u/Which-Inspector5340

I (18F) have had two quite difficult things happen recently and it’s just making me think of horses and riding with dread instead of love.

My loan pony who I adored and who was with me for years got sold with only about a week’s notice. I didn’t know what day he was leaving so when I got the call from his owner had to dash to the yard in about 5 minutes to catch him just before he was loaded onto the horsebox. I’m in touch with his new owners who are lovely but I miss him desperately.

I was looking for new riding opportunities and found what seemed like the perfect setup close to me. But the lady I can only describe as deranged. Long story short, she wanted unpaid labour and when I decided I needed to leave (what was meant to be an initial chat but turned into hours of bathing horses and she started to mention me mucking out her horsebox) because I was so uncomfortable has taken against me. Threatened me, my reputation, had her associates contact me to threaten me after I blocked her. She has seemed to have stopped but I’m so scared she’s talking about me behind my back as she’s much bigger than me so to speak with a successful equestrian business in the local area. I have everything documented and if it does start up again I’ll have to take it to the police as it’s become harassment.

Every time I think of a horse now I just get this terrible feeling of anxiety. I used to travel up and down the country and go to all the big shows grooming for people and had even started to begin competing myself through connections (I can’t afford the horsepower so have to get rides on other people’s!). I’ve messaged most people who I groom for (for free by the way as I’m not experienced enough to be a professional and I’ve found people feel like they owe you and are happier to give you opppprtunities) saying I’ve had this experience and am taking a break after I finish all of my set commitments. I’ll only go out with my close friends to have fun now.

But I’m so upset as horses are my true love and I just want to keep working towards my goals. But I feel so unsettled and like my reputation is being ruined by this woman behind my back and I’ll lose my opportunities I just want to lay low for a while.

I’ve visited Switzerland but only the French part as my family speaks French. I found it a very lovely and beautiful country.

I was wondering if the difference in language across cantons has also led to a profound social/cultural difference. If you meet a person from the German-speaking part of Switzerland for example, would you be able to tell in any way apart from the language?

I’m a keen sociolinguist and have always found multilingual countries very interesting.

Hi everyone. I studied the Crusades as part of my history A level and fell in love. I’m also a keen linguist and I speak French and am learning Arabic. I’m really interested in sociolinguistics particularly from a historical perspective.

I wanted to try and combine all of these interests to give myself a research project over my gap year, and I realised there must have been some interaction between French and Arabic in the Crusader States. It doesn’t seem to be a hugely popular topic and I’ve struggled to find information that’s accessible to me. Any knowledge, recommendations or ideas are hugely appreciated.

I’ve only just graduated school so although our teachers did teach us some valuable research skills I’m still very basic in terms of what I can do! I can run a search on JSTOR and Google Scholar and cite properly basically 🤣. So I’m not trying to be dense I have done my best to research I’m just at a bit of a loose end and would appreciate any and all guidance and help. 😊

This might be a silly question but I had my MenB vaccine today and I’m wondering!

At GCSE they taught us that the most common version of vaccination was being injected with dead pathogens so your white blood cells can learn to produce antigens and therefore when the live version of the pathogen enters your body it receives the secondary immune response which is much more effective - although I recognise that might be a very basic level of understanding and probably somewhat incorrect.

I’m wondering where all of these dead cells come from. Are there like facilities that mass produce live pathogens, put them into conditions they cannot survive in, wait for them to die off and then use them to produce the vaccine? How do they do this without denaturing or destroying the pathogens to the point they are unrecognisable from the live versions and so ineffective as a vaccination? And where do they source the live pathogens from?

And how do they decide which strains to vaccinate against and which to leave? The pharmacist that gave me my vaccine explained that MenB accounts for 80% of cases but there are other strains. Does being fully vaccinated against MenB give you a better chance at dealing with the other strains of meningitis than an unvaccinated individual?

Sorry if none of this makes sense, I’m working an overnight shift but can’t stop thinking about this. I almost wish I’d suffered through science A-levels so I could do pharmacology. It seems really interesting.

Unfortunately my loan pony of three years has just left for his new home today. I’m devastated because I was desperate to keep him for myself but unfortunately I couldn’t afford it.

The good thing is he’s going back to the family that rescued him as a foal who have been looking for him ever since his previous loaner sold him out from under them. I met them and they couldn’t be lovelier people and he did recognise the lady as she hand-reared him.

But I’m really sad he’s gone. I had a really hard time at boarding school and he was there for me through it all. And I finally graduated this summer and was at home ready to spend time with him and really progress with him and now he’s gone.

