What are your pet peeves when you are riding or working your horse?

Loose dogs are also my pet peeve. If I had a nickel for every time some fool had their dog off the leash, and that dog came racing up to my horse, bent on mayhem, completely out of control while the owner is ineffectually chirping "Here, Fido! Fido, come! Here, please, come here, Fido!"

...And then when you ask the fool owner after they've caught the dog if they knew there was a leash law, they get all indignant at you. Forget about kicking the cr@p out of the dog, I wanted to kick the cr@p out of the owner!

About equal on my list of peeves: the morons in cars who think it's funny to do things like blow their horn when they're adjacent to you, or to rev the engine, or to lean out of the windows and shout and wave their arms trying to scare the horse. In every case, we're talking about groups of adolescent-to-twentyish males.

And I think I'd also have to put very high on the list some of the mostly-teenaged girls who will come galloping up a trail behind you and gallop right by your horse, laughing and thinking they're really cool. Without knowing if the horse is green, or if the rider is green, or giving any consideration for how their actions might affect other horses and riders.

My final nomination: people who buy a home in an area where there are equestrian properties and immediately start trying to find ways to get the horses out of the community. I have been watching this happen in the Palos Verdes area of Southern California for the last twenty years: people buy the horse properties and then subdivide the property if they can so they can cash in. The people who buy aren't interested in horses and hate the manure, the flies, the noise the horses make, the smells, everything about horses. So they get together and they try to make rules to limit trail access, they generally make things miserable for the horse people.

I wish that people who don't like horses would understand that when they move into a horse-oriented community, the horses were there first. If finding horse droppings on the trail is such a trauma for them, why don't they live somewhere where there are no horses? Why is that such a hard thing for them to understand?

1. When people pass so close to me that I could pet their horse. It annoys me and it annoys my horse. When there is a huge arena, I don't get why people will always bunch together.

2. When people come out of no where and start giving me lessons, or when people will watch my lessons and start talking to my trainer or give suggestions. I pay a trainer for a reason.

3. When people decide that their horse is better then my pony. It's almost sad when I go to a show and people won't even give me a 2nd glance, even judges do it. My pony was born to jump and she always proves herself in the jumping ring, people often give me much more credit after they see some of our jumping rounds.

4. Dogs with stupid owners. There is a pug at our barn that the owners let run loose, and he marks EVERYTHING. It's absolutely ridiculous when I have to wash my tack room because he doesn't have responsible owners. I have talked to them about it and they just laugh it off. Next time that dog lifts his leg I'm going to punt him across the pasture.

I could name so much more, but I don't want to seem like a prude.

I am not fond of loose dogs myself and I don't think the owners are funny or justified in any way. My pet peeves are my own mistakes and the fact that the whole damned planet is being fenced off. If you think this is necessary, you don't know history or ecology. All I am saying is that there are other ways of stewarding the land besides cutting it up into little fenced off pieces. I recommend www.tapadero.com The DVDs contain some great horse history lessons. Especially Los Primeros and Tapadero.

Happy Trails

HorseFeatherZ

My pet peeve? Fat, spoiled, horses or ponies who walk over everyone. I despise and detest horses/ponies who have absolutely hideous ground manners. Who bite, kick, can't stand still, etc.

Another pet peeve is when people put their horses into the stall and the horses go straight over to the food and start to eat with their tack on. I don't mind if the horse goes for water, but for some reason food rubs me the wrong way. I ended up teaching all my horses that they can't eat until the halter is off or the bit is out of their mouth. They stand rock still until that is done.

my horse cannot stand still. he really does try, but he can't help but to move around a ton. hes just got a lot of energy haha, but it drives me nuts. another would be when im trying something new and i have an audience of 5-10 people. you're bound to make mistakes when youre starting something new, so i don't really want an audience critiquing me....which leads to another thing. that's when people critique me while im having a lesson with my instructor. like HELLO shes my instructor, NOT you. thanks, but no thanks haha.

