Your kid is way too cute to wind up with a head injury!
Jun 28 2010
First of all, sorry I’ve been so inconsistent. I seem to have triple-scheduled my life for the remainder of the summer, so bear with me. 
I’m kind of sad to have to put up today’s Bad Parent du Jour. I’m sad because I saw Mom ride in the Extreme Cowboy Race and was impressed with her horsemanship. However, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you can teach it, and this is like a How To Fail At Teaching A Child To Ride instructional video.
Holy Crap what a tolerant horse
Wylene, the kid is a damn noodle. She should not be cantering yet and you don’t even have a helmet on her. Were you SERIOUSLY trying to get her to jump that barrel in the first part of this? OMG. She’s ripping that poor horse’s face off in a pelham. He is a saint but yes, they can get sour even from a little kid riding like that (for those of you who think a kid can’t pull hard enough to piss off the horse – trust me, they can indeed). This is an accident waiting to happen, and not a pretty one.
Not everyone can teach. Please get a proper instructor before your kid has a very bad accident. Get the horse a massage and a 5 lb. bag of carrots – he deserves it!
221 comments to “Your kid is way too cute to wind up with a head injury!”
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cringe<in the next video she is jumping those barrels with no helmet:( I regard my 3 kids lives way too much to ever let them (or myself) get on any horse or pony without a helmet, no matter how bombproof they may be.
I wonder how big the port is on that bit … I’d have clobbered my kid if she’d been all over her mares’ mouths like that (grade mare Suzie first, then Melanie [best QH ever] and finally Zip [Zippo Pine Bar overo with some get up and go]). For the most part, I kept those horses in snaffles (ringed or tom thumbs with very short shanks) in case my kid forgot to have forgiving, soft and low hands. I also did not let her go faster than a trot until I knew she was not riding the horse’s mouth, but sitting properly in the saddle (she rode both western and English). She was never a floppy rider, and this kid’s mom is an experienced horsewoman?
If that kid survives, she will stick like a tick to anything, but I hope she doesn’t keep the many bad habits she already has, most notably there being only one speed to go: fast.
Wow, dumb and dumb. Horrid parenting, no helmet, too large a horse and a speed no child that small should be doing until she learns to control her hands – that poor horses mouth!
Yes, “too large a horse”… Even with a helmet, it’s a long way down from that horse. A pony is a better size for such a small child. Maybe the mother doesn’t like ponies because they don’t put up with nonsense.
Eh, I learned on big horses and I think they’re often far safer. Ponies are little shits.
I get fed up of hearing this ‘kids shouldn’t ride ponies: they’re too mean/stubborn’. Sure, some ponies can be stubborn, but they can also be patient, tolerant saints and great partners. In the UK it’s the norm to start riding on ponies, and funnily enough, most kids survive.
Ponies are the right size for chhildren. They can mount and dismount unaided and more safely than climbing aboard a horse. Children can tack up and untack their own ponies – because they can reach. A child can get a better seat on a pony than a horse and learn to use their legs more effectively. How can you use your legs properly when they can’t reach the right places ?
Ponies have smarts and character and I’m glad I got to spend time with them, even the ones who stepped on my toes.
I agree Skiffle
I think that ponies are wonderful teachers and friends for children. It is the rider that teaches them to be little shits. A pony being a little shit would ultimately go back to the adult overseeing the child riding. IMO
I agree. My friend just got a wonderful pony for her daughter. He’s a saint. That said, some of those ponies with just enough of that pony attitude are -perfect- for bratty little kids like I was.
My first horse was a VERY smart and self-centered pony. WAY too much horse for me – but after she broke my arm, my parents sent me & her to a real trainer. I learned so much, and gained a lot of confidence. I was anti-pony for a long time, though.
But…. I worked at the Mini 4H show last week, and a lot of those kids have saintly, adorable ponies that I’ve grown to love.
One of the folks on here has this stallion, who I’m gonna have to go check out sometime:
http://www.sommerponyfarm.com/stallion.html
I learned to ride in England on ponies and I agree with everything you said. I was amazed to see little children, here in the US, riding large horses. The ponies at the riding schools I attended were very well behaved.
I really think the problem with ponies in the USA is that there aren’t very many good trainers or even trainers small enough to give many ponies a good education. Almost every pony I’ve ever seen at 4-H horse shows had a bare minimum of training. I think I was much safer on my nearly 17 hand Quarter Horse that I started showing when I was three years old and he was 15. He had TONS of training and experience. Up until I moved to Europe and started seeing kids doing very well on ponies who have been professionally trained I had always believed that ponies were only around for those rich non-horsey people to buy for their kids because they didn’t know any better!
Gah, we run into this all the time! I have a 16.1hh TBxQH (so, QH build with TB height) that my 11 yo rides. He is absolutely the greatest horse, SEVERAL Pony Club instructors have expressed the desire to clone him. SANE, and kind. However, everyone’s first reaction is “Oooh, he such a BIG horse for her.” and they plop her in the walk/trot division out of terror that she won’t be able to control him. Sigh. Also, she’s already 5’2″ and I am 5’10 so clearly a pony would only be a short-term solution anyway. Drives me nuts, as if I would risk my daughter (any more than the inherent risk, which I prefer to avoid as much as possible.) We are always helmeted, from the minute we get him out to the minute he is put away. Just in case. Although, he has never done anything – still, can’t be too safe.
We had an OTTB at my barn in his late twenties that trucked kids around the w/t ring. He was an old schoolmaster that did a wonderful job with little kids.
One show we had someone who had a girl in the class on a pony from another barn. This little girl’s mom came up to the non-horsey mom with her daughter on the TB and told her that he was too big for her little girl. She was a complete stranger! The mom panicked!
We have 16 school horses in our barn. About 12 of those horses are beginner safe. One is a small pony, we also have a medium pony and two large ponies. The rest are horses. I don’t think it’s particularly important that the horse fit the rider (when the horse is bigger), but of the attitude of the horse. It’s not important that the kid can tack their own because they aren’t ever unsupervised. I think we have so many horses because it’s easier for more experienced riders to give them a tune-up every once in a while. If we get a small pony, we’re pretty much saying that this pony is so good, it can be ridden by nothing but little kids for the next few years without getting sour.
At the risk of cloning a sexual cliche, “It’s not the size, it’s how you use it.”
Ponies can be great, or rotten. Horses, likewise, can be great or rotten. There are pluses and minuses to each size.
The best child’s mount is an equine with more whoa than go, whose resistance is always passive. Add good training to those essential qualities, and I don’t care what size it is– it’s going to be a winner.
Ho ho, you ARE funny!
Just to add my two cents, I started taking H/J lessons when I was five. I was a very average-sized child, and they put me on everything from a Chincoteague pony (I’d guess 12hh) to a Belgian X to a TB who was at LEAST 16.2hh. No joke! All safe, sane, saintly with the up-downs mounts. We’d wrap the stirrups two times and away I’d go. Admittedly, Little John the Chincoteague was my favorite, but he was EVERYBODY’S favorite so I certainly couldn’t have him every week. But I am absolutely convinced that this early exposure to many sizes and types of horses made me the rider I am today. I am equally happy on board a pony or a Percheron (and I actually rode both in my last lesson program). I wouldn’t mind this little girl riding this horse IF she actually had a seat and hands and a helmet on!
I can honestly say that while I’m impressed with that little girl’s seat and bravery, I still cannot fathom what in the ever living hell that mother was thinking! When I was that little girl’s age, I started out on a little Shetland cross and worked my way up as I grew and my horsemanship improved. PLUS, I had had a trainer since I was 5 because my parents wanted a professional to teach me…and I always wore a helmet.
That poor horse…Between the tie-down, a little girl yanking on his face, and an owner that obviously takes his patience for granted, I just want to give that guy a bucket of treats for being such a good boy. He looks like the type of horse I’d love for my future children to have when it’s appropriate…I just hope that they don’t ruin him by continuing to ride him like this.
Very saddening… I tried to leave a comment but it will have to be approved, so I guess it won’t show up.
I hope that that little girl does have a minor fall with no injuries or only minor injuries to make her mother up, before something worse happens.
Yeah, I doubt my comments will get approved either. Particularly the one asking the poster if she knows just what kind of damage that pelham can do, even with a little kid hauling on it.
While it’s tough to bite my tongue, I no longer comment on videos that Fugly posts. Because suddenly there is a hoard of naysayers flooding the page/comments, and the person will take it down and then no one else gets to see it.
I have been late to the party many a time and wished that others had held off with their (well deserved) snarky comments so that others get a chance to see it before it gets pulled.
…. which is exactly what has happened, looks like. I tried to watch the vid and it’s now private.
Ditto
Unbelievable! At the end of the video there were other people standing around watching the whole thing. I can’t believe noone said anything but then again, maybe they think it’s cute. Yeah, until she gets thrown and injured.
On thursday I gave a lecture to groups of little kids on why we wear a helmet. I brought mine in after I fell off of a horse. The helmet is cracked and that could have been my head. I would have been scrapped up by the EMTs and taken to the hospital if I hadn’t been wearing one. In fact one of the parents if she could better pictures. Sure. Other staff almost put the child on that horse without a helmet. I barked at them she HAD to have a helmet on. I don’t care if she was on for one minute. Anytime something could have spooked that horse and sent the kid flying. Why don’t people do the research? They won’t learn until their child is paralyzed from the neck down and is bound to a wheelchair, by than it is too late. That is probably when most people will learn. And than they blame the poor horse and the horse is shipped off to the KB because ‘he’s/she’s vicious’. No dumbass it’s your responsibility to keep your child safe, not really your horse’s job. What ever happened to child endangerment?
Yeah, I had someone walk up to me last weekend at polo with a kid who was maybe three asking “how much” for her to ride a horse. I explained that I did not have an appropriately sized helmet, so that would not be possible. I managed to restrain myself from any comment about WHY in the WORLD you would think you can come up to a stranger at a POLO TOURNAMENT and pay for your kid to ride a horse. People just boggle my mind. I did mention that there were some excellent places for lessons she might want to check out at which point she announced that she knew all that because she was a horseperson. *sigh*
Of COURSE she’s a “horseperson!”
WOW……even the other lady talking in the video thinks it’s dangerous….at :36, you can here her saying “aren’t you afraid she’s gonna going flying off over his head?” Mom totally ignores it and doesn’t even answer her! The horse seems like a good one, and with the right instruction and riding equipment, he could teach that little girl a lot. But the way they are letting her ride and handle him….this is a BIG accident waiting to happen. It’s really sad, because a lot of people that have little ones just learning to ride would kill to have a horse like this, and these people are taking him for granted! Poor guy!
Sadly, Mom seems to be trying to prove all the stereotypes about blondes in this video.
Wylene is making good money, I am sure. She can afford to get little squirt a helmet and lessons with a proper instructor.
I love the picture on her home page where she’s outfitted in pink shirt and matching cowboy boots, with the horse rearing in the foreground, and she’s being dragged behind.
Classy. I mean, I know that sort of thing happens, but why PICTURE it on the home page?
Oh goodness, I thought even bad places that don’t require helmets on kids required helmets for jumping. She’s too small to control a horse of that size, even if she had better skills. Her seat’s not good enough to be cantering, much less running around then slamming to a halt. And doesn’t he look delighted when she yanks his head off and he opens his mouth and tries to chew to get some feeling back in his mouth. He is an angel of a horse, and I’m sure she’s a great kid, but she needs some responsible behavior from the adults in her life.
*shudders* I am a loss to understand how any parent, especially one who rides and whom you would presume has seen riding accidents, could put their child in so much danger. Not to mention the treatment of the poor horse, who is a saint!
When this girl inevitably falls and cracks her head open, how much you wanna bet it will be called a “freak accident” and the news will report how the little girl was in training with her very experienced mother and it will be blamed on the “unruly” horse who will get shipped off to slaughter.
