Summer horse experience

[DreamDVM]

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Hi y'all,
I'm a forum lurker and a 2015'er (congrats everyone!).

My question is with respect to horse experience. I've actually always been intrigued by horses but I've been limited by time and opportunity. I have all of a fabulous ZERO (other than a pony ride when I was like 6) I'd really like to get some this summer.

I'm not really talking about horse medicine experience... I know I'll get plenty of that in school. What I'd really like to do is, well, learn to actually be around horses. I'd really like to learn to ride a little, maybe.

My question is, how do I go about doing this? I'm 25, I live in a metropolitan area, I know no one with a horse and I don't have endless cash flows. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LetItSnow]

My question is, how do I go about doing this? I'm 25, I live in a metropolitan area, I know no one with a horse and I don't have endless cash flows. Any ideas?!

In which metro area do you live? Might help.

 

[Ben and Me]

If I were you, I'd head over to a horse-centered bulletin board like the Chronicle of the Horse and post a thread asking for good lesson barns in your area that aren't overrun with kids. If you explain your situation, I'd be willing to bet that folks over there could give you recommendations for good barns in your area. Lesson prices can vary widely on the area, just FYI -- but again, folks on the Chronicle BBs can give you a good idea for average prices.

Most folks start out taking 1-2 lessons/week on horses owned by the farm ("school horses"). You shouldn't expect to be jumping around a course or anything by the end of the summer (unless you're a total natural!) but I think it would go a long way towards getting more comfortable around horses!

When you call a new barn, make sure you ask what you're supposed to wear for your first lesson -- you'll probably be expected to provide your own boots (paddock boots are a good way to start -- you can even probably wear them with jeans for your first few lessons until you know you're ready to commit) but many places will provide you with a helmet.

You may also want to ask about therapeutic riding centers -- it might be a good way to get some horse handling experience (and do a good deed!), although you probably won't get to learn how to ride.

Let me know if you have any questions! I post over on the Chronicle website as well 🙂

 

[lostbunny]

Sign up for lessons. Crack open your YellowPages and call all the riding centers.

You'll learn all the horse basics you need (grooming, tacking up and handling). Do some research and call around- you might be surprised as to how close riding schools/clubs are to your area. Alot of places hold 'adult lessons' too so you won't be in a group of 5 year olds 😉

I learned to ride at a place that specialized in beginners, and it was only ~$30 per lesson. It might seem dire, for $30 in a 45-60 min lesson, but the amount of knowledge you'll gain is incredible, not to mention the people you'll meet that may have horses that need grooming/turning out, etc.

 

[Coquette22]

When you call a new barn, make sure you ask what you're supposed to wear for your first lesson -- you'll probably be expected to provide your own boots (paddock boots are a good way to start -- you can even probably wear them with jeans for your first few lessons until you know you're ready to commit) but many places will provide you with a helmet.

Second this. Also, ask them if they know any tack shops in the area. Tack shops usually carry second-hand stuff on consignment and it can be a good way to pick up a cheap pair of boots or breeches. My barn has a section in our viewing area where various students are selling things they've outgrown/gotten better versions of.

You may also need to specify that you want to learn not only riding but handling and care as well. I know some riding schools where you arrive, and get on a pre-groomed, pre-tacked horse and at the end, you get off and hand the reins to a staff member. So make sure you tell them that you want to learn grooming/tacking and handling as well as riding.

Beware: Being around horses is hazardous to your wallet. Inevitably, you will find yourself wanting to buy things for horses that don't even belong to you simply because they looked at you with their big brown eyes and nuzzled you. It's also impossible to walk past a horse without petting its muzzle (unless it bites). Horse muzzles are the softest things in the world. 😍

 

[heylodeb]

Although the advice above is great, you could also consider volunteering at a local therapeutic riding center (riding for people with physical and/or cognitive disabilities). It is a GREAT way to learn about horses but also gives you the opportunity to work with new people AND would be FREE. 😉

Check out: http://narha.org/narha-centers/find-center

I started out volunteering in high school and eventually ended up becoming a certified instructor and teaching for 5 years. It's amazing! 😍

 

[Tegan05]

Definitely ask for recommended barns in your area, and don't just use the yellow pages. COTH (chronicle of the horse) forums is a good resource with lots of educated people. They might be able to point you in the right direction.