i dont know if i would have my horse kicking the dogs though (unless its a pack of dogs threatening your horse or a wild coyote or something). one those are really bad manners if he learns to kick every time he sees a dog. two it isn't the dog's fault, theyre just being dogs. it isnt fair to kick the dogs when its the owner's fault. i would have the horse kick the owners :P

kmarie- that drives me nuts too! i hate seeing people full on DROP the poor horse's hoof, it makes me wince every time

edit: other ones i just thought of would definitely be pushy horses. i was helping rotate horses & i got this one out at it was litterally pushing me over. i tried backing him up, apparently he doesnt know how. i tried circling, he just pushed me in a circle. it was sooo annoying. another is pawing. we've got one that always does it and its so annoying when im trying to groom my horse & the other is pawing and pawing and pawing. ugh

final: bad trail ettiquette. like when you're riding with someone and they don't even tell you what they're doing & they'll just take off into a canter from a walk without saying anything. not only is it just rude, its dangerous. a lot of times when one rider/horse does it, they'll either spook the other horse or rile the other horse up enough to get them going when the rider doesn't expect it. its just stupid. also when people canter their horse through ditches & brushy areas. you dont know for sure whats in there! there's broken glass, wildlife, lots of stuff im sure you dont want your horse stepping on.

wow i have a lot of pet peeves aha

People yelling while I ride.

My "friend" telling me to "properly warm up my horse" before I canter, even though she doesn't and I do.

People getting in my way when I was in the arena first and they know what exercise I am doing.

People cutting me off while I have a lesson.

Getting yelled at by the owner of "my horse".

Me calling out the name of a jump I am going to do 6 strides away and having someone cut me off 5 seconds later.

Having someone move my tack after I set it on the saddle rack in the aisle for one of the sets of cross ties while I am getting Nugget.

People who beat a horse for taking a step out of line.

People who think they know everything there is to know about horses.

Rude riders.

The barn owner where I ride!!!

IDK, I have a lot more!!!!

Mine have to be:

When at shows the warm up rings are wayy too packed.

Flies and bugs that eat at your horse even though you've doused them in fly spray.

When people cut you off when riding.

When you call out a jump and then a person goes across the ring or goes to jump it themselves.

When little kids whine and complain.

Spoiled girls who own horses yet think the horse's poo is disgusting and won't even go near it.

People who wear white/ light colours to the barn and complain when they get dirt on it.

People who like take over the tack room with all their stuff even though they already have a locker.

When your horse knocks a pole and you have to get off go put it back up and then remount.

My Pet Peeve is a horse with a terrible work ethic (aka "lazy"). If I'm working a new horse I want to see how willing and responsive they are.

On the flip side I also dislike horses that can't stand still as well. So I'd work with them immediately on that.

There are times where I loose my temper and patience and send myself on "time out". If I'm in a bad mood that day I skip training the horses, because I don't want to take my frustrations out on them. I can't stand rider's who loose their patience. And when I do I just hate myself for it.

I also can't stand pawing, pushy, and spoiled horses.

my pet peeve is people. in general. i do not enjoy people who don't know horses, and i do not enjoy people who do know horses. i hate having bad horse knowledge shoved down my throat, and i do not enjoy children trying to hang off my skittish horses legs. The only person i really enjoy riding with is a good friend of mine and my dad. he has Alot of knowledge about horses and started a horse club in my town. needless to say we attracted ALOT of characters. from a long winded "trainer" who can't go faster then a walk on his horse to a pushy annoying woman who shows up at all the pa rads with her crazy *** horse and insists on being in front of everyone else. if i didn't love my horse so much, i would never ride again just to avoid the people.

my horse isn't scared of dogs, but a guy i know has a horse that was viciously attacked by 2 pitt bulls. he was just riding along and these two pitt bulls next to a trailer park sailed over the fence and tore up the horse. that's why I always bring some form of self defense. even if it's just a shovel head. i live in redneck topia.

The using institution "authorities", the "white jodhpur brigade" who flap their manicured palms and look ahead to the pony to be held for them so they may be able to get on and opt for their weekly lesson. The persons who seem down at the ones who're sweating their manner via the stalls to make the whole thing run easily. The persons who've horses on complete livery and switch up as soon as a month if the moon is within the correct segment to perform a little Parelli considering that the instructor "does not have an understanding of him". People with out a thought learn how to cross appropriately at the trails. Drivers with indicators of their home windows that say "gradual down for horses" who shoot beyond at top velocity at the same time you are ready on the junction. People who do not placed their puppies on a lead and smile and say "he is exceptional with horses" as FiFi or some thing is wandering aimlessly round legs and your horse is breakdancing within the center of the path.