New Dover Catalog Cover Photo

[Julhar]

I am really bummed to have to get this off my chest. I love Dover Saddlery, and always look forward to getting their new catalog in the mail. Literally a Wishbook and loaded with scrumptious photos.

However, the one I got today is really bothering me. The cover pic is an adorable little girl on a TDF grey pony. Very determined & darling expressions on both their faces. What is bothering me so much though, is the little girl’s leg is off the saddle and horse, the little gal’s toe is turned out at an extreme angle and the very back of the calf is on the horse well behind the girth…with the spur visibly jabbing the pony. It caught my eye immediately as I sorted through the mail. All I can see now is that spur…

Nobody’s perfect, for sure…but now I know why the old concept of “winning your spurs” was the old way of doing things. People didn’t get to wear a spur until they could be relied upon to have a super leg position that would never accidently spur the horse. To see that on the cover of a huge catalog just makes me so sad…

Again, I don’t remotely mean this as a slam against Dover, I love shopping there! I’m just really perplexed & saddened by the choice of using that pic.

[Farside54]

Not to hijack this thread, but as we are on the subject of photos and catalogs…

Why are ads for equestrian clothing always shown with the model wearing perfectly clean clothes and tall boots that have obviously never seen the side of a stirrup leather??? This annoys the heck out of me for some reason. Wouldn’t you rather see a more “realistic” depiction of a rider? Say, muddy boots, straw in the hair, manure on the breeches???

As to the Dover ad photo…don’t have feelings one way or the other but will say this…if you put your photo on the front of a magazine that has at the very least, national distribution, you can’t rightly expect that no one will make comments on said riding abilities of the model.

[Erin]

Uh, JustJump, I’d guess that Charlotte was probably posting at the same time that I was.

There is not going to be any “vote” on whether the thread is deleted or locked… and people who continue to post that it should be deleted or locked aren’t following my instructions to MOVE ON either.

[Julhar]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by Irish Ei’s:
OK…What’s a TDF??? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

To Die For! Man, I wish I was a kid with one of those TDF ponies, sigh…

[snowsecret]

I’m glad I made you laugh, Pony + an Inch. I This topic has gotten pretty insane!

[cartera45]

I went to the website thinking I might be able to see the new cover and what do I see, but the picture advertising ordering the catalogue has a rider with the foot at a painful looking angle and the other looks to be pointing downward. But they are trying to sell, not teach so the most prominent thing in the picture is the expensive helmet.

[_MCR]

Wow…after reading the first few pages of this thread I had a picture of a little girl with two inch spikes on her heels jabbing into the sides of a tiny pony who, in turn, would appear to be in alot of pain. After following the link to the actuall picture, I found exactly what I had pictured. I mean, just look at how much pain the pony is in! I’m surprised he can even jump…poor soul.

Honestly people. I wasn’t going to comment when I first saw this thread, but after seeing the picture I thought I’d have my say. No, the fact that the girl is using alot of spur may not make for the perfect picture of a pony with a perfect little equitationer aboard, but if she needed the spur and used it, I think it shows that, while she may not have perfect eq, she’s effective! Which is more than can be said for most kids her age riding push buttons!

[Jodes_Aefvue_Farms_B]

It never ceases to amaze me the $hit some of you (and you know who you are) come up with w/ regard to “position” and “style” and all the other mindless CRAP some of you find usefull to discuss with regard to todays hunter riders. One more thread on “HOLY LORD, the hunters are going to hell” is going to make my head explode. Leave it alone, it’s 2006, not 1975…THINGS CHANGE and it’s a very cute kid on a cute pony. It’s that simple.

You are the ones giving the hunters a bad name.

[Jazzy_Lady]

I think if someone wants to discuss the proper use of spurs, that is fine, but do not start talking about a child who did not ASK to be publically criticized, nor asked for people to find MORE pictures of her to bring up in a pointless thread.

Have an opinion about it, but leave the poor kid out.

[CBoylen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Rather, I am critiquing the trainer and or parents who should remove the spurs, strengthen the leg, and then put the spurs back on </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
You’re critiquing one of the country’s top equitation barns, and a parent who was a national junior champion.

[Denzel]

Honestly, I think all the people that are ripping on this poor little girl’s equitation, are only doing it because they are jealous. Jealous that they couldn’t ride half as well as her on a good day at that age (maybe not even now!), jealous that she is a very cute rider with very cute ponies. Seriously, get over yourselves, until YOUR equitation is flawless, you have no right to go ripping apart a PICTURE of a rider where you don’t even know the circumstances of the photo, ESPECIALLY when it was not asked for.

[Auventera_Two]

Completely agree with the OP. I saw the pic and thought of posting but neither did I want to be the first victim. ha. The spur jabbing the pony’s side really bothered me too.

