A good friend of mine rode with Katie in Florida for a time. She had a very nice AO jumper. She thought Katie was the bees knees and was so thankful for getting to lesson with her. However, she ended up having to quit lessoning with her since she already had a very nice horse and was not interested in purchasing other horses. It appeared Katie was not particularly interested in teaching someone with a very nice horse that had no interest in buying a horse through her.
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BRAVO KATIE!!!
I will venture to guess those who DO NOT agree with Katie also did NOT vote for the current President! carry on…
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What Katie talks about is happening in most disciplines, not just showjumping. Horses have disappeared from the neighborhoods, and most kids have to go to a lesson barn for the opportunity to ride. And it is expensive to show at even the local levels.
And the drugged horses - it’s not too hard to get a perfectly behaved horse around the ring. Maybe they’d ride a little better if the horses were left natural and act like horses act.
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Anyone who thinks showing horses hasn’t been for the privileged (white) few since the very beginning is deluded. It might be getting worse, but it’s always been this way.
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YES! To this. I was just talking to a friend and said we needed to start a “Make America Ride Again” campaign, get mid-level breeders and trainers with the idea that life-long riders are where it’s at.
I do want to say that the USA Hockey approach works fantastic in areas where hockey was not already a stronghold. I live in a HOCKEY is everything area, and there is ZERO here for the person who wants to learn that is older than say 8yr old. Because they assume everyone here knows how to skate before they can walk so why. But they miss a market because with four universities in a super super small area, there are a ton of people who going in and out who didn’t grow up in the market. And we’re left with the clubs who can’t fill because they expect every family to want to travel 4+ hours every weekend. There’s nothing for the person who wants to have fun and move on. They treat hockey like every single person is going to go play for BU/SLU/BC/Clarkson and that drives a lot away.
I think our industry could learn a TON from the way USA Hockey has changed their focus (and I wish my local town would too!)
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I really have to agree with this wholeheartedly.
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Oh please.
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So glad you understand and appreciate that novel I wrote! :lol: You bring up a really excellent point about the hockey towns that aren’t capturing that market. It falls in perfectly with what Emily wrote on the first page about the 26-40 age bracket in the horse world. Not everyone wants to or can compete at upper levels, in horses or hockey. And by ignoring them, you create that void. You drive people away or lock them out before they even get interested. They can still be competitors, they can still be good riders/horsemen/sportsmen, but again not all will go “all the way.” I think the emphasis needs to be on riding as a lifelong sport, as USA Hockey has been branding their sport. It’s harder to do with horses because as someone else mentioned, there’s less land, but it’s worth a shot to capture more interest. Both hockey and horses will always be expensive and the elite levels will always be for those that have the financial means. Doesn’t mean you can’t attract more people who are interested in learning.
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I was volunteering at an eventing thing recently. One of the older gentleman who has been around forever said “thank goodness for the intro level riders, they support the rest of us”.
He hit the nail on the head. It sounds like some people are missing or forgetting that is the case.
@GoneAway I totally enjoyed your novel. I am only allowed to like it once.
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I will say, to @GoneAway and a few others’ points, I am in that 26-40 age range, have ridden all my life, took a very brief hiatus after working in the horse industry for years to start my career in a different, non-horsey field, and I am lucky to have a great relationship with my old boss who lets me ride whatever I want to and helps me with my own horse constantly…but just from observing other adult ammies like me, who have a lot of experience but haven’t maybe had the money until now to really ride and show the way they want to, it seems like a lot of trainers just treat them like they’re stupid, or inexperienced, aren’t very encouraging and have no interest in developing their riding skills further because hey, it’s a better business model to make them feel incapable so they’ll pay for lots of training rides instead.
Granted I’m in the eventing world and it’s not quite the same, but that’s what I see quite a bit. Just because we aren’t juniors anymore doesn’t mean we don’t have the desire and (somewhere in our “old bones”) the talent to reach our goals.
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Because, if you look at the numbers, those lower level jumpers (and hunters for that matter) support the show. The entries would be down probably 25-40% and show managers simply can’t afford to exclude them.
Having those classes at the bigger shows is also an opportunity for new riders to see what it’s all about. We have some smaller circuits here, and people tend to use them as an end, rather then the means, and they never move up
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I also feel like at times, trainers sort of default to assume that adults, especially re-riders, aren’t really interested in doing more than “just” having fun and basically being weekend warriors. At least, I’ve felt as though I’m having to push back against that sense since I’ve returned to the horse world in the last year. Even among good trainers I feel a reluctance to push adults clients/students the way you may a junior.
