OP… if you are truly interested in eating disorders in the equestrian world, you need to talk to the jockeys over in the racing forum.
I’ve never seen a DQ in a sweat box before a test.
[QUOTE=Bristol Bay;8642191]
There is just so much wrong in this paragraph.
Where’s your proof of the effect of rider weight on scores?
Beginners–you know, people who want to learn how to ride–go to trainer, not to have someone teach them how to ride, but because they think they look pretty on a horse?[/QUOTE]
There are beginners who do “begin” for the wrong reasons and not for the love of horses or riding. One of those reasons being to look cool in the clothes. That type will easily do exactly what Cowgirl mentions, go for the elegant, pretty, “trainer” who may look great, but produces nothing. Going to the “show” in the clothes is the goal and those trainers have many students that never progress. The students who truly want to, will leave and find someone who can actually teach.
There are also many people that really do want to learn to ride but whom,being beginners, have no point of reference to work from when choosing a trainer and thus make the mistake of judging solely by appearance. There are some very slick folks out there who take advantage of that.
I’m sorry but I’m not buying that. Riding is way too hard to do because you like the clothes.
Really? You have never seen them? They don’t advance, they don’t train the horse. They hop on at the show and they spend quite a bit of money on horses and clothes and tack, and training (for the horse) with the “trainer”.
[QUOTE=skydy;8642369]
Really? You have never seen them? They don’t advance, they don’t train the horse. They hop on at the show and they spend quite a bit of money on horses and clothes and tack, and training (for the horse) with the “trainer”.[/QUOTE]
No, because I don’t look at people that way.
Aren’t people allowed to have fun? Why do you care so much about others’ goals, talent (or lack of it) and how they spend their money? Are you jealous? Oh no, because you are sooooo better than everyone else… :rolleyes:
Concentrate on your own riding.
[QUOTE=alibi_18;8642381]
No, because I don’t look at people that way.
Aren’t people allowed to have fun? Why do you care so much about others’ goals, talent (or lack of it) and how they spend their money? Are you jealous? Oh no, because you are sooooo better than everyone else… :rolleyes:
Concentrate on your own riding.[/QUOTE]
Wow.
I don’t “care so much”, I thought perhaps cowgirl may have been referring to these beginners in her post and someone else seemed to not understand the reference… Perhaps not.
If you have never seen a person of this ilk then you haven’t. No need to be hostile. Really.
I have never ever seen or heard of such a thing…seriously
[QUOTE=skydy;8642359]
There are beginners who do “begin” for the wrong reasons and not for the love of horses or riding. One of those reasons being to look cool in the clothes. That type will easily do exactly what Cowgirl mentions, go for the elegant, pretty, “trainer” who may look great, but produces nothing. Going to the “show” in the clothes is the goal and those trainers have many students that never progress. The students who truly want to, will leave and find someone who can actually teach.
There are also many people that really do want to learn to ride but whom,being beginners, have no point of reference to work from when choosing a trainer and thus make the mistake of judging solely by appearance. There are some very slick folks out there who take advantage of that.[/QUOTE]
Not in Reg. 8, we have many women who are not stick figures who do quite well…heck there is even a woman on the Olympic team who is carrying extra weight and even made it to the list of blinged out riders!
I am long legged and on the slim side but getting the menopause muffin top and I can tell you, no one ever gave me extra points because I looked elegant…LOL
[QUOTE=Cowgirl;8642012]
Well…not exactly. Dressage is a sport you can be competitive in all of your life, that includes your post menopausal, easy to gain weight life, gather fat around the middle life. So you cannot exactly compare competitive swimmers and runners to competitive dressage. If I go into a Walmart any day of the week and compare myself to other women my age, I am a WAIF! But if I compare myself to other dressage riders, my menopause weight is a detriment…and it is a detriment in the show ring as well even though I am appropriately mounted. A rider who has no extra body movement because they are underweight (and yes, many are underweight) will simply look quieter and tend to garner a higher rider mark, all other things being equal. There IS fat shaming in dressage, but it is way more subtle…it comes in the form of lower scores and lesser opportunities. I know plenty of beginners who go to a trainer, NOT because they are effective and have trained multiple horses to grand prix, but because they are gorgeous and slim and look pretty on a horse. I call that the sorority effect.
If you are blessed with the correct body type and weight (understanding that the monkey suit puts on an automatic 20 pounds–have you seen Laura Graves on the ground?), you will gain the points for “elegance, lightness, haromony” because you don’t jiggle at all. This subjective element of the sport is similar to other subjective sports and has the same issues.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=yourcolorfuladdiction;8642328]
I want to add that a particular former US Olympian in eventing used to tell her students “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” And used to lose her temper when she caught her students eating. Pretty messed up.[/QUOTE]
An acquaintance was a working student at a big name eventing/dressage barn for a summer. The day after her (rare) days off, she was routinely asked, “How much did you eat yesterday?” The intent behind that question was obvious.
