Don’t ask me why I just clicked on an American Apparel ad, but I did. I guess the universe was leading me to see these ridiculous advertising pictures.
Pony says “I hate this girl, and she’s hurting my mouth!” Alas, pony’s unhappy ears are being completely ignored by all concerned. This is why you shouldn’t use animals you know nothing about in photo shoots. No, she’s not wearing shorts – they’re just extremely unflattering pants. Folks, when your pants make your 95 lb. model looks like she has a belly, you might want to rethink that design.
Other pony says “Dude, it’s hopeless. I’m going to back off the cliff and at least rid the world of one more annoying hipster.”
You know, as a side note, I think that being a rental string horse must be one of the worst possible lives a horse can get. Can you imagine every variety of beginner getting on your back day after day? Kicking beginner, yanking beginner, floppy out of shape beginner. And most places make the poor horse sit there all day with a saddle on. Honestly, I can’t even handle watching it. I used to ride by some of them at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center and I cringed every time. Invariably, there was someone just like this girl, with her hands sky-high and a shank bit in the horse’s mouth. I’m all for beginners being introduced to the horse world – but there’s a safe and humane way to do it known as lessons.Â
Back to topic – It’s hard to get behind an ad campaign that seems to be saying “look how much fun we’re having!” when the horses look miserable. Oh, wait, the people sort of look miserable too. But then, don’t they always?  This is why someone did the LAFTH blog. You’re young, your back probably doesn’t even hurt yet, stop whining and smile once in a while! Your face won’t crack, really.
Back to topic again – Why is it that virtually every time we see a horse in advertising, it makes those of us who actually own horses cringe? Remember those annoying tampon ads from the 70s with the girl galloping down the beach slamming repeatedly on the poor horse’s back? I’ll never forget Mary Crosby (yeah, the girl who shot J.R.) saying in an interview that, as a horseperson, she couldn’t watch those ads either. I always liked her after that!
If you’ve got another example of an annoying ad with a horse in it, feel free to post it to the comments!
This very random and easily distracted blog entry was brought to you by lack of coffee. But I just HAD to put those pics up! 
If you’re in Maryland, Angel Acres is still looking for more teams for its upcoming bowling event (see below). If you haven’t yet read Bandito’s story, he was not fed or watered for six weeks and was found in the stall with his gelding friend who did not survive. They had been purchased from the same person and had been together most of their lives. Bandito is recovering, and bowling is a great way to have fun and fund his rehab costs. Check it out if you’re nearby!
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Well, I’m sure as hell cringing. It makes my mouth hurt and my back to see these clueless people riding these horses. Her foot isn’t even in the stirrup.
I hope the horses dumped them both right after this and that they then went and stomped the barn owner.
Some of the trail ride i have been on with my horse were at local dude ranches. you could bring your horse or rent one of theirs. One of the rides was with 3 of my friends (we all brought our horses), the dude ranch owner (really great guy, kept making offers for my horse), and a group of boy scouts getting their horsemanship badges. It really looked like it was painful for both horses and riders! Eventually the ranch owner told us girls that we had the run of the place, and to show these boys how to ride. It was fun, we had races, did rollbacks and jumped ditches. I don’t think the guys learned any thing, but the looks on their faces was priceless.
Also, the unhappy horse adverts kinda flows into movies. I hate it when in a western, none of the “cowboys” can ride, and when the horse opens it’s mouth to express pain, the “voice over” whinny is put on. Also, hooves DO NOT go clip clop on a gravel or dirt road, and tires don’t screech on them either.
THANK YOU!
You have no idea how much it bugs when they make the horses fake neigh non stop in movies. Anytime there is any movement or anything, the horse is neighing, snorting, whinnying, etc etc etc. It always ruins that part of the movie for me.
Movies love to make cats really vocal too. And elephants. I think it goes for just about any animal in a movie – they all make way more noises than they would in real life
I watched a documentary – supposedly EDUCATIONAL – where house cats snarled and hissed at their prey as they stalked it. Then the ‘story’ moved to the part of Mexico where the monarch butterflies migrate and the background music was Peruvian flute music – hey generic “native” music – who’s gonna notice…
One thing that really bothers me about horses in movies is the fast stops. No reasonable rider does that. They never walk or trot into town, always full speed. Even actors who were considered good horsemen, like Joel McRea, Roy Rogers, Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor, etc did this. (Obviously, I do not look at newer westerns, only old ones, but I doubt anything has changed.) I realized what’s really happening is that they want some excitement so of course they go fast and when they stop, they need to stop in frame so they do that running into the invisible wall stop.
That’s not always untrue for cats though. I own a siamese breed who meows CONSTANTLY. And I think she’s trained the black one… he doesn’t meow as much as her but he’s more vocal than most cats we’ve owned. XD I think he’s noticed she gets her way when she does that.
Ah, cats. So cute and so annoying…
Siamese are known for their loud voices. But even a siamese will be quiet when it’s hunting mice.
Me too!! WHY do people think horses make noise CONSTANTLY?? I hate that. I keep telling my non-horsey fiance that horses really don’t neigh at random like that.
Ehh…I don’t like the fact that he was offering to buy your horse, no matter how nice he was. It is a good thing you didn’t sell him to a life of misery and incompetent riding.
Yeah,what made it worse was he also offered to trade my horse for an appy. Not only do I have one of those already (don’t need another!), I heard him cussing it out behind the barn ” oh yeah,I’ll ride this Sh!thead.” Not a great incentive to trade horses if you ask me.
Yeah I hate it too! All animals have to make way too much noise.
My friend who’s in the RAF also complains at length about the noises that guns make in films – they always rattle! In reality they only really make those noises if there is something wrong!
And cars – screeching, revving etc – grrrrrr.
OT – but this made me laugh – do feel a bit sorry for the spinning ostrich . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnKBQquzGXE&feature=related
I remember as a small child thinking there was something wrong with our family horses because they didn’t whinny like the ones in the movies. I also believed ketchup made brussel sprouts taste good. Funny how impressionable the mind of a child is.
I too feel for the string horses, their lives suck. Why do we continue to abuse them, yet they continue to serve us willingly. Completely OT, but this pic will be the BEST horse poster ever
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36553710?GT1=43001
The riding is atrocious. At least they are wearing helmets?
Probably not for safety reason though, I’m sure it’s for irony’s sake.
The helmets are just for show, i’m sure, or else someone would have taken the time to make sure the girl’s helmet fit properly – but no, it’s too small for her and is perched on top of her head so as not to inhibit her long beautiful hair.
Check this out from Vogue, April 2010
http://www.vogue.com/feature/2010_April_Gisele_Bundchen/slideshow/horizontal/?loop=0&iphoto=1&play=false&cnt=2
Actually I’ve heard Gisele has been riding horses for a while and I think she looks pretty relaxed and secure and I’d imagine her leg position is probably a result of trying not to get all her leg skin scraped off, lol. Here are some pictures of her actually riding http://giselebundchenfan.com/gallery/view/C517/ She def needs to work on sitting up and being less of a potato sack but her leg looks pretty decent. I agree that there’s nothing more annoying than crappy riding in movies/ads, but I also hate crappy celebrity riding, especially in reality shows! I know some of them can ride well but it seems like most of them seem content to be mediocre and just hand the horse off to a groom as soon as their feet hit the ground. And to rub it all in they go on and on about being “horsewomen,” such bs…but I guess I should be thankful that their horses live nice spoiled lives with minimal yanking around.
I remember catching some crappy celeb-reality show on VH1, the one where they all stay in a house together. All the celebs showed up in some sort of vehicle that I guess was supposed to give an insight into their personality. I can’t remember the name of the show, but it was the one where Brigitte Nielson hooked up with Flava-Flav. Anyway, instead of driving up Brigitte Nielson galloped up on a big gorgeous bay horse. That is one crazy broad but man could she ride! She had the confident look of someone who takes proper riding very seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if she is or was a successful competitor in some discipline.
I wonder what show that was? *very curious* But she hooked up with Flava Flav? EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
I remember the Joe Millionaire show with the bareback rider guy, he could sit a horse pretty well. I watched the ep where he was looking for a horse to ride on the show to meet the women for the first time, and these guys put him on a horse that bucked like crazy to test him. He just rode through it, saying, “I ride bucking horses for a living. This is nothing” and kept making the horse move forward and actually made the horse mind him.
The show where Brigitte and Flavor Flav hooked up was appropriately titled “The Surreal Life”, and man did those two make quite the odd couple. Yeah, admittedly, I watched it – mainly for the bizarre entertainment value……
You know what bugged me about the old western? The frigging cowboys with the flapping elbows. What the heck was up with that, I mean they would take off at a gallop, and the elbows would take on a life of their own. I remember even as a child, and really not knowing much about riding, thinking how ridiculous that looked.
polkadotedpony wrote: “I also hate crappy celebrity riding, especially in reality shows! I know some of them can ride well but it seems like most of them seem content to be mediocre and just hand the horse off to a groom as soon as their feet hit the ground.”
This made me laugh. Since I was a young teen girl, I had a MAJOR crush on Joe Perry, the lead guitarist for Aerosmith. I mean, I’m in my mid-thirties now and I might still have a teeny-tiny crush on him, it was that bad. Anyway, a couple of years ago, there was a show on TV that featured him and his horses, Friesians! I didn’t think I could possibly like him any better, but knowing he owned Friesians just put me over the moon! I DVR’d the TV show, so that I would be sure not to miss it. There he was, showing off his gorgeous Friesians, but then, to my shock and dismay, they showed him riding. I don’t think he ever took a riding lesson in his life (and I know Friesians can be difficult to ride, but trust me – it was really bad). Well, I’ve never felt the same way about him since. Completely crushed my crush. I mean, if a man can’t ride, what good is he!?!?!?
ROTFL I would have that same reaction!
That woulda killed my crush too. Not as fast as a guy being mean to animals would, but still….
Kirk Hammett of Metallica has Friesians, but I’ve never seen him ride yet. Maybe I shouldn’t XP
Martha Stewart has Friesians too, she seems to handle horses pretty competently. Did you ever see the Conan bit with Martha and her horses? That’s like one of my favorite Conan bits ever.
HAHAHAHAHA! So true. I remember my mother really criticising Vice President Bush when he visited President Reagan. The two of them went horseback riding and Reagan, who trained in the US Cavalry, had a great seat and Bush was a sack o’ potatoes. Here’s Reagan and the Queen, two old horse lovers. http://tinyurl.com/y24awpl
If anyone got on a horse, my mother immediately judged them ENTIRELY on their seat, if they couldn’t ride, they were history. She didn’t automatically like good riders, but she automatically dismissed a person if she saw they could not ride. I used to roll my eyes and think, sheesh give non-riders a break. Now I find myself getting like that…
There are just too many instances of very scantily clad women posed on horses to bother linking to…but this one with Giselle is a good example.
http://savoirfaire.typepad.com/.a/6a0120a592bb8f970b01310fc72a6c970c-800wi
But on the plus side I’ve always loved the Hermes ads. I think they’re gorgeous and they’re models tend to be fully clothed.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/3131200894_363e6880f8.jpg
I also love these horses-as-models for hair.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/615373-horse-hairstyles-are-the-mane-attraction
Here are a few in which the horses look plain old miserable, or at least I cant imagine them having much fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPbRE_Y_nbo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xXkmvrT_e8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-prMb6BdNs
I also think that there’s pretty much a tie between trail-string horses, and NYC Carriage horses. The carriage horses have to work in a horrible, loud and polluted environment, in up to 98 degree weather, and then go rest for a few hours in cramped stalls and the 4th floor of some dirty city building, never escaping the noise, or getting out on their own.
not true. http://www.youtube.com/user/StopLiesSeeTruth This guy is a carriage driver in NYC and has tons of videos, including inside the stables, and showing the farm that they go to for rest. They get time out of the city. I know “pleasure” horses that have far worse lives and spend more time in their stalls, with far less exercise, than the carriage horses. And they are stopped from working at 88 degrees, not 98.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the NYC carriage horses. True, it’s not an ideal life, but it’s much more heavily regulated than most cities, and most horse activities. There are only four carriage companies in NYC. I know from personal experience that one, Chateau Stables, takes exceptional care of their horses. They have 12×12 or larger stalls, with auto-waters, fans, sprinklers, 24/7 caretakers, etc. The owners have a 50+ acre farm where the horses are taken for rest, I think they do one month on, one month off. Farrier care is done every 5 weeks. They are also actively involved with local rescues and do handicapped riding with neighborhood children. I remember one of their program horses was a standardbred gelding that they pulled from the New Holland killpen, in emaciated condition, who is now happy, fat, and beloved by the children. And no, he is never used to pull the carriages. I think it would be great all around if the horses were restricted to the car-free roads inside the park, but alas, the Park Commission won’t go for that. Carriages can be much worse in other cities. I’ve seen some pretty skinny horses working in Philadelphia. Atleast with the carriages, the drivers have to be liscenced and have to have some knowledge. With trail strings, anyone can get on the horse, no mater how little they know, and yank/kick the horse all day. Much work in my opinion.
I also think that there’s pretty much a tie between trail-string horses, and NYC Carriage horses. The carriage horses have to work in a horrible, loud and polluted environment, in up to 98 degree weather, and then go rest for a few hours in cramped stalls and the 4th floor of some dirty city building, never escaping the noise, or getting out on their own.
Don’t believe PETA. Have you ever been to the stables where the horses live? Unless you have personally visited their stables, don’t make ignorant comments about them. New York is one of the most highly regulated cities in the US when it comes to horse carriages. Their carriages don’t operate if the temperature is above 89 degrees. The horses are required to have at least 5 weeks a year off. And guess what else. They operate in a park that’s over 800 acres. What kind of pollution goes on there?