AAAAHHH! Not only did I cringe at the lack of helmet on that little blonde head, but (after trying to get the horse to jump) it looks like the girl almost falls off over the horse’s neck! It’s from a distance, but it looks like it. And why the snatching and yanking to get him to back? I have an old gelding (yes, it’s NASCAR Pony) that will strech his head down and out if a child is yanking, snatching or pulling hard in his mouth. It’s his way of saying, “Hey kiddo, you’r hurting my mouth! Stop it!” Other people may think its “a bad habit” and use a harsher bit on him, but I know it’s the rider’s fault when he “tells” us he’s hurting when he does that. It’s He only when he’s direct reined (under English saddle). BUT, more than once he’s pulled my little spindly daughter (she was only 8 or 9 at the time) completely out of the saddle and onto his neck doing that. Once she went off over his shoulder and landed in a heap at his feet. Thank god for boots and helmets! He had pulled out/down and stopped dead several times to warn her and finally gave her a good yank back and pulled her completely off! She was checked over, dusted off, tears dried, and put back up onto him, with warnings of being nicer to his mouth. She finally has learned to be gentle but firm and as long as she doesn’t snatch and yank he’s fine. What a great teacher he is!
When you described what your horse does it reminded me of one of my mare’s behavior of not wanting to give to the bit. A few simple training sessions cured that problem. Maybe it is a blessing he does it with your kids if they are being unkind to his mouth.
Yarn reins.
That’s what a woman I know did to her kids whenever they got too rough with their hands on their cute little Arabs.
Yarn reins.
Exactly. I’ve always used a hollow-mouth snaffle on him. He “gives” nicely when asked, but you start yanking and snatching he will tell you he isn’t liking it by doing the “head down and pull out” thing and will continue to do it until you stop doing it “wrong” and then he will give nicely. He’s not avoiding, just communicating his discomfort. He throws in a few stops to warn you also that you are “wrong”. I’ve never ridden him English myself (my kids all have), but he was used as a lesson horse many years ago when I first got him (for partial board) and the trainer was wonderful and immediately picked up on his way of “letting you know” instead of blaming him and using something else in his mouth. She’s the one who explained it to me and showed me during one of her lessons what he did. Years later, after explaining it to my kid’s trainer when they took lessons on him, she watched and understood it wasn’t avoidence and went with it. Funny, he doesn’t do it going western at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwlN2g9o5Xg&NR=1
I’m surprised that you didn’t use this video. It is the ultimate “How NOT to instruct” video. I’ll put a warning on for any actual Hunter Jumper trainer/instructors who might click and watch– don’t be holding anything lethal in your hands when you watch.
I don’t know this chick. I don’t know what she has or hasn’t done. All I can say is “Well done, your child is confident on a horse.” Because that really is the only good thing I can come up with from these videos. That horse should be rehomed, just based upon the constant yanking on his head while jumping him in a tight tiedown over and over with zero reward. It’s downright mean to do that to a horse. Some people would question whether the child needs rehomed, based upon your evident desire to get her killed jumping barrels repeatedly from a near standstill on a horse wearing a tight tiedown, when she clearly has no idea how to go over a jump.
For those wondering about instructors for riding, I will tell you specifically– when you watch a lesson, and you hear a statement like, “Go that way! Right! Right! Now go left!” repeatedly, you aren’t watching a qualified instructor. There wasn’t one call of, “Alright, lift softly with your inside rein, add your outside leg” or even something simple like, “I want you to think of a chocolate sundae, and melt around your horse so you don’t bounce.” Hands down, the fastest way to gain my disrespect is to give a lesson that consists of orders to ‘go that way’ accompanied by the constant cry of ‘put your heels down!’.
I didn’t have time to watch them all. I am sure there is more where the one I posted came from.
Long weekend, horses to ride and the office e-mailing me work to do!
Meh, I’m now unemployed, so it gives me far too much time on my hands, as you’ve probably noticed. Still, the sheer number of videos this chick has in which she solves problems by rip-snorting her way through them is mind boggling. She has a very nice seat, but in the end she would benefit from just a tiny ounce of empathy or mental exercise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc4IMcfUyzQ&feature=related
You… have got to be kidding me.
I love how she goes into random chicken seizures.
That was what I thought too when I saw that video. I was not impressed to say the least, BUT then I watched the 2008 Extreme Mustang Makeover which she won and I thought she did a fabulous job with the horse. The truth is, if anyone had a video of us at our barns at all times people could say the same things about us too. Her not making her daughter wear a helmet and teaching her how to correctly handle a horse on the other hand, is not excusable.
I actually ‘go into random chicken seizures’ as well because especially young horses get freaked out at sudden or wierd movements. It’s just a way of desensitizing them. Doesn’t look very pretty, but it does the job….
W-T-F!!!!
This is how you start colts….looks like a Perverted Parelli Procedure…
And the comments….***HEADDESK****
I started to watch the video but I just couldn’t – It PISSED ME OFF!! That is not how you start a colt! I didn’t even finish it. The worst part was all the comments from people who think she is great. Girl Power and all that shit. What a bunch of crap.
I don’t know why people find colt starting videos like that impressive. All I see is a lot of bad memories being created that will just pile up in that horse’s head. I’ve seen enough colts started slowly (the right way, in my opinion) that never even think about bucking, that when I see videos like this, all I can think is that this person started this colt too quickly or too harshly. This woman is doing something wrong that is making these colts freak out (unless they were previously screwed up by someone else). I thi it’s great that she’s fixed the problems, but it’s really not that difficult to just avoid those situations all together.
What we have here folks is not a case of horse training. What we have is called Learned Helplessness. THis horse has not learned to not be afraid. He’s learned that I have no choice but to take anything that’s dishied out to him and not react, no matter how much it terrifies him. My horse can do all that stuff she had the poor black horse doing, but he’s never once been terrified, nor has he bucked. It probably took me a bit longer to get, but I’m sure my horse is much better trained and a safer mount as a result. I don’t care how wonderful she did in a competition, I wouldn’t let her near any of my animals with a ten foot pole.
Thank you Arrow, that’s exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the words. Learned helplessness. The horses never do seem to actually relax. They just accept the fear and discomfort until she pushes their buttons hard enough to get yet another reaction.
She rides like a guy – rough and tough. (That is not a compliment…)
I guess I didn’t start my mare right…
she never did ANY of that exciting stuff for meee-eee!
Never bucked. Never crowhopped. She did do a few can-can canter departs as we progressed into canter, but that was ’cause I asked her too big.
Wylene’s a pro, though — right?
So I guess her way’s right and mine’s just stupid. Or my mare’s stupid and deadheaded for not doing any of that thrillin’ stuff.
LOL walkonaire, yeah, I must really suck, it’s been two years and mine STILL hasn’t bucked or anything!
Rule number one at my house is “don’t even THINK about getting on a horse unless you are wearing a helmet!!” Thankfully my kids are way more scared of the consequences than they are looking dumb in a helmet!! They picked out their own helmet it’s theirs and they wear them!
With regards to kids hauling on their horses mouths, I put my older QH mare in a bitless bridle when the kids ride her in the arena, she is much happier and just as responsive and they learn to have quiet hands without making her sour and mean. Everyone is happier all around.
There is enough of the unexpected around horses not to do everything I can to protect my kids. It’s such a simple thing to make them wear a helmet. Sigh……..
Wait, she actually got one of those bareback pads to stay on the horse? I’ve always wanted to try one, but never figured out the way of keeping the pad on top of my horse for any length of time. It always rolls. I may just suck at doing the girth
.
I had that problem with a STB without wither. He also stood about 17.2 hh.
It was a nightmare lol Horses who are shaped like barrels without any point to attach tack to are a bit annoying
I think we just attached rings so we could use a breast plate (of the racing/jumping type) to keep it in place. I’d say a saddler should be able to do this for you.
i was waiting for the horse to just drop the shoulder a teensy bit when she was already hanging off its neck, just to get rid of the unnecessary yanking awfulness at each turn. Ouch. maybe too patient for his own good?
UGH. That kid is on a bareback pad, NO helmet, stirrups too long, cantering, jumping, hanging on the horse’s face?!?!!???!?!
WTF. Gonna make another gross generalization, but what IS it with Western people thinking it’s their God-given right to make their kids NOT wear a helmet?? They only put a helmet on their kids if the show they’re at requires it.
I wrote an e-mail to the president of a local show circuit, because the leadline kids – PRESCHOOLERS – weren’t wearing helmets. In fact I only saw 2 non-hunt seat kids with helmets the whole damn day. She wrote back:
“FOOD FOR THOUGHT……
Personnally, I live in the USA where a parent can still choose how to dress their children. I do not live in a country where it is dictated how to raise or dress my children. In 4-H there are no rules for other livestock handlers. Steers are more unreliable than a horse is – sholdn’t they wear helmets (at our fair someone is drug across the fairgrounds every year by a “wild” steer.) Hogs can step on your feet – are we required to were steel toed boots? A chicken could peck you — – do we were arm armor? You can get burnt from cooking or baking — what do we wear for that? Sewing—-a needle can run thru your hand—what for that? You see—-anything that you do you could get hurt—life is a risk…..you could get struck by a car walking across the street—do you let a child do that? ”
I wrote back:
“Just to clarify: A helmet is not a hat, it isn’t “something to wear.” It’s safety equipment, like the harness on a racecar driver, or a stop on a table saw, or a welder’s mask, and should be as automatic as checking your cinch before you get on. Would you – or any league – let your kid play football without a helmet & pads? Play catcher without a facemask? What about Hockey? Race a Go Kart without a rollcage?
As far as steers go, my neighbor’s son ALWAYS had a “crazy” steer!! And every year at the Fair I see kids who obviously haven’t been working with their animals much get pulled around. But – you can LET GO of a steer, if you’re leading it properly. I can’t BELIEVE that any farm kid with a lick of sense would go anywhere near a steer without good boots on.
A stomped foot, a separated shoulder, a needle through the hand, getting burnt while frying bacon in the nude, is NOT NOT NOT the same as a concussion or a skull fracture. Ask a few E.R. nurses, or a neurosurgeon.
I live in the USA, too…
and my husband is from New Hampshire, which has the coolest state motto: “Live Free or Die.” Oddly, it’s a state that doesn’t REQUIRE seatbelts for adults, but they do for kids. They have road signs which read “N.H. LAW: BUCKLE UP UNDER AGE 18″ and little blue signs underneath that read “Common sense for all.”
Actually, we can’t choose 100% how to dress our children, or ourselves – for example, would you support a law that allows girls to walk around topless? Or men to walk around with their fly hanging open? Kids to run around naked in the middle of Applebee’s? Personally, I’d like the general public and municipalities to cut nursing mothers a little slack, but that ain’t going to happen anytime soon. “
Because obviously I’m a Commie Pinko Faggot for wanting kids to not get traumatic brain injuries. Or dead.
Just for fun, when I was hanging out with a bunch of Western Pleasure people, I mentioned the very cool instant-self-inflating vests that cross-country riders are starting to wear.
I got blank stares all around. Of course my BO’s daughter was very proud to tell me that she doesn’t have to wear a helmet anymore – because she’s 10!
In our local 4-H club the kids are required to wear safety helmets I believe until age 16 regardless of riding discipline. I bought one for my friend’s daughter so she could go to the meetings with her horse. Us western people believe in keeping our children safe too, at least some of us.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA frying bacon int he nude
I think I just wet myself
I don’t usually like to make generalizations, but I am going to… In most cases, parents should not try to teach their own child anything. Not math, not how to ride. We either fail to see our own kids shortcomings, or we are two hard on them. It is very difficult to honestly criticize your own progeny. I’m not saying it can’t be done. Realistically, though, as a parent, wouldn’t it be so much more enjoyable to watch your child enjoy the sport (whatever it is) then be the one harping at him to improve his posture or move is hand or choke up on the reins or give them more rein… So, Mom, just shut up and write the check.
Really, even if you are a professional, find another professional to train your own child. You will both appreciate it in the long run.
I agree with this and so do many trainers whose kids are in training with someone else. Main reason? Kiddo listens better to someone else!
That is SO TRUE. I always felt sorry for preachers’ kids, teachers’ kids, coaches’ kids & trainers’ kids. As an adult, I also feel bad for the parents – although sometimes it blows my mind how some people can be utter ASSHOLES to their own children.
