03/18/2025
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ
Once upon a time, in a land before TikTok tutorials and matchy-matchy saddle pads, horse people actually knew how to take care of horses. Shocking, I know. Kids like me didnโt just rock up to the yard, hop on, and swan off afterward like some equestrian diva. No, we earned our time in the saddle mucking out stables that smelled like something out of a horror movie, filling haynets that somehow managed to tangle themselves around our legs, and lugging water buckets that felt heavier than our actual bodies.
And Friday nights? That was Pony Club night in Ireland, an unmissable ritual. First, the riding lesson, where we pushed ourselves to perfect our position or attempted (and often failed) to keep our ponies from launching us into orbit over a cross-pole. Then, the real fun stable management. If you thought you were leaving without knowing how to spot colic, wrap a bandage properly, or pick out hooves without losing a finger, you were sorely mistaken.
But now? Stable management is disappearing faster than your horseโs dignity when it spots a plastic bag.
๐
๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ
These days, many young riders donโt spend hours at the yard learning the ins and outs of horse care. They arrive, their pony is miraculously tacked up and ready, they ride for an hour, and off they go probably to post a reel of their perfect canter transition. And look, I get it. Times have changed. Insurance policies have made it harder for kids to hang around stables, and busy modern life means people want things quick and easy.
But hereโs the problem: a horse isnโt an Instagram prop. ๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐ 1,000-๐ฅ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ก๐. And without that old-school, hands-on education, weโre seeing the consequences. Horses suffering from preventable colic, riders unable to recognize when their tack doesnโt fit, people feeding their cob the same as a Thoroughbred and wondering why itโs suddenly the size of a small elephant.
And the worst part? People