Well, I’ve talked to the gentleman who made Blinders, and he went to the stables and was NOT impressed.
I personally do not believe horses belong on roads with cars – period. It’s too dangerous for them.
To each his own. But if the only way you can get people to agree with you is to lie, you might want to take another look at what you’re arguing. If you don’t agree with carriages, just say so. Don’t lie and say that the horses are abused, worked in the heat, etc…
And the guy who made blinders is anti-carriage. Of course he wasn’t impressed by the stables. If you were trying to get something banned, would you talk about how great it is?
Ah, I actually laughed at the “How the West Wasn’t Won” one. There’s ways to make it look like the guys were riding those tiny ponies, when they really weren’t . . . computer technology stuff. At least there is some form of protection for animals when it comes to tv and movies nowadays. As for the rent-a-horse . . . I understand the idea and all, but it seems like well-trained horses and just a short lesson (for the humans involved) on how not to yank and kick, etc, before heading out would diminish some of the mistreatment (albeit unknown to the beginner rider). My family couldn’t afford lessons for me, as kid/teen, and I’m very very grateful to people (and horses!!) in my life that allowed me to make mistakes, taught me the basics, and allowed me to keep riding their horses . . . for free.
For One summer, at a local 1800′s tourist trap western town mock up, I worked as a guide for one of those trail ride rental horse places. I was already working in the livestock division for the ‘town’ (as we called it), and needed another part time job, so when the guys that were hired to manage the trail ride part of things approached those of us in the livestock department, I jumped at the chance.
I remember thinking how cool is THAT to get PAID for riding all day??!!!
The reality was a bit different…. saddling 40 horses by yourself in less than 20 minutes is NEVER fun, and most of the horses were so skinny it made me sick. This was back when the whole ‘rescue’ trent wasn’t in vogue, and things like this were kept behind whispers. I should have known, looking back on the situation, since the ‘town’ head management put some stupid ninny little 19 year old girl who was originally hired in the marketing division in charge of the livestock department because she was going through a local Equine Science program at one of the Community Colleges. She’d never been around horses, mules, or any livestock before and was now put in charge of their care.
We had (amongst other petting zoo animals) a camel, a herd of pygmy goats, 25 mules (for the hay wagons and stagecoach ride), and around 30 donks for the ‘kids pony ride’. I was put in charge of the donks, but was able to observe the way the other handlers worked with the mules and such. That was my first real introduction to mules… and it soured me for a long time on long ears. The donks were sweet and lovable, just neglected and overworked. The mules though… rank and mean and vicious, and there were 3 teams of 2 that could only be handled by one or two people. Guess who wasn’t one of those people. Ninny girl tried to catch and hitch them up one day to prove she knew what she was doing, and damn near got run over and stomped by them.
Anyways, the trail horse thing is still out there, though the management has changed a few times. I’ve heard through the grapevine that things improved a slight bit when ninny girl got fired because one of the girls she hired after I left -over protesting the lack of vet and farrier care on the animals – somehow got a kid seriously injured on the donk ride.
I’ve also been at the LA Equestrian Center, was out there last year working the Festival of the Spanish Horse Show with the Paso Fino Barn I was working with at the time, and during some down time one afternoon, went wandering around the facility. I considered taking a trail ride on one of the horses, but they looked so tired, and so beat down, that I managed to sneak a few some leftover carrot pieces I had in my pocket to the nearest ones and walked away.
/ramblings LOL.
I had to comment about this,
Ive worked at excellent “customer ranches”, and Ive worked at poor “customer ranches”.
The truth is, most customer ranch horses can work all day, happily, slowly shuffling around with their friends on a trail ride.
If a few rules are followed by the staff and owners.
A well run and operated dude ranch is an excellent place for some horses. Properly fitting tack, rules for the riders, and guides who care. Its actually an ok way for a horse to live. Excellent customer ranches care about how much work a horse gets in a day, how much weight a horse can carry, and they always consider the horses age and ability in evaluations for workload. Oldies only carry tiny kids and people!
Excellent customer ranches know that their livelyhood depends on how well their horses are cared for. Excellent customer ranches do not deny horses water just so a trail can get out on time, or cover up rub marks from ill fitting tack, or work overly tired, underfed horses.
They also have a pasture for their oldies that can’t work anymore and need retirement. Ive worked at a couple excellent ranches. They actually do exist.
A really good show about the excellent customer ranches is Equitrekking, on my local PBS station. None of the horses look skinny or unhappy, and most of the trail guides are instructors or very very experienced riders, the stables are clean, and all hooves are trimmed.
I love watching Equitrekking when I can (I don’t get that station here). I have a list of places on that show I *have* to go to someday when I’m better employed. I want to give my business to places that are “doing it right”.
Someone must have trailered the horses in and tacked them up – where the hell are they, and why aren’t they telling the models to lay off on the reins? One more reason to avoid American Apparel. (Not that I was lacking them… not my kind of store anyway.)
Here’s a horse photo shoot that I love: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30191445/ They had horses that were used to working on camera, people who knew how to handle them, and the final results don’t look pissy in the least. And reportedly the horses loved the four hours plus of grooming that was required for each look.
Oh, also way off topic, but this last week we had a disturbing story come out of south Phoenix.
http://clhorseads.blogspot.com/2010/04/local-asshat-beats-horse-nearly-to.html — the original story as it was happening
http://clhorseads.blogspot.com/2010/04/valoras-story-continued.html — the update, and the accused side of the story.
I remember o one family holiday to Ireland we took what you’d call “Trail horses” up the Gap of Dunlow. At a certain point on the path, the pony union kicked in. They all turned and headed straight back down to the stable.
My mum and I were riders, and could just about turn them round and get them heading back up the gap, but it was useless for everyone else. I always thought it was hilarious – those horses were definitely in charge of the tourists. They were also ALL in snaffles.
The idea of putting rank amateurs on horses with curbs is… Abysmal. I had lessons for eleven years as a child and teen and never once rode in anything stronger than a snaffle. Still haven’t.
Gap of Dunloe, that should read.
Well, at least they’re wearing helmets… I was watching the news a few years ago while a big rodeo was in town. One ditsy reporter decided she was going to do her report on horseback. she was holding the reins but just sitting there not really bothering the horse. She then proceeded to blab about what a great rider she was and how she rode all the time. Just as she finished, the horse got bored of standing there and just started walking away. She started screaming for help and a guy grabbed the horse and parked her back infront of the camera. All it did was walk off, no trot or anything. Once in front of the camera again after the horse OBVIOUSLY just made a liar out of her, she says “oh well these horse are more sensitive than the ones i’m used to”.
Thgis isn’t an advertisement, but remember Stuart Whitman in the series Cimarron?? Opening scene where the credits role, here’s Stuart, feet jammed into stirrups forward, his elbows flapping in the breeze. Poor horses, and poor Stuart, who didn’t seem to think he needed riding lessons. I watch the black and white cowboy movies I loved as a kid and cringe at the horses’ mouths, all gaping, as the good guys AND bad guys rode like they knew what they were doing. Same thing.
Two comments on the pictures shown: At least both riders are wearing helmets, and the rider in white is a male. I think.
It goes for books also. The best surprise I had when reading my son’s Sword of Truth series was the accurate riding descriptions. The characters actually groomed the horses correctly and the hero refused to use harsh bits on the horses. It was either very well researched or written by a horse owner.
The TV series legend of the seeker is based on that series, it’s one of my favorite shows lol. None of them can really ride but the horses don’t look pissed and they try to make it look good lol. There was one episode that they put their whole quest on hold because the horse lost a shoe lol
Ooooh, Legend of the Seeker is one of my favorite shows at the moment… i loved the books it was based on, and OMG Craig Horner is SO HOT!!!
BUT, back to topic, if you go to the Legend of the Seeker website you can watch videos about the horses and the horseback riding, they actually taught the actors to ride and most of the riding is really the actors, not the stunt doubles. I was impressed.
Has anyone else but me been really annoyed at the Old Spice commercials with the guy that talks really fast, suddenly has a handfull of diamonds, then is either riding a really ugly white horse, or riding it backwards… I realize the entire commercial is a parody of stereotypes that are supposed to get women’s attention, but still… backwards? No wonder the horse looks grumpy…
OMG! That Old Spice commercial is the first thing I thought of when I saw this post! It is so annoying–I wish the horse would bolt with that idiot on his back. Also I hate when people stand on their horses back to show that the horse stands still–color me impressed (SNARK)! One time when you are standing there a horse fly will bite the horse and then the guy/girl standing on the saddle will fly off to the left/right/rear and how cool is that?!!
Oh my… I think I might start watching that Legend Seeker show…lol
There are two kinds of fantasy writers:
1. Ones that know nothing about horses and get it all wrong.
2. Ones that are serious riders and go into everything in excruciating detail.
Very, very rarely does a member of the first group hide their ignorance by glossing over things.
A little OT for the thread, but if you’re looking for appropriate horse care/riding in books, Tamora Pierce did a lot of research on horses and the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain is incredible.
I was just about to mention Tamora Pierce in this thread. She is an AWESOME writer and creates characters young girls can look up to. I think just about every book has at least some horseback riding in it. And the author usually describes (briefly) a few of the things the characters do to care for their steeds.
I also like how, in her books, dirty fingernails and callused hands are considered attractive features
I love Tamora Pierce! I agree that her characters are fantastic role models. I picked up one of her books when I was 10 or so and have read the lioness and immortal series like once a year ever since (I’m 22 now). She obviously really loves and respects animals and women.
Definitely! And she’s a hoot in person XD I got to meet her recently and got to personally thank her for her horse knowledge, which, as it turns out, was ALL researched. She’s not a horseperson at all. That impressed me more than anything I think.
Another good author for that is Anne McCaffery. Even though most of her books center around the dragons and their riders on Pern, there is some horse stuff in them and accurate! Plus she did write a couple horse-specific books, and she DOES have horses.
Yes! Anne is a horseperson and I always think the dragon-rider relationship is meant to mirror the ideal horse-human relationship. She is a very good writer and, apparently, horseperson!
I believe Anne mentioned at some point that she designed the psychology of dragons by mixing horses and cats.
Also good for horse lovers…Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books. If you’re into sparkly magic horses, that is, but she at least makes no egregious errors. She’s also a falconer…which shows well in the Joust series
Elizabeth Moon is a great person and she too is a horsewoman, and from my correspondence with her, does know what she’s talking about. She has publicly advised fantasy writers to take a few riding lessons
.
Forgot to mention that in one exchange with Moon, I found out she isn’t riding right now…because all of her horses are too old and she doesn’t have room to buy a younger one. I went right out and bought another of her books…HOW many people wouldn’t simply dump a horse at auction to make room?
I LOVE TAMORA PIERCE!!! I have read the Immortals series at least 6 times. Her writings about horses are always breathtaking and touching. The relationship between a woman and her horse.
The Billy and Blaze series by C W Anderson is also very good. It was my inspiration as a kid!
Green Rider was excellent!! Kristen Britain obviously has horse experience, and I really appreciate that in an author. It just kills me when an author has no clue about horses. I’ve even seen an author say their character was riding a female stallion…words fail me.
I found the Green rider seriers at the Library. Loved the equestrian part of it and I’m mid 50′s. Are thise posted pic actually an advert? Looks like some “proofs”, terrible shots all around, esp if trying to sell clothes.
I noticed that too when I first read the books. =) (I’ve read them all 2+ times now, I love the series!) I’m not sure if Terry Goodkind is a horse-person or not, but he might be. He was born 1948 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA according to Wikipedia. So there’s a chance he might ride or it least rode in his early years.
Haha! I hate both the Sword of Truth series (epic fantasy bores me) and the Green Rider series (romance = ewwww), but I’ve faithfully read them both purely because of the horses. Well, that and the Mord Sith.
Greg Keyes does not have a major focus on horses, but I always thought he did a good job with the descriptions in his Kingdom of Thorn and Bone. They weren’t focused on much, but it was realistic and he really made the horses feel like important characters.
And I’m pretty sure Goodkind doesn’t ride – just does excellent research. He’s very meticulous about making sure he knows everything he can about the various activities written about in the series. That he lived in Omaha doesn’t really mean anything. I’m a Nebraskan and trust me, Omaha may as well be on a different continent. It’s completely disconnected with the rest of the state since it’s the only “real” city. According to my Grampa, it was like that even in the ’50s.
I’m reading the series right now. One of my favorite lines in the five book I’ve read so far is in regards to a character who disappears and leaves his horse behind. The horse is upset by this, and the line refers to how the thing a horse most dislikes is being alone. Goodkind definitely has an empathy for the horses as much as the people in his stories.
I was watching the news a few years ago while a big rodeo was in town. One ditsy reporter decided she was going to do her report on horseback. she was holding the reins but just sitting there not really bothering the horse. She then proceeded to blab about what a great rider she was and how she rode all the time. Just as she finished, the horse got bored of standing there and just started walking away. She started screaming for help and a guy grabbed the horse and parked her back infront of the camera. All it did was walk off, no trot or anything. Once in front of the camera again after the horse OBVIOUSLY just made a liar out of her, she says “oh well these horse are more sensitive than the ones i’m used to”.
I kind of love this one, even though his feet are about 10 feet in front of his body:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUrz9RvuPk&NR=1
This one isn’t so bad either, except their hands are tigh on the reins and very high, but not *that* tight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut0WDb-xzks
she’s wearing jodpurs, you can see the knee pads in the second horrific picture. these are no fashion statement! they make me stomach look gross which is why a baggy jumper is always worn over mine as well as half chaps. oh american apparel, you are a bunch of weirdos. also, one good thing, they’re wearing helmets!! I think that’s the ONLY good thing here.
those poor ponies.
