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  • Bullied At School For Being The Horse Freak

    Bullied at school for being the horse freak

    When I was at school, I had a best friend, a ride or die type (we both rode, pun very much intended). We were as close as best friends possibly could be, but within a year we became total strangers. I couldn’t tell you the last time I spoke to her, I don’t think we are even friends on Facebook now.

    We both rode, and had both just come into the world of Affiliated Eventing (BE). I think we were around 13 or 14 at the time. We were obsessed. We’d talk about it constantly through our free periods at school, and go riding, training and competing together most weekend, as well as training on our own every day after school.

    We’d fantasise about our rise to the top of the sport and decided that one of us would win Badminton, while the other won Burghley the same year, so it was fair. Obviously.

    We were good, too! We weren’t just playing around. We genuinely wanted serious careers in Eventing.

    There were mutters about us being weird for being so into horses, but we didn’t care, because we were a team. The mutterers didn’t understand.

    Around this time we both got spotted by the popular crowd. We went to an all girls Catholic school, so the politics were serious business!

    We were invited to parities and days out, all being on the weekend.

    This is where it all started to unravel. My best friend chose to sacrifice her weekends for the popular crowd. I kept my weekends for Eventing.

    From then on, I started to ride more, while my best friend rode less and less. The time we used to spend talking about our goals, was spent with us awkwardly sitting on the edge of the popular circle, listening to them talk about pressing topics such as The Kardashians.

    I spent some time with them on the weekends that I wasn’t Eventing and I genuinely remember going to a party where my best friend turned to me and said, ‘no would would even notice if we just left.’ She was completely right. From then on I turned my back on that circle, but my best friend stayed on the edge.

    Now that I was the only person riding competitively, I had a serious target on my back.

    I had different hobbies from anyone else, I had an actual passion, and that was different, abnormal, making me ‘weird’. I was quickly labelled the ‘horse girl’.

    It’s amazing how being branded the very thing you want to be, by the wrong people, can make you question everything about yourself and your passion.

    I had also managed to royally piss off the popular circle by rejecting them for horses!

    And so the bullying began.

    I was called fat because I had muscular thighs.

    I was called boring because I put my horses first.

    I was forever known as the weird horse girl.

    By the age of 14, I was Eventing at BE100 and doing really well competitively, but I was embarrassed and kept my achievements to myself, afraid of sparking more comments.

    I thought that I was no good at my passion and was ashamed to be proud of myself.

    I remember putting some Eventing photos on my Facebook page, and then I was battered for them when I went back to school the next day, so I stopped posting.

    All of this made me feel as though my ‘little hobby’ was pathetic and that my achievements meant nothing.

    However, this only encouraged me to throw myself in deeper with the horses.

    Although, my self esteem was now in tatters.

    Whenever people would talk about what they wanted to do when they are older, I would dodge the question, and if I was forced to answer it I would often lie.

    In reality (the kind of reality that is bigger than the Catholic all girls school bubble) having a passion, something that you really live for, is SUCH a cool thing! I am so lucky to say that I adore my job, I suspect most of the business men and women in the world wouldn’t be able to say the same. In fact, I reckon the majority of those snotty girls in my year hate their jobs now!

    But, because it was different, and abnormal, it was again just another thing to be bullied for.

    I battled with my thoughts for years (and still do sometimes) about whether I was gifted enough, good enough or special enough for a career in horses.

    The negative self talk in my mind (the voice that said ‘you can’t do it, you’re not good enough’) would get stronger every time a girl at school would make a snobby comment, or scoff at the thought of me following my dreams.

    Unfortunately, during this time I had an instructor who very quickly dismissed me when I said I really do seriously want to be a professional Eventer. I remember him literally laughing at me.

    I didn’t give up, I was severely wounded by the bullying and my coach’s words, but I was more determined to prove everybody wrong than I was worried I would fail, so I limped on, and I kept limping on until I had made my dreams a reality.

    I am on track with the dream that my best friend and I dreamt up all those years ago.

    I wonder how my best friend’s self esteem is now; having been forced by popular peer pressure to give up on her own dream. She did give up horses very quickly after we grew apart.

    This is just my story, and a very rough outline at that. I see similar cases all the time, TALENTED kids that put horses on the back seat to go to more parties.

    The most heartbreaking kind is a girl that I know now, who had a real fire burning to get her to the top of the sport – she was a brilliant rider, too! But the pressure of exams, friends, self doubt, negative comparison to others, and being afraid to break out of the mould, had meant she has given up on her dreams, and is now aiming for a ‘normal’ job instead.

    If you are lucky enough to have a passion, don’t let anyone tell you it is anything less than a beautiful thing.

    Just because you may be different does not make you weird.

