Steeplechase racing.
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I raise you Timber racing!
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QFP
I think the age to participate in the forums is 13? With a parentās permission?
I have wondered before now if a junior forum might be in order. Then I thought about the Moderation that would be required. I have also mistaken people, that later proved to be adults, for teenagersā¦
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Iām not sure but I do think itās great that young horse lovers want to come here because theyāre passionate.
OP, do you mind if I ask how old you are? I donāt mean that to be condescending, but I just remember when I was younger I also thought of some groups of riders as ābetterā or āworseā but realistically itās not that simple. You canāt really judge āridingā as a whole on a comparative basis. The best trail riders are probably trail riders, the best dressage riders are probably dressage riders, and the best jumpers are probably jumpers and the best reiners are probably reiners. Itās really impossible to compare a group of riders like that and itās unfair.
When I was a kid I used to be pretty insecure about my own riding so I needed to make generalizations like this in order to build myself up. I used to think all those kids showing in āx disciplineā canāt even ride and their parents just buy them expensive horses. In reality I just felt insecure.
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I also think that the participation of young people is to be encouraged. However, if young people are to interact on BBs whoās members are primarily adults, they need to be able to adjust to the rather steep learning curve that interacting with adults requires of them.
Many young people are able to do this and many are not.
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Agreedā¦ the thread about trainwrecks coth threads is a good reminder of how messy things can get. But also I think some CotHers would do well to just remember that teenagers donāt think like adults do and we shouldnāt belittle them and mock them. We should welcome them to the conversation. No discipline could survive without young riders and we should all remember what that age felt like.
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Instead of thinking of them as better. Think of Dressage as being the trunk and jumping etc as being the branches.
I only have done dressage for a couple of decades but I started off eventing. Anyone can do it.
Dressage is the hardest and takes the longest to learn.
The only thing I have found as exciting as cross country is cutting cattle.
We donāt have fox hunting or steeple chasing here anymore. I think they still have steeple chase racing in Victoria but donāt quote me.
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Add āMarilyn Littleā for what itās worthā¦
She went to the other direction. She started off being successful in Jumpers, and then tried Eventing.
Barrel Racing intimidates the heck out of me. How those horses manage to stay on their feet is beyond me. Iād be too afraid theyād fall down to every try it.
Dressage!! Its so incredibly intimidating when you realize how insanely hard it is. 
Peder Fredricson went to the Olympics for both evening and later show jumping, where heās won a medal twice. Michael Jung regularly competes at the 5 star level in show jumping, I think heās even been on a nationās cup team for Show Jumping for Germany. Theyāre not exactly short talented show jumping riders.
I have tremendous respect for these two, and honestly, I think if you watch some of Pederās training videos on youtube, you can see links with dressage. He also has works his horses out of the arena a lot. So I think his eventing background likely influenced his training program today.
Mayhaps this is the age talkingā¦but I donāt feel āintimidatedā by other disciplines. I choose to do the ones I am interested in and I skip the ones that donāt interest me.
I can appreciate that my lack of desire to try reining, for example, will ensure that I will never win a horse trailer at a show. That said I respect the difficulty of the efforts of the reiners and the subtleties required to make a world class reining horse.
I have competed in many disciplines, ridden in point to points, including 2 fences of a steeplechase. I have galloped race horses, fox hunted 3 days a week as a professional groom and been FAR more blessed and lucky to have had such a well rounded view of the world of equestrianism.
Hereās what I have learned thatās relevant here. The moment you think someone else has it easier/better or whatever you want to call it, Karma comes along and b*tch slaps you.
Bottom lineā¦ Itās all hard. It can all be done and learned to be done really well. NONE of it is easy. ALL of us have to remember that humility is lurking a bounce stride away at all times.
I encourage folks to try other disciplines but always to remember to be kind to riders who are different from you. Their horses still drop dead, they still can fall and break right before a huge competition and their owner can decide to sell all their stock and invest in a Motorcycle dealership just as quick as yours can.
The differences between us matter far less than the commonality that we share.
Em
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Eventing intimidates me. Iāve fallen enough times to know that I want the jumps to collapse when I hit them with my face
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I even have problems with that now that Iām well into Middle Ageā¢. Canāt even enjoy watching others jump the big fences without imagining all the things that could go wrong.
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