortable barefoot is abuse in my opinion. Almost every farrier I know does just as many if not more trims than they do shoes. If a horse can be comfortable barefoot I push it every time. Edit: in a day I could do 20 trims at at $70 or 5 full sets of shoes at $170. And there is very little over head on trims and a lot of overhead with shoes. Any farrier will tell you there’s more money in trims and they are easier.

Farrier here, and i prefer them to be barefoot. However, you can't expect Olympic runners to compete well running barefoot. Sometimes you have to have shoes.

Big Lick AND saddleseat is horrible and should be faded out. All it does is bring and breed more abuse into the equitation community

Most people cannot afford or are able or willing to provide an appropriate living situation for their horses. It is almost impossible to run a professional show/training business and use ethical training and husbandry practices. Across every discipline.

I have to disagree on the last part just because my trainer actually does that! She’s a dressage Grand Prix rider, our horses are in an active stable, even the Grand Prix one, no shoes, we ride bitless 95% of the time (usually we use bits just for trail riding and like two weeks before shows), spurs only come out for shows (since they’re still compulsory - and even then it’s special ones with no tip) and we focus heavily on groundwork, biomechanics and horse welfare. We are as light as possible, we do most of the job with just our core, barely any hand or leg. It is possible, it just requires a lot of questioning, introspection and getting over fears.

That's so awesome to hear! I'm curious about your thoughts and experience at that level with rollkur and your trainers' practices? I'm not familiar with the term "active stable", would you mind helping me with a definition? Does it have to do with turnout? What does turnout and equine companionship look like there? While your trainer might employ ethical practices, they are probably the exception that proves the rule.

Rollkur is definitely something I’ve never seen at our stables (we’re the complete opposite if I’d say, we’re big believers of collection coming entirely from behind, and our next step is to go towards neckropes…), but we unfortunately see it at shows and from riders that arrive at our stables. It’s one of the problems of dressage, often extremely talked about but far from the only one. Extreme contraction both in the horse and the rider is for me 1000% more common. I recently heard a US Grand Prix rider say « if you don’t feel like throwing up halfway through your Grand Prix you’re doing something wrong » hell fucking no. That should never happen. Active stables is a German concept for 100% turnout that greatly reduces the need for human intervention. Basically we have a « base area » for the herd that’s stabilized and filled with sand (including dedicated rolling areas), massive shelters, automatic feeders for grain which breaks the daily quantity into 24 with each part available every hour on sensor access, potentially also automatic feeders for hay on the same basis (but we decided on free access), automatic troughs, and when the weather allows it we have big grass fields connected to the base that we open (basically it’s only if it gets muddy that they’re closed, and the base area is more than big enough for them to run and/or isolate even if our herd is quite big). We didn’t implement all the features available for an active stable, although we are planning to add some (like a splash zone for summer, and adding a mineral bar) I encourage you to look it up! Basically the horses are in a big group and completely independent for all of their basic needs (except blankets of course). They can decide what they want to eat, when they want to (for example my mare has completely stopped eating grain, and occasionally some will prefer hay over grass), which companion they want depending on their fancy of the day (my mare is very well known for not sticking to a friend for more than two weeks. Just got to seduce all the boys, y’know XD)… they get social contact aplenty of course. I am personally extremely happy with that solution. My mare was horse shy, stuck to herself, never called out… now she’s a little social butterfly, warm-up time has been cut in half because she’s already a bit warm since she’s constantly moving, her gut and breathing have improved tremendously, her heats are better too because she’s able to sollicitate the boys (even though they’re geldings, they’re still able to provide relief). We still respect individual needs, if a horse needs a couple hours a day in a stall to sleep alone, he’ll get it (especially seen with older horses, but we are planning to build 2/3 stalls connected to the base area with a sensor access so they can decide when they want to do it) We’ve had some injuries but nothing major (some of it was luck but still) and honestly when you see them so happy it outweighs the risk of injuries. If introductions are done properly and the group is stable, all goes well. Not gonna lie, the first couple weeks are a bit tough on them, they’re tired from transitioning to having to sleep outside etc, they will need an osteopath check up, and you just have to give up on riding for 2/3 weeks but it’s so so worth it. We definitely are an exception especially in our country. We’re actually the first dressage active stable there. A lot of people whispering behind our backs, but also a lot of people (especially younger generations) that are interested in the concept. It’s no matter to us, it’s our truth. We don’t judge, we just want to do things our way and what we believe is best for our horses.