My son would love you! He is both a teacher’s son and a trainer’s son!
I do however teach him, help him with his work, and yes… the poor guy has to take riding advice from me. We do get into face offs regarding my instructions. We even get mad at each other sometimes. But then again, I don’t hardly think it’s fair to NOT teach or train my son, just because he is my son. It would be kind of like doing the same thing you are talking about– treating him differently. I teach other kids, I train other kids’ horses and their riding abilities, so… yea. It wouldn’t really make sense for me to say, “Well, I’d like to help you Son, but we’re related.”
After all, good parenting involves helping your kid. I can’t really afford to haul him to a really great trainer (there aren’t many in the area, and I’m picky). So he gets me instead. Sometimes I’m sure he hates the instruction. But he always comes back to ask questions, so evidently I’m succeeding in some way.
That said, I have to admit that 99 times out of 100, kids do NOT want to take their parents’ advice. I think it has to do with trying to establish their own independence.
My sister and I joke that when our girls are teenagers, we’ll trade ‘em for a few years.
I agree with that 100%, as I am a preachers kid AND a teachers kid. While it was rough, I turned out okay. It helped that I was also the youngest and got away with a LOT (maybe they just gave up with me). Whatever it was worked (I’m a teacher, too) I think I flagged every one of her videos as animal abuse or child endangerment, so I’ll probably get kicked off YouTube…oh well
I have to agree with this statement. I taught both swimming and riding – but never to any of my 4 kids – I knew I would murder them or they would wind up hating whatever activity we were doing together. My husband did all the passenger seat time when they had learners permits too – to save them from the screaming woman that is their mother…..I know my limitations, I guess.
I did not know how loudly I was capable of screaming until I taught my daughter to drive. My state requires 50 hours behind the wheel with a parent- now that’s creul and unusual punishment.
So… I noticed this “saddle” isn’t really even a saddle. It’s a bareback pad with stirrups and she is TIED TO IT. The way the horse jumps in the other videos makes me think that being tied to it could be a very bad idea. If that horse skids too much, runs out too fast, or takes off too early that little girl has no chance of getting out of the way of her horse’s fall…
Is she really? Your eyes are better than mine. I can’t see that.
I’m not seeing that either. I din’t think she is.
She’s… TIED to it?!!???
Damn.
My worst horse wreck was with a bareback pad with stirrups… after that, no more stirrups on bareback pads, ever, and especially when my kid got confident enough to ride bareback. (This was the 36-year old saint Tony wreck where I probably cracked my arm and seriously bruised my hip but didn’t go to the doctor and lied about how hurt I was…I wonder if that’s the hip I now have problems with … hmmm…)
The first horse I rode in my first dressage lesson was a saint of a horse, big tall drink of water, that had been sold for $1 to the owner from a riding stable in Costa Mesa. He had given way too many riding lessons to children and would not tolerate having his mouth yanked on anymore.
Yes, horses CAN “sour” to just about anything. I’ve always said there is a special place in Heaven for the lesson horse, the schoolmaster sold to someone who cannot ride AT ALL (or who rides very poorly but thinks the schoolmaster is the key to that elusive blue ribbon).
This horse lived a happy few years giving riding lessons to adults (like me). He was a very nice horse, very tolerant and quite happy to do “inside leg/outside rein” without complaint. He had a bad colic and was put down, but the last years of his life did not involve little kids yanking him around.
The woman I took dressage lessons from had difficulties with the horse — said he could be “very dangerous” — but the more I was around her, the more I realized she was as unkind as one of those kids. There was never any reward for ANY horse she rode. Jerk, nag, fiddle, kick — HER version of “ride every stride.”
*cringe * “Ride Every Stride” – ugh, I can picture it exactly.
The lesson horses do have it hard, especially when they’re owned by people who consider them to be punching bags for the kids.
I taught lessons at a barn owned by a woman who was definitely a little off her rocker – she was certainly not everyone’s cup of tea and she had some, er, interesting ideas regarding home veterinary care – but the one thing I really liked about her was that beginner riders had to earn the right to a bridle (like earning your spurs, but even more basic!)
Beginners were assigned a Steady Eddie horse with reins that clipped onto a halter and the lesson was conducted in a small ring, not too much bigger than a standard roundpen. The students had to learn basic balance and position control before they were allowed to ride with a bridle & bit in a larger ring. That saved the horses a whole lot of grief and they were not sour.
And helmets for EVERYONE, 100% of the time!
My horse was a lesson horse for awhile (hence the ringbone), and he does NOT handle “fiddling” at ALL.
That’s how I got him – his owners didn’t want him to end up with some WP/HUS person who’d try to force a headset on the poor old guy.
He’s good for me: I’ve been developing “loud” hands over the last couple of years of lesson horses, and he simply gets tenser & more distracted the more you try to mess with his mouth. If you just do the lightest contact, he’s a happy boy, but any kind of jiggly stuff or other futzing around beyond regular half-halts, stops & the tiniest bit of supporting outside rein, he gets all worried.
Same with leg/seat aids. If I even THINK about cantering, and unconsciously tighten my seat and lift the reins a bit, off he goes. Oops.
He gets worried if you correct him at ALL strongly, too, which is also good for me, as I’ve been getting tense when things aren’t totally kopasetic – so I have to be all Zen and chill.
It takes two to pull.
Okay! Today’s Episode of My Stupid Husband Knows More than You!
(Disclaimer: husband is not really stupid, but he is not in any way a horse person.)
I showed the two videos of the little girl on the horse to my husband and asked him to name how many things were wrong. His first response was disbelieving laughter: “How am I supposed to differentiate? It’s one big train wreck from beginning to end!” I asked him to break it down and got this list.
1) She’s a sack of potatoes.
“I love how her friend is asking her if she’s worried at all, and she’s all, ‘Nope, I can make another one if this one breaks!’”
2) She’s too little to ride that horse right – her legs stick straight out.
3) She has to hang on to the reins for balance.
4) He said, “Do I even need to mention that she’s not wearing any sort of head protection? Maybe she doesn’t need to… if she’s like her mom there’s nothing in her head anyway.”
5) “Oh my God, they’re asking her to wave. If she lets go of the reins, she’ll fall off.”
6) Listening to the conversation on the video: “Isn’t a Kimberwicke, like, harsher than a snaffle? That horse keeps getting its head yanked off.” (Yeah, but I can’t see it clearly and Fugs seems to think that’s a Pelham.) “Oh, isn’t that worse?”
7) (On to the next video.) “Oh wow, now she’s jumping.”
It’s possible he missed a couple of finer points, but I think it’s pretty obvious that even a non-horse person can see several things wrong with this situation.
My husband has a theory about people like this – back about a hundred years ago, before the advent of antibiotics and vaccines, small children died all the time. It was normal for most parents to have many children, with the understanding that a few would die, and parents were pretty cavalier not just about illness but about risk in general, since life was so precarious no matter what precautions you took. My husband thinks that some people’s brains haven’t caught up to the modern idea that children don’t actually HAVE to die, and SHOULDN’T die. I read an article not long ago about children who are raised on farms. The rate of injury of children who help with agricultural labor is just astonishing. Basically, farmers and people who live on farms let their kids do dangerous things, and they get hurt and killed all the time, and everyone acts like that’s normal.
I really want to make this into a TV show, Alliecat04.
Do you suppose RFD-TV would let me have a show called EVEN MY HUSBAND KNOWS WHAT IS WRONG HERE and let all my readers’ nonhorsey hubbies and other SO’s on it? hahahahaha…that would rock.
There’s always a big “Farm Safey for Kids” thing at our State Fair…
Ha, my dad was complaining about an immature 12 year old one day: “When I was 12, I was driving a combine!! **pause** Wait, who lets a 12-year-old drive a COMBINE?!?!?!?” (he was born in 1939)
Those farm kids drive EVERYTHING and from a very young age. And it isn’t uncommon for them to get killed or lose a hand in machinery, either. It was just how things were back then (and still are in some places). People had kids to have unpaid help on their farm. 10 kids, great, you had a lot of help!
There was one ep of Wife Swap where even the little kids were out at 4 AM milking. I don’t know, I’m not against kids having chores, it’s good for them, but you shouldn’t be around large livestock ’til you’re at least 8-10 and have some ability to learn how not to get hurt. Older for machinery that you can get badly hurt with.
There used to be — maybe there still is, I just haven’t seen it lately — an FHA feature on RFD-TV. Can’t remember the name of the program or “commercial,” but it had to do with kid safety on the farm: Wear appropriate footwear, headgear, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, tucked in, not baggy or hanging down, etc. THINK before you drive off, etc. There needs to be something like that for horse events, too.
And Fugs, I love your program idea. EVEN MY HUSBAND KNOWS WHAT’S WRONG HERE. Perfect.
Oops. Edit thyself: FFA, not FHA.
More coffee.
I think some people have the attitude of “that’s how I did it when I was young, so it’s good enough for my child,” not realizing that we can do better as we learn. There are lots of things I did when I was young, things that were different, that are no longer acceptable because I know better; helmets are one of those things. Humane training methods for animals are another one of those things. But you have to be open to the concept that just because you know one way to do something, it may not be the best way.
Ha – I do things differently from when I was a kid BECAUSE they were so wrong! My favorite example is of us kids being shuttled around in our station wagon, like popcorn in a popper in the “way back.” If my mother, who often drove with a cigarette in one hand and a coffee cup in the other (and not a commuter cup, either, they hadn’t invented those yet), had ever hit anything it would have been bye-bye, babies. The infant car seat was used so little kids could “see out.” In an accident, my little brother would have been launched through the windshield. I rode my bike everywhere with no helmet at all, and rode & jumped horses over 3’6″ fences with a velvet-covered plastic shell on my noggin (that usually had a stretched-out and worthless chin strap).
More innocent days, or just more ignorant ones? Decide for yourself. Me, I have trained my kids from Day One that if you’re riding ANYTHING, you’d better have on a helmet. We’ve never had much money, but that’s no excuse: I got plenty of free bike helmets from the police. My kids also remind me to put on my seatbelt…
OMG – I grew up in the 70s, and it was a TREAT to ride up front on the armrest, where you could see out.
A friend of ours would put her kids in the back of her cargo van in a playpen, with the Great Danes milling about.
Ha. Seatbelts have saved my life at least twice, probably three times.
No, like smokers who live into their 90s, folks who survived the seatbeltless decades were just lucky.
The video finally downloaded and I was able to watch it, and I wish that I hadn’t. I just don’t even know where to start with all the problem that are going on here. This is a train wreck in the making. I hate to say it, but this child is going to end up a statistic. She is riding so far over her ability it is scary, and her mother is allowing and encouraging it. She needs to be on a longe line working at a walk and trot. I see a lot of potential, but only if she survives…
Wow… total fail from someone that should be setting an example for young riders. I really liked her on the ECR and was very disappointed to see those clips. And that poor horse is a SAINT! Hope that little girl doesn’t end up like the one featured here not too long ago… at least she is on a sane (at least for now) horse.
I have to admit I never wore a helmet when I was riding and now I have to say it was very dangerous considering I was riding ex race horses in Speed and Flags, high strung TWH, and young greenies I was breaking out for other people. My children, when and if they want to ride, will wear a helmet and have horses and tack suited for their abilities and sized properly.
I remember I was always so embarassed because I was the only one wearing a helmet at the western stable I rode at until I fell off my cantering horse and the helmet saved me from getting a concussion (sp?) . lesson learned; when I have kids one day, they are all going to be wearing helmets no exceptions.
(what a dissapointment that a good horsewoman is a bad parent. in the horse lesson department anyway. Let the kid learn with a snaffle bit. Poor saintly horse, treasures in heaven, I suppose).
Snaffle, h*ll! She has no business with anything in the horse’s mouth. Take off the tiedown and put the horse in a sidepull. Better yet, take her off the horse for about two years, then send her to real teacher.
Yeah I am with you. I am a huge fan of beginners riding in sidepulls!!!
