15/03/2025
True story.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ
Once upon a time, in a land before TikTok tutorials and matchy-matchy saddle pads, horse people actually knew how to take care of horses. Shocking, I know. Kids like me didnโt just rock up to the yard, hop on, and swan off afterward like some equestrian diva. No, we earned our time in the saddle mucking out stables that smelled like something out of a horror movie, filling haynets that somehow managed to tangle themselves around our legs, and lugging water buckets that felt heavier than our actual bodies.
And Friday nights? That was Pony Club night in Ireland, an unmissable ritual. First, the riding lesson, where we pushed ourselves to perfect our position or attempted (and often failed) to keep our ponies from launching us into orbit over a cross-pole. Then, the real fun stable management. If you thought you were leaving without knowing how to spot colic, wrap a bandage properly, or pick out hooves without losing a finger, you were sorely mistaken.
But now? Stable management is disappearing faster than your horseโs dignity when it spots a plastic bag.
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๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ
These days, many young riders donโt spend hours at the yard learning the ins and outs of horse care. They arrive, their pony is miraculously tacked up and ready, they ride for an hour, and off they go probably to post a reel of their perfect canter transition. And look, I get it. Times have changed. Insurance policies have made it harder for kids to hang around stables, and busy modern life means people want things quick and easy.
But hereโs the problem: a horse isnโt an Instagram prop. ๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐ 1,000-๐ฅ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ก๐. And without that old-school, hands-on education, weโre seeing the consequences. Horses suffering from preventable colic, riders unable to recognize when their tack doesnโt fit, people feeding their cob the same as a Thoroughbred and wondering why itโs suddenly the size of a small elephant.
And the worst part? People are accepting standards of care that would have been unheard of years ago.
I hear owners justifying no turnout like itโs normal. โOh, my yard doesnโt turn out in winter.โ โMy horse copes fine without it.โ No, they donโt. Horses are designed to move. Keeping them in a box 24/7, walking them for 20 minutes on a horse walker, and thinking thatโs a substitute for actual turnout? Thatโs not horsemanship, itโs convenience. And itโs a ticking time bomb for their physical and mental health.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐
Itโs not just kids, either. There is now an entire generation of adult horse owners who donโt actually know how to look after their horses properly. People who have spent years on riding school horses, never mucked out a stable, never bandaged a leg, never had to nurse a horse through an illness, suddenly finding themselves with their first horse and no idea what theyโre doing. And instead of admitting they need help, many of them turn to social media (sometimes itโs ok, but not posts like is this colic?) for advice rather than a vet, a farrier, or an experienced horse person.
Itโs terrifying. These are the same people who will argue in Facebook groups about whether their horse is โjust lazyโ instead of recognizing pain, who think a horse standing in a stable 24/7 is fine because โhe doesnโt seem unhappyโ, and who will spend more on a glittery saddle pad than on a proper equine dentist. Owning a horse should come with more than just a financial commitment, it should come with a commitment to education. But right now, there are too many owners who simply donโt know what they donโt know.
๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ
So, whatโs the solution? We need to bring back the grit. Pony Clubs, riding schools, livery yards everyone needs to make stable management a non-negotiable part of equestrian life again. Not a boring add-on. Not an optional extra. An essential, just like knowing which end of the horse kicks.
And for those of us who lived through the โearn your saddle timeโ era? Itโs on us to pass that knowledge down. Teach the young ones how to tell the difference between a horse thatโs playing up and a horse and a horse thatโs in pain. Show them that grooming is not just a way to make your horse shiny for pictures itโs how you check for cuts, lumps, or signs of discomfort. Explain why turnout isnโt a luxury, itโs a necessity.
๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐
I miss those Friday nights at Pony Club. The smell of damp hay, the constant background noise of ponies trying to eat things they shouldnโt, the feeling of pride when you finally got your plaits neat enough that your instructor didnโt sigh in disappointment.
We need to bring that back, not just for nostalgiaโs sake, but for the horses. Because if we donโt, weโre going to end up with a generation of riders who can execute a perfect flying change but donโt know what to do when their horse colics at 2 a.m. And that? Thatโs the kind of horror story no equestrian wants to live through.
Sunny and the farmer spec gate ๐
