Naughty things...

[equineartworks]

Oh my goodness you naughty, naughty people! I would NEVER let Dumplin' do anything naughty!

[Doodlebug1]

ohh, i'm so naughty too...

I'm guilty of all the above

AND:
I lead four or five horses in from field to barn at the same time.
I ride one horse and lead another in the dark, on the road
I crawl under my horse
I clean the stall when they are in their stables and untied

I play with the horses in the field and we have races (I could easily get squashed but never do). Clearly I always lose but they love walking with me to a certain point and then I suddenly turn and we all wheel round and run up the field.

Bad, bad, bad. but fun - and don't get me started on the dogs...

[Alexie]

i throw their rugs on when they're eating their food outside in the dark when it's blowing a gale...they're very tolerant

[intothesunset]

So bad. I'm pretty sure the PC never would have taken me in the first place. Too unorthodox.

I will admit that I sometimes walk under my horses when blanketing. Saves time.

I leave my horse standing, tacked up, outside the tack room door while I go in to fetch a whip/spurs/draw reins/other instrument of torture.

I very often ride into the barn before dismounting.

'Happy' bucks are ok. As long as they truly are 'happy'.

The PC would stamp me as a failure.

[MaresNest]

So bad. I'm pretty sure the PC never would have taken me in the first place. Too unorthodox.

I will admit that I sometimes walk under my horses when blanketing. Saves time.

I leave my horse standing, tacked up, outside the tack room door while I go in to fetch a whip/spurs/draw reins/other instrument of torture.

I very often ride into the barn before dismounting.

'Happy' bucks are ok. As long as they truly are 'happy'.

The PC would stamp me as a failure.

Ha, no, you would have just been part of our secret 'renegade Pony Clubber' society. I'm a graduate H-A and am guilty of all the things you listed.

[Janet]

Ha, no, you would have just been part of our secret 'renegade Pony Clubber' society. I'm a graduate H-A and am guilty of all the things you listed.

Me too, and I am a graduate B.

The trick to Pony Club is knowing what to KNOW and what to DO, and they aren't the same.

[Tilly]

Don't worry, I'm a failure too I'm guilty as charged, of all of the above, plus this:

I hand feed my pony, who is a little nippy.
I have ducked under her belly before [I have a harder time now that I'm taller, but I bet I could still do it]
I throw the lead rope over her back when she's handgrazing and go sit down, or lean against the tree, or whatever. Plus [gasp]! it's an unenclosed area.
I groom her loose in her stall, and blanket, and sometimes tack up
I don't always lead her with a rope, sometimes I just grab the chin of her halter.
I let her fidget and walk off while mounting.
I let her rub on me [with bridle on].
I clean my tack as little as possible
I go out to the barn in flip flops and shorts and turn in/out, groom, and lunge
I let her play with me in the roundpen. She's a pretty agressive little thing, so I'm sure it doesn't look very safe. She will run behind you as close as she can get sometimes, it's one of her little games.
If you bend down from the waist and look at her, she'll turn and trot/canter at you, if you straighten quickly she'll spin and buck and run off. Sometimes she'll challenge me a little, one day she ran up to me, reared and struck out. I just hissed at her and clapped my hands, and she went cavorting off in the other direction. Little challenges like this are usually followed by signs of submission, so I'm not too worried

we board, so I can't let her follow me around loose, or half the other fun things I want to do.

Yep, I'm a grade A failure, and should be banned from horses

[HiddenStars826]

Haha I've been in PC since summer and haven't been kicked out, so I think as long as you know when NOT to do things, you're set! I don't see a lot of these things being wrong/bad, but its just not "pony club safe". Pony Club safe is a bit more strict. Then again, watching some games rallies, it makes me wonder!