I wear low-rise jodpurs and I got lucky on the roll of the dice for teh fat distribution, my stomach looks okay. My thighs oth? That’s an othe story. Either way they’re not flattering so I don’t see why American Apperal is trying to make a statement.
They actually aren’t riding pants in the correct sense… they are American Apparel’s $80 version. Here’s the link:
http://store.americanapparel.ca/rsaor300.html
I kinda love how most riders wear a lower rise breech as the extreme high waist has gone out of fashion; so if someone really wanted to get in on this trend, all they really need to do is go to a consignment tack store and buy a pair of old used breeches for $10, and they’d have the look AA is going for.
I admit to enjoying riding rental horses at KHP and the zoo as a child. Was I a great rider? Nope. But we were dirt poor at the time. As to advertising and movies, they are selling you a ideal or fantasy (even if it’s a true story), NOT reality
OT, I came across a standardbred today I SWEAR I know from somewhere. If there’s anyway to search the freezeburn can someone look up 2ES41 for me? There’s what looks like a 75I below it, but I’m not sure if that’s a fuck up, I think it is. If it’s the horse I think it is her name is hot bronze
http://pathway.ustrotting.com/search/index.cfm?action=result&horse_id=922401
The horse is “Brunos Big Shot” formerly “Lily Pad”, foaling date 03/05/2007 in High River, Alberta. Bay mare, small star.
The old spice ad on TV always makes me cringe…I guess that the horse isn’t being pulled in the mouth or anything but it might just be the way the guy is sitting that grinds me…and the saddle is way too small…
This isn’t the one on TV but anyway.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZOm2YhOI4c
But I must say that there are some good ads with horses in them…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRwTq2yHiJg
But more often than not, there is either terrible riding in them or the horses are getting pulled in the mouth…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUrz9RvuPk&feature=related there’s this one as well in the Old Spice series
I can hardly watch TV anymore…Every time I see people flopping around with their elbows at their ears on these poor horses, it sends my inner riding instructor into screaming fit, sometimes to the point where I’ll start yelling at them. It drives my poor fiance crazy. LOL
Speaking of rental horses…
When I first moved to Southern California years ago, I was feeling the pang of being horseless in a bad way since I had to leave my horse with my family in South Carolina, so I started working for a stable that rented out horses for people who wanted to trail ride. God, what an horrid experience that was.
At the time, they had 31 horses in a corral that would comfortably fit 6 horses had it not been so filled with manure, hardly any shelter, scummy water troughs, and pipe corral fencing that had seen better days. The horses were no better. Scratches, thrush, abscesses, saddle sores, cinch sores…there was one horse that was so obese, you could have lined his spine with ping pong balls and they wouldn’t have budged from the crease in his back. Another horse was hidden away in the far corner of the property because she had mange, and hardly got any of the TLC she so desperately needed. I was absolutely horrified, so I came to work every day from 5AM to around 9PM (my hours were 8AM-6PM) , and I bathed, bandaged, medicated, groomed, etc. every one of those horses by myself. While I didn’t mind using my free time to help these poor animals, I was absolutely furious at the lack of care from the owners, and I made my opinion on the matter clear. It took them three months to finally hire someone to help me out, and they hired the one person who applied who didn’t know squat about horses.
On top of all that, I had to take people out on the trails…I could write a book on all the things I’ve seen. One idiot girl wanted to ride wearing a pair of stiletto boots and a miniskirt, another (who was easily 300lbs) wanted to ride one of our little Arabs because he looked like the Black Stallion…then there was the family that wanted to attach a baby carrier to the saddle because they wanted their not even a year old kid to experience his first ride.
The last straw finally came when one of our ponies (a cute 12Hh Shetland cross named Nemo) came back from a ride completely lame in his right hind. The 180lbs woman who was riding him managed to get him stuck in the mud, and jerked him around trying to get him to move, which resulted in him falling over. I was raging when I heard what happened (though laughing at the fat twit that stomped up to the front covered in mud), so I immediately called the vet. Nemo ended up with a sprained stifle, but instead of them being willing to give the poor thing the time he needed to heal, they wanted to send him off to auction because he was “useless”. There was NO way in hell I was letting that happen, so I bought Nemo with my day’s pay, told them that I quit, called a friend to trailer him to her place, and called the Humane Society.
I’m happy to say that the place is now under new management. The Humane Society seized all of the horses that required the most vet care while the rest went to a rescue a few miles from where I currently board. I wish I knew what happened to all of them, but the few horses that were still in good shape were bought by the new owners of the stable where they’re currently for their use only. No more “weekend horseman” for them. Nemo is now a happy show pony for a 10 year old girl that loves him dearly, and from what I understand, has to have everything in blue, loves Nicker Makers, and has several ribbons under his cinch.
Just another fine example of the human’s cruel exploitation of another species. And we call ourselves ‘civilized’. I have no use for people who mistreat an animal just to make a quick buck, but it makes me really really REALLY happy that you bought Nemo. I know a lot of people would have been like “Oh, I wanted to do something but I just couldn’t. Blah, blah, blah I can’t take initiative!” And then you called the humane society!!! Yay!!!!
I worked for the Humane Society’s horse rescue when I live in South Carolina, and I’ve seen first hand what happens when people don’t take the initiative. It’s not fair that a horse should end up as butchered meat because someone was too afraid to stand up and say something. It’s not their fault they ended up with such a bad hand, and if I can do my part to help, you bet your riding boots that I’m going to do it.
I wish I had a before and after picture of Nemo…you would hardly recognize him! He went from this scrawny, scraggly, angry little thing to a handsome, healthy, and happy pony with a family that thinks the world of him. He’s the pony I hope to find for my kids when I have them. His story gives a whole new meaning to “Finding Nemo”, and he was the best $100 I ever spent! LOL
Years ago, before I knew better, I took lessons at the only stable I could get to without a car. My favourite mount there was a pony called Winnie. Like the other horses, he often worked 5 or 6 hours a day in lessons with rank beginners and the kind of instructors who want those beginners to start jumping at their first lesson. The stable was so dirty and smelly, you had to burn your clothes when you got home – if you know what I mean and I think you do. As I began to realize how awful the place was, I became determined to get Winnie out of there. The owner demanded $700, cash. I paid it. I laid Winnie off for a year in a retirement stable, and then sold him to a talented young rider for exactly $1. Which he paid in pennies! The young man and the pony went on to do very well on the local dressage circuit and enjoyed many happy years together. It was the best $699 I ever lost!
Kudos to You for doing the Right thing.
Good for you! Nemo is lucky to have such a caring owner, and I’m glad to hear he has a good life now.
I wish I had pictures of him. He’s a completely different horse, and he’ll never want for anything as long as he lives. I think he’s the most well-groomed pony in all of Southern California right now!
Recently over here (UK), a fashion company called FatFace made a poster with a horse on it that was clearly upset – whites of the eyes, ears flat back – as the rider hauled on it’s mouth. The amount of complaints the company got from horse owners and the threats of boycotts actually caused them to pull the advert and they publically apologised for it.
A few years ago, I saw a travel company ad of tourists riding on a tropical beach. The horses looked pretty underprivileged, as most horses do in those poor, hot countries, but the worst was that one horse had a really nasty lesion on one of its hind legs – swollen, bloody, proud flesh, the whole nine yards. Obviously it had not been given any medical treatment. Immediately I picked up the phone and kept fighting my way through all the recorded messages until I got an actual person, and told him in no uncertain terms that his ad spoke extremely poorly for his company. He was startled but assured me that the ad would be pulled (it was), *and* thanked me for bringing it to his attention. Ignorance makes people blind to what knowledgeable people see as outrageously unacceptable.
I like watching Black Beauty, the part where they are training Beauty under saddle. The guy goes off riding in a saddle seat saddle and starts running. You can see the rider in the movie look down as the horse stretches out his gallop and the saddle starts slipping back.
At the end, where Joe finds Beauty at the auction always makes me start bawling!
I just watched Coco avant Chanel and in it was *THE* most obese horse I can even imagine still standing on four legs. All the other horses in the film were fat fat fat but the grey that Coco rode was the worst by far. OH MY GOD it’s entire body was rippling with fat. Just gross. For a movie that was all about aesthetics that horse was sorely out of place. And I imagine it’s hooves were pretty sore too. A horse carying that much weight is guaranteed to be pre-laminitic and have *at least* flat, ouchy soles and isn’t too far off from full blown founder.
They also had Lusitanos and Andalusians standing in for TBs in a polo match. I know that’s not going to annoy the average viewer but with their budget was that really the best they could do? I mean, would they use a TB in place of an Andalusian in a period film? I think not.
What’s funny is to see where they have had to use half a dozen different horses to play the part of one horse. In “Into the West”, the central horse character is white, but is played by the usual bunch of doubles, so that in shot A the horse is an extreme sabino with pink skin and in shot B, which is supposedly 10 seconds later, it’s a gone-white gray with black skin. Then of course, there’s the scene in “The Black Stallion” in which the Arabian magically becomes a thoroughbred for the big race, then just as amazingly morphs back to an Arabian for the winner’s circle shots. Horses are more remarkable than we ever thought!
I know that models who know how to ride are in high demand in the industry (because they’re not that common), but American Apparel seldom uses professional models, they go for the 17 year old girls willing to sleep with the photographer. You wouldn’t smile either if a dude like Terry Richardson just managed to get a handjob out of you. Also since they’re not that common at worst they just go with what they have. I know this because when I was scouted and listed one of my talents as riding the agent got super excited.
To be pefectly honest though I’ve noticed this in actual horse/tack catalogs. Models who obviously don’t ride. Makes me cringe. Without fail.
From my observation in France they prefer using models who know horses and also they always have a stunt double and a trainer when they shoot.
our weetabix steeplechase ads do amuse me though…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANzDO9ZqppY
I like this campaign by Hermès http://dustyburrito.blogspot.com/2010/01/beneath-parisian-sky-hermes-fallwinter.html
I actually have an issue from a French magazine that has an article about the usage of horses in advertising and how they’re making a huge comeback these days. Let me see if I can find it.
Oh Goodness, people know not to bring up two things around me: Hershey’s (worked for them for years at their welcome center…) and horses in Media.
But on trail horses….
One requirement I always had when I was younger on family vacations is that I had to have a trail ride, so in the 10+ family vacations I have pleeeenty of experience *shudder*
The Unsafe/Scary/What Were They Thinking?:
I was 6 or 7 when this was taken (can tell by the remnants of my Dorothy Hamill hair cut, ugh), probably my first time on a horse (the mare’s name was Ginger). They wanted me to be off on my own. But I even asked not to be- but that didn’t stop the lady holding the lead from yelling at me because I couldn’t pick the pony’s head up from the grass along the trail. This was in Southern North Carolina
There was one place in Myrtle Beach where they decided to race after 5 minutes on the trial- I had an asthma attack and blacked out. (I was fairly competent rider at this point.)
A camp I went to for one week (they made their own riding association because CHA wasn’t good enough for them- warning sign one) used all their camp horses that currently weren’t in camper rotation for dude rides. I was assigned Truth, a 3/8 Belgian, 5/8 QH… they had three breeds they combined, QH, Belgian and Haflingers (they also let preteens have free rein with an assigned foal). His saddle’s stirrups couldn’t be shortened enough for me so they stuck that dream on his back, handed me a length of garden hose (for a crop!- warning sign) and sent me on my merry way. My group packed out for the week (the only time we wore helmets were when we were bareback, or *jumping in the western saddles*- warning sign 4235245.) After that week I had bruises on my inner thighs from the pommel and a new appreciation for the camp I’ll list later.
Mackinac Island. They stuck me on a horse that was “advanced” (she only wanted to GO), sent me out with a group, herded my horse to point down one trail and off we went. By we, I mean the mare and I, and off, at some awkward cross-canter, down a despite-their-claims-otherwise, root-filled trail with no hopes of slowing down. Eventually we came to a road that she decided to go down. I tried to tell her otherwise but that ended up with her trying to go up while spinning in a circle. I, of course, was not in a helmet so I met up with a mom and daughter who didn’t know what they were doing (they thought I was on staff- I let them believe so so that they would listen to me and stop yanking on the poor horses’ mouths.) Most other riders were in shorts and flip-flops.
The Yay’s/Safe/Healthy:
A lady who owns Arabs and Arab-Xs in Northern Wisconsin. She made sure our helmets fit, we were happy with our horses, the saddles and stirrups fit, girths were tightened, and told my mother what to do when going up and down hills. It was easily my most enjoyable trail ride aside from the next camp and my old barn.
A camp near the capital of PA who does 30 mn trail rides for campers during weekday afternoons and outside trail rides on Saturdays. Never more than 10 non-staff on a ride. All matched to horse by ability, size, and timidness. All wear helmets, long pants, actual shoes, and tucked in shirts (to avoid the embarrassing hang from the horn.) A staff member at the front and back of the line. Horses have continual access to Hay and water. Grain fed twice a day (and monitored.) No one is kept in unless being used that day, off, or if the farrier is coming. Grass turnout is limited but they still have several large turnout paddocks with balanced herds (black, blue and red
) Oh, and the trail rides are walk only.
I lot longer than I intended, sorry!
Like everything else there are good hack barns and bad hack barns. It pains me to hear people dump on trail barns here. My best memories are the stable I was a guide at for years as a kid. The horses had jobs, were turned out when they weren’t on the trail, were all for sale and were fat and shiny. Sorry Fugly but “being a rental string horse must be one of the worst possible lives a horse can get.” How can you even say that with all the miserable show, pleasure, gaited, dressage, halter, race, polo, carriage, barrel, neglected, trained within an inch of their lives (too many examples to think of) horses out there. A hack horse CAN be happy at a decent barn. And a world class olympic dressage winner getting rollkured everyday could be miserable. World class dressage horse might even like a walk in the park being ridden by dumbass American Apparel girl (if his brain’s not fried – BIG”if”). I’d pick AA girl over Anky any day.