    People talk about you? Good, that means you are making a difference! Make them talk!

    What makes you different is what makes you beautiful.

    Stick by your dreams, don’t give up on them. Keep working until you make them happen.

    Hard work beats all else.

    My best friend and I?

    I took over management of my first yard at age 21, and have ridden for a living since I was 18. The goal is still very much Badminton and Burghley.

    She is aiming for an office job, and hasn’t ridden for years.

    Oh, and the trainer who laughed at me? I competed at a higher level than him by the time I was 18.

    EVERYBODY has to start somewhere, EVERYBODY has doubters along the way, EVERYBODY wants to give it all up at some point.

    Don’t let other people control your future! Stay true to YOU.

    Credit https://www.facebook.com/CDBeventing/

  • Jenny The Famous Happy Horse

    If Your feeling down today then may be hearing about the lovely Jenny could perk you up.

    Every morning in Frankfurt, Germany, you might catch a glimpse of Jenny, a horse who goes on a long walk every morning, all by herself. She has been taking the same route every morning for 14 years, ever since her owner, now 79 years old, became unable to ride. She enjoys greeting all of the familiar faces along the way, and she stops and gets treats and pettings from some of her favorite humans. The locals treat her like a celebrity and happily clean up after her.

    A piece of paper is attached to her halter that reads, “My name is Jenny. I didn’t run away, I’m just walking. Thank you.” But the police get calls frequently from people who don’t know about the arrangement. They are very familiar with the horse and the owner, and there have been no incidents in 14 years. A local veterinarian gives her routine checkups and continues to find her to be healthy and showing no anxiety about her unique lifestyle.

    Anyone else tempted to move there just to see jenny every morning?

  • Attention All Road Users-Horses and The Law

    ***Attention ALL road users***

    Imagine this…. You’re driving to work and you’re running a bit late so you take a short cut down a side street or country road. You are going quite fast and you notice a horse and rider up ahead. The road is fairly straight and you can see there are no oncoming vehicles so you only slow down slightly in preparation to pass.

    As you approach the horse suddenly side steps/jumps into the middle of the road, you’re going to fast, you slam on your breaks but it’s not enough, you close your eyes and hope for the best, you hear terrible crashing sounds and breaking glass then….. silence. Are you still alive? Did the horse and rider survive? You have a lot more protection than them and you can feel that you’re injured. Now you’re going to be really late for work, if you even get there. You could lose your driving licence, maybe face jail time for death by dangerous driving.

    A horse is an animal with its own instincts and reactions. A horse is a flight animal that WILL run from anything it perceives as a danger/predator. Horses were our mode of transport long before cars were even imaginable. The horse in the above scenario could have spooked for a number of reasons; a pheasant bursting out of the hedge line, suddenly noticing an animal or farm machinery in a field, a farmer or hunter shooting a rifle, a low flying aircraft, even the sound and vibrations from the car approaching too fast.

    It’s not practical to expect all horse riders to stay off the roads and quite frankly that’s a very selfish and childish attitude to have, after all they were on the roads long before your car/van/motorcycle/truck was. If you encounter a horse and rider while out driving please be cautious and courteous and pass wide and slow when it’s safe to do so. Please also pay attention to the rider and any hand signals they make as they can usually see more than you can. Take a moment while you relax at home to look up a horse riders hand signals and what they are telling/asking other road users to do. Also imagine that it’s your child or a family member on the back of that large, strong animal. It could save a life and that life could be yours.

    ***ADDITION FROM SINNIE KYLIE CURRIE***

    You don’t want a horse stuck in your windscreen repeatedly kicking you in the face either.

    Also By QLD GOV law at least – vehicle drivers must stop at the side of the road and turn off their motor if a horse rider signals that their horse is jumpy or agitated. The horse rider can signal to the driver by raising a hand and pointing to the horse. The driver must not move the vehicle until the noise of the motor, or the movement of the vehicle, won’t aggravate the horse….so I’m guessing it’s still illegal to hit a horse with a car…again in QLD anyway.

    That is for those who don’t care about the animal as they will care about the possible charges, fines and insurance issues.

    Roxy Clark

  • Ban Pony Painting Parties Now

    Pony painting parties are a disturbing trend popping up all over the UK. Imagine being tied up amidst shrieking laughter, unpredictable touching and having strangers smear your hair in paint. This is happening all over the country to horses right now and we need to take a stand and get pony painting parties banned.

    How would you feel about strangers smearing paint on your pet? Is this something we want to encourage in children? If left unchecked, this will only get worse. What will happen when a stressed horse kicks or bites a child? What if there are tragic fatalities? These parties are dangerous to both children and animals – and all just for a bit of money.