Just today after sledding down the hill out back I took my horse out and dragged the sled with him. He wasn't a fan for a while, but eventually got over himself. And as soon as he DID get over himself, we have something that is like a scooter only plastic and flat on the bottom (made for snow!) and I hopped on that and rode around the farm road for about 15 minutes, dragging him with me the whole time. This was after our BO took it into the pony paddock (there's a good hill in there) and rode down the hill on it a few times, scaring the crap out of the ponies.
It looks like this: http://www.kidzworld.com/multimedia/105/5069_2.jpg.jpg
Only I got it about 10 years ago so its purple and plastic.

[EventerAJ]

I'm very strict with leading manners... except for my mare. She knows better, and will stay at my shoulder if I ask her to. But I often let her wander. Ever since I started leading her alongside the Gator (hey, it was a loooooong walk to the back field!) she walks reallyreallyfast back to turnout. If I'm also carrying her dinner & hay, I don't want to walk that fast. So I throw the rope over her neck and let her take herself out, I follow along behind. Most of the lane is fenced so she can't get into trouble anyway.

I also let her graze unattended around the barnyard. Usually with a halter/leadrope on; she knows when she steps on the rope and moves her foot instead of panicking.

I leave her stall door open often. She will not cross The Invisible Line. Quite convenient for tacking, stall cleaning, feeding, etc. If one foot even nears the threshold, I can snap my fingers, point, and the foot will be removed.

I ride often without reins (well, knotted on the neck). Usually I tie a hay string around her neck for emergency steering. It's pretty fun, and I've learned a lot from it-- I really *don't* need my hands! We can do lateral work and dressage tests fairly accurately, though not as "round" and polished as with reins.


The silliest thing I ever did with my old horse was years ago in an indoor. Wintertime, bored. Tied a carrot to the end of a lunge whip. Got on bareback with a halter (no rope). Held carrot in front of his nose with the whip, he chased that thing all over the place. It really did work, just like the cartoons...! He did get the carrot, eventually, kept nipping off bites until it wouldn't stay tied.

[BumbleBee]

When the isle are blocked I have been known to take my 17.2 gelding through the tack room to avoid traffic.

I started the habit with my 14.2 pony and well I figured he fits...(barely) why not??

[Mariequi]

CoCo didn't unzip anything, but I would turm my gloves over after riding and she would unvelcro them for me. She would also throw towels or anything else back to me when I'd toss them at her nose. She counted and shook hands and posed too. Smart! I would sit in the pasture and read and she would come lie down next to me. Very gentle about treats and not pushy.

Now, Dublin, also very gentle about treats, but does the occasional search in the pockets. I'm very bad about letting her get too much in my space. She takes sacking out with plastic bags and tarps and umbrellas opening and closing really well. Doubt the USPC would've approved at my putting a tarp between two jumps and filling with water and asking her to go over (unmounted). She went. Another smart mare.

[talkofthetown]

When the isle are blocked I have been known to take my 17.2 gelding through the tack room to avoid traffic.

I started the habit with my 14.2 pony and well I figured he fits...(barely) why not??

:lol;

[Serah]

Totally guilty of riding into or out of the aisle.

Guilty of "playing" with squishy in turnout... I rear, she rears, I rear, she rears.... its quite interesting how well she mimics me.... However there is always a weapon nearby just in case she gets naughty thoughts...


Feed treats by hand.

Lots of face rubbing.


I used to let slewpy "push" me out of the ring if i was dismounted and chatty...

[Simkie]

After I ride, I often let Blush wander around the grooming area of the indoor arena and the aisle of the barn. She goes and rolls in the arena, and then comes into the barn and says hello to all of the other horses. I think it makes her happy

I also leave the gate to her pen just sort of closed while I handle her at night. I put her blanket on, grab her grain bucket and go fill it. She knows to stay in her pen...which has proved useful when the weekend barn staff leaves her gate wide open!

[atr]

I too still blanket loose horses in the dark in the pasture while they are eating...

But, I'm pretty darned watchful about it nowadays. A couple of years ago I woke up face down in the mud with a bad headache, a lot of bruises, and no recollection of what had happened to me. I guess they spooked and ran me down. Not good as I was home alone. I'm glad they were both barefoot at the time.