Agreed. And for those of us who cannot own horses, the trail ride is usually the ONLY ride we can afford. Loving horses and wanting to ride them is a dream many girls have, so thank God that these trail rides exist. Lessons? I had a few…in exchange for mucking out the entire stables. Most girls do not grow up in horse country and most parents do not pay for riding lessons. Whenever I could afford a trail ride I would gleefully pay and I listened closely to the instructions. Did the horses look bored? Of course. Did people make mistakes? Sure. But what kind of world would it be if little girls’ only contact with horses was the plastic Breyer models?
You know, I know not everybody has money but riding lessons are really not that different in cost from trail rides in many places. You do not have to go to the most expensive barn. My trainer is $30 for a lesson and she has world level wins and safe school horses. How much cheaper is a trail ride? Not much, if at all.
Oy, but fugs, my friend, you just cannot build up a solid leg riding once a week. When I was young, I couldn’t afford 2x a week lessons, but I could afford a lesson and an hour trail ride (if I was lucky, sometimes 2x per week). Having that added leg strength made the more expensive lessons a whole lot more productive.
There are, as someone said earlier, good operations and bad ones. The one I’m at now grooms horses daily, the tack condition is excellent, and the stalls are clean. The riding circumstances are easy (a walk through a flat, nicely appointed forest preserve); there is always a guide watching the riders to ensure that the horses are not being handled poorly. The horses have days “off” just like we do, and they only get a couple outings per day. In the winter when it’s ass-cold here and nobody wants to trail ride, some of them might double as lesson horses, but I think most get the season off.
Easier life than lesson horses have, IME. Hell, that’s an easier life than most people have.
i rode once a week and got to the point where I got hired to ride polo ponies, so then I got to ride a lot more
My allowance was one trail ride a week and then I got to the point where I got hired as a trail guide, so then I got to ride a lot more too!
The barn I was at made most of their money selling horses so all the hacks were in great shape and rode nice otherwise no one would buy them. They went to sales and bought anything that looked promising but needed work. They plucked a lot of horses out of kill lots to work on, gentle and sell. This was 25 years ago slaughter was legal. It was much like what the rescues do now only they called it business as usual.
Hehe – no polo in my childhood suburban community. I don’t even know if I’ve ever even seen a polo pony, IRL. Just your basic mid-level hunter/jumper facilities. This reminds me that the other thing I liked about those trail rides was that I was able to get acquainted with horses trained to neck-rein, and get comfortable in Western tack.
The cost difference can be substantial or de minimus, depending on how much you hope to accomplish in the lesson. It breaks down this way at my current place:
$35 / hr trail ride with 5+ people
$37 / hr flat lesson with up to 8 people (!!)
$50 / hr jumping lessons
If you are taking jumping lessons, it can be an extra $1000 a year. The flat price seems reasonable except when you consider the number of people in the class. I don’t know how much is getting accomplished when there are eight other people in the class. Maybe a lot; maybe a little. When I was younger, real estate was cheaper and people were less litigious; therefore insurance was less, so the difference was even greater.
A difference here is the repetition of the bill. I was the third of five children, on a military salary. As a child, the only horse time I ever got was the very occasional trail ride (usually my birthday present, or some incredibly special treat. We were also stationed in Northern VA, where the standard lesson pricing is $300 for a package of eight once-a-week group lessons. A $40 treat is very different than $150/month, not including the gear and clothes. It’s really cool that you managed to do what you did, especially getting into polo the way you did, but not everyone had the situation or advantages you did.
There are good hack stables and bad hack stables and I don’t see anything wrong with the good ones existing.
As much as I despise her, I would trust Anky with a horse far more that AA girl and Manwoman. And you really can’t hate on dressage that much: any discipline at the high levels has assholes, and this blog is a reminder that they are out there. Like tourist trail barns, there are good dressage barns and I know of too many barns/trainers that hold true to this. You can’t take one person and use her as a model for all of the dressage world. That is comparable to saying that all Germans are anti semitic because of Hitler, may he burn in hell. And as for not being able to find lessons/can’t afford them, that statement has about as much truth to it as a Dan Brown novel. There is always a good barn somewhere with reasonable prices, or even a very EXPERIENCED, SAFETY CONSCIOUS adult am. that would be willing to pass on her/his knowledge if you asked NICELY and IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER. At the farm I ride at, one of the instructors has a TON of school master that she can’t take care of all by herself so she lets me and a few others come out on saturdays and work for rides. Its a great system that I strongly advocate. Although it may be hard to find these types of people sometimes, they are out there. And I’ll be honest, here. I’d rather you not ride than support terrible trail barns for the overall health of the horse community.
Hey Eleanor Rigby, I wasn’t hating on dressage I actually tried to post a somewhat complete list if disciplines as examples that *any* style of riding or use of a horse could potentially result in a miserable life for the animal if taken to an extreme and practiced in an insensitive way. Trail riding, and trail barns are not inherently wrong no more than dressage. My point was that packing around a few dumb-ass AA models here and there might actually be a better existence than having your face cranked on routinely and methodically by someone who uses that as the formula to win at top levels of dressage. I never saw a trail horse with a blue tongue. Being backed into another horse for a photo opp might be annoying but it’s probably not as bad as having your feet sored to win at a show. Trail horses aren’t going to be bred to have genetic diseases that will strangle them to death so they look a certain way. Some fugly horses have found careers riding trails and a lot of trail horses get turned out daily unlike many show horses that can’t risk a scratch. Yep there’s some trail barns out there that don’t do right by their horses (and worse) but there’s also a lot of high dollar pads that also sacrifice the good of their animals to win in the ring. Every breed, every horse industry is guilty of bad behavior.
Don’t be a show horse elitist! I ride a reining horse and he’s a victim of too much drive to win. Congress futurity finalist= hours and hours picking up the pieces and trying to put them back together from what first owner/BNT did to the poor guy. and its all those years riding the hacks making them gentle so the dumb-asses wouldn’t get killed that gave me the ability to ride through his mental trauma and start putting his mind at ease and finally get him to trust and enjoy his job.
The Europeans may have a better system. Most horse vacations require/strongly prefer that you have riding experience (walk, posting trot, canter) in an English saddle. My husband and I recently rode for two days around Killarney, Ireland, and had an excellent time.
The horses at the Killarney Riding Stables are mostly draft-type horses with their own fitted tack. Many of the horses are bred and trained at the stable and all of the horses are in snaffle bits. I will also note that the horses we rode have a significant amount of time “off” in the winter on a 100+ acre farm. When they are “working” they are housed in one of the most beautiful stables I have ever seen. I asked the owner what kind of recurring medical problems he has with his 140(!) horses. The most significant expense is getting all of the teeth floated (twice a year if needed he said). The horses simply don’t go lame, he claimed, due to their breeding and care.
There ARE good hire stables.
The barn I ride at does beginner trail rides, but it is all done with very good and quiet horses, ALL in snaffles, all in good condition. Reasonable weight limits are enforced and I know the guides…they’d have something to say to somebody yanking a horse in the mouth
.
When I did that kind of riding on vacation, I was positively impressed…horses at pasture if they weren’t working that day, horses in absolutely fantastic condition. Every animal taken on the multi-day ride was in 100-miler shape. The wranglers were not at all above yelling ‘Get out of that horse’s face’ at the customers if needed. The horse I rode didn’t pin her ears the entire week. She did attempt to convince me a very slow amble was her fastest pace, though
. Oh yes, and out of the 12 horses we had with us…six were from the same mare.
On the other hand, two friends of mine once asked me to go with them to a rental stable. Okay, the horses were in good weight and shape, but they did not provide helmets and the horses were unhappy, sour, and ill-trained. They put my beginner friend on a horse that was NOT a beginner safe horse, it attempted to dump him, there was no guide with us. I ponied him back to the barn…I would have swapped horses with him, but he was too big for the mare I was riding. I vowed that day that I would not ride anywhere, ever, unless I personally did the booking and saw the place first or failing that, if it was somewhere a long way away, had a LONG phone conversation with the people.
I’ve boarded my horses at two rental places, and I think I’ve seen the worst of the worst. I tried to keep to myself, and I made sure NO ONE messed with my horses. There were always people who knew nothing about horses wandering around with treats. I had to put a big sign on my horses’ doors saying not to feed them treats under ANY circumstances.
I think that most of the people who run rental barns are smart enough to know when NOT to post a picture on the internet, unfortunately for us. I gave it a try though…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynthiadelgiudice/521017241/
http://www.farandride.com/images/news/alpujarras_horse_riding.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynthiadelgiudice/521017241/
http://www.bonellipark.org/Pictures/DSC00804.JPG
http://www.dallascityhall.com/committee_briefings/briefings0106/20060117_TRC_Equestrian_files/slide0448_image051.jpg
http://www.floridahorse.com/images/horseads/beauty.jpg
http://www.canadianoutback.com/photos/outdoor/horseback_3.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karensphotoplace/2477698878/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daryl-hunter/2046482067/
http://www.wildmountainadventures.co.za/userimages/horsecarlagilles.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sophie_atkinsons_photos/
http://images.travelpod.com/users/lingo83/1.1248192761.rach-and-her-horse.jpg
http://www.mdresort.com/images/horseride.jpg
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/14/62/b1/riding-on-the-beach.jpg
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/horseback_riding.jpg
http://www.equitour.co.uk/ride_pics/morocco3.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scaturchio/2062119685/
http://images.travelpod.com/users/adammian/cuba.1156372860.south_america_adam_406.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10751366@N03/2231434945/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seerusty/2652760251/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/83729932@N00/104834120/
There are SO many pictures out there of beginners pulling hard on the mouth of a pissed off horse standing stock-still… always smiling at the camera – completely oblivious to what they’re doing!
This makes me happy… Not only are they NOT riding in shank bits, they’re riding in halters! The horses even look happy.
http://horsebackridingvictoria.com/images/beach_ride_3n85.jpg
OMG
That gray looks like a baby still!
It IS a baby and a very UNDERFED baby. WTF. I just don’t see how you can’t see that horse is too thin even if you are not a horseperson.
I love commercials with horses in them and TV westerns. I use them to teach my riding students what not too do. Don’t ride like the Cartwright family in the lead-in song on Bonanza with your elbows up by your ears, don’t tie your horse by the reins, don’t slam the saddle on it’s back when tacking up, don’t let the cinch ring whack it in the knees when saddling don’t jerk on it’s mouth – it’s not suposed to have it’s head in the air with it’s mouth pried open. And another biggie – DO NOT get off your horse on a ride and just walk away from it and expect it to be waiting for you when you get back. Don’t climb on a unbroke horse and expect it to lope off with you into the sunset because he LOVES you, or a stallion will protect you from bad guys, then lay down so you can climb onto it’s back to carry you home if you are injured. Chances are he will be back at home long before you get there!
P.S. The girl in the photo would have a better chance of stopping her horse if it’s bridle had a curb strap on it.
Edited to say, of course I don’t love what the people on TV or in the movies usually are doing with their horses, but I use those bad examples to show kids that movie stars are not “all knowing” about horses and they should not be hero worshiping their horsemanship skills, they should not use them as good examples most of the time, and while it might look cool to them, it’s not always the correct way to treat your horse – and most importantly, why not. Everytime a TB breaks down on the track, ( a derby entry was recently put down for breaking down )we talk about why that might have happened. While what people see on TV, the movies, and in magazines might be good or bad examples of horsemanship, they can be used for teaching others what is right or wrong about it and at least help other horses not to suffer the same possible fates.
It’s not an ad, but when I was a horse-crazy eight year old kid in the city, I saw the Disney movie “The Horsemasters” on TV. I absolutely loved it.
Many years later, I saw it for sale on tape and bought it. The riding was so horrible I couldn’t even watch it all the way through. I took it out of the VCR and threw it away.
For an example of a much better equestrian movie, look up “International Velvet” with Tatum O’Neill. The eventing sequences were filmed at Ledyard.
I can’t say much for ads, I try to avoid TV and most magazines. As for “hack” stables, I’ve worked for a few and seen many horrors. Everything from farrier-inflicted injuries, stupid employee and/or owner screw-ups, to maggot infested sores. I always did my best for the horses, but sometimes it just wasn’t enough. I’ve also seen the stupid things people ride in…Shorts, flip-flops, short skirts, etc, and the stupid things they do to get hurt. I’ve also seen where stupid parents took an under 1-year-old in a Gerry-Pack!!! That one had even the non-horsey employees in an uproar!
Like a few people have said, not all trail-string horse employers are made equal.
I work in the summer at a retreat center that gives trail rides to the groups that come there. They take the best care they’re capable of, considering financing. 
The horses mainly work during the summer, monday thru thursday, and the occasional weekend or holiday retreat. They do anywhere from 2-6 trail rides a day, about 45 minutes, always walking – occasionaly one will trot when it goes down a hill, if it’s got room. In my opinion, it’s a great thing for these horses.
Many of them are retired show/gaming horses, who, due to injury or age, can no longer meet the requirements of their owners. Others are too much for their owners, those are the ones the workers get to ride.
Still others just can’t be kept by their owners. All are given to the center. Many of them would probably end up in slaughter-houses, or just pasture ornaments. Instead, they get 3/4 of the year on a pasture, and for around 3 months they ride little kids thru the trails. Many of these kids have never ridden a horse before, or very rarely.
Only one horse has a snaffle bit though, but more often than not, the kid just holds the reins because we don’t let them put them down. The only time most of these kids ever even make contact with the horses mouths is when the horse grabs a bite to eat. We (the wranglers) are very careful to make sure the kids aren’t holding contact with the horses mouths.