Do understand that riding lessons cost anywhere from $30-$50 for beginner riders, depending on where you are. I would recommend doing lessons twice a week if you really want to make progress and understand more about horses in a short time period. A lot of barns have working student programs, so you may be able to do extra work (cleaning stalls, cleaning tack, grooming, etc) in exchange for the cost of your lessons.

Also, you need riding gear, so for a pair of breeches, cheap boots and half chaps, gloves, and a safe helmet, that can run you another couple hundred bucks. You may be able to get away with jeans, but I think they're terribly uncomfortable to ride in, and some barns won't let you wear them because it can damage their saddles.

Good luck! I am a lifelong rider and aspiring equine vet, so I think it will be very helpful for you to have some horse experience before vet school. I have taken my horse into UF's clinic, and the student was absolutely terrified of her and unable to handle her at all! I really lost respect for the UF teaching hospital after that experience, so it's great to hear you are taking the initiative to learn more about horses.

Edit: If you were near me, you could come learn on my horses, they are excellent! I'm sure you're too far though!

 

[Ben and Me]

I have taken my horse into UF's clinic, and the student was absolutely terrified of her and unable to handle her at all! I really lost respect for the UF teaching hospital after that experience, so it's great to hear you are taking the initiative to learn more about horses.

Just FYI, I hear this attitude a lot from pre-vets...and it really, really irritates me.

Not everyone has a ton of horse experience before vet school, but that doesn't mean that a) the clinic where you brought your horse sucks or b) that student is an idiot. Everyone has to rotate through at least a few equine/LA rotations, but I also have to rotate through SA rotations -- and you'd better believe I'm not terribly happy when confronted with a fractious cat (even though I worked in small animal practice for >1 year). 😉 However, just because I'm not thrilled about reaching my arm into that cage doesn't mean that I don't know and understand the physiology of that animal and understand the disease process going on.

There isn't enough time in vet school to get 100% comfortable handling all the species that you're going to see in clinics, even though you are expected to handle them. And even though I grew up riding and showing, I'm not terribly comfortable handling something like a young stud with terrible ground manners. (And perhaps your horse's ground manners weren't the best if a student was "terrified"?)

So, cut people some slack, especially your future colleagues. Trust me -- it'll come in helpful when you can help a SA classmate down in the barn, and they can help you up in the wards.

 

[DreamDVM]

Wow everyone - thanks for the helpful responses! I'll definitely look into riding lessons. I am a bit nervous about the cost element (I'm trying to SAVE money for vet school, haha) but I may call up a center and see what the recommend. The investment may end up being worth it in the end. I REALLY like the idea of the therapeutic centers - I'll need to pursue that and see what the opportunities are.

For those who asked, I live in the Phoenix metro area (south east).

Thanks again everyone!

 

[awaring1]

Wow everyone - thanks for the helpful responses! I'll definitely look into riding lessons. I am a bit nervous about the cost element (I'm trying to SAVE money for vet school, haha) but I may call up a center and see what the recommend. The investment may end up being worth it in the end. I REALLY like the idea of the therapeutic centers - I'll need to pursue that and see what the opportunities are.

For those who asked, I live in the Phoenix metro area (south east).

Thanks again everyone!

If you are worried about money I would suggest looking into the volunteer aspect. Others have mentioned therapeutic riding programs, but also look for some local equine rescues that may need a person to help muck stalls and groom.

 

[pooter]

Also, if you're looking to volunteer to keep costs down but still want to learn to ride, there's something to be said for the stables that are overrun with kids. They tend to need more help since the little kids often can't tack up by themselves. The really young/inexperienced kids sometimes can't even ride by themselves, so they "leaders" for some of the lessons. After a bit of training I, a completely inexperienced new rider, got to pay off my lessons by mucking/tacking/grooming/leading and supervising the 14yo "working students."

 

[BVSc2016Hopeful]

I used to live in the Tucson area, and there are plenty of places to ride in the Phoenix area. I would second the suggestions about asking over at COTH (I post there are well) and looking into a working student position for the summer. You would be able to get much more hands on dealing with the horses, learn about how to care for them, and just practice handling them.

I am a firm believer that the only way to get comfortable handling horses is to do it a lot and on a regular basis. Horses can be VERY intimidating, especially if they are hurt/ill and in a new/scary environment. They react very differently than a dog or cat would (predator vs prey mentality) so getting out there and learning about their system of communication will be extremely helpful to you. I've been a small and large animal technician at a vet school, and always offered a helping hand to the students who were not comfortable treating their equine patients. But not all techs will respond that way, leaning more toward the "sink or swim" system of teaching.