    The 2006 Animal Welfare Act says that owners have a positive duty of care towards their animals and a responsibility to prevent the animal from becoming distressed. Animals have ways of communicating distress – horses show stress signs through swishing, flared nostrils, raised tail, sweating and a raised heartbeat. These subtle signals are not obvious  to families/children and could even be ignored by organisers who are prioritising profits.

    Animals do not want to be grabbed at, shrieked at or painted on for human’s enjoyment. Sign my petition to take a stand today to get this unnecessary cruelty banned!

    https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-ban-pony-painting-parties

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  • Do Not Feed Horses Grass Cuttings

    DO NOT FEED HORSES GRASS CUTTINGS!!!

    This is horrendous and we’re all devastated. Our gorgeous, healthy, happy and much-loved family horse Boston has been killed by somebody feeding our horses a pile of grass cuttings last night. He was the best horse in the world and we can’t believe he’s gone.

    The worst part is knowing that this could have been prevented and our lovely Boston could be with us now if he hadn’t been fed accidentally and unknowingly this way. I understand that people who do not have horses will not understand the severity of this but I’m hoping I can reach a few by sharing our story.

    PLEASE DO NOT FEED HORSES GRASS CUTTINGS!!!

    I’ve been asked to expand on the reasoning for not feeding horses cut grass which I thought this was a good idea as I would like to possibly prevent something like this happening again with someone else, if I could:

    Because cut grass is much smaller than grass taken up by horses themselves, a horse eating cut grass wouldn’t chew it and would gorge themselves quickly on it. This would result in saliva not being added to the cut grass and “diluting” it before it reaches the stomach. Cut grass also ferments (which is why it can be warm to touch) and along with the saliva not being added, gives off gases inside the stomach.

    These gases cause the stomach to expand to the point of rupture in severe cases like ours with Boston, killing the horse. If the stomach doesn’t rupture due to not as much grass having been eaten, it would instead cause colic in the horse which is dreadful pain in the abdomen which could then lead to killing the horse later too however colic can be treatable.

    Horses also do not have a “vomit” reflex meaning they can’t take up the harmful substances once eaten. Another point would be if a horse has been given lawn mower cuttings. These cuttings may also have different plants in, other than grass which could lead to the horse eating kinds of plants that are commonly found but that are poisonous to them and would have otherwise been avoided by the horse due to not being able to take back up the substances.

    I hope this post spreads so people can understand how horrific this is. Thank you for reading.

    Credit Alana Lester

  • Horse Racing Should Be Banned?

    Andy McGeever has taken to Facebook to share his disgust and hatred for horse racing and the effects on the poor horses.

    McGeevers said  This is the price they pay. This is Sandsend breaking his left foreleg on the flat in today’s race at Cheltenham. You can clearly see the shoe pointing skyward in this picture. This is the true horror of horse racing. #racedtodeath #youbettheydie

    Six horses died at the Cheltenham festival this year, authority review is promised is this enough?

    The BHA (British horseracing authority)will be reviewing the circumstances leading to the deaths of these innocent harmless creatures at the Cheltenham festival, the BHA says it works with the RSPCA and world horse welfare and is committed to reducing the risk in racing for both horse and jockey.

    Horses are four times more likely to die at Cheltenham than at Hexham it has also been revealed that a staggering 1500 horses died on race courses in the last decade, the prize money at Cheltenham goes into the millions of pounds so jockeys, owners and trainers all want the prestige, which may mean they are pushing thehorses to the limit and unnecessary risks are being taken which result in injuries and in some cases the death of the horse.

    Andy McGeever has created a group to try to ban horseracing.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/ban.horseracing/

    Let us know your thoughts in the comments, if you wish to raise awareness of any topic or have your own story piblished please email us at mumsadviceltd@outlook.com

     

  • Controversial Mum of Eight Plans To Use Benefits To Buy Horse!

    Controversial Mum of Eight Plans To Use Benefits To Buy Horse!

    Credit: Pinterest

    Marie Buchan, who gets £26,000 a year in benefits, will reportedly spend around £3,600 a year on the animal.

    The currently jobless mum of eight, who has previously worked as a stripper, has a budget of £500 to buy the animal and will then spend another £140 having it delivered and £70 a week for stabling and food.

    Marie with her eight children.

    Marie isn’t put off by her haters, saying: “It’s like buying a car, what’s the difference?”

    She told the Daily Star:

    “I want a horse and I’m going to get it. I’ve wanted one for a long, long time – since before I had the kids.  I’m going to ride it. I wouldn’t mind getting a horse that needs breaking in, more as a challenge than anything.  The haters are going to hate, I know they are. But I grew up around horses and now it’s time to have my own.”

     

    What are your thoughts?

    Let us know in the comments.