Haha, my horse bucked me off recently and I got a concussion AND whiplash, despite the fact I was wearing a helmet
I think they mostly save your skull from being split, especially on hard surfaces and rocks as they can’t stop your brain sliding around in your head and smacking into the sides, which causes trauma and concussion as far as I am aware xD
However, I DO appreciate them, as my helmet hit a rock and pretty much broke in half (we worked out that I took an almost 7 ft fall head first as I bounced off in mid air with horsey having all 4 feet off the ground)
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that your life, or at the very least your ability to walk/talk/move, was saved by that helmet. A 7-ft fall, right onto your head, by way of a rock? You betcha! You are now a poster girl for helmet safety and I’m very glad you’re okay, other than the concussion and whiplash (I know those are no fun but they sure beat the alternative).
Right now I am persona non grata with some members of my husbands family b/c my rule is no helmet, no horse. One of the three wouldn’t wear the helmet (“that’s for sissies”). So he didn’t get on the horse, threw a major tantrum. The mother, who wants to be a friend not a parent, takes me aside and tries to convince me to let him on. I didn’t give in b/c A. I don’t want to be responsible for an injry B. We were on the property of our BO/BM who I adore
C. As a teacher I am a mandated reporter if I see or suspect child abuse, neglect or endangerment. D. His brother and sister wore the helmet while being led on the horse with no fuss.
Where does not requiring a minor (under age 18) to wear a helmet fall under the child endangerment laws? If your child is riding a bike without a helmet and falls off and is head injured can the legal guardians be charged with child endangerment?
Helmet laws vary from state to state. In Oregon, the law states that any child under the age of 16 must wear a helmet when riding a bike. I am not even certain, at this time, if the law extends to skateboards or scooters. I know that there is no law requiring helmets for skiing/snowboarding, and I do not believe that the law extends to horses. I have never heard of any repercussions beyond a ticket for not wearing a helmet on a bike.
Having said that, I do not believe that helmet use should be a law. I think that people who love their kids should make them wear helmets. Big brother should not have to make that decision for them. I think the idea that our daily safety should be legislated is a bit scary. First it is seatbelts (which I wore before it was a law), then helmets, now they are after our eating habits. What is next? At what point do we say that there has to be some personal responsibility in the care and raising of your kids, and not just what is legislated? People have to pull their heads out of their asses and protect their kids to the best of their abilities, not just to the limit of the law.
Sorry… Off my soapbox now.
I am with you. I don’t think it needs to be a law, but I do think that 100% of responsible parents put helmets on their kids for everything from riding to biking. It’s part of being a parent. To make your food analogy, if you’re 21, live on Whoppers and whiskey if you want but when you’re 12, it’s your parents’ job to put healthy food in your mouth and keep you away from alcohol.
I disagree. I have no problem with helmets being law (not that I know of anywhere this is the case yet) — if some idiot falls off and breaks his or her helmetless skull and also turns out not to have adequate health insurance, who gets to foot the bill? The rest of us, that’s who.
If I am going to have to pay for things, I want some say in their frequency and/or severity.
Yeah, but see, my response to that is then why can’t you jump from that, logically, to making healthy food and exercise mandatory and enforced by law? I’m fit and don’t smoke – why should I have to foot the bill for everybody who has a stroke because they are 100 lbs. overweight and smoked cigarettes for 20 years? Same logic.
You gotta draw the line or all personal freedom falls by the wayside and most Americans don’t want that.
A flaw in that argument is the assumption that overweight and/or smokers cost us more because their unhealthy habits lead to expensive medical costs that are then borne by the entire community. Everybody dies, even health-food-eating slim folks. I remember reading an article in the New Yorker some years back about an actuarial anaylsis that determined that smokers cost us less in medical costs and pensions than non smokers because they die sooner.
I am fairly sure I could statistically prove that vegetarians like myself are less likely to have a stroke than meat-eating smokers, though. So if the logic behind demanding that adults wear helmets is that they might become a vegetable and need to be cared for by the public, then if I have to wear a helmet, you all have to give up eating meat.
After all, plenty of people have a stroke and become vegetables, I’m gonna guess way more than hit their heads and wind up in the same state.
I’d rather adults get to continue to assume the risks of their choice. Children are a totally different matter.
We’re off topic, but there was a large study done on this not too long ago, which followed thousands of people for over a decade. The participants were divided into four categories: people who ate meat daily, people who ate meat a couple of times a week (fish did not count as meat), vegetarians, and vegans. What they found was that the people who ate meat irregularly were least likely to have died during the course of the study, followed by the vegetarians, then the full-time meat eaters, and least healthy of all the vegans. This study was widely reported as “vegetarians more healthy than meat eaters,” but as you can see that’s not quite accurate. So – purely in health terms – it’s healthier to be a vegetarian than to eat steak every day, but even better to eat rational amounts of meat and lots of fish. And certain types of vegetarian diets are even less healthy than eating steak every day.
Back on the subject; it wouldn’t be possible to pass laws about something like this which is widely disputed. I don’t know of anyone who disagrees that getting hit in the head is unhealthy.
True, but I think it’s hard to legislate a person’s right to assume the risks of their choice. We’ve DONE it, with seatbelts, but the main reason that flew is because you are more likely to remain in control of the vehicle and therefore not kill someone else if you’re wearing a seatbelt.
I like to see individual rights interfered with as little as possible. I like the idea of organizations like 4-H saying helmets belong on kids. That way every kid is wearing one and no kid feels uncool for wearing one.
I dunno, there’s a lot more of that kind of regulation in EU countries, but people there seem to have more than enough freedom. In fact they’ve got a lot of freedom, without some of the weird stick-up-the-butt hangups we’ve got here.
C’mon, you’ve gotta love a country like Germany, whose government ruthlessly controls the quality of breeding livestock, but where people can walk nekked in a city park and get beer at McDonald’s!
What ? Beer at McDonalds ?
Very unlikely, but if you wave an ID that states you`re 16 years or older, you can get beer almost anywhere else.
I TOTALLY had beer at McDonald’s in Munich. It was on the menu as McBier. AWESOME.
Then we went to the Hofbrau Haus and had GOOD beer. The next night we went to the Englischgarten (or whatever) and saw some middle aged naked people wandering about, then we had even better beer.
Whenever I go down to the Hofbrau Haus in Cincinnati, I get all sentimental. Or maybe it’s just the beer.
To continue the off-topic stuff here, I had some military friends that were based in Germany and were looking into getting their kids double citizenship. They ended up NOT doing the double citizenship thing for ONE reason. Germany actually had a list of allowable names and if they wanted double citizenship for their children they would have had to name them something from that list. Any country where the government dictates what you can name your kids is not, in my opinion, a bastion of freedom or an example of a place that has “more than enough freedom”. (This is not to bash on Germany in any way, it’s just a good example I have personal experience with.)
My opinion? Alot of the citizens of highly regulated countries are in a state analogous to learned helplessness. They have been without enough personal rights for long enough that it’s normal to them not to have them. I, personally, would not ever want that to be the case here in America.
I was visitng an elderly relative in a nursing home.
The fellow in the next room was YOUNG, not even 40, and pretty much vegetative. A nurse saw me double-take (quickly concealed) as I walked by and told me later that he’d been in a motorcycle wreck, no helmet, family was now broke and that he was being cared for courtesy of our tax dollars. (She had a pro-helmet agenda, obviously.)
So by that logic, helmets ARE the libertarian, free-market way to go, because ….
ohnevermind.
I disagree. I think helmet laws are there to protect the child’s welfare when stupid or negligent parents don’t, just like seatbelt laws. But the requirement should end at adulthood, when people can make their own decisions. For practical reasons, I think such safety laws should be limited to the activities where there are the highest number of injuries, like car accidents and bike accidents. It would be too onerous for the government to make laws for every kind of activity, and although there is probably a high incident, percentage-wise, of head injuries from horseback riding, I don’t suppose the overall total numbers are that high, nationwide.
A good incentive (for helmet use at riding facilities) would be for insurance companies to make helmet requirements for facilities they insure. I am surprised they don’t already. Or do they and the managers just don’t enforce it?
Another smart thing would be for insurance companies to advertise, or at least inform their homeowners, that any horse riding accidents which occur without helmet use would nullify certain insurance claims.
Sure. I’d be fine with it being the law for minors!
Unfortunatly, as we have recently demonstrated, parents don’t make their children wear helmets. Lots and lots of parents don’t. Heck, most of the people I know don’t make their kids wear them, because, well, helmets are only for people who plan to fall off. (So says my neighbors). And it’s the kids that suffer because of that. I don’t think wearing helmets SHOULD have to be a law, but since over half of the horse people in the world don’t bother to require their children wear one, I guess big brother has to tell them otherwise.
As is the reason why Big Bro has to step in on most situations. People are stupid and therefore lack the common sense to make sound judgment. Think about it: where we people of common sense issues can make sound calls are interrupted and annoyed when the government has to step in to set laws into place where we think it is a no-brainer like seat belt laws for kids, child safety seats, helmet laws for anyone wheeling around on anything but their own feet, not to litter, etc…
Generally speaking, laws for those who don’t really have a brain to lose anyway…
Agree 100% that people need to take more personal responsibility especially when it come to raising their children. However when the child is being led around on my horse in the arena on the BO’s property I feel it is my responsibility to protect all three of us from injury, the horrible way we would all feel if the cild were injured, and lawsuits. Just as there no longer seems to be any personal responsibility any more, there’s also no such thing as an accident–it’s always someone else’s fault, mistake.
Last summer Florida passed Nicole’s Law requiring children 16 and under to wear a helmet while riding on public property. Nicole was a 12 year old girl who was killed when her horse stumbled….at a walk…not jumping or cantering! She was thrown, hit her head, lingered comatose for a while then died. Her father blamed himself for not forcing her to wear a helmet. He hoped that a law requiring the parents to be fined $500 would prevent future tragedies.
It’s sad that some parents need to be threatened with a monetary fine in order to keep their kids safe
Aside from the very obvious bad parental decisions going on here; I hate it when parents or instructors of any kind have their students do something that is above and beyond their skill level. No one seems to want to take the time to teach not just well but thoroughly. Even if this girl survives a fall with no helmet she is likely going to end up afraid, which is a shame. Not all falls are preventable but a whole lot of falls ARE preventable. I still have to battle through my fear of jumping b/c when I first started riding my then instructor had us jumping way before I was ready and I had a less tolerant horse who took exception to having his face pulled on over the jump. That wouldn’t have had happened if we’d taken the time to ride without stirrups, ride on a lunge line, etc. This girl is so young. She has plenty of time to learn how to ride. There really is no reason or excuse to take short cuts. How about teaching her how to walk before she learns how to dance. The end results are ALWAYS so much better.
Asharri, I could talk about that all day – kids getting scared off of riding by being pushed TOO FAST. It is such a shame. It robs us of potentially wonderful horse owners.
I hate the attitude that falling is a part of riding. Sure it is but you should still be doing your ABSOLUTE BEST to prevent it! I taught kids from first lesson to jumping without one fall, it CAN be done.
Once I got to a certain level, my instructor told me that I couldn’t call myself a “real horsperson” until I’d fallen off like 27 times. Somehow that took a great deal of the fear away (she knew me pretty well), because suddenly falling wasn’t this big scary event, but rather just one of those things every rider deals with.
Some people are SO afraid of falling, when in reality, 99% of the time you just get up, dust off your ass, and hope nobody saw you.
I rode briefly at a VERY NICE stable when I was right out of college (till I couldn’t afford it anymore). One day I was in a lesson, and other folks were riding their very fancy horses (they were a H/J, eventing & dressage facility attached to a posh subdivision)…. well, the horse i was riding shied at something and made a silly little half-buck, which I automatically rode through & corrected.
The other people, who I’d looked up to as really good riders (they all had nice equitation), FREAKED! “ARE YOU OK?!?!?!” I was like, “Who??? Where?????”
LOL. True. Often, it looks a lot worse than it feels!