Find a GOOD horseperson (success in the show ring does not a good teacher/horseman make), be a barn slave for the summer, work your butt off, and the rewards will definitely make up for it in the end! 🙂

 

[Tegan05]

Just FYI, I hear this attitude a lot from pre-vets...and it really, really irritates me.

Not everyone has a ton of horse experience before vet school, but that doesn't mean that a) the clinic where you brought your horse sucks or b) that student is an idiot. Everyone has to rotate through at least a few equine/LA rotations, but I also have to rotate through SA rotations -- and you'd better believe I'm not terribly happy when confronted with a fractious cat (even though I worked in small animal practice for >1 year). 😉 However, just because I'm not thrilled about reaching my arm into that cage doesn't mean that I don't know and understand the physiology of that animal and understand the disease process going on.

There isn't enough time in vet school to get 100% comfortable handling all the species that you're going to see in clinics, even though you are expected to handle them. And even though I grew up riding and showing, I'm not terribly comfortable handling something like a young stud with terrible ground manners. (And perhaps your horse's ground manners weren't the best if a student was "terrified"?)

So, cut people some slack, especially your future colleagues. Trust me -- it'll come in helpful when you can help a SA classmate down in the barn, and they can help you up in the wards.

I have taken my horse into the UF clinic several times, and overall I am happy with them and their staff, and would return. I have had excellent students who really understand horses and could have a knowledgeable discussion about my mare's issues.

My mare was 4 years old at the time. Her ground manners are fine, but she was visibly nervous and unsettled in a new place, so you're right, she's not the easiest to handle for someone inexperienced.

And I understand that every student has to go through different rotations, but when you have a student that is visibly afraid of your horse, constantly shoving hay in her mouth while going near her, and has no idea what a coggins is, it gives off a bad impression. Of course I don't believe that student is an idiot, but I do believe he should find opportunities to better acquaint himself with horses, or be able to ask for help if he needs it.

Anyway, my original intention was not to start an argument about this, I just wanted to commend the OP for taking the initiative to learn more about horses so she can be competent and comfortable in their handling when the time comes for her LA rotations.

 

[that redhead]

Unless you actually want to learn to ride, I don't think lessons are really necessary. They'll be helpful in becoming acquainted with horses and learning to handle and care for them but there are other opportunities for that sort of learning that do not cost money.

I second the idea of finding a rescue or therapeutic riding center where you can volunteer your time. Plus these are organizations that typically really need volunteers! Win-win 🙂

 

[CarpeDiem89]

You also have to remember that you are about to enter vet school.

A lot of students in vet school are experts on horses and many bring there horses to school with them. Most vet students like teaching and you could possible ask a fellow student to help you get acquainted with horses. You wont have to pay 65 dollars for a 45 minute lesson and you will learn fast. Vet students are also extremely busy and you could offer to care for their horses when they can't.

Like if you make a vet school friend with a horse maybe you can go out there once a week and help care and exercise their horses. Also, if that vet student is at a barn you can meet other people who own horses around that barn. The more contacts you have the better and people will be willing to help you because you are a vet student as opposed to a student in high school or something similar to that.

You will also find that spending time at a barn when you are a vet student is sorta like a therapy. It is very relaxing and its a good break from the stresses of vet school. You will find that after you spend a little time riding (even at just a walk) the stresses in your life seem to fade away and you feel like your tests/studies are more do-able. Plus your learning how to deal with horses!

 

[eventualeventer]

Eh, unless the horse is colicking or about to go under GA, I have nothing against bribery *cough* counter-conditioning for the horse, and everyone has their off days in which they can't remember something simple.

I would strongly endorse volunteering with a rescue, even if you do decide to learn how to ride (yay! another convert!). Unlike a lesson barn, which has a reasonably stable population of horses and which is going to have mostly civilized, well-mannered horses of known temperaments (don't want to kill off your customers), rescues end up with horses from all different backgrounds and of all different dispositions. Hopefully, they will start you out with dealing with the more docile horses, but you can then progress to handling the horses who are scared, unhandled, ill-mannered, etc. Therapeutic riding centers are certainly worthy places to give of your time, but since their horses need to be unflappable, I don't think you'll get the same breadth of experience with different horse personalities as at a rescue. YMMV.