[Drummerboy]

As a parent and a professional trainer, my child wears spurs when she rides her pony. My decision, my educated decision, I might add. What Dover chooses to put on the cover is not our business, nor is which kid is or isn’t wearing spurs. Take it up with Dover if you have the time to obsess over it and have nothing else to do with your day. Leave the child, the pony and her parents, who should be livid with some of the comments on here alone. Move on or take it up privatley. In other words, find something else to do.

[Auventera_Two]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by Farside54:
I forgot to mention…was auditing a GM clinic several years back and observed him removing the spurs from a rider who rode a horse over fences much as this child is doing. It appeared to me to be one of his “cardinal sins.” She wouldn’t get them back, he told her, until her leg improved enough that she didn’t jab her horse at the appex of the jump. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe that’s it! I read the GM Jumping Clinic for a bazillion years and trained with a coach who worshipped GM. lol. Spurs were a big no no until you were good and ready for them.

[Won_For_Me]

The person from Dover who chose that picture should not be fired; they should be given a promotion. The cover has now been discussed for 6 pages on a very well known website. Some of you went and dug up the catalog to give the cover another look. Brilliant Marketing.

Would it have been discussed for 6 pages if it was perfect?

I loved the cover. It made me think of when I was a kid and showing ponies. Jods can be slippery and it is harder to keep your leg in place. Especially when the pony is that round and jumping that well!

[Julhar]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by flypony74:
I don’t think the issue here is the child herself. Very few of us are perfect riders and most of us have plenty of flaws ourselves. I think the issue is that Dover should have chosen a more “correct” photograph.

I agree that the leg position and spur usage is a little excessive, as I noticed this immediately when I looked at the catalog. Not saying I haven’t done the same thing! But then again, they certainly wouldn’t put ME on the cover of Dover. It is just a shame that it is the first thing that I noticed, and therefore detracted from an otherwise lovely cover. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you flypony 48 for reiterating very eloquently what I was getting at. Heaven knows my own equitation isn’t nor has ever been perfect, as has been already pointed out! The big differences are that I’ve never been recruited for a national catalog, and that my less than perfect leg is lacking a spur.

The reason that I found this otherwise lovely big picture in my mailbox upsetting is not that it is a “bad” picture, and not because the jumping form isn’t perfect. I’m definately not into tormenting poor little horse loving kids or hurting their feelings intentionally. My issue with it is simply that a spur is prominently displayed dug into a pony’s side in a way that makes it very conspicuous. Let’s face it, no matter what the reason for that is, it isn’t something our sport should want to put on public display when it does occur, no matter how “cute” everything else is.

Yes, I am a little sensitive about this issue, having seen lots of horses around locally with bloody sides, and riders who use their spurs incessantly so the horses have numb/scarred sides. Not that that is the case in this issue, but I do think that we should be trying to educate & fix this problem, rather than putting it in a spotlight. I am sad that Dover didn’t chose another picture to use.

[JustJump]

Charlotte, what part of “issues, not individuals” did you not comprehend in Erin’s post? Albeit in defense of the child/trainers, your post will only serve to add fuel to the fire.

Agree that this thread has no future but to cause distress. Another vote for deleting it, or locking it to let it die.

[jump_it29]

Wow, congratulations, someone found another picture of her from A YEAR AGO without a textbook leg. Ok, so I did say that “big deal if there is ONE bad picture.” WOW, I don’t give a poo if you find 5 pictures with a bad leg posted… but really… does that count for the 500+ jumps she has performed in her life? Can you really absolutely judge this child’s leg and ability from a handful of photos? ARE YOU A TRAINER? Hmmm, didn’t think half of you guys were. GET OVER IT already!

You guys are being so incredibly judgmental. When you have NO right to be. I just can’t believe that some of you guys, who consider yourselves “adults,” would behave like a snobby teenage girl in high school and label people, especially a young child.

I don’t care if you say your issue is the use of spurs with uneducated legs, but once again you are refering to the child having uneducated legs, therefore saying this child has an uneducated leg… its a whole cycle. Whether you think you are or not, you are indirectly judging the poor girl. STOP IT, really!

[2ndyrgal]

I also find your tag line interesting in that what you seem to be finding are faults.

[jump_it29]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-title”>quote:</div><div class=“ip-ubbcode-quote-content”>Originally posted by Two Simple:
I don’t believe the issue at hand is “oh my god this girl is a sucky rider.” I believe the topic at hand is that children that young should have a secure enough core, seat, and leg to handle spur usage and if they can’t, then take the spurs off.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, and I’m sure looking at this ONE photo will allow us to judge
COMPLETELY whether this child is good enough to ride with a spur or not

Honestly, you cannot judge a child’s ability to ride and use her leg from a single photograph. Everyone has a bad moment and a bad picture where we seem like two completely different riders. IT HAPPENS. Don’t go saying that a child who doesn’t show the most desirable equitation in one photo isn’t good enough for something unless you have seen her go before. We are NOT her trainers, and I’m sure it wasn’t her choice. Even our most loved and revered top riders have photographs of them looking not so nice, yet we still believe that they are great riders.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” It’s really ridiculous.