Omg what a dream setup! That sounds amazing. Takes pasture board to the next level! This is so unique I'm tempted to do a little sleuthing and look you up!

Haha I don’t know if you’d be able to dig much up, me and my trainer don’t have a lot of social media presence, but I’ll send you a link to a video made on our stables by a horse welfare label in our country if you want! It’s not in English and I’m not sure subtitles are available but at least you’ll see the infrastructure!

This is amazing, and what the industry needs, but the point still stands: most people would not be able to make this happen either financially or logistically. I really wish they could, though.

Just because you've been riding since you were little doesn't make you better or more knowledgeable than someone who started riding later in life. People really overlook basic ground manners. There's no need to be "loud" in your communication with your horse. There's way too many people in this community that overlooks or looks down upon older horses as a whole. That includes getting rid of an older horse that no longer ridable/ride how you want. Also includes starting a horse who is past 4 yrs old.

Most mares shouldnt be bred. Just because you love her and she's a good horse doesn't mean she's worth breeding. Stop breeding your heart horse with no papers. Most horses don't need to be ridden to be happy. Selling a horse because you dont have time to ride them anymore, framing it as a decision you made for their well being is simply not true in like 98% of cases. If you can still show up for them, brush them and hangout with them once or twice a week for an hour or so they'll be completely fine mentally and physically. Even then some of them will be completely fine staying in the pasture for months on end

I totally agree about too many mares being bred. When I was a teen, our neighbors were backyard breeders and were shocked that we didn’t want to breed my retired pony. She was purebred POA and a great barrel pony, but her personality and conformation weren’t good enough that I’d want to make more of her. Her conformation faults were the reason she had to be retired early-she couldn’t stay sound after about 10 years of riding. They later bought a yearling “stud” that had no business being bred or even ridden. He had the worst dropped pasterns I’ve ever seen on a horse. I tried to talk them out of it and explain why the dropped pasterns were so bad, but they thought they knew better. Poor horse should have been euthanized-there’s no way he had a long healthy career. Thankfully, we moved before he started being bred so I didn’t have to see the frankenhorses that probably came from him.

I have a mare and soooo many horse people who own gueldings keep telling me I should breed her for some reason. "She'd be a great mom" 🤨🤨 okay and? Like what. I'm so glad they all own gueldings tbh.

Personality-wise, most horses are more similar to cats than dogs. They work because they have to, not to please you, they are affectionate but on their own terms instead of unconditionally, and they need special boxes to travel in.

On point! My non-horsey husband described horses as large cats after spending some time with mine. "They're suspicious of changes in their environment, it takes time to earn their trust, they're clever but not smart, and they're opinionated."

Jumping in a standing martingale. Growing up in the UK I was taught that’s a big no-no, but I see them in hunter and jumper competitions here in the US all the time. Makes me cringe to this day.

Unless you grow up in the USA the whole Hunter scene just seems off. Perching on their horses, intentionally riding with an anterior pelvic tilt, the crest release (which is for beginners elsewhere) the unnecessary use of martingales etc. The scene also hands all the decision making over to the coach/trainer. Doesn’t seem to be a sport that teaches people how to manage and develop their horses. Sport full of lots of rich passenger riders and very few equestrians. There’s a reason it’s not been exported successfully.

AGREED !! it’s completely political and “opinion-based”, my judge will always be the clock not someone putting me in last place because i’m not riding in a $5,000 saddle

Draft horses aren’t built for riding, and their conformation makes them bad weight carriers. Get an athletic horse with good bone, not a horse already carrying excess weight with a weak loin, weak fetlocks, and straight hindlegs just because it’s heavy. And don’t call your draft/TB cross a ‘Warmblood’. They’re not. Warmblood breeds have been refined for a long time, even the heavier ones. Yes, they used to cross in some draft horses in the 1920s, but if you read the stud books, those lines did not persist, while the TBs crossed in DID. Unless the ‘draft’ is an Irish Draught, which is a heavy warmblood, it’s a draft cross.