As Ben And Me mentioned in passing, there is a big difference between handling lesson ponies and other well-behaved riding horses and handling a horse who is young, unhandled, nervous, aggressive, impatient, etc., and there is a difference between handling any such horse at home versus handling them in a strange environment when they are sick/stressed/in pain. Even after I had been riding/horse-sitting/working with horses for years, when I started working with stall-bound, bored Thoroughbreds, I had to learn a whole new set of skills for safely handling horses and myself in such a way that I could do what I needed to do without getting either one of us hurt. If you had taken the pre-research me and asked it to handle a nervous young TB in a medical setting, I don't know how I would have looked, but I certainly would have been nervous.

 

[Ben and Me]

....and has no idea what a coggins is...

EIA is a rare disease in this country.

Coggins tests really aren't run frequently in a tertiary care facility setting because of this (and because they're usually handled by the primary vet) -- and unless this student had horse show experience (which I doubt based on your description 😉 ), it's not necessarily something that he would remember. It was probably hidden in one line of a 35 slide ppt, memorized for the pertinent exam, and forgotten.

You'll understand this better once you get into vet school, and realize how much minutia you've forgotten about 10 minutes after an exam. 😉

FWIW, I'm pretty afraid of aggressive dogs...but I also know that I want to work with horses when I graduate. I could spend my summer working with aggressive dogs to prepare for the 2 aggressive dogs I'll encounter during 4th year rotations...or I could spend my summer doing equine externships to prepare for the 500 horses I'll encounter during my 4th year...and my future career.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. OP, I really admire your initiative and I do think it will be really advantageous (I'm just not eager to judge my colleagues who haven't been so motivated, even though I definitely admire those who are)! I think Eventual Eventer has some great suggestions and perspectives. 👍

 

[thaowey]

Edit: If you were near me, you could come learn on my horses, they are excellent! I'm sure you're too far though!

so yeahh just msged you about this!

 

[jlm179]

I am also in FL, so anyone interest is welcome out to my barn! I am the barn manager, so I can get you acquainted with many types of horses. I am in the Orlando, FL area...

Tegan...we share facebook friends. I saw those pictures of Tegan yesterday! Beautiful horse!

 

[CurrySpice]

Just FYI, I hear this attitude a lot from pre-vets...and it really, really irritates me.

Not everyone has a ton of horse experience before vet school, but that doesn't mean that a) the clinic where you brought your horse sucks or b) that student is an idiot. Everyone has to rotate through at least a few equine/LA rotations, but I also have to rotate through SA rotations -- and you'd better believe I'm not terribly happy when confronted with a fractious cat (even though I worked in small animal practice for >1 year). 😉 However, just because I'm not thrilled about reaching my arm into that cage doesn't mean that I don't know and understand the physiology of that animal and understand the disease process going on.

There isn't enough time in vet school to get 100% comfortable handling all the species that you're going to see in clinics, even though you are expected to handle them. And even though I grew up riding and showing, I'm not terribly comfortable handling something like a young stud with terrible ground manners. (And perhaps your horse's ground manners weren't the best if a student was "terrified"?)

So, cut people some slack, especially your future colleagues. Trust me -- it'll come in helpful when you can help a SA classmate down in the barn, and they can help you up in the wards.

This attitude is not isolated to pre-vets. I guarantee you that if you started a thread on COTH about a vet student who was visibly afraid of handling your horse the posters would flame the vet clinic.

I understand that veterinary students do not have time to become completely competent with handing every species. However, they should not be working solo if that is the case. Horses are dangerous and an inexperienced person handling a nervous, sick horse is just recipe for disaster. I would put a stop to that situation purely for fear of a lawsuit!

I grew up around horses, worked at a few barns, and had my own horse for a few years. I know that I will be working with some crazier horses in vet school, and so I set up an internship at a sports medicine clinic where I will learn different handling skills. I'm super excited for this! 👍

OP: I volunteered at a therapeutic riding barn throughout middle & high school and it was a fantastic experience. You will learn about basic horse care and how to handle yourself around extremely gentle horses. It's a good gateway drug to the horse addiction 😉. Riding lessons are a good idea if you can afford them. You could also post on COTH asking for some experience in exchange for some help with chores (which are also great experience). There's a section called horseless riders and riderless horses where you may get a few replies. Just be 100% honest and I would bet you can find someone who wants to help an aspiring vet get comfortable with their favorite species in exchange for mucking. Getting comfortable with equine terminology is definitely important. You want to know what your client means when they ask if they should continue using the crupper or breastplate.