She said by the time she came home from that working student stint, in her words, “everyone thought I was anorexic.”
I was at a barn for several years with a gal that:
1 - ran 2 miles every morning
2 - rode two FEI level horses every day (except Monday, when the barn was closed)
3 - did the Stairmaster for an hour every evening
4 - did not eat one damned thing all day - every day - EXCEPT for an entire homemade CAKE every evening (after the Stairmaster workout).
She was about 5’4" and I am not sure she even weighed 100#. When we went out to dinner as a group, she ordered water or unsweetened iced tea - and nothing else. She just sat and watched us eat, but she couldn’t take it very long and usually left after about 20-30 minutes.
She would get so light-headed during/after riding, the trainer pretty much MADE her start bringing something to eat for lunch. She would bring a tiny piece of something, but she would barely nibble at it. For a while, she looked so bad that everyone assumed she was dying of cancer or had a muscle-wasting disease.
She tried to keep her husband on a strict diet, also. They both looked like Biafran refugees, and I remember one time at Regionals, she caught him eating a small bag of almonds he had bought at the concession stand. She gave him h*** about it - told him he was only allowed 6 almonds.
Nice lady, but definitely had an eating disorder.
I also have an eating disorder - but at the opposite end of the spectrum. Love of good food and a lifetime in the corporate world at a sit-down job, plus aging and a genetic predisposition for weight gain have taken their toll. I haven’t had anyone “shame” me about my weight - at least, to my face - but I am well aware I am too overweight to be a truly effective rider. For that reason, and general lack of time to be seriously dedicated to riding, my horse stays in full training and is shown by the trainer. Luckily, he kindly packs me around for 20 minutes or so after the trainer does her thing on him. 
[QUOTE=Bristol Bay;8642362]
I’m sorry but I’m not buying that. Riding is way too hard to do because you like the clothes.[/QUOTE]
Training is hard. Riding isn’t necessarily hard if you are reasonably athletic and naturally balanced, which many people are. If you’re wealthy enough and narcissistic, which many people are, it’s not outside the realm of possibility to be motivated by your narcissism to buy a fancy horse and pay someone to train it. A schoolmaster type with talent and saintly temperament, let trainer train it, ride a few times a week (in between spa appointments) and go to some shows. Not that hard, especially if you are rich and don’t have to work and have nothing but leisure time.
Not saying wealthy people who buy fancy horses and have others train them are narcissistic, just that there ARE narcissistic people out there who do this.
You may not know them, but these people are alive and well.
1 Like
Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I really appreciate it.
Here is a link to the video that I ended up creating https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghjLF9_Hfac
Unfortunately I had so many replies and not so much time in the video I could not get everyones replies in it! I did, however, use all of your replies in the response paper I wrote! 
Thank you so much again for helping me with this project!
[QUOTE=LarkspurCO;8642539]
Training is hard. Riding isn’t necessarily hard if you are reasonably athletic and naturally balanced, which many people are. If you’re wealthy enough and narcissistic, which many people are, it’s not outside the realm of possibility to buy a fancy horse and pay someone to train it. A schoolmaster type with talent and saintly temperament, let trainer train it, ride a few times a week (in between spa appointments) and go to some shows. Not that hard, especially if you are rich and don’t have to work and have nothing but leisure time.
You may not know them, but these people are alive and well.[/QUOTE]
This is what I don’t get. You’re an incredibly nice person and I’ve never disagreed with a single post. You’re even my tag line hero. ;). So this isn’t out of wanting to argue, but truly discussing.
What on earth is wrong with buying a fancy horse and having someone train it, ride a few times a week, and go to some shows?? Why does that make someone wealthy and narcissistic and not necessarily Having to work or having nothing but leisure time?
Isn’t that EXACTLY what this entire board would recommend someone do if they bought ANY horse?? And were not a trainer?
It is exactly what I did when I bought my horse! (Who I think is VERY fancy but probably not everyone would 
). And while I joke about the pretty clothes, i certainly don’t ride because of wanting to look any certain way. I ride because I love it. I love my horse.
I only rode a few times a week because my trainer had to TRAIN my horse and keep him ahead of me. That’s it. Otherwise I would have ridden every day. Now I ride more, because I’m better :).
I LOVE horse showing. For the sport, and also for the fun I have with friends and fellow competitors.
But why the knock on those people? I’m not wealthy, and I do work. I work VERY, very hard to afford this. I also get a massage every two weeks BECAUSE I want to keep my body in great shape for riding. Also get my eyebrows done. Occasionally my nails. I’m tall and thin. No eating disorder. Does that put me in the category of those you’re talking about above?? On the outside, I guess it does, to you.
