Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte
It took us a few years to learn this: you have to be stone-cold all business to board horses without having any issues. People who don't keep their horses on their own property simply aren't committed enough to put in the time/effort/money to take care of them. So you either end up feeding them, cleaning stalls for them, watering them, etc. etc. etc....and you never get paid enough for your trouble.
|
I grew up with horses, and there's nothing i rate higher then a horse. As a kid, all summer was me and my horse, i'de sleep in the grass and Apache ( her name , she was a pinto colored pony, from the states, not mustang though) would often lay down next to me and sleep there... I even had an accident, where Apache got jumped by something while i was close by, and i got kicked in the jaw, double fracture,full memory loss, the works... 1st thing i did when i came out of the hospital weeks later... was get on my horse and ride ... no saddle, no reigns...
That being said, i no longer ride for exactly that reason. I don't have land to keep one around the house. I'de have to put it up in some kind of stable, under care by somebody else. And i've seen to many weekend riders, that go to the place, ride weekly for the first months, then winter comes, hardly ride again, next summer, maybe twice a month... It sickens me to see those , often very nice horses, go to waste. Even my dad at some point after the divorce at the point where i wasn't speaking with him anymore for some other douchebag antics of his, stabled his horse in that place, and i simply went nuts when it turned out they were using Duchesse for bloody novice horse lessons, simply because he had not payed the stable bill... You have to keep in mind, Duchesse was pedigree, one of the best jumping horses in the region, she'de jump 1.8 meter obstacles, military obstacles, wet obstacles , whatever...And a very very sensitive horse. I went nuts when i saw them novices stomp their heels in her sides and yank the reigns simply because they were to green to command a horse of that caliber the right way.
So now i haven't ridden in close to 10 years, because there is no way i will pay a manege to ride worn down mentally numb horses, and there is no way i will buy my own horse to subject it to a stable , where i can't take care of it the way i think a horse should be taken care off. I could in theory buy a horse and build me a small stable in the back, but i know at the moment i have other priorities in life...
Same reason why i don't have a dog, i just can't go walking them every day, i'm single, and i get home late...
maybe this summer i'll ride, might visit my uncle in south of France, In the Camarques, he's good friends with a Manage there, a bull/horse ranch, them folks are like the classic cowboys in the US.. Maybe i can go riding with em for a day... I'll be saddle sore for the next 2 weeks... But it would be worth it... If they let me ..
(Maybe they have an unwed daughter there... now that would solve ALL my problems!)