7 claims equestrian keyboard warriors like to make
You know the type — the people who peruse social media from the comfort of their own home, looking to stick their rather unhelpful oar in and make you feel rubbish in the process. Here’s just some of the claims they like to make to help you try and sniff them out
They are excellent riders
No. More often than not they aren’t, or at least they are not as good as they claim to be. Nobody really cares how good you are at riding, but don’t try and tell other people they’re rubbish when you are little or no better yourself.
You can’t ride
You can. Don’t let the equestrian keyboard warrior tear your riding ability apart. Instead, listen to someone you know, trust and respect.
They have worked for several of the world’s top riders
This might be true, but then again it might not. So when they’re telling you you’re not looking after your horse properly, or your turnout standards are laughable, take comfort in the fact that you know your horse is fine the way he is.
Their trainer is a Michael Jung/Scott Brash/Carl Hester hybrid
And good grief, if any of these people trained you they would have a fit, because apparently you are just so sub-standard. Press the block button on these people immediately — they’re not worth the time you have just taken to read their frankly mean comment.
Their horses were all super tricky, but they soon turned them around
So the fact that you might be struggling with a slight problem your horse has means that you are inferior and have no idea how to handle horses. Again, this is likely to be completely false.
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Everything is cruel
And they mean everything. Bits, spurs, saddles, headcollars, rugs. Everything. So nothing you or your horse wears will ever be OK, so basically don’t listen to a word of it.
Nobody has hands/seat/legs as good as theirs
That picture you posted online that you’re actually quite proud of while competing/training at the weekend is just a clear demonstration of how bad your hands/seat/legs are, because your hands/legs/seat could never be as good as the equestrian keyboard warrior’s…
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Gemma is an experienced journalist, who was a member of H&H staff from 2014 to September 2025. She is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at Epsom in August 2018. Gemma’s has reported from numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.