[QUOTE=magnum;2903037]
Canticle, could you please point out the page # and paragraph (within the article in question) where Cindy stated that you are “wasting your time?”
Magnum[/QUOTE]
Did you read the title of the article? 
I don’t have it with me at the moment.
What was the title?
Magnum
It is a matter of priorities. If you want to own a better horse (better trained, better talent, better conformation) you will probably have to pay more, as much as you can afford, if that is your priority. If you prefer to have a better car, or spend more on your family, or whatever, that is your choice, your priority. Financing a horse, like car or house, needs to be fiscally responsible…you need to be able to make the payment, insure the horse, house, or car, pay for training/showing, upkeep on house or car. I cannot understand why some people are making such a big deal about the article. No one is forcing you to finance a horse, if you chose to go another route, great, do it and write an article about your success, whether it is big time showing or however you accomplish your goal. Don’t bash someone for their viewpoint or advice, take your own road.
Theresa
You said it the best…unfortunately people would rather bash the article! 
I think the article was in the section “What I wish I Had Known Then”, wasn’t it?
I think you have to consider it in that context. She is (in a way) writing it to her younger self. She is only expressing an opinion and saying buy the best horse you can afford . What you can afford depends on your priorities and finances, obviously. 
You said it the best…unfortunately people would rather bash the article!
It’s really even more fun to bash the author 
yes it is, and it appears that the hardest bashers are the ones who don’t have a clue who the author is.
this thread is like a ‘wave’ at the stadium - first it goes one way, then the other. talk about momentum, LOL.
[QUOTE=egontoast;2904377]
I think the article was in the section “What I wish I Had Known Then”, wasn’t it? ;)[/QUOTE]
Thanks, Egon for the clarification.
I was just under the impression that the title of the article was:
"Canticle and Horse: Flagrant Timewasters Exposed "
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Magnum
Reading with comprehension
The Article was in a recurring feature of DT entitled “VIEWPOINT,” it was not in the other feature entitled “If I knew then…” It was also worded as general advice to all dressage riders, not just professionals or competitive dressage riders. The article was reprinted on this thread by see u at x on page 6. There is no excuse not to read it. If you haven’t read it, you shouldn’t comment on what you think it might have said. The title of the article is-
“Own a Better Horse
Don’t waste time. Ride the best quality horse you can afford.”
I won’t paraphrase the article again here. I refer you to page 6. I don’t think that it is “bashing” to disagree with someone or to state that their point of view may not be objective. I don’t know why some people think that just because we don’t agree with Ms. Sydnor, that we “don’t know who she is.” While Ms. Sydnor is unquestionably a dressage expert, she is NOT an expert in personal finance to my knowledge. So her advice “to get a loan” is not in her area of expertise.
Again, those of you who would like to read the article to limit it as though it were advice to professionals or to very competitive riders are putting words in the author’s mouth (see page 6.) Ms. Sydnor most specifically did not limit her advice to such riders. Although she mentioned “getting the horse vetted” (duh!), she did not mention that the most important thing for an amateur is to get a horse that is suitable for her to ride. Getting the best horse that she can afford will not help any rider, if she does not have the skill or the guts to ride it. Ms. Sydnor also did not mention that even paying $20k to $50k which she cited as the mininimum amount necessary for a “good horse,” that a good horse will be subject to illness or injury like any other, and if you take out a loan to buy one you may end up making payments on a horse that you can no longer ride.
You can call it bashing if you’d like, but to me the article sounded just like so many other sales pitches that I have heard from trainers who are in the business of selling horses. The priorities are wrong and feed into people’s fantasies at the expense of their financial well being. Buy the most suitable horse for you—would be much better advice if it is directed toward a nonprofessional rider.
Yes, thank you. This is the title I was referring to, and I found it very offensive. There is no better horse FOR ME, and not a single moment with him is time wasted! Yet Ms. Sydnor would disagree because she prefers a different breed or type of horse? Not only that, but I would be a better rider if I switched breeds? Baloney!
You can call it bashing if you’d like, but to me the article sounded just like so many other sales pitches that I have heard from trainers who are in the business of selling horses. The priorities are wrong and feed into people’s fantasies at the expense of their financial well being. Buy the most suitable horse for you—would be much better advice if it is directed toward a nonprofessional rider.
I agree with you 100%! Ms. Sydnor’s viewpoint is not that of a dressage expert trying to give training advice. Quite frankly, she sounds like a horse dealer to me. I expected more. :no:
I think I did read with comprehension.
To me, anything written in a recurring feature called “VIEWPOINT” is an editorial. To me, an editorial is a forum for someone to express an opinion, a viewpoint, a series of thoughts offered up to be sorted through for whatever each of us believes is worthwhile or applicable to our own lives.
Thus, I cannot understand why the big hoohah over the article. I found nothing upsetworthy in it. Nothing. It’s an editorial, not an instruction manual for Life.
And I am continuing to live my horsey life the way I always have. :yes:
“Suitable” versus “appropriate” horse? Seems similar to me!
If taking out a loan for a horse isn’t for you, then ignore the advice. If it fits with your financial picture and it’s something you want (and can afford, along with the mortality and loss of use insurance), then go for it. It all depends upon an individual’s personal situation…not what someone else thinks you should or shouldn’t do.