I have some of his tail to keep and a ton of photos. The new owner has sweetly offered to stay in touch and will be taking him out showing so hopefully I’ll see him around and about.

Like it’s the best possible scenario as he’s going to a much better home than he was getting with his current owner (unfortunately became a bit neglectful due to a divorce so I stepped in and I tried to do everything for him to make him more comfortable) but I miss him horribly. I feel guilty I couldn’t do better by him. And I haven’t even cried yet so I feel guilty because I don’t miss him enough. I just feel like I’ve let him down massively.

I’m not in a position to own my own horse at the minute unfortunately with university commitments coming up, also my family aren’t horsey at all!

So I’ve started looking about for riding opportunities, and I’ve had some really good offers from showing people that have been looking for a jockey that I’ve been very excited about. One question that keeps coming up is whether I have any riding videos.

The problem is… I don’t!

The only videos I have are from around two years ago when I was still riding at a riding school, and I don’t feel they’re a fair reflection of how I ride now. Since then I’ve mostly ridden other people’s horses. The yard my previous loan was on didn’t allow videos (it was a very weird yard which is partly why I stopped loaning that pony), and more recently I’ve been exercising young horses for a friend that were mainly hacked out, so I never ended up with any footage.

I’m worried this is becoming quite a big drawback. I completely understand why owners ask for videos, but I also don’t want to send old clips that I don’t think represent my current riding. I think riding school clips in particular put off privately owned homes.

If you were looking for someone to ride your horse, would a lack of recent videos put you off? Or would you be happy to assess someone in person if everything else seemed a good fit?

I’m having a bit of a dilemma and I would appreciate some advice as my parents aren’t horsey.

I’ve been informally sharing a pony ad-hoc for around the past two or so years as I’ve been at boarding school. He’s in my village and his owner originally just asked me if I wanted to help exercise him. I said yes as she just wanted someone to help ride, I ended up doing a lot of yard chores (they’re on private land so had to run the yard effectively 🤣) and taking a lot of his care up on my shoulders as she turned out to be a bit neglectful, she was going through a hard divorce at the time but I was looking after him and also her two other ponies, one who had severe sweet itch and the Shetland whose feet were in very poor condition.

Eventually I kind of withdrew as my mental health got so bad trying to manage all of the ponies who were all in a fairly bad way, I was still at boarding school and trying to do exams. I would come back from a week at school in winter to find no one had picked out his feet or groomed him. I’ve had to treat him for thrush multiple times because of this.

The owner has now managed to get a proper sharer for one of the other ponies who is very good at taking care of him.

I’ve now spoken to her and she’s asked me if I wanted to loan the pony properly because I’ve just graduated. She wants £100 a month (no arena or good bridleways, we may have a field to ride in soon). I don’t really feel that’s fair as I worked my arse off looking after the pony when I couldn’t ride him he was in such a bad state, and now she wants to charge me for him. I don’t really know as he is a sweet guy and I want to show him, it just feels a bit excessive and I don’t want to spend money on the situation just for it to get worse again.

I’m 18yo for context, and I’m genuinely confused and in shock, it’s has all happened so suddenly.

I have been helping a lady from time to time at horse shows, who was really sweet and kind to me and took a chance on me with limited experience. We’ll call her Lauren.

I’m friends with a 19yo girl who we’ll call India who has been quite successful in the show circuit. Initially I just helped her at shows but now we’re genuine friends outside of horses.

She was previously working for a horse dealer, who we’ll call Dora (adult woman with a child btw) that took advantage of her financially, slandered her and abused her emotionally, you wouldn’t believe the stories. So India left that yard but it created a huge drama and hullabaloo. This was shortly before I met her. Dora is very prominent in the local showing community and does have a fair deal of influence although she seems to have slowed down and can’t find someone to hire to replace India as her reputation is damaged. This drama was all six months ago, by the way.

Once Lauren realised I was genuine friends with India (although she knew I was helping her beforehand), she started asking me loads of questions about what I was doing with my friend at shows, where I was going, and whether I had “plans” with her.

Then things escalated after a post on Facebook from India (showing I was there helping her at a recent county show), and suddenly I’m being told I can’t help Lauren anymore unless I stop associating with India. In fairness, she was good enough to explain to my face and was nice about it but it was a real shock. We had a mature conversation, I told her loyalty to my friends came first, and have ended things with Lauren on the most positive note possible I think, but still. The reasoning I’ve been given boils down to people talk, there are two camps right now and Lauren doesn’t want to be associated with someone linked to the other side in any way shape or form, including me just helping India at a few shows.

