Has anyone else started reading the book “Off Course” that was just written and released about the USEF?

[albytb]

I’d also like to say that luxury/great amenities ≠ good horse keeping. There’s a barn near me that’s picturesque—beautiful aisles with chandeliers, rolling acres of pastures, large stalls, attentive grooms, beautiful shiny horses.

Every time I go there, every single horse is inside. I have never seen those pastures with horses in them. There’s some small limestone lots where they might spend an hour or two outside in fair weather with a groom standing by, watching closely.

This is not good horse keeping. But it’s a much prettier picture than the backyard barns off the side of the highway where shaggy beasts live outside together in roped off paddocks, perhaps a little too muddy and a little underconditioned.

Many biased conclusions will be jumped to about the skill and horsemanship of the riders at both barns. At what mental image we conjure at what the clientele of such places may look like.

[MHM]

@albytb

beautiful aisles with chandeliers

The chandeliers in a barn are always a red flag for me.

The horses won’t care about them, and unless they have a separate designated person for the task, some horse person is going to have to take time away from horse care to dust the chandeliers.

[poltroon]

Running an association is hard, and it takes money to do that. We, the audience, are demanding more from our sport and our venues. The general professionalization of the world means that instead of having wealthy volunteers running USEF (and our horse shows) we have people who need to be paid salary and health insurance. And this in turn has given them more tools, not fewer, to ensure a level playing field for all, even if that is not always achieved 100% of the time.

It is in the nature of any sport association to try to grow it. As a sport, we face a lot of problems around access as well as affordability (those aren’t the same thing) and the idea that the issue of young people finding and enjoying horse sport is only a matter of money is clearly wrong. Rich people not exposed to horses won’t ride horses. Not to mention how many stories any wealthy horseperson of color will have to tell about the assumptions made around them.

Recognizing that there has been racism and sexual abuse, sometimes from our most storied trainers, has been essential to our evolution and to having a future. Confronting the ongoing incidents is essential. Only with those acknowledgements can we stop that from happening further.

The more people in the US, and in the world, are exposed to horses and enjoy them, the better off we all are. That means being open to change and new ideas and making sure that people without hereditary connections to the sport feel welcomed and excited to participate.

Creating access for people is essential. As a child, I loved horses and everything about them - and I made choices in my life to enable me to have horses as an adult. I had horse books and horse toys and eventually riding lessons at a local stable with a string of lesson horses, despite the fact that my family was neither wealthy nor horsey.

We love to diss on USEF and certainly they make missteps. But, they bring value even to the rec leagues, even to people who are never members, because of their advocacy and rulemaking. My local fair isn’t a USEF show but it references USEF rules for equipment and class specs anyway. USEF represents a place where consensus is made and documented.

Could it be better? Of course. Is there any sports organization that couldn’t do better?

[OverandOnward]

Although there are black riders showing USHJA, it is true that it is in Western riding that their legacy is most powerful.

And it’s odd that the historical black cowboy is more in the mainstream media than the current here & now black horsepeople.

Keiara’s story mirrors that of many others among the young Black community who are continuing the legacy of Black horsemanship. Yet, it is a legacy seemingly hidden beneath the layers of the white-washed history of the culture of the American West. The Black cowboy is neither a myth nor an anomaly; rather, the Black cowboy is a figure that is indeed a powerful part of American collective history, which has been so often rewritten with the omission of Black contributions.

From the article linked below … photos of horsepeople actively competing today, without the blessing of the USEF, for whatever it is worth …

take a look at the horses and trailers in the background - not everyone is on a shoestring

Living Legacy | Atmos

If anyone notes the lack of helmets in the several photos in the article, fwiw much (most?) of the white Western riding world currently does not ride with helmets.

Many of us in can remember that helmets were not required in hunter/jumper/eq shows until 1986. Before that, we were riding with those hard-shell black-velvet-covered “caps”. The ASTM requirements were mandated I think in 1990. Very much in living memory.

[Ghazzu]

Black trainers played a significant role with Saddlebreds.
And there were a lot of Black jockeys, many who were enslaved.

[Mara]

Black trainers were not an uncommon sight at one time. One of the trainers with a horse in the 2020 Derby was the grandson of a Black trainer who was not allowed in the Churchill Downs stands when his horse ran in the Kentucky Derby.

And then the elite white people who owned the horses and were making the rules decided Black people didn’t belong in the winners’ circles, unless they were grooms.