But I’m very anti-falling. I mean, sure, most of the time you are just sore but you don’t want to be the person who lands on their head. Helmet or none, you can snap your neck. I am a big fan of doing everything you can to greatly reduce the risk of a fall, from ensuring that your horse is not sore anywhere to lots of turnout to minimal grain unless the horse has a particular need for it, like they’re doing a high performance job. I never think that misbehavior is inevitable – where there is misbehavior, I want to know why, and if we can keep it from happening again. A lot of times there is a reason and you can stop it from becoming a habit.
Or sometimes, your horse just trips, slips, slides or shies. Or like my poor sister, whose sweet lease horse was going great – until a bug flew up his nose. I happened to be looking at his head just as it happened, and sure enough, he dumped her and she broke her arm.
The psychology of “Falling Is Usually No Big Deal” really helped me gain some confidence, which of course helped me chill out and … not fall.
I’d rather NOT fall, either. I’ve had some pretty good “saves” in my day, usually pretty lucky I think, but the older I get, the less dirt I wanna eat.
What is the matter with that parent!! If either of my riding instructor saw that video they would both absolutely have a fit! Gosh if that horse tried to slow down at all that little girl would go “plop” right on the ground in front of those big hooves. She is leaning way too far forward and the rest of her position is absolutely horrid. I wonder how old she is? I’m guessing 5-7, I know an 8 year old girl who rides about a million times better than this (With a helmet of course) She took about 3 years of lessons before they let her canter on bombproof follow the leader trail horses. My riding instructor didn’t teach me how to post at the trot until the end of my first year, and I didn’t canter until I moved to a instructor in my third year of riding. But though it may not be as fun, I now have a good solid position and can canter with little problems (Well… when I’m riding any horse except mine, who seems to think she is a TB and needs to win the Kentucky Derby or something
)
That horse is worth it’s weight in gold to a *real* instructor, one that is going to teach her students proper riding and not to rip the bit through the horses cheeks. It amazes me he listens to her and canters when it doesn’t appear she is giving him any cues other than the constant bumping of her legs on him every stride.
Hopefully the little girls Mom will see this post and decide maybe she should actually teach her daughter how to ride instead of talking to other people and letting her daughter ruin that incredibly patient horse.
“I’m sad because I saw Mom ride in the Extreme Cowboy Race and was impressed with her horsemanship.”
You know, that’s the thing that really gets me about this – crap riders teaching others to ride… well, craply…? is to be expected, but good riders standing there and letting someone – even if it IS their own child – swing from the horse’s back teeth like that is just appalling. “goofing around” indeed. Yes, kids need to have fun with horses and not be drilled constantly, but you can’t tell me that kid couldn’t have fun AND learn balance, an independent seat, and how to correctly apply the aids in order to control the horse. The next contains even more horrors, for example the stupid woman flapping her arms at the horse to make it back up – with its ears back and its mouth wide open, looking thouroghly pissed off.
Don’t even get me started on jumping with absurdly long stirrups and a friggin’ standing martingale… oh, too late. “Outside rein, don’t let him cheat!” Yeah, that’ll help. How about riding a good approach? Giving the horse more than three strides to get to those barrels? Establishing a good canter (or trot, if you want to jump out of trot)? Riding a straight line, and riding AWAY from the goddamn fence afterwards instead of applying the brakes on landing? That’s about the last thing a child as unbalanced as that kid needs, an emergency stop on the landing side, when she’s sitting on the horse’s kidneys to start with and will just get launched into orbit if the horse does actually pick up…
Gah, I hate seeing bad riding.
Sure. Kids think stuff like being longed with no reins and making pinwheels with their arms or reaching to the sky is fun, and that develops good balance! And there are games like Simon Says that you can play with riders of any level.
You do not have to be racing around and jumping when you are not ready for it to have fun.
I’m 17 and I ride in the jumpers and that is still one of my favorite things to do, only now I do it with the kids I help out with at horse camp (every little kid has a walker(+ an instructor in the ring)). I really have so much fun with it, and I wish I was young enough to be on the horse again. Having those kids jump when they can’t even post properly is perverse.
The girls in my lesson and I still have around-the-world races just before we get off (I always lose because I have the longest legs and it’s hard to get my leg over w/o bumping into the horse and then she walks while I’m still backwards). I have bareback Fridays to stop taking myself so seriously.
I don’t have to do big jumps everyday. I don’t need to start jumping 4′ jumps. I don’t need to sacrifice my horse’s well-being or my safety to do bigger jumps, yank her around turns, or make her gallop around a course so fast she bangs her feet together. I do need to have fun. I need to evaluate everything I eat at the barn for equine consumption. And I’m happy. And I don’t think I would still be riding if I learned to canter like a floppy noodle. How could I love something I hurt every time I got on?
Oh yeah, and don’t forget “Red light Green light”. The little ones love these games, even at the walk.
Just want to speak up in favor of the standing martingale. Up until a couple of decades ago, every children’s hunter and green hunter had one over fences, and they all did fine. Sure, if you’re jumping big fences, the horse needs to be able to use its neck, and any martingale is a poor substitute for good training, but over small fences, a properly adjusted standing martingale isn’t going to kill anyone. And it beats the heck out of what I see today, which is a lot of horses throwing their heads around, and people selling horses because they rear.
I agree with you. All polo ponies wear one merely to keep someone from getting a flying head in the face. I don’t consider them abusive. They should be adjusted so you can lightly touch the strap to the juncture of the horse’s cheekbone and neck.
I certainly don’t think that a standing martingale is cruel, but coming from the Arab world where they are not used, they look so dangerous to me. I just can’t imagine that a horse who hit the end of that strap wouldn’t flip over or rear and lose their balance. Obviously they don’t because it seems to me that every hunter over fences in the country wheres one, but they scare the heck out of me.
Perhaps I could see the logic in one that was properly adjusted, but frankly I wouldn’t run a barrel pattern in a tiedown as tightly set as the one in this video. Also, most standing martingales have more play at the chest. This one is run through a breast collar and cranked down tight.
off of her website of being a “horse trainer” this makes me so sad.
http://wylenewilson.com/teaching.htm
Okay, so, she’s not looking like a real smart cookie from that page. WTH with her being dragged along by a plunging horse? Does she think she’s wearing water skis?
( ( ( shudder ) ) ) How in the world can a parent not only watch this but actually stand there and encourage it?? I mean, back in the early 70′s when I was learning to ride I never broke a trot before I could hold my seat…and that was bareback! and on a 13h pony. But I never, ever used the reins or the horse’s mouth to maintain my balance. It was all beyond common sense but also consideration for the horse. People! Not teaching of anything! But after looking over one of the other videos of Wylene (what a name!), I am not surprised by what she teaches. Her riding is to the extreme with absolutely no regard for the animal. What is it with “cowboys” that think tough is what it’s all about? That it’s okay to run your horse into the ground with NO PROTECTION on their legs or anywhere (not the horse’s choice) much less on you, the rider (your dumb ass choice).
Just plain stupid… as stupid does. (haven’t I said that before??)
I knew of some friends (term used loosely) and bought a 15+h mule. Unloaded it off the trailer straight from the seller and tacked it up then put their 5 YEAR OLD daughter on WITH NO HELMET and not to mention ALONE!!! No aclimating this mule to anything! Then she proceeded to head across the highway with this mule not quite listening and bouncing around. I cringed and pleaded to put my helmet on her! PLEEEEZE! Their answer? Awe, she don’t need it, she knows how to ride! I had to leave right then and there, before I witness something nobody should have to see. I’ve never spoke to those people again.
I don’t know if anyone else posted this but….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwlN2g9o5Xg&NR=1
She is jumping, no helmet of course. I *think* she might be wearing sneakers, I can’t really tell for sure.
I almost choked watching that!! We did stupid stuff as kids but even the non horsey parents would have stopped that in a second. Jumping a barrel??!!??
My poor child must have it bad if I listened to all the comments. I am teaching him how to ride and I am an elementary school teacher!! I’ve learned that 15 minutes is as long of a lesson as he can take (he’s 5), he does have a helmet, I have the horse on a longe line, and his reins are hooked onto the halter part of the halter/bridle set I use with him. I just unhook the bit for now. He has fun and we just walk. If a parent wants to teach their child they have to be atune to their kid’s riding skills, be PATIENT, and let it be fun which is the best part of being with horses. AND safety first!!!
Is it just me or is the tiedown attached to a metal noseband? I’m not sure what it is, but the poor horse can’t get away from the yanking on his mouth, and the rein is on the bottom hole of the pelham. Yikes. Poor horse. I”d love to take him home, and give him the chance to be ridden with a plain snaffle and light hands. He’s a saint.
I’m gobsmacked!
What a shit of a child, a brain dead mother and an exceedingly patient and tolerant horse who deserves a lifetime award for profound amazingness.
Why is that child riding like a possessed sack of old clothes; throwing herself (or losing her balance all over the place) around so much with arms flailing as well?
Why would anyone put such a small child on a horse that big and then tie the poor creature’s head to his chest (nearly), stick quite a severe bit in his mouth and then plop “Scarecrow Sally” on him with instructions to hoon around an arena with no regard to her safety or the wellbeing of her mount?
Sorry for all the rhetorical questions but I’m just having trouble getting my head around such a dumb thing to film. Hell, I certainly wouldn’t publicise my child’s riding with stunts like that.
I feel so sorry for that poor horse but I guess Wylene (?) cares more about showing the world her great (?) kid’s riding that the welfare or comfort of the horse ….. nice (not!).
I did notice that “mom” breaks horses, rides them through their bucks and tantrums all without a helmet. She has just been phenomonally (sp?) lucky that she hasn’t cracked her bean yet. She will most likely run out of luck soon though, it’s a shame that she can’t be responsible enough to protect her daughter though.
A friend and I used our horses to give “pony rides” at a church vacation bible school last Friday. Every kid who got on a horse got a helmet on their head. Not one child refused or even commented on wearing the helmet. Every one of them just accepted it as “normal”. Most of those kids had never even been on or even near a horse before.
I haven’t watched the vid yet, but I know who this is and her reputation. I’m surprised no one has mentioned her winning the EMM last year, and her daughter came out. Her daughter had been kicked in the head by a mustang in training during the competition, and she very nearly died. Google it. Not sure if it’s the same kid, but it is worrisome to me as a parent.
Once you become a parent, YOU are the example. Get a helmet on yourself and your kids.
Wow. Doesn’t particularly surprise me the kid got kicked in the head. SAD. Mom, what is your kid doing around wild mustangs???
The video of the floppy kid hauling on the saintly horse’s mouth was posted three years ago — how old was the daughter you mention?
It is indeed the same child. She’s made the video private since this morning, but I recognize the name. Here’s the news on it, from Wylene’s site:
In mid-July, Wylene’s 7-year old daughter, Kensley, was seriously injured when another
trainer’s mustang kicked her in the face. Wylene found her unconscious, but breathing.
Kensley was airlifted to the hospital emergency
center. With the heart and spirit of her mother,
Kensley has now fully recovered from this life
threatening accident. With courage and love,
Wylene gave her full attention to Kensley, who by
the way, has been riding since she was 3. Once
Kensley was “in the clearâ€, Wylene and Remi
went to work determined to do their best… for
Kensley.
Doing “her best for Kensley” apparently doesn’t include basic safety. You’re a little late, Cathy, the child in the video has already become a statistic. Fortunately she’s just a statistic under “life threatening injuries which could easily have been prevented by a responsible adult” and not “children killed by horses.” It’s a little sad that her mother is still bragging about how she’s been riding since she was 3. Lesson clearly not learned.
Ugh, I know I’m replying to my own comment, but the more I think about this, the more I get pissed off! This woman nearly killed this child. It’s not just a matter of, “Oh, that’s not safe, some day the kid might get hurt,” the kid DID GET HURT AND NEARLY DIED.
Exactly. And for those who think people learn after someone gets hurt, nope, someone got hurt and still, no one learned a thing.
Yeah, this kind of thing literally makes my stomach HURT.
How can you fit so much DUMB into one person, as a coworker used to say…..
