Thank you, I really appreciate it. It is crazy to me that people can assume so much about your life just by the way you type! Although, I do realize I should have been more clear. Communicating is something I struggle with a lot. I will definitely try your communicating trick, as well as making a google slides with everything I want to say but am too scared to say.
I’m really glad you commented, it made me feel better because the other comments kind of made me feel sad.
Thank you!
Slide decks were very powerful for me to articulate myself with words and visuals as a teen. It is great practice for the corporate world as well if you decide to move in that direction.
The Internet is great exposure to a variety of perspectives. And generally is representative of how people receive you in real life - just a lot more raw and abrasive / amplified.
Most of us were pretty on the money that 1) english appears to not be native language 2) you are somewhat sheltered compared to standard US teen - which correlates with the “overbooking” of extracurriculars etc. 3) that riding in the US may not be your experience - I am guessing you rode abroad as a child?
We weren’t necessarily wrong about any of the context except for the literal age and perhaps level of involvement of the parents.
Glad you got the question answered and some perspective on communication that you can apply to situations in the future. You may find life getting a little easier and less stressful with improved communication. And you’ll have a great time in your next barn, education, whatever endeavors.
Just because I don’t use “lingo” when typing doesn’t mean it is not true. Assuming things based on the way I reply is absolutely absurd and off putting. English is not my first language by any means, and while I don’t add the special terminology I am trying my best to communicate.
For the OTTB, I used to full lease an OTTB and it was a lot of work. I could not handle that now because I am looking for an already trained horse who does not need much prep before shows. I’m looking for a horse with a lots of scope (good enough for your lingo?), but I don’t mind if the horse has a hotter temperament or personality. I can handle that, but I can’t handle having to fully train a horse.
Thank you for the advice, but this comment is not very useful to the original question. Instead of assuming things about people you don’t know, try to be more constructive.
I will add regarding the lack of parental involvement: I have been in numerous situations where the child is leading the leasing process. It’s not advisable, and makes things a lot harder, but I have noticed that more often than not it is the child leading the communication and then the trainer going to the parents for confirmation. With increased access to the internet and younger and younger children being able to navigate on computers or phones, it isn’t surprising that they are often finding horses online and sending them over to their trainer.
ETA: But, OP, it is your prerogative to communicate clearly with your parents so all parties (parents, trainer, student) can be on the same page.
Great call - and I’m glad you got something out of it.
COTH is full of knowledge but has its own expectations and rules that differ from other social media; once you learn to navigate it, this site can be a great resource IF you’re willing to consider the advice vs look for validation or shoot everything down with an excuse (not saying you have done this, just talking generally).
Talk to your parents and the show barn. Get a price sheet and study it. Lease something, and have fun before you head off for college! There’s lots of opportunities for someone in school with good riding and horsemanship skills to ride for free (or cheap through IHSA and the like).
Echo Rel6’s post. My jaw just kept dropping watching people spin paragraph after paragraph trying to make this poor youth feel stupid and unwanted here. Really don’t think this was a good look for us. If you really think a child is trolling you, then maybe just ignore them?
I also don’t think she needs to clarify or open with the fact that English isn’t her first language. It can be hard enough fitting in in this country without announcing off the bat that you’re a foreigner.
OP I think your English is plenty coherent and plenty correct, that you’ve handled this pile-on quite respectably, and that you don’t owe anyone your life details. I’m glad you came here to learn and hope we didn’t scare you off. The lease at the show barn seems to be the best plan for your goals as 60k will not get you a 3’6" big eq warmblood.
Best of luck with whatever you decide!
Um… This Forum is Social Media
Kinda like Insta for Fogeys
Yes! I will definitely involve my parents more. They are not horse people at all but it’s imperative that they start to help me make decisions because we are a family and we need to make decisions together.
Thank you for the encouraging words, I really appreciate it.
This is based off of my experience. Thanks for the encouraging words!
A hot warmblood that goes out and does it’s job is totally different from a horse of any type that needs a ton of prep just to focus or its hand held the first time around because it’s new to the job. Makes perfectly fine sense to me.