So do be careful!

[Go Fish]

I let my mare graze around the property with a halter and lead rope on. She hasn't wandered off (yet). I don't do it when the trainer is around...

[amdfarm]

I'm guilty of several of these, as well. For shame!!

I hop on w/out tack in the pasture a lot, sometimes the only chance I get to ride. My old gelding takes me on a w/t/c tour of the pasture w/ his pasturemates in it, and we make a couple of rounds. Every so often he'll stop at the gate like he'd like to go OUTSIDE the pasture, but it's a pain, so I squeeze and we make another round. He's also a head rubber w/ the bridle on. I let him do it as long as he's not obnoxious about it.

Once we were headed out by ourselves for a ride. I keep all of my tack in the house (no barn or shed) so I have to get him, ride him down the hill bareback w/ his halter and rope and I tie him to the picnic table just outside the back door in our patio area. I generally have everything out of the house that I need so I can groom and tack him up w/out leaving him unattended, but I'm forgetful!! I had him saddled and bridled and realized I'd left something (can't remember what! ) I needed in the house. Having not left him unattended like that in all of the 16 years I'd owned him at the time, I didn't know that he'd STAY, but took a chance. He's a good old boy. I wrapped the reins around the horn in case he did wander off, sternly told him to STAY like he's a big dog or something and that I'd be right back. I ran in, grabbed what I needed, locked up and he did exactly what I told him. Didn't move a foot. I was so proud of him, he got a lot of praise for that.

I let him walk off while mounting, too. As soon as my foot is in, off he goes, but not real fast and I could make him stand, but it's kind of our thing and I'm very used to it.

I enjoy just sitting on them while they're eating off the round bales in the pastures, too. They don't even have to move, but bonus if they do.

I walk under them, behind them, hardly use halter or leads to lead them. They all lead w/ twine around their necks if I *need* something. Including my stallion. Or they do that follow the leader thing. Lead one, the rest follow w/ nothing on them. Had to do that w/ five not terribly long ago when they escaped, only I had no halters, ropes or twine. They followed me and the feed scoop. I paint feet and clips legs from all sorts of wrong angles.

My little paint mare likes to steel my hat and gloves. Hat is sometimes still on my head and gloves are not on my hands. But she doesn't take off w/ them, just stands there holding them or flips them a couple of times and then drops it and expects me to pick them up. She knows how to untie other horses that are standing next to her when she's not tied herself, as I guess she feels it's mean that I tied them. But yet she can stand tied for hours w/ or w/out other horses around and leave herself tied and doesn't bother the rope. Never really figured that one out. Don't tie my friends I suppose.

Also ridden bareback w/ a halter or bridle alone in the dark. Moonlight rides are awesome!!

I hand feed treats and they're all very nice about it and it's not a daily thing so no mugging from my group.

After years of cleaning leather DRAFT SIZED harness w/ a gajillion brass buttons and buckles, I HATE cleaning tack, even if it's not loaded w/ brass. And because it's kept in the house it's generally not that bad, maybe because I ride w/out it so often.

[MaresNest]

Also ridden bareback w/ a halter or bridle alone in the dark. Moonlight rides are awesome!!

YES!

[LearnToFly]

I'm really really bad about:
-not fastening the halters (bottom strap is almost always undone)
-not standing with my horse while he grazes; I'll sit on the porch and he'll walk around with his halter and lead rope. When he steps on it, he's really good about not freaking out, and just moving his foot!
-My horse likes to drink water and hold it in his mouth until some unsuspecting person comes and sits down outside his stall, and then he sticks his head over his stall and drenches them. I secretly think this is really funny.
-one time I used the 'my horse colicked' excuse to turn in a paper late

[Mariequi]

Gee, I'm "guilty" of almost all of these. I'm much naughtier than I thought! How nice!