You dote on your horse’s every want and need, investing more time and money in them than your family and friends. So why does your horse seem entirely unaware of your efforts? Here’s some prime examples sure to leave you feeling unappreciated from time to time…
1. Rugs
Your horse has a wardrobe that leaves even you feeling envious. But he likes to show his appreciation by duly trashing that brand new rug less than 24 hours after you purchased it. And you know that immediately after you have tidily folded and stacked your horse’s rugs so you can tack up, he will take it upon himself to grab hold of the lot, throw them on the floor and dance on top of them.
2. Hay
You neatly put your horse’s hay in his manger. Five minutes later the entire contents of the manger are trampled into his bed and he’s kicking his door demanding to be fed.
3. Feed buckets
You find yourself buying new feed bucket after new feed bucket because your horse takes great enjoyment in punching holes in them and/or throwing them against the wall.
4. Bed
You take great pride in ensuring your horse’s bed would be good enough for you to sleep in — the banks are sky-high and the bed even and fluffy. But you know that as soon as your horse walks into his pristine stable, he will take great delight in unceremoniously staling in it. Mind you, we’d be worried if he didn’t.
5. Grooming
Every day you rid your horse of every last spec of mud, untangle their mane and tail and lovingly oil their hooves. And every day when you bring them in from the field they’ve covered every available square inch of their body with the thickest mud they can possible find. *Sigh*
6. Water bucket
And last but certainly not least, you fill your horse’s water bucket with clean fresh water only to later find they have decided to use it as a loo. Nice.
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Former web features editor, point-to-point editor and digital racing editor
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.
