Sunday, May 6, 2012

Equestrian Ink's Horse Tips for Young Riders

A couple weeks ago, I posted a Horse Care Checklist for Young Riders from the "Flicka" people. A couple you you had some comments/editions to the list, which gave me a great idea. I think we should come up our own tips for young riders. Of course, these would most likely apply to any rider, but we'll target young riders specifically. I'm thinking of three categories:
Before your ride
During your ride
After your ride

Here are a few of our readers' comments on the Flicka list:

Dreaming said...I love the poster, but I was disappointed that they said to 'brush your horse with a curry comb'.I discovered a book that sounds very interesting. It's "Writing Horses, The Fine Art of Getting It Right" by Judith Tarr. I haven't read the book, yet. I tried to use the library's electronic version and I could only access the first page. Perhaps the poster people should read it!
whitehorsepilgrim said...
It's a nice idea - but a pity that the girl pictured is riding with taut reins. How about adding the advice "keep off your horse's mouth".

My Comment: Always wear a helment
So give us your best tips for young riders!

Below is the original horse care checklist:

6 comments:

TBDancer said...

Water. Fresh clean water.

whitehorsepilgrim said...

And not just young riders. Today a friend and I had to take a middle aged lady aside and speak to her about the underweight condition of her horse. She'd taken it on loan from an owner who is having financial difficulties. The lady is a decent individual but a novice rider and has little idea about horse care. She did not know that teeth need attention (the horse is 19 so might need six-monthly rasping) and that horses need worming. The barn manager hadn't noticed the problem because the horse is always rugged. Well, she accepted the advice and is going to get the teeth attended to, worm count checked and feeding adjusted. And she is happy to keep on receiving advice. But this just shows how even well meaning people can get into trouble through not knowing. This case was bad enough that, had she not wanted to know, a call would have been made to the humane society.

Dreaming said...

Definitely the helmet.

Hoof care. The poster mentions picking the hooves daily. That's great. But horse tips should include timely hoof care from a trained farrier.

Unknown said...

Feel your horse all over, check for sore spots.

Amen to water.

Never cinch the hell out of your horse. If people will just stop creating cinchy horses.

Remember to thank your parents. Lol

Gayle Carline said...

I'd like to add "Be consistent with how you treat your horse, in the saddle or on the ground." A lot of the accidents I see and hear about are when people start taking their horses for granted. For example, they get sloppy about leading and end up being dragged, or knocked down, etc.

Alison said...

I know that movie stars never have helmet hair, but for the rider not to be wearing one is totally irresponsible!