Horses not “suitable” for the job do not help you to learn and may even create bad habits. As a beginner, a rider needs a safe, patient and sound horse with decent gaits. After that, depending upon your goals, you may need a different horse and you may have to find a way to do it if you don’t have a rich daddy or a sugar daddy to buy it for you or lend you the money!!
In the end, a good horse makes a good rider (and that means a suitable, appropriate horse).
Edited to add: And for those of you who think of Cindy Sydnor as a “horse dealer” shows you really don’t know Cindy!
The Article was in a recurring feature of DT entitled “VIEWPOINT,” it was not in the other feature entitled “If I knew then…”
Yes, true. Sorry, I was mistaken - but a ‘viewpoint’ is just someone’s opinion.
You don’t have to agree with it but a person is allowed to have one.
can we go for 18?
no, actually, they are not allowed to have a viewpoint, not if it disagrees with - oh - someone, no matter how hard one has to work to make it sound like it’s bad. then they are just an evil person who doesn’t love my horsey. :lol:
Hey why not?
To those who think Ms Sydnor’s opinion reveals some sort of inherent bias that should disqualify her from judging…how on earth would she know how much you paid for your horse? How would she know you did not buy a young horse or a diamond in the rough and bring it along? Or that your “offbreed” was not in fact a very expensive example of it’s breed (WB’s are not the only expensive horses around)?
Unless, perhaps, you were clearly overmounted on an upper level horse that you could not ride. In which case, I suspect, you would not score particularly well!
how on earth would she know how much you paid for your horse? How would she know you did not buy a young horse or a diamond in the rough and bring it along?
Oh, doncha see? She’s such a horse dealer that the only horses she would score high would be the expensive ones that she sold to the exhibitor.
( :no: ) (:rolleyes: )
A saddlebred’s letter to the Editor
To the Dressage Today Editor:
First, would you please run my ad ASAP? I have to get my dressage career moving:
For Sale:
One “horse mother”, serviceably sound, two legs, all ten toes and fingers. Safe, fun, and loving. Not talented at dressage (middle-aged, thighs need work, soft core). No vices (does Pinot Grigio count?) Must sell to pay off the loan I got to buy my very own Anky, who then colicked and broke her leg…
Anyway, Mom just read me the funny article in your recent issue advising riders to borrow money to buy a warmblood.
Pity the horses on both sides of this “Modest Proposal”: the ones whose worlds are rocked when they get dumped and the ones whose owners have gone into debt and saddled their brand new warmblood with such heavy expectations. Pity the mostly middle-aged AA women who follow this advice and take on a big, athletic, often stubborn, warmblood adolescent, with his bouncy trot, bull-dozer ground manners, and sky-high buck.
I can see it now, Lipizzaners from the Spanish School of Riding; Andalusians and Lusitanos from Spain and Portugal–off with their heads! And what about my quarter horse pal who just beat most all the warmbloods in his dressage test last weekend? As for me, so long as I’m a safe, good boy, even with my “special” conformation, Mom’ll give up on "dressage,"as defined in your article, long before she’d give up on me.
Please take my advice and follow the rule we horses follow:
HAVE FUN! DON’T GO BROKE!
Your “can’t-round-back-can’t buck,” Saddlebred pal,
Gotham
Chapel Hill NC
PS How do you square this article with all those nice article you’ve run about dressage fun with “alternative” breeds?
[QUOTE=Touchstone Farm;2908838]
“Suitable” versus “appropriate” horse? Seems similar to me!
If taking out a loan for a horse isn’t for you, then ignore the advice. If it fits with your financial picture and it’s something you want (and can afford, along with the mortality and loss of use insurance), then go for it. It all depends upon an individual’s personal situation…not what someone else thinks you should or shouldn’t do.
Horses not “suitable” for the job do not help you to learn and may even create bad habits. As a beginner, a rider needs a safe, patient and sound horse with decent gaits. After that, depending upon your goals, you may need a different horse and you may have to find a way to do it if you don’t have a rich daddy or a sugar daddy to buy it for you or lend you the money!!
In the end, a good horse makes a good rider (and that means a suitable, appropriate horse).
Edited to add: And for those of you who think of Cindy Sydnor as a “horse dealer” shows you really don’t know Cindy![/QUOTE]
Very well said! I still don’t get all the hoopla over this article. Why is it that people are so offended if anyone even suggests that some horses just aren’t appropriate for Dressage. It happens all the time in other disciplines. Yes, Dressage means “training”, but Dressage has become a very competitive sport, and that is what, IMO, Ms. Sydnor is talking about. All she is saying is that having an appropriate horse makes everything easier.
If I were a Barrel Racing trainer and you came to me with, say, a super nice Morgan. Beautiful horse, excellent example of it’s breed and you love this horse. I am STILL going to tell you that your chances of winning money in Rodeos, no matter how nice this Morgan is, is pretty slim. I’m not going to tell you that you can’t barrel race with your Morgan, but you need to be realistic and as a trainer, it is my responsibility to tell you that. Not take your money, and haul you to Rodeos knowing that you are never going to be in the money. Now if all you want to do is playdays and fun shows, go for it, but if your goal is professional rodeos, get an appropriate horse.
If you go to Cindy’s website, she ride’s a thoroughbred. I personally didn’t like the article, but taking it with a grain of salt should be the order of the day considering not everything that you would read in DT should be taken literal.
Viewpoint means just that and like this thread there are a lot of them.