SEPTEMBER 21, 2009, FORT WORTH, TEXAS – American mustang Rembrandt and trainer Wylene Wilson of Queen Creek, Ariz., delivered a picture perfect performance to capture the hearts of fans, $5,000, and the 2009 Extreme Mustang Makeover Legend division championship September 20 in Fort Worth, Tex. Rembrandt and Wilson’s victory was made sweeter still by the fact that Wilson’s daughter was in the crowd, fully recovered from a serious head injury that occurred the same day they got Rembrandt.
“It’s still so surreal that we won, she’s okay and she got to see it,” said Wilson. “I didn’t even have a routine planned, but I wanted to bring that element of horsemanship to my performance; so, I just went out there and rode.”
…and a million bucks says that that poor kid will be back up riding sans helmet in no time.
Holy crap. I thought you were kidding, but I googled that and it really happened.
What. The. Flying. Fuck?! What has to happen for this crazy woman to realize that her child is going to DIE or be disabled for life if she keeps letting her flop around the ring like that?
I taught children’s lessons for a summer in exchange for board for my horse when I was 17–bad idea, bad barn, bad head instructor for letting a minor teach–and I did a better job than that! None of “my” kids got to use stirrups until they were comfortable sitting with good posture at the walk without stirrups, doing windmill arms, touching their (helmeted) heads, reaching back, reaching forward, etc. All of them learned centering and a gentle stop with seat first, then voice, then soft hands before they ever trotted. And guess what, the whole summer I taught beginner small children’s lessons, not a single kid came off, even though they were mostly riding horses a sight less patient than the lovely fellow in this video! No injuries, no scared riders, no falls, not even a little crowhop landing a kid on the horse’s neck. Every brand new beginner kid I worked with was walking and trotting safely with and without stirrups, both sitting and posting, by the end of the summer. A couple with extra good seats and hands were cantering on a longe line.
I’m not into english, but aren’t those reins a bit to short for the girl? It looks like the only time the horse can get a release is when she is leaning forward, which she appears to do often, purposefully or not.
And in the training video, I don’t personally see what she’s doing wrong, seeing as how it’s only showing clips of the horses acting up. She also releases pressure when they do right.
I’m not saying I approve of what she’s doing, The mother is an idiot and the girl is going to suffer for it, but not everything is wrong.
The reins may seem too short because she is balancing on them — using them to stay on the horse’s back. That’s my impression, anyway. She is just using them as hanging straps (like the subway).
My issue with that training style is that it basically feeds off the idea that you push the horse over the edge repeatedly, until it’s too tired or too stressed to do more than stand there. Sure, she praises the horse, but she already scared the heck out of it, spooked it, and pushed it over the edge.
You end up with a horse that is well versed in ‘going nuts’. So what if you are teaching it that standing still will get a pat? The horse still has learned that if something scary happens, it knows JUST how to jump/buck/spin in reaction.
How much better to take things a little more slowly, read your horse’s body language, and gradually build a training foundation based upon the horse’s willingness to stop and think a minute before panicking?
It’s the main reason I object to colt starting clinics. Even the BETTER people who do them still use “flooding” as a tactic and I just don’t agree with that. I think it’s crap. I think tying up a leg is crap. I think laying a horse down is crap. There are a lot of people that I think need their flag shoved where the sun don’t shine, the way they continually harass a horse with it.
Geeeesh, I can´t believe it!!! One of the problems is that parents sometimes are sooooo proud of their little darlings that they don´t see how dangerous it is!!! They want to show how gifted their little angels are and don´t seem to care for the safety.
Of course, there are tons of parents who do the right thing!
Personally, I feel that some Americans (like suggested in the letter from the 4H Club) seem to feel that wearing a helmet restricts them in their freedom to choose. I think in Europe it is MUCH more common to wear helmets and safety vests (no matter if you´re a child or an adult). I don´t know if this is true or just my impression..
You *cannot* show w/o a helmet, it´s a firm rule!! You are not allowed to take riding lessons w/o wearing ahelmet, they are usually signs posted at the stables. No stable will let you ride w/o a helmet, because you can be sued for not taking the neccessary precautions.
I can´t believe there are shows for little children who don´t have to wear helmets! :-0
It should be a sure thing that your child wears a helmet, but if people behave so stupid, maybe rules are needed after all…
It’s pretty much a Western/Stock Horse mentality to go helmetless. Oh, and Saddleseat – the Saddlebreds, Tennessee Walkers, park horses, Arabs…
Folks do hunters, jumpers or dressage are FAR more likely to wear protective gear, though vests are still uncommon in my area.
Wow. I`m speechless. How could anyone with a little common sense left even THINK about putting such a small girl on such a tall horse without ANY kind of protection at all – no parent to lead the horse, no proper saddle, no helmet, no west…
There`s only one occasion where I don`t wear a helmet (= at horse shows in the arena during competition – there I wear a helmet only in the warm up arena), but on any other occasions I even wear a west:
Does that make me a sissy ?
Well, since you asked…if you feel that a helmet is warranted during warmup, how is a competition (you didn’t say what kind…) so much safer that you don’t need one?
Some judges in some fields will mark down for helmets. And the NCHA doesn’t allow them, including the warmup ring, which pisses me off.
I’m honestly shocked! How can they mark you down for, much less actually prohibit, normal everyday safety equipment?? That is like saying you have to ride in sneakers with the stirrups jammed “home.” If anything bad happens, it will automatically be much worse.
What does NCHA stand for? Whatever it is, they would not get my money — I don’t even know what it is and I am indignant about their interfering with my safety on a horse. LOL.
But not really. I’ve had my own experience of unforeseeable-accident-at-a-walk where my hard hat took the impact and not my head. I even wear it grooming most of the time (because it’s easier than trying to remember where it is and then having to do something with the horse while I get it, also cleaner than some places I could keep it handy) — when is your head closer to a hoof than when you are grooming?
Finally, I guess it depends on where you are. When I was growing up and into my 20s, wearing a hard hat meant you were rode with a hunt or were otherwise jumping — it was cool to wear one, a sign of accomplishment.
National cutting horse association?
That doesn’t surprise me, since I was looking at rules the other day and seems like most rodeo sports require a cowboy hat to be worn at all times. They are very protective of their “Western lifestyle,” which I guess means, “We would rather die than let outsiders tell us we’re dumb, even if we are dumb.”
Interesting note– I have had two ‘hoof to head’ incidents in my life, both requiring staples and the inevitable wake up every two hours to be sure you still know who you are.
Both accidents occurred on the ground. Helmets aren’t just for riders. In fact I personally am more concerned about injuries while kids are on the ground than when they are riding.
It doesn’t allow them? That’s mind boggling, in today’s world.
@taliesin: well, I show on a small western show circuit here in Germany. The warm-up arenas are usually incredibly crowded and since there are almost always a few riders, who obviously never have been taught proper behaviour in a warm-up arena…well, let`s just say that even a patient horse like mine might get tempted to misbehave because of these people and I don`t want to take the risk of getting bucked off or something like that. In the classes I attend (Trail, Pleasure, Horsemanship) the general behaviour is much more civilized, so I feel safe enough to switch the helmet for a hat there. My association encourages people to wear helmets, nevertheless very few people wear them – in fear of being marked down, I suppose. For riders who are 18 years and under, a helmet has just recently become mandatory due to a new association rule, but there are many people who protested against this rule.
Do you really?
If you ever see a mare called Bavarian Linkage, that is the one foal I ever bred.
I know she has shown a lot over there. She has AQHA points in Germany. I sold her dam, pregnant with her and they are both there.
I just googled “Bavarian Linkage”. She was shown by a youth rider on a circuit in southern Germany (I live in Northern Germany). I show my grade horse on the lowest level my association offers (LK5)- your mare was shown on the highest level (LK1) and did VERY well there. Sadly, I couldn`t find any show results after 2007, so she`s very much likely a fat and happy broodmare now. I would have loved to see her in the show ring !
Yeah, she is 19 now and the last pics I got, a few years ago, she was hog fat and mirror shiny. So was her dam, who they retired from breeding after she lost twins and now is just a wonderful riding horse.
I cannot complain a bit. I sold a pregnant mare to strangers from Germany and got a fabulous, fabulous lifetime home for her.
That’s….just unbelievable. I haven’t ridden since I was a teenager (health reasons) and the way we were taught I’m sure would be criticised by many on here (stirrups from day 1, no longeing, trotting and posting on the second lesson – but all taught WELL and although I haven’t ridden in ten years I’m sure I could still get it right today; and despite that, no horse ridden in anything harsher than a plain snaffle, no spurs for anyone bar the most experienced riders, and all horses well fed, well cared for, happy and healthy) but the one absolutely inviolable rule was – you’re under 18, you’re wearing a helmet. No helmet, no horse, we don’t care what your parents say. None of us kids ever questioned it
That horse is a saint, and I have a cousin who would not be with us today had she not been wearing a helmet on the day her horse reared and chucked her into a concrete beam. She was laid up for months as it was with severe concussion.
1) Re: helmets – Just ask Courtney King Dye if she plans to wear a helmet and/or put one on her kids in the future (provided she’ll be able to have them – yes, she’s conscious now and capable of interaction, but her whole right side doesn’t work). I would SO SO SO love it if she’d start a “wear a helmet” campaign that could be publicized in every equestrian discipline and venue, because she’s a well-known and attractive person who people MIGHT actually listen to. Did you know the FEI just came out with a “recommendation” that dressage riders wear a helmet while training and warming-up? Gee, ya think this had anything to do with CKD’s wreck? I wonder if anyone will listen to the good ‘ole FEI, they of the recent ambivalent “anti-Rolkur” ruling.
I myself can barely stand to see anyone on an equine now, no matter what their age, without headgear. I went to observe an Arab show this weekend and there was a trainer (30-ish) working a horse saddleseat in the warmup. HOT horse (which is of course how they want them for that discipline), head cranked to its chest with a bewildering variety of leather lines and rings (from what I could see, draw reins+martingale+some weird over-the-neck strap with rings through which reins ran), rocketing around the ring in a barely-controlled, snorting canter. No helmet, of course. Horse looked like it was DYING to bolt/flip/fling itself sideways. NFW would I get on something like that without headgear. Another “accident” waiting to happen?!
2) Speaking of martingales, thank you Alliecat04 for pointing out that hardly anybody uses them anymore. I had failed to notice that but you are absolutely right – everybody I rode wore one back in the 70′s/80′s. Wonder why they’re out of fashion now? (Let’s face it, 3/4 of everything in the hunter world is driven by “fashion.”)
3) Wylene Wilson is officially one of the World’s Worst Mothers in my book. Those videos are just sickening. And now I read the kid got kicked in the FACE last summer and they thought she’d have brain damage and lose an eye? I assume these videos were made before that accident, and I wonder if the little sack o’potatoes is wearing headgear NOW. Probably not. After all, Mommy makes her living from her f’ing “Wild West Horsemanshit,” bucking the snot out of the rankest creature she can find so all can enjoy her blonde hair flying in the breeze (don’t tell me her looks have nothing to do with her success). Oh, by the way, WW’s bio mentions her daughter “has been riding competively since age 3.” Super. Since in the video she’s about 6, we can all safely assume her equitation (koff, koff) was even better back then. What do you want to bet she was strapped to a barrel horse and sent zooming around an arena? HOW KYYYYYOOOOOOOOT!
The over the neck strap thing is a training martingale. It works the same as a running martingale, but just looks different.
One of the many reasons I won’t let my daughter see Flicka or the Hannah Montana movie is that those girls, who COULD be awesome role models for horse crazy tweens across the land, aren’t wearing helmets – presumably so that we can see their perfect hair wafting in slo-mo in the fake wind.
It would be great if C K-D launched a high profile helmet campaign.
Don’t hold your breath.
UGH…. sounds like Miss Wylene (sounds like a Tanya Tucker song) is an unrepentant egomaniac who will use her daughter as a shill to further her career.
I’m so DONE with all that ATTITUDE.
The FIRST thing my 9 year old said as she watched the Hannah Montana movie was, “Mom! I can’t believe she’s trying to get on that horse without a helmet on or a bridle on that horse! That’s sooooo dangerous!”