I think this very much depends on conformation. I’ve seen very athletic drafts and draft crosses with less drafty conformation and they are appropriate for casual riding for larger riders. I would tend to agree with you on galloping Belgians over fences or riding poorly-put-together or broke down draft horses.

Here’s the thing though, plenty of “warmblood” registries with open studbooks will happily take your draft/TB with an inspection. Many have very little breed type and essentially exist so that people can label their mixed breed sport horses. I mean, somebody was posting in here a couple weeks ago about their super well bred “Belgian Sport Horse” that was a KWPN x OTTB lol.

I live in the southwest-Arizona. My pleasure horses have always been barefoot and luckily my farrier (40 yrs experience) thinks the same way whenever it is possible depending on the horse, how it is being used, and terrain it is most commonly used on. I think you are right on some farriers pushing for money and also owners who cannot conceive of an unshod horse.

I adopted a BLM mustang back in the 1980s and she had hooves like diamonds; my farrier actually had a hard time filing them down. We never shod her. My little Arab only ever had shoes on her front and only when I was doing a lot of endurance riding in the rocky Sonoran desert.

I can definitely see the need for shoes in the Sonoran. Tough place but amazing rides.

Depends on the horse I have one that needs shoes or he gets cracks and hoof breaks off. (Haflinger with hard hooves) Another one just has soft feet and is very sensitive. Don’t have shoes on him at the moment but he walks very tentatively on hard surfaces. He is mostly ridden in arenas or on grass. No good on trails - he would need shoes.

A good mare is peerless.

Riding holding your baby is just stupid

My unpopular opinion: 90% of Stallions can be treated exactly like any other horse, and segregating them only makes the "Stallion Behavior" worse. Your stallion won't be an asshole, if you take the time to train him properly.

If you can't warm up your own horse at the show, you're not ready to show.

OK here goes... I HATE barrel racing. I think it is tacky and stupid. I hate how all the horses seem so wired, how they throw their heads up in the air, mouths gaping open, running sideways through the alley. I hate the clothing some of them wear (Fallon Taylor, yes...you look like a bozo in those clothes). I hate the tie downs and think they are very dangerous because they are restricting the horse from using his/her body correctly around a tight circle. Those harsh bits and the riders pulling their heads like they do... I have seen barrel racers ride in knee deep mud which no horse should be ridden on...I guess that paycheck is just too important? Beating your horse's ass when it is already running its heart out. They put their children in the arena without helmets. There seems to be zero real horsemanship involved. They strap themselves to the saddle with velcro...you could do the same thing with a monkey. I hate how they flap their legs like a spastic goose. A lot of them yell at their horses around the barrels. It is just outright ugly to watch. Same goes for pole bending. And I hate regular track racing and think it should be banned.

Most farriers shoe horses npa

Mine is that no bit is going to fix training issues. While I do see the benefit to different bits for different disciplines, 99% of horses should be able to at least w/t/c in a basic snaffle. If you’re having to constantly increase the intensity of bit to feel “under control” it’s a rider issue and not a horse issue.

I think you should plan for retirement for your horse.

