"Oh I know That"

 8.18.21

Recently I've been hanging w/ folks who don't know much- OR have been told the absolute wrong things. (coming from a supposed "pro" who also has no idea-* see post before this one...)

These folks really need to be educated but don't seem to really care much so long as their horses don't fall over, dead. THEN they freak out.  But- you know?  That's up to them and if they choose to not bother, it's fine with me.

Sadly, that has been my attitude since shutting my horse farm down. I just don't care anymore. Now- I DO care about the horses and if I notice something going badly, I'll mention it to one of them.  I know- it's a piss-poor attitude but after living in Pennsylvania for 20 yrs, and then moving into god knows where " I don't know" Maryland, it has become the norm.

 Now we get to the real reason for this post...  The " I know that" people.  I'm sure more of the seasoned horse folks understand the kind of human I'm speaking of. Those who've never really owed their own equine - having taken some lessons to learn how to not fall off one, or those that have owned one but are still beginners in the world of horses.  These humans seldom learn more than that ' don't fall off" routine unless their " trainer" ( instructor!!!) takes the time to teach them how to actually handle a horse, care for one, and more.

They are online too!  (omgosh- cannot escape the know it alls) In fact, there are thousands of them. The internet is positively loaded. There are pages on social media for ALL kinds of horse things- "My Skinny Horse'  " horse health discussions' and the training ones- I sit here and just smile at all of the wonderful ideas those beginners ( and those who have had horses " all their lives" and STILL are clueless) come up with. The dressage riders, western riders, English pleasure riders- they ALL have their pages. Yes, even those who drive have pages. Trail riders, those who show, those who just love that horse but never actually ride it, and a kazillion more. 

Once or twice I tried to join in on some discussions and was so rudely put down by, yes, beginner know it alls, that I just left the group. They can blissfully carry on as chosen. There was one site where someone had been told to " lay their horse down" Now- how many horse folks have seen the Horse Whisperer movie?   Uh-huh...  I could see utter disaster coming and spoke up. There were many ways to have a horse learn to respect a human and throwing them on the ground was not one. Oh lordy! All hell broke loose then. WHO was I to even offer a thought let alone a qualified answer?? 

Once again, I learned to not ever try to explain things to a know-it-all person in the horse world... Another page is gone. 

Where do people figure it is alright to cut another down and then shred them up to small pieces with what they write???  This has been going on for a very very long time and one would think people would learn to try to get along instead of attacking as they do. I don't know- perhaps there are to many people in this world and anger has become a norm for so many. I got told I was an ass, called other names I won't mention, and basically told to leave that list because I had no idea what I was talking about.

Folks...   I have been a professional trainer of horses and instructor to humans since I was 19. I'm now 69 yrs old. I really think I have learned a few things.  Apparently not according to those folks. I've brought some mighty wicked assed horses back to wanting to trust during my life, and have started so many youngsters I don't remember 3/4 of them. I've become a world champion in the world of Percheron horses and have shown for a long time in the sport of driving. < sigh> Yet, here I was once again, being told I didn't know squat. 

Many many years ago, I learned about staying humble and listening to the Pros when they offered bits of training or just general information. The time I did speak up, thinking I knew what I was saying, it wasn't long until I got sat down and told  " That 'Old Man' as you called him owns two of the highest-ranking reining mares in the country- didn't you KNOW THAT????"  (or something very similar)

                                                                      Holy Moly.