Hooves โ€˜nโ€™ Hounds

Hooves โ€˜nโ€™ Hounds Caring for all your equine & canines needs and life long animal lover ๐Ÿพ
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How great do the girls look ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง
08/05/2025

How great do the girls look ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

VE Day Celebration ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿฅฐโค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ

Keeping the boys cool in this warm weather ๐Ÿถ
29/04/2025

Keeping the boys cool in this warm weather ๐Ÿถ

24/04/2025
Couldnโ€™t agree more I wouldnโ€™t dare take my horse to a show or lesson covered in stable stains and mud but itโ€™s now deem...
15/03/2025

Couldnโ€™t agree more I wouldnโ€™t dare take my horse to a show or lesson covered in stable stains and mud but itโ€™s now deemed acceptable ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ƒ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐’๐ญ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐Œ๐š๐ง๐š๐ ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ

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 didnโ€™t 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 horseโ€™s dignity when it spots a plastic bag.

๐…๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐œ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐Œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐Ž๐ฎ๐ญ

These days, many young riders donโ€™t 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 hereโ€™s the problem: a horse isnโ€™t an Instagram prop. ๐™„๐™ฉโ€™๐™จ ๐™– 1,000-๐™ฅ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™›๐™ก๐™ž๐™œ๐™๐™ฉ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ข๐™–๐™ก ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™™๐™š๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™จ ๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ข๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™Ÿ๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™จ๐™ž๐™ฉ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™ฎ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™–๐™™๐™™๐™ก๐™š. And without that old-school, hands-on education, weโ€™re seeing the consequences. Horses suffering from preventable colic, riders unable to recognize when their tack doesnโ€™t fit, people feeding their cob the same as a Thoroughbred and wondering why itโ€™s 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 itโ€™s normal. โ€œOh, my yard doesnโ€™t turn out in winter.โ€ โ€œMy horse copes fine without it.โ€ No, they donโ€™t. Horses are designed to move. Keeping them in a box 24/7, walking them for 20 minutes on a horse walker, and thinking thatโ€™s a substitute for actual turnout? Thatโ€™s not horsemanship, itโ€™s convenience. And itโ€™s a ticking time bomb for their physical and mental health.

๐“๐ก๐ž ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐‹๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐

Itโ€™s not just kids, either. There is now an entire generation of adult horse owners who donโ€™t 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 theyโ€™re doing. And instead of admitting they need help, many of them turn to social media (sometimes itโ€™s ok, but not posts like is this colic?) for advice rather than a vet, a farrier, or an experienced horse person.

Itโ€™s terrifying. These are the same people who will argue in Facebook groups about whether their horse is โ€œjust lazyโ€ instead of recognizing pain, who think a horse standing in a stable 24/7 is fine because โ€˜he doesnโ€™t 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 donโ€™t know what they donโ€™t know.

๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐š๐œ๐ค ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐š๐ฌ๐ข๐œ๐ฌ, ๐€๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ

So, whatโ€™s 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 โ€˜earn your saddle timeโ€™ era? Itโ€™s on us to pass that knowledge down. Teach the young ones how to tell the difference between a horse thatโ€™s playing up and a horse and a horse thatโ€™s in pain. Show them that grooming is not just a way to make your horse shiny for pictures itโ€™s how you check for cuts, lumps, or signs of discomfort. Explain why turnout isnโ€™t a luxury, itโ€™s a necessity.

๐€ ๐‹๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ž ๐“๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐‹๐จ๐ฏ๐ž

I miss those Friday nights at Pony Club. The smell of damp hay, the constant background noise of ponies trying to eat things they shouldnโ€™t, the feeling of pride when you finally got your plaits neat enough that your instructor didnโ€™t sigh in disappointment.

We need to bring that back, not just for nostalgiaโ€™s sake, but for the horses. Because if we donโ€™t, weโ€™re going to end up with a generation of riders who can execute a perfect flying change but donโ€™t know what to do when their horse colics at 2 a.m. And that? Thatโ€™s the kind of horror story no equestrian wants to live through.

Sunny and the farmer spec gate ๐Ÿ˜‚

24 year old Dara enjoying a naked day out in the sunshine โ˜€๏ธ
06/03/2025

24 year old Dara enjoying a naked day out in the sunshine โ˜€๏ธ

25/02/2025
02/02/2025

All invoices are now out ๐Ÿด Iโ€™m signing off until Monday morning any requests will be answered then ๐Ÿ˜Š

โค๏ธ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿชฝ
13/01/2025

โค๏ธ๐Ÿพ๐Ÿชฝ

One very spoilt horse ๐Ÿด 3 different types of forage โœ… Warm mash for dinner โœ… Warm fresh water โœ… Fresh bed โœ… Stable quilt...
11/01/2025

One very spoilt horse ๐Ÿด

3 different types of forage โœ…
Warm mash for dinner โœ…
Warm fresh water โœ…
Fresh bed โœ…
Stable quilt with matching magnetic boots โœ…
โ€œControlledโ€ ride in the indoor school ๐Ÿ˜‚โœ…

Bring your Mam to work day ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿฆ„
01/01/2025

Bring your Mam to work day ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿฆ„

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Catterick
Catterick

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