My favorite horse/tv moment was on the Real Housewives of New York. Kelly, the ex-model-dumb-as-rocks-socialite, decides her next conquest will be hunter/jumpers and she ends up ass over tea kettle. I know I shouldnt, but I cant help but feel smug about it.
OMG I totally know what you are talking about! I hate those women sooooo much. Don’t they have anything better to do tan worry about what Jill said about Bethanny? “We are like, in high school at age 40.” “OMG, does that make us better than everyone?”
It drives my husband nuts to watch any movie with horses in it with me. I fell the need to blurt out things like “Why the fuck dont you ease off his mouth and maybe you wont get your nose bashed in like that next time” We have have small children in the house and I really have a hard time controlling the language when I see retarded actors riding. Especially when you know they blow millions “researching” roles as doctors and drug addicts but dont spend a dime on riding lessons. I watch Bonanza with my daughter because its something I like that is safe for her to watch too (doesnt have a negative body image message like most crap disney puts out nowadays), and that can have painful moments for me but nothing too bad. For the most part the guys and ladies on there could ride (for the time period it was shot) and none of the horses seem sour or nasty toward the actors.
On the opposite side when I see great riders in movies (Brad Pitt, legends of the fall-Orlando Bloom, lord of the rings ect) my husband gets equally as irritated because I praise them………………………repeatedly.
I once made him watch an old schooling video of mine, it was painful for him. He asked why I leaned forward and back while watching the video and what the counting was about….Several Days and conversations later he should have been able to judge any jumping class I took him to, but he was still so frustrated and confused. We still dont talk horse show stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y688upqmRXo
This crap here…you know that pony was like “Boy! Yank on my bit one more again and Im gonna jump outa this swamp and whoop your butt!”
well here is an ad you might like out of idaho..not a string horse but a stupid owner/breeder..i wanna buy her just to save her from this man..http://spokane.craigslist.org/grd/1697428953.html
My most horrible commercial is another one of those drug ads. This time they have a skinny horse tied to a fence….you have to look fast before the female in the ad throws a blanket and western saddle on the poor thing. Ribs, high withers. protruding backbone and hip bones….omg! Couldn’t the producers have at least chosen a healthy looking horse….or maybe this one was cheap to rent because they didn’t have to feed it. Discusting. Too bad I don’t remember the drug’s name because I would make it a point not to buy it. Poor horse!
I know the one you are talking about. The poor horses withers are sky high and sunk in so bad you could just about see through the skin on either side. Im willing to bet they picked him/her up at auction for the commercial then took them right back when done shooting. If not I would be ashamed to admit that was my horse and would not have agreed to let him/her be filmed. Of coarse rose colored glasses work magic for alot of people, and I just cant seem to see the right images in them.
Same with a (thankfully) short scene in Cliffhanger where Jeanine Turner has a “meaningful discussion” with Sylvester Stallone about returning to the rescue business. She’s grooming a really skinny horse–you don’t ever really get a good LONG view of the entire horse, but it is in need of major groceries. I’m thinking, “This is the ONLY horse you could find for this scene? One so emaciated it takes attention away from the dramatic scene and the two actors emoting away??
I guess this one isn’t in pain, but it sure looks slightly disturbed…. http://geniusbeauty.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Britney-Spears-with-Horse-Ad.jpg
The horse is saying, “This is humiliating. Please pretend you don’t recognize me!”
UGH… All I can say is I hate hipsters… I have to work with a bunch of Toad Stools who look and act this way.
For a good laugh http://www.latfh.com/ (Warning Foul Language; sometimes inappropriate, etc.)
GAH! That poor horse, I hope she got bucked off. I guess they want the reader/viewer to associate their product with stupidity? I would have thought the ad company would want the models to at least look capable in whatever they are doing.
I hate the idea of using any animals in these sort of ads. It reinforces the idea that animals are an accessory, like the silly $1000 handbag. I wonder what will happen when having a tiny dog in a silly $1000 handbag is no longer fashionable?
Dumped at shelters no doubt. Don’t even get me started on movie fads..101 Dalmations… UGH!… Anyway, way OT.
OT question- Is it ok to ride a horse with a previous founder? I found an old mellow TB for lease. I suppose it depends on how severe it was etc. Not sure how long ago this happened. I just don’t know much about founder/ laminitis. Thanks for any feedback.
As long as the horse is comfortable, there is no reason you can’t ride a previously foundered horse. My mare foundered once years ago, and after a month or two off, she was rideable in boots, and then after a year or so we stopped using even those, and she is now barefoot and can be ridden on any sort of terrain.
A little information on founder: When a horse founders, either due to sugar overload, vaccine, stress, etc., the wall of the hoof separates from the rest. Sometimes the coffin bone inside can also drop or rotate if it is severe enough. As long as this hasn’t happened, it’s just a waiting game until the hoof grows out new wall that is attached. It usually takes about a year with proper trimming.
Years ago I purchased a mare that the seller disclosed had previously foundered with some minimal rotation in both coffin bones. She was 13 years old at the time I bought her and is now 27 years old…she has never take a lame step in all the time I’ve owned her nor has she ever had any further laminitic episodes. My daughter jumped her lightly (never in competition, just playing around) and she was trail rode quite a bit. I kept shoes on her for several years but she is now comfortably barefoot. She is semi-retired now but still sound as she can be. She is on pasture all summer and fed free choice hay, senior feed and soaked alfalfa cubes in the winter. I bred her when she was 18 and she successfully delivered a healthy foal. So the answer is that just because a horse foundered once doesn’t mean he will again. A lot depends on why he foundered in the first place, how bad it was and can the issues that caused the founder before be avoided. My mare is kept on grass pasture all day and stalled at night with a roomy attached paddock. She is never standing around on rock hard ground or concrete. She is introduced to grass gradually in the spring and is given hay free choice until the grass comes in. I’m always careful of the footing when riding her and make sure we are at a walk only on very hard surfaces.
You should probably get an evaluation from a vet.
The majority of horses who founder DO come back sound. If there was rotation, then she is likely to require special shoes to get her foot angles where they should be. Horses that have foundered benefit from being ridden correctly and having their hindquarters engaged properly under them…she should not be allowed to mosey around on her forehand.
The biggest thing to bear in mind is that a horse who has foundered once is more likely to founder again. It is *vital* to keep her at a healthy weight, avoid high carb feed and sugary treats. Given her age, you may want to test her for Cushings disease, which must not go untreated in a horse that has had laminitis in the past. Cushing’s Disease, insulin resistance and hypothyroid can all cause founder episodes, and the first and last can be managed well with medication (I don’t know as much about managing IR in horses). I would recommend dry lotting her in the spring and in periods immediately *after* drought or severe winter weather (which can mess with the carbohydrates in the grass). If she is a serious air fern, she may have to be dry lotted full time or have grazing restricted to a short period. (I prefer to avoid grazing muzzles…always worried about those things getting caught on something). Another thing that can be handy to remember is that grass has less nutritional value at night.
Ok, good to know. Thanks for all the info:)
Let’s see…what looks like child’s English jods, western saddle, hella-ugly bit on bridle and a “beer-cooler” style helmet on her head…ohhhhh yeaaaah, let’s ALL go look like that! (heaves) Where does she think she’s reining him to, anyway…I don’t recall riding like that as a 12 year old city slicker at the local nursing home’s picnic’s ponies. Don’t recall any scout groups looking this bad on livery horses either. I hope someone who was involved in this ad sees this and realizes how stupid this looks to a segment of the population.
shrek drove me nuts. my then 3yr old kept asking why our horses dont sit like a dog like donkey in the movie. also any childs tv show that has horses “guest star” drives my son 6yr old son nuts. he says “dont loop the lead rope in your hand unless you want to lose it”
it’s sad when a 6yr old knows better than the morons who decided to use the doped up horses in their show
Katie Price came out with an equestrian line a few years ago. Most of it consisted of booty shorts, knee high socks, and jackets that end above the belly button, because, you know, that stuff is totally useful at the barn (eyeroll).
Check it out. Several demure, sad looking horses got dragged into the photo shoots. Granted, they are well fed and look well-cared for, but you can tell they really don’t want to be there.
I will never forget my very first riding experience. I was probably around 9 and finally old enough to ride my own horse on a trail ride. This was back when it was common to not have trail guides. It was me on one horse and my Mom was on another horse holding my little sister. (I think we at least had helmets but I’m not 100% sure.) Well, we ended up heading down the trail at the same time as this other group of older people. We all walked down the main trail that led away from the barn but as soon as we were out of sight the group we were with took off at a dead run and of course my horse of which I had absolutely no control went right along with them. I just remember screaming and crying until one lady in the group finally took pity on me and grabbed my horse’s reins and slowed me down. My mom had been following but since she was holding my sister she couldn’t help me. As I said I will never forget that experience. I was terrified of going faster than a walk for quite a while after that.
Fast forward about 8 years and I worked as a trail guide at that very same place. It was under different management by then and I have to say that the horses there were very well taken care of. Most of the horses were either in snaffles or something bitless. The rides were one hour long and we only trotted twice at a very slow pace. I spent at least 80% of the ride turned around watching to make sure “my” horses were okay. We would have problem riders every once in a while but usually it was just beginners. I learned to recognize the people who were going to be problems early on. They were the one’s who were always bragging about how much or how well they rode. We had a strict rule of no one over 250lbs allowed and I do remember the owner making at least one very large man stand on a scale to check his weight. Boy did he throw a fit about not getting to ride but I did admire the owner for sticking up for her horses.
I am a long time reader, but this is the first post that has compelled me to comment.
Not ALL ‘trail string’ places are bad. I work at one that is a good example of that.
Our horses are brought in and fed in the morning, then all are groomed and saddled (with properly fitting ones!) with the girth left lose. Their water is checked/refilled constantly throughout the day and their stalls are picked at least three times per day. We are conscious of how many trails they each go on per day so they aren’t overworked. They are ALL in snaffles so that beginners don’t accidentally hurt their mouths. Riders are briefly instructed before each trail so that they are aware of the fact that they shouldn’t yank and pull on the horses’ mouths. We have strictly enforced weight limits for each horse. ALL riders must wear helmets and closed toes shoes. The horses are fed and turned out to pasture by no later than 5:30, after being groomed and/or rinsed. They get three months off during the year, so they don’t get worn or burned out. They are all in good health and get regular vet and hoof care.
I’m sure that you know that there are good trail places as well as bad, but I felt the need to really point out that not all ‘trail string’ horses have miserable lives, as you seemed to have implied.
Some ads just make me laugh and cringe also
I, too, worked at a really nice dude ranch. We bought horses at auction with an eye to resale. Always had at least 80 in the string. Both teams and saddle horses, some doing both jobs. They were in good weight and sound. Our horses were actually pretty well-trained and the wranglers, local riders without their own mounts, and talented guests could use them in local shows. We never tolerated heavy-handed treatment of the horses and only had a couple times when we had to mention that to guests. People with horses at home were really pleased with ours and occasionally asked to tips on problem behaviors. Our wranglers had sure seen it all with the horses we brought in.
I also have a daughter attending college in a distant state. Last time I visited, she wanted to ride, so we went to a livery. The owners raise Appaloosas and use some of them on their string. Good exercise and all were in great shape. When they found out we had a ranching background they started showing off their good horses and we had a great day visiting with them. Their daughter is working the rental string and another part-time job to put herself through college.
I worked a trail string the four years I was in college, and we took very good care of our horses. They were well-fed, the saddles fit them, they got regular hoof care, and the vet when needed. Every time we took a ride out, we spent about ten minutes going over rules, made sure everyone knew how to steer properly (not that they needed to), and we also fit horses properly according to the size and experience of the rider. Our weight limit was 250 pounds, no one heavier was allowed to ride. And the horses rarely got fed up with their jobs. We had a few that would get fed up during the summer when they did rides every day, and they would let us know in their own ways, and then would get a few weeks off. But mostly they were only trail-ridden one day a week, and the rest of the week were ridden by kids who came out every week to ride, and mostly rode the same horses every week. Really what I’m trying to say is, a lot of times it can be a miserable job for the horses and the people that work it, but if they are properly taken care of, they can do it for many years and not become sour or sore. We had some horses that had been doing the same trail rides for twenty years (I am not exaggerating) and never showed a laid back ear or tail swish or anything.
I took a great trail ride at a wonderful facility last summer in Plain, WA. We were the only customers that day, it’s a resort and the horses are just part of the operation. They had nice stalls and a huge pature and were definately a little frisky that day, in a happy way, not poorly behaved. The trails are connected to the property so the horses don’t have to be hauled anywhere. I wish I could remember the name of the resort, but the guide cared about the horses and the horses responded well to him. This ride was one of two rides that convinced my husband we should buy horses.
On another note, check out this poor, nice little pony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAbtfifhE50&feature=related
Also forgot to say that we did see our share of idiots, but when I told them they could either stop doing stupid things or walk home, they shaped up pretty quick.
God almighty…What a ridulous advertising fail…Did they actually PAY someone to take those shots? That’s a worse presentation than any one of us could have gotten. At least we would have rustled a bag to get the horse’s ears perked and told missy that her patented leftward-slouch-reins-clasped-to-collarbone does nothing for the clothes.
The Gisele ad made me laugh out loud because as bad as the heel position, leg position…Oh Hell – EVERYTHING -position is, I’m guessing she’s light enough that the horse feels just like packing a loooong, skinny kid. (And unless that saddle is really fine I’ll bet her legs were raw after that little escapade.)
I got lost in the horse hairdo adds – The chirpy “Man’s penis freed from metal pipe with industrial grinder” placed to the left of Marshamallow-do Horse proved to be a distraction.