I chuckle over this, although she’s right: A few years ago when we were watching “The Black Stallion” my now 15 year old (she was maybe 6, 7 or 8 then I think) turned to me and asked, “WHY doesn’t that naked boy have a helmet on?” I told her because the story was a fictional story and most folks who are shipwrecked with a wild stallion don’t always have the luxury of having a helmet shipwrecked with them too. She then countered with, “Why not? Tom Hanks had a bunch of stuff with him in his shipwreck movie!” I laughed til I cried.
I guess it’s sunk into my kid’s heads that helmets are a must when riding….
I haven’t had a chance to see the video, but I did check out Wylene’s website. Maybe she looked better in person Fugly, but there are so many pictures of her on that site hunched over with heels up that I would never say I admire her horsemanship.
The pictures people post on their websites are generally their best pictures so I’d hate to see the ones that didn’t make the cut.
Well, I just saw her at the ECR and I will say, she rode well in that. But that is basically a speed class, so it’s not like you’re equitating. She was better than most – some of them should NOT have been jumping, poor ponies.
LOL, I rolled my eyes at some of those photos. Wylene is clearly in love with HERSELF !, LOL
Who in their right mind would post photos on their webiste of a horse being layed down and trying to franticly climb out of the ground pen to escape the brutality of the wrap that aways him ! Poor horse !!
When I tried to access it …. I found that it has now been made private.
Must have been a little embarrassed by the attention…….probably better I didn’t see it anyway!
Rats… I went to all the trouble of creating a YouTube account to be able to see the video… only to get the notice saying that the video has been made private. Pooey.
Oh well… it’s probably better I don’t see it. This stuff makes me so mad
Earlier this year a lady at my barn brought out her daughter who is the same age as my son (2-1/2), put her up on the horse as she was leading him in from the paddock– bareback, no helmet… horse spooked, girl fell off, complained repeatedly that her arm hurt and the mother discovered several hours later that the arm was broken. I have had a tough time talking to this lady ever since… it could so easily have been avoided. My little guy has sat on the back of an ancient 11hh pony ONCE while I was holding him– that’s it. And that’ll BE it for another couple of years, until he has the upper-body strength to hold himself still… then we advance to leadline. Paranoid? Maybe. But I like having my little guy all in one piece 
“Yanking on the horse’s mouth” is correct. She layed down a friends horse and it was very violent ! The gelding even came home with a blown hock and lame due to Ms Wilson’s brutality with her training methods. Nobody in these parts will let her touch their horses. It’s hard when you get your horse back from training with her because you have to ride so brutal to keep them afraid of thier rider. I heard that she doesn’t even train her own Extreme Mustang Makeover horses. She farms them out to other trainers to soft them up because she doesn’t have the patience for it. Sooner or later the truth always comes out. Here’s a vid of her laying a horse down. Notice how the horse struggles and falls to it’s knees repeatedly !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM45SFKK4Zs
I couldn’t even watch the whole thing. That made me literally sick to my stomach, along with the fact that it was posted by a horse owner who let Wylene lay her horse down. A flooded animal that has become petrified with fear is NOT a docile animal.
I’ve seen a horse laid down the right way–and it was a horse who had very few options left in life, an orphan colt who grew up wanting to climb on humans and roughhouse with them with hooves and teeth and thought a smack or a scolding was just an invitation to play harder. I don’t think laying a horse down should ever be a first or anything but a last resort, but the old cowboy who laid this young gelding down did it quietly and gently. He laid down because he was tired of standing on three legs, not because he’d been thrown to the ground repeatedly and tripped up with ropes. It did help him and made him safe to handle in the immediate term, but it was not a cure-all. The cure-all was a new owner who worked with a trainer regularly, enforced the same rules every day, and understood he was not a horse that could be hand fed or allowed to nibble “gently” at your clothing. Consistency does wonders.
You know, most prey animals will “relax” when immobilized in a threatening situation. A rabbit caught by a dog will go limp in the dog’s mouth too. That doesn’t mean the rabbit has suddenly become cool with the idea of being eaten by a dog.
The comments on this video are horrifyingly instructive. “I had a horse I used to have to rope to catch and now that it’s been laid down it’s a fine 4-year-old lesson horse!” So… wonder how many things the dumb husband can find wrong with THAT picture?
Not a fan of this method. A tough horse can benefit from having a leg tied up for a few minutes, but even that is only for the experts and only for extreme cases. Actually I have always learned that you NEVER release the leg if the horse lays down because from that point forward you will have a horse that flops on the ground whenever they have a problem with training.
Oh well, that’s not so bad! I mean, I wouldn’t allow anyone to do it to a horse that I actually valued. But you know… if it was a worthless piece of crap whose knees didn’t matter, whose loss would be no big deal… then sure! Why not just tie up its legs and scare the hell out of it until it goes into shock and gives up!!! It’s so very clever!!!!
~Sarcasm IS present~
Wow, I love her comment– Well, it might look violent if you don’t know anything about horses or training. Yea, well, guess what? I do train, have trained, spent a fair number of years training. You’re off your rocker if you think this is anything but violent. Yes, it’s an old standby that trainers used years ago. Back then, they could pick up 20 horses for a buck a piece, and if they killed or maimed 10, it was no big deal.
Did anyone else notice that, in the beginning, the horse had the one leg tied up…but by the end it had actually got its other front leg hooked up!
So not only is it being chased around by a nutter one three legs, at the end its got no front end at all! Its rearing trying to get its legs free to support itself. The poor thing is flying chest first into the ground with absolutly no way of helping itself soften the fall!
Nope, the method is this: You tie up one front leg, then you attach a rope to the other front leg. You either run the rope up through a rig, or just run it over the horse’s back. As soon as the horse takes a hop forward with its one good usable leg (the one with the rope attached), you pull hard. Since the horse has bent its knee to take that hop forward, it takes a minimal amount of strength to keep its leg bent. So I don’t know when the polite term ‘laid down’ came into vogue, but what you are doing is tripping and throwing the horse.
You just can’t safely tie both front feet up at the same time, so you tie up one leg, and pull the other one up as soon as the horse takes a leap forward.
I know how to do it. I just think it’s crap and stupid.
A few years ago Wylene was issued a BLM mustang to train in the extreme mustang challenge. He was a lovely looking horse. She named him Mojo. I loved the look of him so much that I looked up some videos of her training him.
I was stunned with what I saw! She was jumping him over huge rock boulders and from boulder to boulder, down hill. I watched with horror has his body was seriously jarred as he landed on rock after rock after rock. I FOUND OUT MOJO WAS JUST TWO YEARS OLD! WITH FURTHER RESEARCH I DISCOVERED HE HAD BEEN PULLED FROM THE COMPETITION BECAUSE HE HAD WOBBLES!
There’s no doubt in my mind that he got Wobbler syndrome from the punishment and trauma Wylene put his young growing body through. Wylene must have thought so as well because those videos of her abusing young Mojo were quickly made private. I would guess the BLM put Mojo down after his stay with Wylene.
This is what is left of the Mojo extreme abuse videos;
Wylene & Mojo
Mojo is Wylene’s 2 yr gelding Extreme Mustang Makeover Challange horse. Recently Mojo was diagnosed with wobbles and the two of them will no longer be compet…
URL : http://youtube.com/watch?v=AndTGeO6nwU
Embed :
tags: : Wylene, Wilson, Mustang, Heritage, Foundation, Mojo,I
This is OT, but it made me think of awhile back when you wrote about a woman who played Farmville all day while her horses starved. This is like that, but in my opinion, even worse. I don’t think I will ever understand people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2OilyhheNM
I was googling her to see what else I could find out and ran across this:
“Rembrandt and trainer Wylene Wilson of Queen Creek, Ariz., delivered a picture perfect performance to capture the hearts of fans, $5,000, and the 2009 Extreme Mustang Makeover Legend division championship. Rembrandt and Wilson’s victory was made sweeter still by the fact that Wilson’s daughter was in the crowd, fully recovered from a serious head injury that occurred the same day they got Rembrandt. ”
I couldn’t find what caused the head injury but I can sure guess!!!!
Kick in the head – already commented on.
Check out the video of the Extreme cowboy challenge she won, the Craig Cameron thing……guess she forgot she is a mother with responsibilities. Even Craig is surprised at the crazy speed…the topper is her riding full speed into the trailer, grabbing the roof which pulls her off then she flies out running to the finish line. Yeah, she beat the guys….yahoo. I wonder if she ever looked at that video and how close her head comes to that trailer. I hope she is making lots of $$$ because sooner or later she is going to need 24 hour care…that’s what happens when you break your neck.
We had Craig do a clinic a few years back, he wanted everything to be ‘fun’, lots of speed is his idea of fun. The guy is really wired, he rode my horse into a sweat ball and it took the rest of the day to get him settled down. I think if I can remember that far back I used to like the hot-rod riding style….then I grew up.
Huh? Is there a link to that? I didn’t see that in any of her videos xD
This one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJlzVpDEhwo
I did a video Google search for Wylene Wilson Extreme Cowboy Challenge.
The end part IS crazy. Rides horse into trailer at full speed and grabs the top of the trailer and swings off it. Head BARELY misses getting nailed.
Haven’t seen it… but…. WHO rides a horse INTO A TRAILER!!???!??!?!? WHO Thinks this crap up????
WTF kind of silliness is that? I always thought of ECR as a kind of high-impact trail class, but I guess I was wrong….
Just saw an ad in the Colorado Horse Park Magazine for Parker Adventist Hospital. They claim horse related injuries are the 2nd most common injuries treated in the ER. They also include a large page of how to recognize traumatic brain injury. I wonder how many could have been prevented with proper head gear. The hospital also give out FREE equestrian helmets. I wonder how many other hospitals offer this service, like the police handing out bike helmets to kids. So if you live in Douglas County, CO and need a helmet you might check that out.
Argh! Cute little Western kids without helmets! I used to live and ride in MT. The sweetest family in the world let me ride their horses to keep them in shape. Their 8 year old daughter had a bomb-proof old QH to learn on, and boy did he take care of her. She took lessons from a good trainer. She never wore a helmet. None of the kids I saw at the schooling shows did for any western event.
The family also had a Paint mare who was young, and a little more spirited. Daughter was riding her (and so was I), but she always rode her in the presence of the trainer.
I moved on, and caught up with Mom a few years later. Turns out the lovely, yet spirited, mare had reared with her young rider, smacking her head into the kids’. Kid ended up missing about 2 years of high school to recover, and will be plagued with migranes for the rest of her life. She’s lucky it wasn’t worse, but seriously? Just put on a helmet already!
Helmets are such a vital piece of equipment and I always shudder to see little kids riding without them. Thankfully in Australia pretty much all competitions here require the use of a standards meeting helmet.
I was brought up riding horses (A 12hh wonderful australian pony with a correctly fitting pony saddle) and I can tell you theres not a single time I got to sit on that pony without wearing a helmet. My mother was not the best of riders but she had the sense to teach me that very important basic.
Later on in life even though I no longer have someone nagging in the background I will still wear a helmet each time I get on a horse.. feel naked without one. For a few years I worked at a horse stud dealing with stallions and young horses… That helmet rule changed to wearing one if I was just AROUND the horses. Paranoid? probably. But that saved my life when leading a brood mare from a large paddock.. she spun about while I was calling for help to deal with the gate, double barrelled me in the face and if not for my helmet probably would have clear wiped off the top half of my skull. Still didn’t turn out very nice.. But I’m alive and well and thats what matters.
I’ll take wearing a funny looking icecream container on my head any day instead of dying, or ending up a vegetable with brain damage.
For those that missed the videos, there is still plenty to see on her Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/sugarponi
And speaking of falls, I thought Prince Harry falling off his polo pony was hilarious! He just kinda came off for no good reason! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q5hatfso8k (skip ahead to :23)
You know, I was watching it and I think he got fouled. I think the other guy turned his horse’s head right into him and knocked him off balance and then he just bounced off the horse. I think he got whacked with the head and that put him too far forward to save himself.