I’ve also been told I haven’t done anything wrong, but I still can’t be involved because of “perception.” Lauren suggested that people might even think I was bringing back information to India, I don’t understand what she thinks I could be bringing back? This is pony showing not international relations.

I’m not in any drama myself,
I’m always super careful to avoid it so I’m not sure how I’ve ended up here! I’m not involved in any dispute. I’m just trying to help at shows and ride nice horses.

The crazy thing is, Lauren doesn’t even like Dora the dealer. She’s told me horrific stories about how she covered the stable of a horse with sweet itch in electrical tape so it couldn’t scratch itself and ruin its mane.

I’m worried I don’t have the full picture but I’m not sure how to get the full picture without finding out the hard way so to speak. Like I have to back my moral principles first and that’s being loyal to my friends. I just don’t really know how to move forwards with this. I’m also now a bit apprehensive that people might be talking about me? I’m new to the circuit and I don’t really want anything spread. What do I do now? I’ve never dealt with anything like this before.

I’m 18yo for context because it’s adults picking on teenagers, and I’m genuinely confused and in shock, it’s has all happened so suddenly.

I have been helping a small home-produced showing setup at shows, run by a lady who was really sweet and kind to me and took a chance on me with limited experience. We’ll call her Lauren.

I’m friends with a 19yo girl who we’ll call India who has been quite successful in the show circuit. Initially I just helped her at shows but now we’re genuine friends outside of horses.

She was previously working for a dealer, who we’ll call Dora (adult woman with a child btw) that took advantage of her financially, slandered her and abused her emotionally, you wouldn’t believe the stories. So India left that yard but it created a huge drama and hullabaloo. This was shortly before I met her. Dora is very prominent in the local showing community and does have a fair deal of influence although it seems to be waning due to this drama.

Once Lauren realised I was genuine friends with India, she started asking me loads of questions about what I was doing with my friend at shows, where I was going, and whether I had “plans” with her.

Then things escalated after a post on Facebook from India (showing I was there helping her at a recent county show), and suddenly I’m being told I can’t help Lauren anymore unless I stop associating with India.In fairness, she was good enough to explain to my face and was nice about it but it was really unbelievable. We had a mature conversation, I told her loyalty to my friends came first and I would rather not show at all than abandon India especially now when she needs friends the most, and have ended things with Lauren on the most positive note possible I think, but still. The reasoning I’ve been given boils down to people talk, there are two camps right now and Lauren doesn’t want to be associated with someone linked to the other side in any way shape or form, including me just helping India at a few shows.

I’ve also been told I haven’t done anything wrong, but I still can’t be involved because of “perception.”
I’m not in any drama myself. I’m not involved in any dispute. I’m just trying to help at shows and ride pretty horses.

The crazy thing is, Lauren doesn’t even like Dora the dealer. She’s told me horrific stories about how she covered the stable of a horse with sweet itch in electrical tape so it couldn’t ruin its mane.

Is this actually normal in local showing / equestrian circles, or have I just ended up in a really toxic pocket of it? Because from where I’m standing it feels ridiculous. I’m not hurt personally because I went to a boarding school where I was bullied horridly, don’t like to get into it but the advantage of that I suppose is I have very, very thick skin.

I’m just venting I suppose but it’s just so hard for me to understand. I’m also now a bit apprehensive that people might be talking about me? I’m new to the circuit and I don’t really want anything spread.

I attended a 500yo boarding school in the UK from when I was 13-18. I was on an academic scholarship that allowed me to attend.

I received an exceptional education which I’m profoundly grateful for, but also experienced and witnessed terrible bullying towards myself and many others that went on for a good few years, as well as other culture shocks.

I initially struggled a lot, then in my final year of school came out of my shell a bit more and had overall a really enjoyable time, although never quite made my peace with some of the other girls in my boarding house. Looking back, it was as Charles Dickens said, the best of times and the worst of times!

AMA about boarding school and the related life, culture, and education. I’m open to most questions although I don’t like talking about politics on the internet.

Hi all! I’m currently brainstorming a registered name for a lovely sweet but sassy chestnut filly that has been called Ginny. However, we think Ginny is too short and “nicknamey” for her registered show name and we’d prefer to keep that more affectionately.

We don’t really want to use Ginevra as we feel that’s too Harry Potter, and I don’t like the show Ginny and Georgia so we’re not using Georgia either!

We want something longer and more formal but also rather unique because registered names have to be, no two horses can have the same exact name.

We’re putting a breeding prefix before it but it should work well with most names, I don’t want to put it out on the internet for privacy reasons.