What gets me is that I seem to remember seeing a story about how Gisele’s legs are insured to the tune of several million dollars each. You’d think the insurance co would have a team of lawyers on every job to make sure nothing ever happened to mar them.
Off topic–Fugs, I just noticed your nomination for the best animal blogger of the year awards on the right side of the screen..congratulations!
I think being a beginner lesson horse is probably as bad if not worse than a trail stringer. My first horse was a quarter-welsh cross, 13.2 hand 900 pound pony that I was taking riding lessons on. He was used for all the beginners, 6 days a week..up to 6 hours a day of kids yanking and pulling on his mouth. After about 8 weeks he had a melt-down, became hard to handle on the ground, and got very nippy. The last straw was when he started charging the instructor in the middle of the ring.
I was 12 years old and had only had about 6 lessons and knew next to nothing about horses but when told the riding school was going to sell him my Mom had the sense to know he wasnt going to end up anywhere good with his nasty disposition. $300 later (even though he was probably only worth about a third of that) he was ours.
Thankfully the riding school hooked us up with a great elderly couple we could board with who were lifelong horsepeople and taught us everything we needed to know to care for him properly. Within 30 days he was a different pony. We owned him till the day he died.
Its my firm opinion that all ‘beginner’ lesson horses should be ridden by an experienced rider at least every other week, ideally every other week. Its not hard to toss them in an advanced lesson every so often with somebody on top who can give them a quick ‘tune up’. I’ve found from being that person on occasion that a lot of the sourness goes away when you ask them to really work…engage their quarters, go correctly, have a good canter (if they’re physically up to it…some of the best beginner horses are those grand old twenty somethings, after all), maybe do a couple of harder exercises.
I’m not sure whether they get fed up with being ridden by people who don’t know what they’re doing or whether they’re just plain bored. Likely, its a bit of both.
They also benefit from a bit of time off every now and then.
And to add to what others have said, there are many GOOD trekking centres that look after their horses. I’m off out with these guys on Saturday: http://www.wanderreiten-havelland.de/cms/
And I would love to have a holiday with these people:
http://www.cumbrianheavyhorses.com/
I went out walking once and came across a little stable nearby. I was delighted that it was there until i got a closer look – horrible, HORRIBLE place. Skinny, rough-looking horses standing around with saddles on in a too-small paddock area. A lesson going on in the arena with probably about 8 riders of varying ages doing various things, none of them – even the kids – wearing helmets. Just wretched.
Recently i read a sob-story about how this iconic place is shutting down because of urban sprawl. I did not feel sorry for them.
I’m sure a trail horse is a terrible life, but saw something even worse yesterday. I live in Istanbul and went to a nearby island by ferry. It’s a car-free island, and people travel by horse carriage to see the historic homes. (That’s an article in itself, Fugly–some of the horses are in great shape, but about 80% have a body condition of 2-3, have cracked hooves, scars and even open wounds).
The worst was when we had to climb the last bit of a small “mountain” on foot to visit an old Greek church. Some men kept pathetic little donkeys at the base of the hill, and would give kids and adults rides up to the church. These donkeys’ feet looked like the ones in this Internet photo:
, except with ZERO visible heel. It looked the the donkeys’ pasterns were touching the ground. Understandably, they didn’t want to carry people up the steep hill with those painful feet, so the owners were walking up the hill backwards, DRAGGING the donkeys every step of the way. I came home and wrote to the Island Municipality president to complain about both equine issues, but I’m sure nothing will be done.
Regarding ads, I think it’s the responsibility of the animal owner to insist on good treatment. My last 4 dogs have all modelled for Hallmark Cards and/or Purina Dog Food. As an example, we once did a Hallmark Card shoot in a shadeless field in 105 degree weather. The dogs were supposed to pose on the seats and in the back of an antique pickup truck. At my insistence, they covered the portion of the truck with thick layers of quilts for about 10 minutes before each session. We’d remove the quilts, and wipe down the part of the truck with ice water. After that, the metal or seats were comfortable enough for the dogs to sit on for a bit. Between sessions, I kept the dogs in my air-conditioned van with A/C on high. At at all times, when anybody else was posing with the dogs (child and adult models), I stood about a yard away during the entire shoot monitoring everything.
Are you the same person who posted about the dog weirdness in Turkey? And your one-woman campaign to educate the whole country?
I *heart* you and want to make a clone army of you.
In a totally uncreepy and non-stalkerish sense, of course.
Ha ha, yes, that’s me.
My best feat so far was making it to the semi-finals of Turkey’s Got Talent in February. I was on 3 times, and used my air time in two appearances to talk about fostering and shelter dog adoption. 
It’s quite a battle here, but I try to write a lot of e-mails, neuter/spay anything I can catch, and take all the street critters to the vet to fix broken legs, etc.
Would contacting The Brooke help?
Unfortunately, Turkey has a national law that outlaws foreign charities from operating in Turkey. They had to do this years ago due to all the missionaries coming here. But now there are no foreign charities allowed such as the Susan Komen Foundation, SPCA, World Wildlife Fund, etc. There are a lot of small animal charities here (handling adoptions of 10 or so pets at a time–mainly run by foreigners who are here short term), but nothing on a national level.
The world definitely needs more people like you. I wish I could help with your campaign.
I know there is an international farrier organization that tries to help horses and donkeys in third world countries There is also an organization called “Veterinarians without borders.” I know they were working in Haiti. You could google and maybe find them. These horses and donkeys are a very important means to income for their owners who usually don’t have any money to care for them. I know in one place they feed them cardboard just for the fiber. There is usually very little knowledge of care as well so i am sure any bit of help anyone could give them would be good.
I don’t think all trail strings are that bad. Obviously there are some places where the people just don’t care and the horses are treated badly, but its the same in every part of the horse industry!
I have worked as a guide at a couple of trail riding places, and I have yet to have worked somewhere that did not love and take excellent care of their horses. At both places the horses had individual tack, got scheduled days off, never worked when lame and were all fat and healthy.
One of the places the owner would not allow anything faster then a trot on the trails, and that was only for experienced riders. This stable also bought standardbreds off the racetrack and retrained them as trail horses, thus giving them a second career.
Whenever a horse came in sweaty the owner was all over us about working them too hard, saying they worked hard enough as is and didn’t need to go any faster. The horses did not have to stand all day tacked up, if there was more then 3 hours between rides the horses were untacked. When they were left tacked their bridles were removed and their cinches were loosened (they all wore breast collars so the saddles wouldn’t slip). Some horses were put in stalls between rides with access to hay and water, some were tied under trees (in the shade!) with hay nets and were offered water every hour at least. The horses were mainly ridden in hackamores (some of the mildest I have seen, not mechanical hackamores) and a few were ridden in snaffles. I actually bought my horse from this stable, he was a great trail horse, but the owner decided to sell him because she noticed he wasn’t enjoying the work anymore and often looked sour when returning from a trail ride. She could have easily kept using him, he was one of her best trail horses, but she wanted him to have an enjoyable life.
The owner didn’t have the most money, worked another job to support her horses and would literally buy food for her horses before she would think of herself. We all thought she was silly because she would get so concerned when a horse appeared slightly lean, before a single rib was visible.
We always gave quick lessons to every rider that came through, and had small enough rides so that the trail guide could keep an eye on everyone.
The other place I worked at was a guest ranch, the horses were left tied up for an hour or maybe 2 at most and always in the shade. Again each horse had its own tack. This place had enough room to keep all their retirees. both places the horses received excellent farrier care. Lame horses were never worked, we also gave lessons to every rider before leaving and again kept an eye on the riders. I’ve probably missed some things, but the point is the horses working at both places had great lives, they got adequate exercise, proper farrier care, enough food, lots of turn out when they weren’t working. They were better taken care of then most personally owned horses!
Obviously sometimes they wouldn’t get an awesome rider and someone might pull on their mouth, or bonce on their back, but you think that doesn’t happen to most horses?
I am currently a carriage driver in downtown Victoria (again in a place where the horses get excellent care) and I find people get so uptight whenever a horse has a job which isn’t as someone’s pet. you always say your horses are like employees, well all the places I have worked at have the same opinion!
OT – but are they pulling this horse around by its HEAD?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n4zULZf8Vw&feature=related
Fugly, if I end up an old woman living in a ’60′s single wide and eating cat food, it will be your fault.
You allowed someone last week to post a link to a Craigslist ad for a seven year old Kiger mustang stallion sadly misplaced in Maryland and in desperate need of a new home. He turned out to be cuter than a merry-go-round horse, almost untrained, headstrong, opinionated, hyper-reactive, super smart, and just the right size. Here is a link to a photo, except he is way, way more handsome than this:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3815518&l=5d1e3115e6&id=656794262
Early yesterday my trainer and I shooed him onto a stock trailer and moved him to the trainer’s place in Virginia. He will be gelded this week. As near as I can figure at this time, that one click will cost me no less than $6,000 before I even look for a place to board him in three or four months. And it’s not like I needed another horse, already owning three, two of them already boarded here in Northern Virginia where good care does not come cheap.
Curse you, your friends, your foes, your irresistible blog, AND the horse you rode in on!!
He is aweful cute. …and he told me in a dream that he loved you and couldnt wait to be your new favorite pony! He also said he would like it if you would bring him out a variety of snacky treats and maybe a friend to share his pasture with, cause hes tired of being alone.
Hope this helps!
Oh and he will be tad upset to lose his “two closest friends” but he says he understands
Congrats on getting the beautiful Kiger and putting him on the gelding bus. He should make a very sound horse not having been broken yet at 7 years old. What a cutie!
I’m glad you got him out of there. I though when I saw him that it was a good thing I’m so far away. Kigers come in my favorite color so I have a soft spot for them. I’m going out to hug my super fluffy dun gelding now.
What. An. Adorable. Horse!
OMG! I am so glad someone got this horse! He was on ABR and I sent the ad to several people I know. Glad he will be a gelding soon. In case you need any help, I live in northern VA and have worked with unhandled and difficult horses in the past. My web site is: http://www.theexcellenthorse.com. I am teaching a clinic this Sunday in Middleburg. Good for you!!
Your are all enablers, every one of you, and ought to be ashamed of yourselves!!
Seriously (or slightly more seriously, at least) he IS a cutey, had totally snowed his previous owner, and is turning pretty quickly into a pussycat for my trainer. Like most horses, he just needs quiet patience and calm persistence.
I get to name him since his registration application followed him around for years without ever being completed (!?!) He has been called Laddie, Spirit, Duke and Dreamer. But he will be Diego.
On another subject, my little Arabian mare, MWF Elekcja (Lexie) who was finally trained to ride early last summer at the age of 13, took to it as if to say, “It’s about time somebody gave me a damned JOB!” Last week, after a nine-month layoff for thrush and white line, she rode out as if she’s done it all her life.
Haven’t had time to read all the comments…
HAHA My 4-year-old likes to watch Saddle Club (I know… at least the original barn owner dude is HOT, the scenery is pretty, and they wear helmets….)
- The horses neigh CONSTANTLY – with their mouths shut.
- The horse is looking around like “hey, how ya doin?” and the vet’s like, “She’s obviously in great distress. I don’t know if she’ll pull through.”
- There was a series of episodes where the snotty rich girl’s dad buys a racehorse, who’s crosstied by the bit in his stall ALL the time.
- The episodes with the French girl: her Baroque horse is very cute, but.. um…. he’s not the jumper they keep saying he is.
I refuse to let her see the Flicka movie because a) I think it’s more about hair & floppy hats than anything else b) kids without helmets galloping crazy horses around fields c) it looks execrably BAD anyway.
I hate most movies & TV shows with horses – at least Patrick Stewart knows how to ride, as does our man Viggo.
Is it true that one of the Shadowfax horses was abused? That would totally bum me out…
The BEST commercial EVER with a horse? That kooky Old Spice ad…..
Oh The Saddle Club… I absolutely loved the books as a child, and when i found out they made a show based on it I was excited. Until I watched it. The first episode I saw involved the three main characters (all supposedly 12 years old) galloping across some big pasture, when one girl decides to show her friends her horse’s new trick… she taught him to rear under saddle. Even as a 13 year old watching this, all I could think was, ‘ Really??? Aren’t you supposed to be in Pony Club? Pretty sure that’s frowned upon.’ They also had lots of scenes of the riders jumping in their group lessons, and everyone jumping is either barreling around on the wrong lead, or disunited, and the rider’s position was always horrendous. My sister and I would be sitting in front of the TV loudly critiquing everything, while the trainer just stood there saying ‘good, good.’ He was cute though. Also, the horses in the show had different colours than the horses in the books; this has nothing to do with the the riding, but that always annoyed me. A lot.
I know this is off topic, but please, for the love of GOD, tell this lady “No”! She’s asking; please tell her!
http://www.equinenow.com/horse-ad-278901
Ad Text:
I KNOW THIS MIGHT SOUND CRAZY BUT HERE IS MY DELIMA. THIS IS MY COMING 3 YO TRULY CASHMERE. HE IS JUST FIGURING OUT HE IS A STALLION. HE HAS A PUPPY DOG PERSONALITY WHICH HE GOT FROM HIS SIRE TRULY NOBLE. I AM TRYING TO DECIDE IF I SHOULD KEEP HIM STUD FOR BREEDING PURPOSES. I AM TAKING A POLL OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD POTENTIALLY WANT TO BREED TO HIM. IF A SMALL RESPONSE I WILL CASTRTE HIM B/C I ALREADY HAVE A STUD AND ONE OTHER MARE AND NOW I AM HAVING TO HOUSE THEM ALL SEPARATE WHICH MEANS SEPARATE HAY BILLS. IF YOU HAVE TIME TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD CONSIDER HIM FOR YOU SIRE TO ADD COLOR TO YOUR HERD PLEASE DROP ME A LINE. HIS PEDIGREE HAS SEVERAL TOP NAMES BUT NONE IN RECENT YEARS. HE IS ALSO PtHA ELIGIBLE I JUST HAVE NOT SENT OFF PAPERWORK B/C I DONT SHOW MUCH MYSELF. THANKS AGAIN. M AXI ALSO IF ANYONE OF YOU FROM THE SOUTHERN AREA PARTICPATE IN APHA SHOWS I WOULD LOVE SOME INFO ON WHERE AND HOW TO GET STARTED. THANKS A BUNCH
Yes, there is a picture on the link.