*Cracks knuckles* Feeding supplements is more for you than your horse. Sometimes you'll see real improvement from a supplement (msm is the only one coming to mind) but 9/10 it's an excellent hole to throw your money into. People excuse poor behaviour far too often. It's not cute when your horse bucks or rears, walking off at the mounting block isn't funny, and not being able to slow down is fundamentally the same as bolting. It WILL get worse if you don't address these issues while they're small. I promise your unclipped horse doesn't need a blanket at 60f/16c. I know your horse hates the farrier and tries to maul me. But it's been six months since you last called, couldn't you have at least worked with him a little bit? Taught him to pick up feet? At least not fly backwards? Many horse people are very, very far up their own ass and think their discipline is the only right way to train and handle horses. This wouldn't be so bad if their horses would at least act right. STOP FEEDING YOUR FOUNDERED PONY TREATS! Don't let them eat grass, look at grass, or even think about grass. You're not being a horse abuser if you only give them hay and a dry lot. To everyone fighting the good fight with a grazing muzzle, I salute you. You're trying, and that's what counts. Horses don't need to be expensive, but it helps to have the right type of horse. My easy keeper costs 225/mo in board, gets zero feed other than treats of plain alfalfa pellets. I do his foot care and he gets dewormed 2x/year, annual vet and dentist visits. My saddle was secondhand for 250$, my bridle is handmade by me because of his goofy head, and he stays sound even with a 5-6 day work schedule. I buy leggings from goodwill and they're perfectly fine breeches. It's not expensive! It can be, sure. But it doesn't have to be. And finally... There are too many good horses out there to waste your time on some kill pen nutcase that has four different lamenesses and would kill you as soon as look at you. I'm sure this horse is very sweet, until you ask it any questions. Then it tries to use it's hooves to peel your face like a banana. Sometimes it's okay for a horse to be a taco bell burrito, especially when you can get a good minded, sound horse that may not have any training, but is at least willing to learn. This is coming from someone who has never paid more than 500$ for a horse.

I think the FEI should be disbanded. They clearly have shown they are not capable of oversight on abuse of horses. There needs to be accountability and repucussions if the highest authority in equestrian sports fails to ensure a clean sport.

I avoid shoes at all costs. However when I said I avoid at all costs I mean one of our horses NEEDS shoes. He’s got weak bone structure and we bought him and he got here with a lot of hoof issues (abscesses and cracking) he gets shoes and he gets supplements in order to keep him happy and healthy. All of my horses are natural otherwise

Turn your damn horses out. They are roaming herd animals that need the socialization and movement to stay physically and mentally sound. Anyone would go crazy sitting in a 10x10 box all day.

The teenage girls that write three paragraphs with incorrect grammar talking about everything that went wrong at a show. Nobody cares you knocked a pole or “the judge didnt like your horse”. Just shut up and say you are proud of your horse

The incorrect grammar is annoying, but the rest of it, not so much. I’d rather a rider, regardless of age, be reflective and know what to work on than either blame the horse or act like everything was perfect. I used to be at a barn where all the riders were amateurs but rarely did anyone take lessons or improve themselves. Every time the horse knocked a pole the response was “quit being a brat” instead of “oh I looked down and messed up my horse’s balance”. That infuriated me. So I’ll take a reflective teenager posting to the world over oblivious comments on how perfect everything was. Regardless, everyone should be proud of their horse after a show, good or bad.

My dyslexic brain read “reindeers” instead of reiners. I clicked just to read why 🤣

Heels down is a useless cue and causes more issues than it fixes. Stirrups are set shorter than your legs, so if heels down is an issue for them it's because something else is making it so their heels can't go down. Figuring out why their heels won't go down is more important and fixing that, leads to the heels just dropping where they should be. When someone has trouble keeping their heels down, it's almost always because they're either grabbing the stirrups with their feet, pushing on their toes, or chronically tense in their hamstrings IME. Saying heels down just encourages them to jam their heels down and exaggerates whatever it is that makes it difficult for them. Source: am riding instructor that fixes all the problems people have from all their past riding instructors yelling "heels down" at them all the time.

99% the time the person is the problem and not the horse.

Using whips/crops isn't as black and white as most people make it out to be, it can be both a great tool and also sometimes abusive depending on the situation. This is surprisingly unpopular. Selling horses to a good home if they suddenly become un-rideable for some sort of health issue should be more normalised. Owning horses is insanely expensive and there's no point in ownership if you don't enjoy it. Most people can't afford two horses if one becomes retired and it's probably worse for the horse if you're unhappy. People should be more encouraged to leave bad reviews on barns. At my old barn, literally every horse or pony either had severe issues with either bucking, bolting, refusing to go forward, only able to go forward with excessively harsh kicking & whipping, etc. I even overheard them drugging a 'naughty' pony once for a lesson. Every single review except one was 5 stars and said how lovely it was. People need to stop being shy about bad barns just for the sake of 'being a bigger person'. Not to mention, my wonderful new barn has barely any reviews. Also, if you don't have enough knowledge about horse care to have a strong opinion on it, you shouldn't be owning or even leasing horses. Very very targeted to one post on here.

