Five Jobs Not to Give Your Horsey Husband

Let’s face it, they are the unsung heroes of the equestrian world, or so they would tell us! The majority of horsey husbands are not themselves horse riders, but as we all know our horses are part of the family and a lifestyle choice rather than a hobby. You can’t shut the garage door on them when you’ve had enough, like you can with my husbands classic car obsession!

From my experience, at the start of a new relationship the reluctance to assist with horse duties is evident. However as time goes on your loved one soon realises that there are many occasions that they can make themselves rather useful and speed up the task in hand. How many times have you visited the yard on the way out to dinner or when going to the pub? At this point hubby may realise that its better to help you and get to the destination quicker! The years pass and before you know it they are qualified enough to put on a headcollar and bring your horse in, change a rug, muck out, feed and assist in carrying various heavy items such as bedding and feed.

However there are some chores you can absolutely not give your horsey husband if you want him to continue to be a helpful assistant at the yard. Alternatively if you do want him to stop coming to the stables then perhaps these might give you a bit of inspiration!

• Sheath Cleaning. Even a slight mention of this turns my husbands stomach, much to my amusement. It’s not a pleasant task for anyone and it’s probably best not to even tell him about the dreaded bean removal!!!
• Leaving him unsupervised with the yard gossip/ know it all. He’ll probably come back with a few things to say about them and refuse to ever get out the car again. Men do not care for this chat!
• Clipping. Hubby may think he’ll be an expert at this but he wont be wearing the appropriate clothing and the millions of tiny hairs will get in his beard. Subsequently you’ll hear about it for the rest of time!
• Handling the Shetland Pony. He’ll think its a dog and be embarrassed when there is a Thelwell moment in front of all the liveries. Leave the Shetlands to us experienced handlers, we know what we’re dealing with in these situations!
• Show photographer. I can pretty much guarantee that your husband will capture your worst moments at a show and any good shots will have your head or your horses legs missing from the frame. This will result in an almighty row after the event as, good or bad day, you will be so frustrated at not having even one nice photo. Cue husband refusing to ever attend a show with you again!

Let’s face it these horsey husbands are a rare breed so if you’ve got one…hang on to him and maybe treat him to the how to live with a horse addict book so he can understand you a little better!