I left a gentle “yes he’s cute, but I wouldn’t breed to him” message. At least she’s asking, and has admitted it’s expensive to keep a stallion. He’d make someone a cute gelding.
I worked at a pretty low-end hack stable for a number of years through early and mid-twenties. The owner was notorious for not taking care of his horses, mainly because he wouldn’t pay for decent help so he never made money off the place. He figured if he wasn’t making money he wasn’t going to spend any. I got started there because I was a bartender at the bar he owned right in front of the stable (nice combo, huh?).
Anyway, me and another bartender decided to try and turn the rental around and it actually worked. Once it started making a nice profit he actually turned the checkbook over to us and let us have free rein over spending money on the vet, farrier, etc. and we got the horses in great shape. But OMG the riders those poor horses had to put up with!
There were the “Man from Snowy River” riders, the bra-less skanks in tank top riders, the “I’ve seen 3 John Wayne movies so I know how to ride” riders, the trying too hard to impress a date riders, the scaredy-cat riders, the “I had a pony when I was a kid and I know it all” riders, the runners, the won’t go past a walk-ers, the OMG my horse is bucking every step it take riders- the list is endless. We became quite adept at accomodating them all with the odd assortment of horses at our disposal.
Of course we had some goldie-oldies that could be trusted to take care of the nice people while we had some fun with the a-holes. We each picked a lead horse and got all the other horses in the habit of of not passing those two leaders. Then we developed our system. For the jerks that knew it all there was Trigger, who would walk so slow all the other horses would get ahead of him, then he would stop and take a dump (same spot every time like clockwork) and take off bucking to catch up. For the yahoo-ride’em-cowboys there was Comanche, who would trot and even canter sideways the more you got in his mouth. Midnight would satisfy the aspiring jumper’s desires by taking flying leaps over every twig on the trail. JD would stop and lay down on anyone who pounded on his sides. Frankie and Blondie had jackhammer trots that could pop any breasts out of a low-cut tank top that were not properly secured by sports bras. Thunder could do spins like a reining horse if you insisted on hauling him sharply around turns on the trail. He could spin on a dime and give you 9 cents change. They all rode great with anyone that would just sit there and let them do their job but would put an arrogant rookie in their place real quick. All I have to say is thank god for liability release forms.
Sadly, after we left our employ there the horses went downhill in a horrible way. After alot of AC calls and haggling with the owner we got all the horses either sold or home with us. I have some AMAZING before and after pics of them. The last 2 I got out of there were in such bad shape I was afraid to haul them and the vet wanted to euth on the spot when I pulled them off the trailer. They are now fat, happy and retired. I am happy to say the former owner has no intention of getting back in the horse business.
Very funny comment, stop! You’re a good writer, keep it up.
I also want to add we never-EVER left our horses saddled all day. We also never made a horse carry more than 3 riders a day and gave them a half-hour break if scheduled to out back-to-back rides for water and some hay with the saddles loosened. We made and exception with our lead horses and would use them longer, but we had also chosen the fittest and most athletic horses to use for the leads. And for any more than a half-hour break horses were unsaddled and stalled. I hope we made there lives as a rental string a little more tolerable while they were under our care. We also tried to give each horse 2 days off a week, even in the busy season.
Sorry for the off-topic, but I would like to alert the PNW readers that Northwest Equine Veterinary Associate’s green 2001 Dodge with the portavet got stolen the morning of April 18, 2010 in Issaquah with our digital X-ray, ultrasound, power dental tools, tons of medications and other materials. Please call 911 if you see it or hear of anyone trying to sell this equipment!
Sorry, I had copied and pasted this – it should read “the” digital X-ray, etc. I am not an employee there.
WORST HORSE MOVIE EVER:
Lightning the White Stallion.
Really awesome for getting very drunk with horsey friends and trashing it all to hell.
I couldn’t even stand to watch more than about 18 seconds of The Horse Whisperer. The book was stinky enough. One reviewer called it “The Horses of Madison County.”
Yep.
How about Julia Stiles on that Thoroughbred in “The Prince and Me”. You can see him trying to buck because she’s bouncing around on his kidneys.
How’s this for an unhappy looking horse? I emailed the lady and told her how sorry I was for the poor horse and good luck getting anyone to pay $8,500 for a horse this miserable. Ballsy I know, but I can’t stand the fact that people actually make a horse do something they are obviously miserable with. There are too many other activities out there that horses enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4suOIhHk7Y8
Sorry, could stomach watching the whole thing. I look at it and thought “sore back and feet, really looks uncomfortable”. Ears constantly pinned and tail should be swishing with that expression, but it doesn’t move an inch…can we say “nerved”. Keeps trying to break into a slow jog and ‘tropes’ for a few steps before going back to that horrible slow lope. ( All of my horses can walk faster and look happy doing it. Sure doesn’t look like a pleasure to ride to me).
OT: Fugs, have you seen “the Official Horse Breeds Standards Guide” by Fran Lynghaug? I just spotted it in Barnes & Noble. It is supposed to be a complete guide to the standards of all north american equine breed associations. Has some breeds I never heard of and takes the information from both breeders and from the actual printed guidlines from the breed associations. Has some interesting pictures and historical material. ISBN 978-0-7603-3499-7. It was published in 2009.
What is it about clothing ads? It seems there’s some strange correlation between the trendiness of the clothing pictured, and how miserable the models look. The trendier, the more miserable. In this case, even the horses look miserable.
I will say that I’ve seen both ends of the trail ride spectrum – my second horse came from one that did trail rides and lessons. I was young at the time, and stupid enough to believe the owner when she told me all the crap that went on (missed feedings, stalls not cleaned regularly, ill fitting tack, scary spurs, and generally dangerous handling practices) was normal. I only wish someone had clued me in sooner.
The place near us now is WORLDS better; we’ve been there several times (exposing the non-horsey friends to the addiction) and will likely be going back this weekend. Their horses always look healthy and happy, even the oldster my friend rode last time pricked up her ears and seemed eager to go when they brought her out of the barn. Many of them are ‘fuglies’ for lack of a better term who might otherwise have wound up between two pieces of bread, and while they might do two or three 45 min rides a day, they’re mostly walk, with the occassional 30 second trot thrown in and they’re off from October to April every year. They’ve always given us a mini lesson before we go out, advocated helmets, and ensured everyone is in proper attire.
If I were a horse, I don’t think I’d mind that life at all.
This is a classic, ladies. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YdR_0RTmeE
That is one of my all time favorite commercials! It’s not the horses that look uncomfortable. I hope they paid that poor naked guy more than the others…he looked really uncomfortable!
I worked as a riding instructor at a barn who also had rental horses. They were well fed, regularly shod and vetted and worked on a rotating schedule. The wore “S – hackamores” which were pretty light, and I’m a mechanical hack HATER.
They always had a trail guide with them who watched out for the animals well-fare.
The horses worked well into their twenties and then were kept in retirement until they died.
Their life was much better than any of the horses we see at auctions. Which is where this barn bought their horses BTW. At sales.
Yes the horses all dealt with idiots, newbies and so on, but I think it was an equal trade.
Speaking of bad TV riding…I’ve only once seen an episode of “John and Kate plus 8″. It was the episode where they take one of the daughters to a stable to ride a pony. Long story short…the girl becomes terrified of this tiny shetland pony, so they figure she’ll change her mind and want to ride if daddy rides first. Dad sits on the pony, who couldn’t have been more than 10 hands high, while the owner of the facility leads it around at a walk and trot. John’s feet were literally dragging on the ground. Talk about animal cruelty!
Afterwards they showed an interview with John where he explained how painful it was to ride the pony in kid’s saddle. Duh! How do you think the pony felt?
Fugly! Don’t forget the Glamour Magazine ad that you posted about in 2008… I sent a couple letters their way after I saw that picture in the magazine I had purchased. Such a blatant act of animal neglect, and really made me think twice about supporting that magazine.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uT-i4wrm9Ec/SRyu6S_yb2I/AAAAAAAACUk/88q_4Yvi2IM/s1600-h/glamour.JPG
Mildly related – this style of bad riding is the reason I don’t let other people ride my horses anymore. Like a lot of horse owners, I have more horses than I can exercise in a day. I used to think it would be nice to bring an extra horse along on a ride for someone else to ride. Of course I never loaned them out or let beginners ride them on trails; every person who rode had riding experience. Of everyone who rode, I only had one nice lady who was good to the horse and treated him fairly.
One time a guy rode my favorite horse across a sheet of ice. The horse tried as hard as he could to stay on his feet. After the rider fell off, the horse made sure he didn’t land on top of him. I was sure he was going to fall on the rider and they’d both end up with broken bones or dead. Luckily the horse escaped without injury and the rider had minor injuries after falling on the ice. I’ll never let anyone else ride that horse again.
We had an older, docile gelding that was good with kids. The kids were good to him as well – never pulled on his head or asked too much of him. Both the horse and the kids were always happy at the end of the ride. It was the adults that caused the problems. The last person who rode him kept yanking on his head and wouldn’t let him keep up with the other horses. Finally he took off on her to teach her a lesson. Unfortunately in the process of his rebellion he kicked another rider (which he had never done before or since). The woman was complaining afterwards how sore she was. Serves her right. Hopefully people don’t think I’m rude when I refuse to bring an extra horse to ride; there is a good reason behind it.
A-friggin-men. My horses have lived through the horror of me letting friends ride them and I just don’t do it anymore. I have a couple horseless horsey friends that I let ride my horses but other than that I don’t even bring up the barn to the non-horse owning people in my life. I found that if I don’t talk about it they don’t ask and then I don’t have to say no.
I had some friends in MO that I knew through dog showing (agility, obedience, conformation). I used to stay at their hmoe when there was a show in the area. They had four horses, all trained for competitive trail, and I was always wondering why they never mentioned the horses or took me out riding. I’d drop hints like crazy, but nothing…
Finally, I went to Brazil for a month of riding cutting horses in gaucho areas. I mentioned this to them upon my return, and they were like: “You ride?” You’ve had lessons? You actually know how to control a horse without kicking the crap out of it? I told them I’d been riding for 20 years, and had weekly private lessons in England for 2 of those years. I had ridden my own horse from Nicaragua to Panama in 1993.
My next visit, I was bald from chemo, but they took me out to one of those great 4000 acre Missouri horse parks for an all-day ride. I visited three more times before moving to Istanbul, and had a great time–though I was far from photogenic with my bald head under the helmet! I wish we’d clarified things five years before this. It turned out they loved having company for rides, but only had one other friend they trusted with their horses.
Not only are they horrible horse pictures, but they’re horrible modeling pictures too! I’m pretty sure the rejects on Tyra’s show could do better than that. Poor ponies…
I worked for a trail string at a Christian summer camp one summer. That was three month too long! The horses were lucky if they were given a bale of hay per horse per week. From 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. they were either working or standing tied to the hitching post. I was ridiculed for giving the horses a chance to get a drink of water midday once. We had a little paint, Apache, with saddle sores that still had to work every day. There was a 30-something draft cross mare with awful arthritis who didn’t get any time off. There was a grulla who bucked off the first rider of the day. The list goes on…
My favorite was a palomino paint. He had a really powerful neck – too powerful for me and the other wrangler even. He was put in a nasty huge-shanked curb bit. And then they wondered why he rolled on riders and liked to pin you to the hitching post and kick you with his hind leg… By the end of the summer I was the only one who rode him due to his “issuesâ€. The boss was never around and the other girl hated all the horses. But he did behave for that last month – probably because no one was yanking on his mouth.
I wish this blog existed back then. It might have helped me grow the balls to stand up to the two ladies in charge of the operation. On the whole, most of the riders weren’t too bad. They didn’t so much as touch the reins until the horse went down to eat, and the only people who ever got to do anything other than walk was our “Advanced Horsemanship†girls. They got to trot for a lap in a small corral.
I volunteered at a different camp as a teen. The horses were taken care of much better there, but the kids did get to trot the horses for a small stretch of the trail, bouncing all the way. On the whole, those horses all seemed content with their lot in life. Though there was a bitchy little buckskin mare who deserved a real job – she was always angry at the world. She broke a snaffle bit in her mouth and got the rest of the summer off.
American Apparel = really bad idea. This company targets college age and twenty-somethings with full page photo ads that on occasion transcend poor taste and exploitation and head straight for what, in a movie, would earn them an “R” rating. Wallet voting needs to happen: “to American Apparel, we’re not buying your apparel because….”
Have thought for a very long time that advertising photoshoots should be subjected to the same anti-cruelty monitoring as American films which help prevent cruelty and have knowledgeable persons present when animals are used commercially for media entertainment.
What is disturbing is that whomever loaned/rented these horses to be in these ads should have stepped in.
At the very least, I hope American Apparel realizes at some point that they aren’t successfully selling anything to anybody with this crap.
On the plus side, their clothing is sweatshop free and not manufactured by 10-year old children.
