I care for other people's horses, it's not my job it's my life, I couldn't escape it even if I wanted to. Thankfully I don't, although sometimes the people who are owned by these horses almost drive me to the point of insanity, they also make me laugh and most importantly make me learn, so I have learned to live with them and some have even become friends. I know a lot of people look at horse workers and assume they are stupid because of their chosen profession - and maybe I am, but at least I am trying, because we will never know everything.
Over the past few years I have been learning a lot from these horses, their humans and especially my own horse. What has scared me most is how little people actually know about their horse, or even horses in general. Basic things that can mean an injury down the track is avoided, or you catch a colic before it becomes a surgery case or worse.
If I can help someone learn one thing about their horse which may help it in the future I will be happy for a lifetime! Hopefully my experiences with these horses will help, or at least make you laugh.
Tricky
When people ask for shit
8 years ago
!!!
ReplyDeleteTotally understand where you're coming from!
I worked for almost two years at a trillium/acircuit ENGLISH barn, MY GOD! People pay out their ASSES to keep their horses clean and fed and turned out with a million sets of boots and a sheet for this day and a thing for that blah blah blah, (which is NICE i guess) but WHAT do they actually KNOW about their horse?
I knew WAY more about George, Robin, Connor, Lazer, Ben, Popeye, Lyric, Como, Annie, Rosie, Petey, Tommy, Keno, Dante and Guess than their freakin owners did. I knew if they were going to run me over and or spook at the barn door opening up...
It made me sad though, I LOVED to work with them, and keep that barn CLEAN AS A ...something really clean, but there were people that boarded there that NEVER came to see their horses. Like, Paying BIG bucks for their horse to be lunged all week, ridden the day before they have a lesson, groomed X amount of times etc etc...THEN I would have to have the horse bathed, lunged, clipped if neccessary and tacked up before the spoiled kid even GOT there. And of course, take him when she was done.
Its rewarding in a personal way, youll never lose the experience you gain, and money obviously cant buy experience...
I know it can be so frustrating when owners tell you how well they know their horse, and what it likes and doesn't - then for you to find out 2 weeks after it has arrived that it isn't the horse the owner thought it was!
ReplyDeleteSome of them kill me with how they neglect their animals - never seeing them and then blaming me because they're nuts?????
That's another topic in itself.
Thanks