The legal play the guy had was to bump him shoulder to shoulder but you have to do that with the ponies right together, next to each other, for it to be legal. You can’t t-bone people.
It was a lovely nice fall. No ripping the horse’s face, he landed and rolled through it– well done, I thought.
I agree! And I really do not believe it was his fault.
Well, I defer to your expert opinion on polo, since I can’t tell what the heck is going on half the time. But he doesn’t look like he’s got a very confident seat.
My friend is taking polo lessons, and somebody t-boned her, nearly knocking her off her horse. The instructor ripped the other player a new one!
We are going through the euthanize or not dilemma with a horse very similar to what you described in your post. We have a beautiful,talented, more or less sound (bad feet, but managable with corrective shoeing etc) Tb who is crazy. We got him off track, have put 7 years of work into him and he is still crazy. Absolutely dangerous to ride, completely unpredictable, he goes off for no reason and has a buck that is insane. Can be fine for months. Has been to several good, reliable pro’s, vetted, chiro’d, massaged, etc. We have done everything. He hates being on grass (very sensitive to bugs) and is to difficult for most people to turn in and out. He loves to run at you and then explode kicking the air by your head (so far he’s had good aim and not killed anyone -yet) so a companion home is out of the question. Right now he is living life in a paddock, only handled by me for basic care. He doesnt go out in the field as he is almost impossible to bring back in safely. He is hard to handle for farriers, vet etc. There is no reason he can’t keep on as he is for years, but it’s not much of a life. I have to pay board and financially it’s a strain for us. Local rescues won’t take him as they consider him unadoptable and not a retrainable prospect. So what to do with him….. Don’t get me wrong. I love this horse, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have given him all these years of love and care. I won’t sell him as I know where he would end up and it’s not a nice place, and ethically I don’t feel I should sell on a dangerous horse.
See, that to me is a classic example of a horse that is ok to euth for behavior. You are correct – it would NOT be responsible to pass him along. He isn’t going to work as a companion. For whatever reason, the horse is fried. You have tried for a long time and he is not a happy horse. You would not be doing something wrong if you euthed him, not at all.
I agree 100% with Cathy. The harsh reality is that there are a lot of really nice, sweet, loving horses who need a home. You would be better off spending your money helping out one of those horses. I’ve known horses who were just flat nasty, exactly as you described. You honestly can’t sell a horse like that without feeling culpable if the horse attacks someone down the road. Euthing would provide relief to your wallet, and better safety for people and other horses.
Ack! This was painful to watch and am glad the video is gone now. I never go without a helmet, ever, now that I’m all grown up and know better. I once dismissed a trainer partly because of her cavalier attitude about wearing a helmet, and I don’t regret it because I heard some negative stuff about her later that confirmed it.
I fell on my head off my 16 hh crazy gelding w/o a helmet when I was a teenager, in case any of you are wondering what is wrong with me.
This is not a great mom, and I hope that cute little daughter, who should get props for her confidence, gets some good direction outside of the family.
Another crazy, abusive “trainer” being cheered on by stupid rednecks. The daughter is a tiny clone of the mother, they ride the same way, flopping all over, beating on the horse with their hands and feet. Can you imagine seeing her do that to your baby?
And what is up with all the wierd dancing???? She also looks like a very big woman. Yuck. Makes me sick and kind of ashamed to watch her. We are kind of used to crazy male trainers, but something really has to be wired wrong when a woman acts this way. Poor poor child. Her mother will end up killing her. I hope people get a clue and out her for what she is, horse and child abuser.
I have an old helmet with a hoof dent in it, came off over a fence. After I show that to mom’s, the kids invariably wear helmets.
As I tell my kids, you brain is your most important asset. Protect it. We have rules – if it moves (wheels, hooves, whatever) you aren’t on it without an appropriate helmet. Period.
That’s a great rule, madchickenlittle!
When it was decided friends of ours’ 8 year old daughter would come stay with us for 2 weeks and that she would ride my pony, the first thing that we did (hubby happily drove wll the way from the big city to the tack store with us) was to go get her Christmas present: a shiny new helmet, and she got to pick out the color. I didn’t have one bit of a fuss about her having to wear it, either. It was kind of like “her” riding gear, so she felt like she belonged!
I watched the video of this lady downing a horse. It seems to me like it’s in utter contradiction with what she says all over her web site:
“A safe, smart, and confident horse and rider team is built upon trust, respect and clear communication.”
I try not to be judgmental, because I hate that, but I couldn’t watch all the way to the end. I know that this is one of those old cowboy methods that some people use, but people, come on, you don’t need a cow pony for tomorrow’s drive, so take the time and build up your horse’s confidence. There IS another way. In fact, there are many other ways. *sigh* I hate that so many people want results NOW NOW NOW. What ever happened to taking the time and doing things the right way, without gadgets and injuries to the horse?
Woah… everyone, check this out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBKRJyFeepU
I’m certain that could have been tragic. But damn, it is funny.
This reminds me of the photo of the yearling Paint colt with absolutely no gear on it (no saddle, bridle, halter, NOTHING!) and a child about 3 years old sitting on its back with no helmet, shoes or anything. No-one had absolutely any control of that YEARLING colt and the closest person to them was the person standing back holding the camera.
This stud paid good money to advertise in the Stallions at Stud magazine (Australian magazine) using that photo :S
Nothing like not only being an idiot but wanting to make sure EVERYBODY sees it!
As I’ve noted before, let’s look at that whole set-up … every single time someone does that, they’re using their KID as a prop to sell a horse or sell stud fees. To get money, they are willing to endanger their child. Wow, way to put your child before yourself…
, “but something really has to be wired wrong when a woman acts this way”–BINGO Queenofchords maybe from some kind of head trauma in her youth? Parents especially moms without a sense of nuture or protection for their children are abmormal.
It is just the sheer aggressive behavior Wylene has toward the horses. Some down right violent and brutal.
If she has achieved some level of popularity, it is probably because people love to watch a wreck and they are waiting for her’s to happen. Its like NASCAR watching cars go in a circle is boaring after a while, but listen to the crowd when they crash. If Wylene did the slow easy method of starting colts, who would watch that?
Watch the Extreme Cowboy video. She runs the poor horse half to death, then high speed into a trailer while she grabs the edge and comes off the horse. No regard for the safety of the horse flying into the trailer. Next we will see this crazy in the running of the bulls.
Regardless, it will catch up to her, just a matter of time before she takes herself out of the gene pool.
BTW we call people who don’t wear helmets “organ donors”.
Do you think that she just has no regard for her child? The orchestrated event in Texas, where her daughter ran out to her in the middle of the arena, before she won, was a little over the top for me. She has an eight year old around wild mustangs? What mother in their right mind would do that? I just hope that Wylene comes to her senses before it is too late.
She is no mother in my eyes.
LOL , when I saw the vid I didn’t think her riding won the competition, but the story they told about her daugher won it ! and then her running to her mother at the end of her ride, lol that was the clincher for the win ! I know her and believe me she IS her own biggest fan !
You KNOW HER? I am going to do my best to make sure that everyone that I know in Texas is aware that she is a RANK mother and a poor trainer. People wont let her touch their horses where she is from, so she has to start moving into our territory. She may be have a good seat, but the blonde hair doesn’t hide the fact that she obviously has no regard for animals or her child. I am on a mission!
You guys suck. I’ve got no internet access for a couple days I check in yesterday and there’s all this stuff about some trainwreck video and of course it’s been yanked…. Fugly, the next time you post a video link can you tell everyone we’re playing that game our parents used to play with us to see who can not say anything the longest so we can all see the videos and make fun of it *here* before it’s gone. PS for everyone saying her heels aren’t down etc, I wish I could stick to a horse like that.
Go to youtube and put Wylene Wilson in the search box. You’ll find examples of her riding, in abundance. Her website is still up, too…. there you can see amazing documentation of horses galloping along while she holds a tarp in one hand… horses standing stock still while she performs some of yoga’s more challenging standing balancing postures on the horse’s back (to show off her own level of flexibility?) For all we know, though, those same horses who can run with a tarp and stand with a beauty queen might be freaked out beyond all self- or rider- control at the sight of a young armadillo popping up out of the underbrush, then scurrying away… or a quail…or a wild hog rummaging around just out of view… or a helicopter passing low enough to take photos for GoogleEarth… Tarps are pretty tame, actually.
I’ve been perusing her video collection (did you see the one in her favorites for bareback bikini barrel racing-a new low for women everywhere) but so bummed to miss the crazy suicide kid run. Definitely lots o’ gimmicks in there but the chicks got a velcro seat
She’s got legs two miles long which DOES help, but yeah – she’s got velcro butt.
Does anyone remember the mother who lost a daughter, a very young one, when the horse flipped on her? She defended her reason she didn’t make the girl wear a helmet? Had a blog or website?
Yes. I know that was on this blog…it was a story where the girl was six and riding the horse she rode all the time, but the mom had a feeling the horse was in a weird mood, but ignored it, and the horse flipped on the kid. I think it was on pavement at the time, too.
Sadly, I didn’t get to see the video before it was removed.
However, I did find this http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:xwyGM0hpuAEJ:www.wylenewilson.com/files/20090924_Wylene%2520Wilson%2520wins%2520the%2520Mustang%2520Makeover.pdf+wylene+wilson+daughter+video&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjUf5dxl4YQkX2nwfyRSFj3ImKEMcUqrG97gYr4EFmmfvPfUdqglDtDQGWjFcUy0nzyonMsnGXEzmaHrMpjL6_H8elHN_ksKGkhRJXGq2UMRJ79_brW-yeYos4THREgod8XAZe8&sig=AHIEtbQd5PTAOl10lKeT-BS35dlklNwZ_g .
If your kid survives a KICK to the HEAD and you still don’t put a helmet on, you don’t deserve kids. Period.
Had a girl that I gave lessons to that had a great mare, sweet and would do whatever you asked. The girl used a high port curb, with the corners filed down, and a twisted wire bradoon with a full bridle. I tried to get her to change her bits on the mare, since she really didn’t need that. She wouldn’t because that was what all the trainers used in the ring. I tried to talk to her parents and they said well, that is what a “Trainer” told them to use. The kid hauled on that horses mouth all the time. I tried to explain to the girl how that hurt the horses, she said no it didn’t and the parents agreed. So one day I had enough I had the girl get off, sit down and took the bridle off the horse, I put the bit over the girls foot with the curb under the arch and the cahin over the top of her foot. Told her to do just what she did when she wanted the horse to stop. She did. She broke her foot. She was crying and saying that hurt, I said well you had on a boot and protection the horse doesn’t have that on her mouth. Thought it would make the point, it didn’t. I just couldn’t take her doing that and not listening to me at all so even though I needed the money I told her parents to take her elsewhere. Found out later that she went through 24 instructors in the next year and a half. Some kids and parents just don’t learn.
I would have bought the mare if I could have afforded it. I tend to do that when a horse is being treated wrong, I ususally buy it if I can, then retrain and find it a good home. I used to can’t do that anymore.
Yeah, I have been known to buy them out of crappy homes too – it’s often the most efficient way to fix the situation. How sad for the mare.
HAHA well done…Can’t believe she still didn’t learn…. You gotta hate parents like that, too, don’t know their arse from their elbow, but they stiiiill know better!
It doesn’t matter how safe and/or sane you think a horse is, shit happens.
I’ve been riding for 25 years. I was riding my trainer’s short-stirrup horse 5 months ago through some little gymnastics exercises and the horse spooked at something behind us. The next thing I know, I am waking up on the ground. I ended up with a concussion (with a helmet on!), a shredded hamstring and a compression fracture in my L-3 spine. I haven’t been on a horse since and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back on.
So, yeah, shit happens and the helmet probably saved my brain from being really scrambled. I only wish I could’ve been wearing a safety vest. After this incident, I’m seriously considering one.
I cannot believe the irresponsibility around horses some adults demonstrate to children.
Ran across this interview video and thought I’d share. Boy somebody sure is full of herself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isu0gJqyEcY