[sixteenhands]

@Aussie_2020

How many times has Snoop been married and divorced?

Snoop has been with his wife since high school.

[mroades]

OMG YES!! Chandeliers make me RUN in the opposite direction of any barn that has them. I am sure there is an exception to that rule somewhere, but so far I haven’t seen it.

[albytb]

It’s the giant empty pastures that are always the biggest red flag to me… but definitely the chandeliers are also an eyebrow raiser

[enjoytheride]

Snoop married his wife in 1997 and is still married.

[tabula_rashah]

Just to post something good (because up yours to the OP’s “book”)- this was an amazing photography project done over the last few years
Equestrians of Color

[Paint_Party]

That is fabulous! Beautiful images. I’m going to enjoy going through each entry. Thanks for sharing.

[f0rf31t]

I’ve not clicked and looked at the whole link but that first photo you posted is absolutely amazing.

As someone who grew up riding western - yep, helmets aren’t common. I grew up very casual/backyard western and didn’t even have to wear a helmet outside of 4-H shows and I started riding in '03-ish. Began wearing a helmet when I was maybe 17, after I fell off my OTTB barrel racing at the county fair (4-H show) and was wearing a helmet then (was not injured from the fall in any way but it I guess you could say it knocked a bit of sense into me that wearing a helmet is important). My then-instructor, who sucked in a lotta ways tbh, did insist my first ride back (I fell off and was sore, didn’t wanna ride for a few days then IIRC, that was also around the time my mom and I went to a water park and I got the worst sunburn ever b/c somehow I neglected to put sunscreen on my shoulders/didn’t get enough/IDK but I had blisters on both shoulders and moving was uncomfortable.) that I wear a helmet but she didn’t really have to insist, as I’d wised up.

EDIT: And I very much feel helmets need to be the norm in western, though it seems to be getting there? I’m not as plugged into western horse culture these days but it seems to be increasingly common for western riders to wear helmets.

[Aussie_2020]

I think with the shift in bull riders wearing helmets and vests that more western riders will slide on board.

[OverandOnward]

Also the adaptation of the “western look” hat becoming part of a helmet.

For those who remember the year 1986, when helmets were finally required for hunter/jumper/eq – the national roar of outrage by competitors was because of the ugly look, and the effect on their hair.

The helmets at the time were not today’s sleek stylish models. They were known as “mushroom heads”, grossly round and not head-shaped, and protruding outward. And they had straps to secure them that virtually blocked the sides of the face from view. In fact clear straps quickly came on the market to overcome the obstruction.

The organization and the retailers had to accept that looks matter, for acceptance by the consumer. Right or wrong. That’s the way people are.

Western is going through the same evolution. Brain injuries aside, the human factor is that the risk has never overcome a necessary social acceptance and appreciation, to get helmets on people’s heads.

circa 80’s early-90’s …

Blessings on Troxel for repeatedly doing their best to sell helmets that people will buy and wear … with affordable h/j/e helmets for lower-budgets and beginners, and now western-friendly styles …

And Etsy’s creatives are also out there scouting the landscape for likely possibilities …

Yep, with the rodeo lean toward helmets, broad acceptance might be coming. It also needs leading recognized show contenders to be seen out there wearing helmets in ‘normal’ Western shows to help it along. No one wants to be first.

I don’t remember the year, but Allison Springer was the first Kentucky 3DE rider to go up the centerline in dressage wearing a helmet, not a top hat. I think she was the only one that year, at Kentucky. Remember that struggle?

The still-lingering PTSD from the traumatic 1986 rule change to helmets is probably holding back mandating helmets in Western. Until the population signals that it is ready.

[bugsynskeeter1]

@f0rf31t

EDIT: And I very much feel helmets need to be the norm in western, though it seems to be getting there? I’m not as plugged into western horse culture these days but it seems to be increasingly common for western riders to wear helmets.

As much as I dislike her for other reasons, Fallon Taylor has been big on making helmets more of a norm in barrel racing. Outside of barrel racing, you’d be hard pressed to find one in competition.

[jvanrens]

@OverandOnward

And Etsy’s creatives are also out there scouting the landscape for likely possibilities …

I would ride in my Charles Owens before I would wear that! There are a lot of western look helmets that look a lot better without the “western” brim look that someone on Etsy comes up with if I was showing. Troxel has some great looking western look helmets. If I go helmet shopping, hopefully they fit better than the last Troxel I tried on. They used to tend to be too round for my oval head.