L from Viva Carlos asks: What horse related or equestrian related piece of knowledge did you believe was true for an extended period of time that turned out to not be true?
I have been lucky enough to ride with a lot of trainers in my lifetime so far. Some better than others and I honestly don’t think that any of them have told me anything or even let me believe anything too sideways for very long when it comes to my riding or general horsemanship. I will consider myself lucky in that regard.
I think the worst thing that I was convinced to buy into (literally) was that wool saddles are the only way to go. I was so eager to go along with what trainer at the time encouraged that I hopped right onto the County bandwagon. I can’t stomach adding up how much money I lost in that situation between the “custom” saddles that crippled my horse, vet bills, and fitting fees on top of the loss when trying to sell the pos saddles to purchase something that would work for both me and my horse.
For me personally not only will I now never buy a wool flocked saddle – I think County as a brand/company is the actual devil. I am not saying that all of the reps are bad people because I know that isn’t the case but I had a HORRIBLE experience and will never put one on any of my horses backs again because of it. I understand that not all people feel that way and we all have unique experiences.
Now I try my best to make independent educated decisions and am hyper aware of people trying to encourage me to get on board with things that will benefit them somehow.
What about you? Anything (big or small) that you believed that ended up being untrue or wrong?
That its bad to feed a horse before you ride them 🙂
Hahahaha this is a good one. Will they get a stomach ache if they go swimming 30 minutes after a meal?
Saddle shopping and fitting is pretty much the pits no matter which way you slice it, I think. Those who escape the process without some sort of terrible experience are lucky! Personally I tend to be inclined toward wool flocking vs foam or air panels. But generally I hate the whole process lol
I thought mares were messier than geldings as I had only had geldings and they had their poop spot and were meticulous. I later found out I was just lucky…