 

[eventualeventer]

True, the posters on COTH include a disproportionate number of self-important types who think they know more about horse care and health than an equine vet.

I've never been to UF, but at Davis the students are NOT just left to figure it out on their own with the patients. Besides the residents being there for anything remotely complicated - and the sicker your horse is, the more the resident is there working with them and helping the student - there are barn nurses (who ARE horse people), and the students help each other out a lot, with the more horsey students helping the less horsey students. It was the same when I was working with students from VMRCVM.

Unless there's more to the story, just because the student was nervous handling a huge creature that could squish them, that doesn't mean that your horse's care was compromised. Did some procedure not get done because the student was nervous? Was the diagnosis or treatment plan jeopardized? Did they make your horse lose her marbles? If not, then cut them some slack. They're not there to train your horse or win some sort of showmanship and handling class, they're there to get the job done safely and effectively, and in both academic hospitals I've been in there was never a question in my mind that even non-horsepeople had the support they needed to do so.

 

[CurrySpice]

True, the posters on COTH include a disproportionate number of self-important types who think they know more about horse care and health than an equine vet.

Yes, the 62,000 horse-people on that forum are all self-important jerks 😉. Many of them do know more about horse care than the average vet student. Just because a vet student has taken a few classes about horse health doesn't mean they're experts yet! Go to a racetrack and try to send the new vet school graduate to treat the big name horses, guarantee they will be rejected and the owners will send for the experienced vet. It's definitely a learning curve!

in both academic hospitals I've been in there was never a question in my mind that even non-horsepeople had the support they needed to do so.

This is good. This is very good.

 

[quantized]

Horses are fun. Horse people are unique butterflies, as this thread is showing you. Don't let that deter you! Find a friendly barn with fat and sassy horses and nice people who are welcoming, and you'll likely have a good time and learn something that you may make into part of your career. There are lots of different cool things that you can learn in a summer, and Phoenix has a pretty high population of both western and english riding (including POLO which is awesome). Scottsdale area is pretty well known for their breed show stuff, and I could think some of that could be a good time as well.

In any case, I'd probably recommend hitting up a local tack shop (or I guess COTH, if you were so inspired) and ask some of the help for the names of a few barns that are welcoming to beginners in the discipline that you are thinking looks fun and has a good reputation for teaching solid basics of riding and horsemanship. Take a Saturday and go check the places out and see if you like the ambiance and the method of teaching, and to make sure the horses look healthy and the people seem mostly sane. Having kids around isn't always a bad thing - horse crazy kids can be a lot of fun and are usually game to help out with tacking up and such! Since you want to learn to be around horses, I'd stay away from the places where it's required to have the grooms do all the horse care and you just show up and hop on the horse. Those places are nice for super busy people, but you probably wouldn't get what you were looking for out of something like that.

Good luck!

 

[eventualeventer]

Yes, the 62,000 horse-people on that forum are all self-important jerks 😉. Many of them do know more about horse care than the average vet student. Just because a vet student has taken a few classes about horse health doesn't mean they're experts yet! Go to a racetrack and try to send the new vet school graduate to treat the big name horses, guarantee they will be rejected and the owners will send for the experienced vet. It's definitely a learning curve!

I didn't say all of them, or even most of them. Just a disproportionate number. 😉 back atcha. I respect the opinions of a number of posters on that forum, but read the forum too long and you could get the impression that no vet can tell the rear end from the front end of a horse without the owner and a dozen of their Internet pals holding their hand. In the real world, being an experienced horse person does not make you immune to believing old wives' tales, ignorance about horse care, and just plain lazy or irresponsible horse keeping. Again, there are plenty of responsible horse owners, trainers, etc., but does owning a car your whole life make you a mechanic?

I don't recall ever saying that someone who has taken "a few horse health classes" is an expert, but they sure have learned a heck of a lot about medicine. BTW, just because someone has gone to vet school doesn't mean that's all the contact they've ever had with horses. Most vets who go into equine work tend to have either been around horses their whole lives or had first contact with horses in college/vet school and worked their butts off to learn more. Internships and/or jobs with heavy mentoring are also extremely common, since people DO realize that there is a heavy learning curve.