One GOOD experience I had with rental horses: my senior trip in high school. We went to this ranch resort that had many activities, one being a trail ride. They only had like two or three scheduled rides and we all had to sign up for times, so there were large groups of us going at once. When we arrived at the little barn area, the head trail leader got us all in a group and gave us an orientation. She explained that the horses do a maximum of 2 trail rides a day, which is why we had to pick scheduled times rather than just show up. She explained to everyone that they have the best trail horses because they are NOT overworked, and therefore everyone without horse experience can feel confident that they are getting on a pleasant horse, rather than the sour horses that most places have. She also stated that any mishandling of the horses would not be tolerated, and that anyone seen doing this will be asked to dismount and one of the trail guides will pony their horse the rest of the way. She also explained that on TV we see people kicking the horses to get them to run, or pulling back harshly to get them to turn or stop, and this is not appropriate horsemanship and will not be tolerated. There were about 15 of us riding at a time, and 3 or 4 guides with us to make sure everything went smoothly. The guides actually seemed like very good horse women- unlike the “professionals” at most of the trail ride places I’ve been to. And they were right, the horses really had very good training and appeared happy and well cared for.
Cute story, right before that trip I had given a presentation on the history of dressage in one of my classes. In the presentation I had a lot of random questions and ended up explaining to a class full of non-horse people how to ride with proper position and how you can use your weight distribution and your body position to give your horse subtle commands. When we got on the trail horses, one of the girls from that class said “let’s see if I learned from what you taught us in class” and she shifted her weight into one stirrup, and then the horse took a step in the direction she shifted her weight to. She gasped, jaw to the floor, and her eyes lit up. She was like “I’m a horse trainer like you now!” It was adorable.
Did anybody notice that these horses don’t have a curb chains on their bits? Not terribly effective that way. Yes the horses look miserable, the models look doped, but I did notice that the horse at least have extra padding under the saddles. I worked for a rental stable for years and we really took good care of our horses. When we were done at the end of the day we would pull saddles and turn the horse loose to run to their stalls. Kinda reminded me of the employees on Sunday night after work. I have a 8 to 5 job that isn’t the greatest, but it keeps me fed and asheltered and pays for my horses and rescues so it’s a trade off. Those horses are sometimes just employed. Not abused.
Of course, some are treated like crap….
Regarding horses and fashion:
.
Disturbingly, I’ve seen more and more college aged+ girls wearing tall boots that very closely resemble riding boots. You really can’t tell the difference until you see the heal of the boot – which I did to see if they were members of the riding community until it occurred to me that English riders don’t typically wear easily identifiable riding attire while shopping, going to the movies, eating a the local hot spot, etc. When I saw my friend sporting these equestrian-esque boots, I asked her excitedly if she rode, to which she sheepishly said no, recognizing probably for the first time what image she was putting off due to her following of the fashion “guides”. Luckily enough, I saw her wearing them while on her boyfriend’s motorcycle, which spurred the great idea that I should wear my half chaps while on my motorcycle. It’s good for keeping the air from blowing my pants up my legs
Anyway, not only has the tall boot become fashionable to non-horsey people, but so have the breeches. In this day of fashion, tights of all colors including those that not even a rainbow would dream of have become “hot” or whatever the term is these days. Following suit, these hipsters have taken interest in the “regal-ness” of wearing tan knee-pad breeches in place of fad tights. Then they put on their high top purple camo Chucky-T’s, strings of ornamental beauty pageant jewelry, red-rimmed plastic aviators, and an electric green shirt that says, “I say NO.”
I kid you not, I have seen this.
And then, you have this:
http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f49/jodhpurs-f-w-07-08-a-58165.html
If you want a good laugh, read the posts on that link. TOO FUNNY.
This Claritin commercial drives me crazy! The horse is laying there all relaxed looking when the “Vet” walks in and puts her black bag down…I laugh when I see the horse nose towards bag as if asking if she’s got a cookie in there. Then the vet cures her and she just stands up like nothing happened. Yeah, too stupid for words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWpmSHrXfqw
Hello, I’ve been working my way through the archives for the past 2 weeks or so after being pointed this way by an online-friend, and desperately restraining myself from commenting on 18-month-old posts… but it’s the thing about all animals constantly making noise on tv that’s got me going LOL
What really gets me is the fact that horses are not just always making a noise, but they’re tossing their heads, spinning, pawing the ground, rearing, and generally doing things that we (hopefully!) all discourage them from doing – and people who don’t know any different think that’s normal behaviour.
I work in a equestrian college. When the firemen come in for their “animal management” course or whatever they call it, to learn a few basics about handling horses, and they’re totally surprised that our horses just like, you know, stand there – ok, that’s funny.
What’s NOT funny is seeing your friend’s horse spook at nothing in particular, leap right across to the other side of a road, bolt down the road sideways towards the oncoming traffic with his mouth wide open, tongue hanging out and swinging his head from side to side as his rider is desperately trying to regain control, while the driver of the oncoming car doesn’t even slow down because she CAN’T SEE THAT THERE’S A PROBLEM. Honestly. I blame the TV / film industry for that one.
Nothing awful happenend that day, but the woman driving the car did look pretty offended after my friend yelled at her to “FUCKING STOP!”
It’s another chapter in the “horse behaviour for dummies” book that I will never write.
Something like that happend to me recently. My horse and I were having a major meltdown on the side of the road, her bridle was broken and i had her just by the reins around her neck, she was spinning angry circles around me and i was in a panic because i was going to lose her any second. Then some jerk on a quad comes flying up behind us and passes us at top speed flinging rocks and dust as he goes by. I wanted to kill him! Thankfully the next person to come along was one of our neighbors who is an amasing horseman. He rescued us lol. He calmed her down, fixed her bridle, asked me if he could ride her home for me, and told me that it was ok and that everyone has a bad day everynow and then.
I wish there were more people like him around, he had her calm and happy by the time he got her home and his wife gave me a ride so I didnt have to walk. I was thankful for their help and they didn’t lecture me or make me feel worse, I felt pretty stupid already.
Ah… horses and riding in movies. I think I could watch Clint Eastwood-as-Outlaw-Josey_Wales ride all day every day for a week and still swoon. And his horse in that movie.. ahhhh! And Viggo… ahhhh! And (this WILL label me a geekaziod trekkiechick) William Shatner *can* sit a horse (even if he ain’t as ruggedly handsome, or as fit as he was when he was Kirk, he’s still cute – in his own special well-padded overactingish way!)
hahaha, I agree about Shatner.
Only one experience with rental string horses, in Madrid, Spain in the early 1970s.
Two horsey friends and I were missing our horses, having been shipped off to Spain for the summer to polish up our Spanish language skills. One Saturday we’d finally had enough and located a rental stable at the top of the city’s main park. We got slightly lost and ended up on a “tour” of a breeding/training facility for a couple of hours, and the staff let us brush and pet some world-class Andalusians (a treat for QH and Paint girls!). They finally directed us to the stable, where the string of horses were well-fed but still damp. We negotiated being able to rent the three best, most responsive horses in the string (we were all experienced riders), and after we were done, we took care of them, brushed and rinsed/rubbed them down, petted them and generally played “My Little Pony” for a couple of hours to treat our missing-our-horses fix.
One of the best days ever. The rental guys thought we were nuts, but those three horses went to bed clean and happy!
When I think about the whole unwanted horse thing what we really need is a JOBS PROGRAM FOR HORSES!!! This would basically be rental strings with a bunch of advertising for Americans to get back to their roots! So I say, whenever anyone can, to please try to help any rental string program to do better and to bring in more business. Though, personally, beginner riders tend to scare me, I think we should really embrace people who want to ride and encourage them and to educate them whenever possible. I wonder if there would be stimulous money for this? I heard frog researcher got money–horses should too!!!!! Advertising slogan: “Embrace American Freedom–Ride a Horse!”
If you gotta use a horse in an advertisement, at least make sure Horsie looks like he wants to be there.
In this particular link, Horsie appears to be in love…
http://www.porhomme.com/2009/04/ken-watanabe-for-american-express/
Sigh….
Gotta love a man with a horse. Anybody remember a portrait of the back of a shirtless Patrick Swayze and his Arabian stallion? While that wasn’t an ad, it certainly was a treat for the eyes. And that, as with the picture in the link, should be a benchmark: Pretty ladies (or even just us average girls) become exquisite when in the company of a Serene & Happy Equine.
This one kellisgirl?
http://allthecreatures.org/horse/patrick-swayze-and-his-horse-tammen.html
Check these horsey commercials out. they are some of my favorites, I hope that all the beautiful horses got the respect they deserved during filming. BTW some of these are at least partially CGI.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHCzneI_bm8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBnbFA5bOVE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0jNME3JHqo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zff9hVH3ptY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROikmwdyLiM&feature=related
Best horse movie: Something to Talk About. Not quite realistic but a great movie. I also like to watch the blind dressage horse movie: “The Long Shot” when I get depressed about my old man’s eyesight issues (Vets have not seen anything like his eyes before)
How about an owner that doesn’t want to send it’s horse to slaughter, can’t afford to put it down, and dispose of it but it is perfectly usable, but maybe not super desirable? Isn’t being walked down a trail a couple hours a day not so bad? I have to say a rental string isn’t the worst thing out there for a horse. How is a beginner any different than all the yahoos you talk about on here that are rampant in the horse world, or the ridiculous amount of abusive trainers out there? Or how is sitting with a saddle in the shade with food in front of his face all day, compare to a show horse sitting tied to a trailer all day? I board at a rental stable currently and have boarded out there on and off for 16 years. I can’t count how many horses that place has bought from the local kill buyer type auction, and have giving them food and a job, and many times a great home with some kid that falls in love with it during its rides/lessons/summer camp. The person that owns it now truly loves the horses, and they are all kept fat and happy. Every horse that she buys (or rescues/adopts for that matter) has their teeth floated asap. They are regularly shod, vaccinated, and shots twice a year. That is a lot better than some personal horse owners out there. She is very particular about saddle fit, and what bridles are used on the horses. Yes, I am perfectly aware there are scary places out there, but they aren’t all the h*ll hole that many people make them out to be.
Ok totally off topic but this pony is the definition of a saint.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1364435026343
Not a horse as a prop, but a cat.
http://www.dlisted.com/node/36938
(Pardon my upcoming language)
Who the hell does this cunt think she is? Why is she a “celebrity” and this might be the one time I side with the Petatards. Bad enough the poor cat is being used as a prop, but holding a cat that large by the scruff? Uncalled for.
Too bad it didn’t scratch the bitch’s ugly face off.
(Rant off)
I worked at trail ride places for five years..4 at one place and 1 at another. The one I spent four years at was pretty good I thought, considering everything. The horses were kept in tie stalls, had hay in front of them all the time, and had auto waterers. They did up to six rides a day, at 4 miles a trip. We had guides with all trips, which ensured that no one did any hard riding. We usually did a few minutes of trotting and the rest was a walk. The saddles fit well, they were cleaned extremely well every day, and the guy that fed the horses their grain made sure the older ones got extra and some in the middle of the day. The did have the saddles on all day but the girths were loosened after every trip. We had several horses that were in their late 20′s and early thirties, the oldest verified one we had was 32, and had been there forever. They started working in early May lightly and by late June were fit enough to do six trips a day. They were done in September and spent the rest of the year at pasture. We had very few illnesses in the 4 years I was there, we did have one come down with strangles, one hoof abscess and that was it. It seemed like we were lucky I guess. No girth sores, no thin horses. People would often go to the other ones and then come to ours since the horses looked so much better. Most of our horses were beginner level ones, we had a few intermediate. When I assigned horses I found it pretty easy to figure out if people had horse sense. I never was wrong. I’d usually look and see what they put on the paperwork regarding their horse experience. If they put showing, I’d ask what kind of shows and what level. Lessons, how many, what discipline, what breeds of horses. If they told me a Quarter Horse…I’d ask what bloodlines they had. If people say they had a black stallion, um yeah..I’d just say ok and tell them they were getting the best horse in the barn..haha.
ONE horse came down with strangles? Either you were pretty quick or you dodged a bullet here…strangles will nail half your barn in the blink of an eye.
Just one gelding. He was brought back from the winter pastures with a few others and got sick. They took him back to the winter pastures when the swelling got bigger and kept there til they healed. They then brought him back and he was fine. None of the other horses showed any signs. We kept a close eye on them but we were lucky. Like I said that was it in four years, which meant we did very well and our horses were healthy. The horse with the hoof abscess was never lame but had been acting up a bit, jumping around and just silly stuff. They only found the abscess when his shoes were reset. They opened it up and packed it and he came back to work. He wasn’t lame after that either, and went back to being his normal calm self.
I decided that instead of just complaining I would write them a letter, so I am sending them feedback telling them that the horse is in pain, and asking that they remove the ad, make a statement to apologize, and have a “horse person” at the next photo shoot that involves animals.
Here’s a good ad that made me nearly puke … I work for Babies R us, and we got the new Baby Talk Magazine today.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Dc2ucZA1iA0/S9D7idA6GEI/AAAAAAAAAHo/wwWifkAyPo4/s320/baby+talk+cover+kid+with+BIG+LICK+horse+shirt.png
Thats the May Issue of Baby Talk Magazine… a sometimes free mag that is given away to hundreds of moms and moms to be when they sign up for a baby registry at babies R us.
The company that makes that atrocious shirt is called speecees (speecees.com) – and get this! They are a company that makes organic, cruelty free, animal and plant friendly type clothing!!!!
yet … they promote the image of the big lick Tennessee Walker on one of their shirts because why?
I have contact info HERE if anyone wants to send them some mail educating them….
This poor pony, Little girl stayed on a long time though!!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/ostrich-vs-girl-on-a-pony
Thank goodness the horse isn’t real
EWWWW, poor pony
http://www.vogue.com/feature/081908VFEA/?mbid=rss_feature
HMmm photo shop I hope
This would scare me let alone the horse