There are a lot of OTTB at low end barns who don’t get fully retrained, may be in pain, and remain hot and unpredictable. If you had one of those it would put you off the breed for sure. Because they are cheap to free (or used to be) they end up in barns without the resources to buy WB (although there’s enough rank WB around too).
OP, I think the big lesson here is that unlike all your other studies and hobbies, riding is not so much within a clearly defined adult designated education system. Adult trainers can be all over the place. There is no clear system of grades or levels or badges. You need to be in control of your goals.
She had one. It needed a ton of prep. She wants to do the eq, not the jumpers, and the 3’6" eq at that. It is perfectly logical to want a warmblood and not an ottb for this job.
The people replying to you are paying attention to or just plain noticing your wording, phrasing, apparent circumstances, parental involvement and obvious restrictions on horse activities because horses are an intensely personal activity, and only when these personal characteristics and circumstances are taken into consideration can adequate advice and warnings be given.
You’ve got to admit, an awful lot of the things that made people here say “troll” or “younger person embellishing or fantasizing” are true with you.
And your experience with one OTTB is not true for all. I had one I bought as a 10-year-old, very nicely trained, lots of show experience, and a heck of a jumper. Also very easy to handle, for most quiet, capable people. And great on trails, my absolute favorite activity.
Dear god, are some of you still harping on your “this is obviously a troll” fantasy that gets trotted out what feels like every time a minor posts on this forum? Or trying to lecture a child on it? Get over yourselves
I’ll echo @Rel6’s advice, OP. And take the advice you get here with a few good grains of salt.
Also, OP, I’m sure it’s been suggested within this thread somewhere, but what I think would be really helpful would be having a meeting with the trainer at the show barn WITH your parents there, talking about what your goal is, whether that’s realistic, and what it would take to get there. And if it’s not realistic due to finances or time commitment or whatever it may be, figuring what might be a more attainable goal for you.
Trainers are there to help you succeed and this type of meeting, to make sure everyone is on the same page, not only ensures that the lines of communication are open across all the involved parties, but also to make sure that all of you are working toward the same goal (vs thinking you are, but actually being slightly off-kilter).
Back in the day, my trainer would do a goal-setting meeting like this with each of her students and it was helpful for us and for her.
I don’t like continuously editing my post when I think of new, semi-intelligent things to say, so I’ll add on that with these meetings, we typically set 3 types of goals:
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Immediate future goals, like “I want to get my lower leg strong enough that I can jump around a full 3’ course without stirrups and keep a dollar bill under my leg without losing it. I want to achieve this by the end of February.”
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Slightly longer-term goals, like “I want to compete in the state medal finals in August and have a good, positive experience for me and my horse.” or “I want to qualify for these finals.”
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Long term goals, like “I want to ride in a Grand Prix before I die.”
Then once we had all of these figured out, we could make a plan with benchmarks for the various goals and figure out how we were going to get there. It was really useful organizationally. And worth noting that we did not really set goals like “I want to win my local medal final,” or things where it relies on things that are completely out of your control. Qualify for classes, sure. Have a good solid experience, absolutely. Get a ribbon at a final? Sure, that was a thing - one year, one of my goals was that I desperately wanted to get a ribbon in a GP, and I very much did not want it to be 8th simply because I don’t like brown . But we NEVER made goals be about winning, and it made for a much healthier atmosphere in our group, I think.
At age 16, no matter your background, language, experience: girl, you have lovely manners!
Yes!! People are so obsessed with me being a troll apparently. I am just trying to learn but it seems like no matter what I do on this topic, everyone thinks I am trolling.
I understand where they are coming from but no matter how much I explain they are not satisfied. It’s honestly hurting my feelings but I really appreciate when people like you give kind and encouraging words.
Thank you so much
This is just cruel and absolutely unnecessary, especially knowing English is not their first language. If she didn’t already struggle with confidence navigating this world in a third language she sure as hell will now.
And I might note you countered her tale of knowing one TB with a tale of… knowing one thoroughbred.