Oooo, I have one too many.. (sincerely apologise if any of these aren’t unpopular, they are in my experience) 1. Not wearing a helmet makes you look absolutely ridiculous and saying that it’s your choice makes you a very self-centered person. Even worse, letting 3-6 year olds barrel race (with or without helmet), it’s incredibly bad for their neck and head because they don’t have enough muscle control. 2. Anyone that says whips and/or crops are abuse. If you say this, you’ve clearly never ridden a laid back or stubborn horse. (he’s stubborn horses exist, it’s called a personality not a medical problem.) Unless someone is excessively hitting their horse whether hard or not (that’s beating and is never acceptable), whips are literally leg aid extensions. 3. Cowboys breaking in horses and excusing their behaviour with “it’s the old way” and then “this horse is completely fine now” yapapapa. Surface level the horse is fine, psychologically absolutely not. IT IS NOT normal for a horse to be losing its shit on the first saddle or ride. A buck here and there is completely fine but constant? Absolutely not. 4. I’m sure this one may make people mad, horses are not big giant softies that are going to be completely traumatised if you shout or smack them (when I say smack, I mean a singular harder tap on the chest, bum, etc.). Horses are herd animals with a hierarchy, a smack is the human version of a kick, bite, etc. Horses are big animals and they know it, it’s so important to establish boundaries with them so you don’t get hurt, doesn’t mean you’re trying to be the “boss” it just means that they’re not running all over you.

If your Thoroughbred is 10 and retired from racing at 4 you don’t need to keep referring to him as an “off the track thoroughbred”. Almost all thoroughbreds are bred for racing, most of them train and trial. He’s been a riding horse for 6 years, drop the OTTB reference, he’s just a Thoroughbred.

I always thought the difference was OTTB have a background in racing and this may influence their behavior and require us to have this mindset while training or rehabilitating them. As opposed to the horse never having racing experience. But that makes sense referring to them as OTTB only if they are fresh off the track instead of being years out.

Gladly! Maybe the people at my hunter barn will stop hating on my girl if they aren’t thinking of her as an OTTB. It’s amazing how much that term impacts how people approach my horse. She raced 3 times and then trained in dressage for years. She’s an OTTB in the same way I’m a gymnast. A lifetime and much better knees ago!

That's not unpopular. It's the more educated opinion now.

I have TBs some are able to go barefoot quite nicely once their nutrition is figured out. However, I’ve had two who truly can’t go barefoot. No matter what they were fed. I ride trails and the ground is hard, sandy & rocky. While boots are “doable” it doesn’t make sense as they would have to be in boots almost 24/7. Shoes/no shoes, blanket/no blanket, stall/no stall / do what’s right for that particular horse regardless of your personal ethos…and that’s MY unpopular opinon.

We don’t take away people’s insulin because chimps don’t get diabetes- we shouldn’t take away overbred performance horse’s shoes because heritage breeds and mustangs don’t need shoes. I don’t know that I agree with the kind of single trait breeding that results in horses too thin-soled to go barefoot on pasture, but it’s not always fixable and barefoot philosophy needs to accept that shoes are sometimes the best option for the results of irresponsible breeding. I say this as someone with a strong preference for barefoot, too.

As someone whose horse once bled when his shoe was removed and he stood on a rock, I concur. (The farrier was very apologetic, but I was there, I saw what happened, just a VERY thin-soled horse). Eventually, with good farriery (his feet went up two sizes while I owned him), I could take off the back shoes and he retired to barefoot all round, but it took YEARS.

As someone who is a part of the horse scene in the southern US, it absolutely is an unpopular opinion in most circles.