Friends Safety?

Question

Well first - My friend has a qh mare. My friend thinks she is broke and good and then sometimes she thinks she is a lunatic. She wanted to start her jumping so she started lunging her and put up a barrel. She hasnt properly taught her horse to jump or set herself up and hides it from our trainer. We ride western and i dont know much about english but this seems wrong. She doesnt use tendon supporters or anything and im worried for the horses sake and hers.

Second: When she trailers her horse she lets her loose. I would never do that. I always keep my horses tied up in the trailer. But she lets her walk around loose and it seems dangerous.

I cant just say you shouldnt be doing this. I dont want to loose a friend but if i dont tell her im afriad her or her horse will get hurt. Shes careless when it comes to her horse and her horse is almost dangerous. What should i do? I dont want to tell the trainer and tattle but im worried for safety. Shes older and wont listen to me. Help!

Answer 1

I have had horses for 22 years and I still learn new things all the time.

If this person is really your friend she should be able to handle a little constructive advised. You know how the saying goes is that your friend are people who know how you really are and they like you anyways.

As for her horse being lose in the trailer yes that is dangerous. If she does not like tying the horse up she does not have to tie the horse very tight. She needs to tie the horse just enough so that the horse does not try to wander around inside of the trailer and get hurt.

If something isn't said her or the horse sooner or later might get hurt.

Good luck

Answer 2

First off... it's your friend horse, not yours... she can do what she wants with it.

As far as not using splint boots on a horse... that's more of a western thing. In Hunter shows, boots of any kind are not allowed. Do you put boots on your horse when he's running around in the pasture and rearing, bucking, and jumping.... no! If she's interested in jumping, you should encourage her to go for it, and take some english lessons... not gossip behind her back about how stupid you think she is. Not sounding like a true friend here!

I always trailer my mare loose. She likes to ride backwards, so by leaving her loose, she can find the place in the trailer that is most comfortable for her, and the easiest to balance. There is nothing wrong with hauling a horse loose.... actually if the horse were to stumble and fall in the traier, it could break it's neck if it were tied... however if it's loose, it's safer. Do you wrap your horses legs, or use a head bumper...??? If not, I think you are being more unsafe than your friend.

Just because you think things should be done one way, because it's the way your trainer/teacher does it (ie, splint boots, tied in the trailer, wraps, etc) doesn't mean that it's the only way, the best way, or even the right way to do something. Open your mind a bit.... you might actually learn something from your friend!

Answer 3

While I am not a fan of lunging, this is commonly used to teach today's jumpers. Regardless, this is something that needs to be monitored by someone with experience because improper lunging can lead to a multitude of problems. Jumping without a trainer is not a good idea if you have not done it before either. Some horses have their legs bandaged, some don't. In my opinion, it's always a good idea to do this. It keeps the horse from possibly scraping his legs and supports his tendons, etc...Using a barrel to jump is definitely not the safest for an inexperienced horse/rider combo.

The trailer thing doesn't bother me. My hanoverian HATES to be in the trailer tied up. It makes him nervous. I just take his halter off when he's in there, granted he is bandaged up pretty well to avoid any injury. Tying a horse up in a trailer is possible a bigger hazard than leaving him loose if it is in a pretty confined area anyway.

Personally, it's not your place to say anything. Hope for the best. If something happens to the horse or your friend, all you can do is remind her that you warned her about your concerns. There's too many different opinions anyway to tattle to the trainer on this one.

Answer 4

well first of all if you are friends with her tell her. even if she stops being your friend and you tell your trainer and she hates you if your trainer starts to help her and keeps her from getting into serious trouble it is worth it. one day if you see her working her horse over the barrel ask her if she would like some supporters or something that would take the strain off of the horses legs. and you should def. tell your trainer, ask your trainer if there is anything that you could do to help your friend do so that your trainer is aware and you can have some tips to help your friend understand what she is doing that is dangerous. if your friend has email you could send her some websites that show the proper way to train a horse to jump and some things that will help her teach her horse. is she still wont listen have your trainer do something, if your friend is putting herself and her horse in dangerous situations it needs to be stopped. she will be grateful if she relizes what she was doing was dangerous.

Answer 5

I am not too sure about the first problem, but the trailering issue is fine. Many horses find it easier to ride in a trailer loose. If they are only one in the trailer it should be fine. I had a horse who preferred to ride facing backwards. I have read many different articles in magazines that said it was better because the horse is more balance since he can put his head lower than if he were tied up. They brace themselves and don't get as thrown around.

Answer 6

Lunging a horse is how you train a horse to jump. The only real thing I could argue with there is that she should be using something that looks solid (helps a young horse learn to judge distance) but isn't (so if they run into it they won't be seriously hurt). Her horse shouldn't need tendon supports for low jumps however since she's lunging him on a circle she might need brushing boots to keep him from interfering. I wouldn't recommend wraps though and even boots can be iffy because put on wrong they do more harm than good. It really depends on the horse yes under normal circumstances you should tie your horse in a trailer but if the horse pulls back or is upset by trailering it may be safer to not have *another* thing to hurt themselves on. We have a horse that hates trailering so we bandage him up head to toe and stick him in the trailer then take his halter completely off so if he gets upset and moves around it can't get tangled. If she keeps the horse well confined I wouldn't worry about if he's actually tied up.

Answer 7

Firstly we have trailed mares and foals and show horses all over the US without being tied and some horses are more comfortable and travel better loose and are not tempted to pull back, panic in an enclosed space and have a wreck.
Not all horses require tendon support when jumping especially over small fences so that's really not an issue either. With some horses, we've taught them to jump via lunging but the majority, we've started with poles and then graduated to popping them over little fences and worked up that way. Not sure why these issues lead you to think that she is careless because in my opinion, it doesn't sound like she's done anything wrong.

Answer 8

1st of all, you should always have a perfessional around when jumping for the first time. Even if the rider is a great jumper, the hores may not be. 2nd of all, it is very dangerous to leave a horse untied in a trailer. You should tell your friend how you feel, if she doesnt listen, tell your trainer, you may be a tattle, but you will still be protecting the horse and its owner. she SHOULD thank you in the long run, and if she doesnt, shes not a good friend anyway

oh and by the way, when you first teach a horse to jump, lunging is how you should do it, but make sure she starts small (poles and cavellites) then works her way up. I'm just hopingf she will relize how naive shes being and get her trainer.

Hope i could help =]

Answer 9

Shes risking her own horses safety and hers. If she wont listen to you im sure her trainer will. Dont have him mention that it was you who told him. Even if she does find out that it was you, whens she older she'll know you did the right thing. Losing a friend for awhile isnt as bad as her losing her horse.

Answer 10

OMG!!!!!!! YOUR FRIEND SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE A HORSE!!!!!!!!!
you should tell the trainer for the horse's sake!!!! no wonder the horse is crazy!!!!!!!! and i think how she's training the horse to jump is all wrong!!!! im not saying im and expert but a barrel?!?!?!?!?! 1 they roll and 2 they are WAAAAYYY to high to just begin to train a horse to jump!!!!
i just started training my former reining arab mare to jump for fun and i just have a little, but firm plastic jump about a foot high it took awile for her to get over it but in the end she did and now we have alot of fun with that!!! lol watch out for her horse ok?

i will pray for the horse, but not for her, recently a person at my stable decided to jump and slide ditches where i ride and everyone told her not to (she older not a teen) but she did and now shez in hospital paralized from the waist down and the horse has a big old gash on itss leg!!!!!! poor horse!!!