I think there are a LOT of perceptions flying that just aren’t accurate. and stereotypes.
I live in arguably the second most “appearance-conscious” city. There certainly are people with eating disorders. And I’m sure there are equestrians, and dressage riders, with eating disorders. And unhealthy eating habits (raising my hand, I can’t turn away cookies and cakes) exist as well.
I do love the clothes. Really. But I love my horse, the trainjng, riding,and the friendships SO much more. The clothes are a fun benefit, and for someone who has a hard time finding clothes that fit, breeches are a godsend.
If you’re writing a paper for a college class, then you shouldn’t be soliciting anecdotes from anonymous nobodies on an internet message forum. Having taught at a Big Ten university in the past, that sort of thing would earn a failing grade from me.
Do some real research and use citable sources.
[QUOTE=DownYonder;8642450]
I was at a barn for several years with a gal that:
1 - ran 2 miles every morning
2 - rode two FEI level horses every day (except Monday, when the barn was closed)
3 - did the Stairmaster for an hour every evening
4 - did not eat one damned thing all day - every day - EXCEPT for an entire homemade CAKE every evening (after the Stairmaster workout).
She was about 5’4" and I am not sure she even weighed 100#. When we went out to dinner as a group, she ordered water or unsweetened iced tea - and nothing else. She just sat and watched us eat, but she couldn’t take it very long and usually left after about 20-30 minutes.
She would get so light-headed during/after riding, the trainer pretty much MADE her start bringing something to eat for lunch. She would bring a tiny piece of something, but she would barely nibble at it. For a while, she looked so bad that everyone assumed she was dying of cancer or had a muscle-wasting disease.
She tried to keep her husband on a strict diet, also. They both looked like Biafran refugees, and I remember one time at Regionals, she caught him eating a small bag of almonds he had bought at the concession stand. She gave him h*** about it - told him he was only allowed 6 almonds.
Nice lady, but definitely had an eating disorder.[/QUOTE]
Again, you’re a poster I really like.
But why.
So someone with an eating disorder who rides. It happens. Why are we discussing other people’s medical and emotional struggles?
[QUOTE=skydy;8642388]
Wow.
I don’t “care so much”, I thought perhaps cowgirl may have been referring to these beginners in her post and someone else seemed to not understand the reference… Perhaps not.
If you have never seen a person of this ilk then you haven’t. No need to be hostile. Really.[/QUOTE]
How do you go about identifying people of this ilk?
Do you survey them about their motivations?
Clearly you DO care so much.
Incredibly judgmental.
I cannot even believe this conversation is happening.
Life is short, stop worrying about anyone else’s motivations, especially because you’re probably grossly inaccurately interpreting their actions.
[QUOTE=Danier;8642130]
I would say I have seen plenty of body shaming in my ridi g experience, hunter and dressage. I have seen a lot of disordered eating, but not that many full blown clinical eating disorders.
I myself have struggled with disordered eating almost my whole life, and have been treated for my eating disorder several times, I am currently suffering a relapse.
It wasn’t until after I lost a significant amount of weight that people at the barn said things about my weight. Comments about how much better I looked, that I must be able to ride better now, my horse musts appreciate it etc.(I was moderately overweight before, but was in decent fitness)
However my eating disorder is not directly related to riding, fat shaming and pressures to lose weight are rampant everywhere, and when you have a bunch of females together in an already competitive atmosphere it’s bound to crop up.
I can tell you though that in my years in group treatment programs that eating disorders are very common among nurses and teachers.[/QUOTE]
Best of luck to you - it is certainly a struggle and good for getting help!!
Regarding your last statement, perhaps you were absent when confidentiality when discussed and keeping what happens in the group, what people share in the group, staying within the group.
I haven’t seen any data supporting your anecdote.
I honestly do not see eating disorders or body shaming as a dressage problem. Do I know dressage riders who are overly body conscious, or who go on unhealthy diets - sure. But on the whole, I think my dressage friends actually have healthier body image and diet habbits than my friends at work, my exteded family, and most other groups I know. The dressage riders I know who do have eating disorders or unhealthy ideas about weight mostly came into dressage with those already, and are even more pre-occupied with how they look in a bathing suit or at the gym than on a horse. There is a certain amount of self criticism which comes with putting on white breeches and doing a public performance where you try to look elegant. Yes, many of us are aware that we could do better if we lost weight, but that is a simple truth in most sports, not “shaming”. In general, I have found the dressage community to be understanding, approach this with a sense of humor, and to decrease the sense of pressure that some of us have built up from the rest of life and society.
Nope, never seen any sign of this.
Many of us lament the white breeches, but no eating disorders.