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I also genuinely do not understand the outright disdain for allowing one barn to bring all their clients to a single show. For some hard-working amateurs, that is their vacation. That is their opportunity to form meaningful friendships with their barn-mates. One stop shop shows also give more novice riders an opportunity to see what’s at the top and learn.
I recently joined a fairly BNT jumper barn. I’m doing the “lowly” adult jumpers and my peers are competing in the high amateurs and Grand Prixs. Aside from the 1 hour I spend getting ready for my class and showing, I have hours to watch the bigger classes, observe the warm-ups and learn. That’s a wonderful opportunity for me. I would prefer to do that then go to a smaller show, with our assistant trainer, maybe not as nice footing or nice jumps and no one I can really aspire to watch. But I think the important thing is that I have a choice.
I get that these shows are expensive and so that in and of itself is a drawback of everyone in one tent. BUT I think the best way to solve that is change the mileage rule. That will help give smaller shows a chance and hopefully will encourage certain operators (HITS) to improve the quality of their product when they lose a monopoly. The mileage rule genuinely has to be one of the most damaging things to the sport.
I also agree we need more to figure out how to nourish the grass roots. Because we need the sport to grow. Increasing participation is what will allow us to find the diamonds in the rough who grow to become the Kents, and Mclains and allow us to field strong teams. These aren’t just exceptional athletes, they’re wonderful horsemen and they’ve learned how to find sponsors.
Thank you for the hockey example, I was not aware of those efforts but they sound very very smart to me.
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“USA Hockey has developed and campaigned not only an official American Development Model of training, but also highly emphasized grassroots programs. There are also local rink-based programs targeting everyone from 4 years old to 80+ years old. These programs focus on learning, fun, and exercise. They have “Try Hockey For Free” days across the country, where parents can get their kids on the ice, in full gear, at absolutely no charge. It’s just a day, but between that and a lot of the new sponsorship programs for beginner leagues, hockey is becoming a little more accessible.”
The elimination of B and C shows and stranglehold on A shows via mileage limitations has effectively killed off the grassroots Equestrian ‘fun and development aspect’.
Not sure what to change to re-energize a grassroots effort, but I suspect some weaning away from super-dependence on ‘the trainer as God system’ and shifting away from ‘Hunters as fashion runway’, emphasizing horsemanship, functionality and effective riding and training by owner/riders might be something to consider.
You know, like go back to Pony Club as a model, instead of the Big EQ buy-a ride, and juniors in shadbellies goals.
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:yes:
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Yah, and she’s TORI FREAKIN’ COLVIN!!! Most kids are not. Not to mention that she came from some money, and thats how she got to be TORI FREAKIN COLVIN in the first place; money to buy good horses to get her started
What kills me here, is that I am willing to bet that the vast majority of the “It was SO much better back in the day” group of people are not even riding at an upper lever right now. Or showing at major shows. Or taking a group of wildly varying riders to horse shows. Or if they are showing at an upper level, how they got there, and how much success are they having ( success being able to go double clear or find 8 jumps and make the lead changes, not just ribbon )
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What is so bad about having lower divisions of show jumping? What is wrong with letting you 14 year old do children’s jumpers instead of junior jumpers? Is it really hurting the industry? No. It’s creating a bigger industry. Different horses for different levels. So my kid doesn’t want to jump 4’. I’ve got no problem with that. I’m happy if my kid is happy. Maybe my kid just wants something different to do after school. Goes to college and becomes a well-rounded human. Not everybody is meant for 5* competitions, and there is nothing wrong with that. If there wasn’t a market for it, nobody would enter these levels. They created these levels, people filled them up, and now they are bitching about it. Makes no sense to me.
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I like your whole post but I think this part needs to be repeated.
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To be fully fair to Tori, what little I do know about her background is that she is not from a family that is the type that typically can financially support an A show career (which is now, given what that costs, straight up wealthy). BUT–and this is a huge BUT–she has parents who were also part of the horse world, and had the experience and connections to find less expensive horses as prospects that they could bring along for her and “flip” to keep buying ever nicer prospects, AND enough connections in the horse world to get her into the top A show stables.
Of course she’s supernaturally talented, and that’s a huge reason she got the rides. But, even with her talent, I would bet that if her mother hadn’t been able to literally step in and work for these BNT’s in exchange for their time, she still wouldn’t have gotten the rides. Most kids don’t have parents like hers, obviously.
But re: the other point you made in terms of nice horses, I agree. I think it’s a little disingenuous to rule out how important having access to some quality horses is to a rider’s development. Sure, you learn a great deal from the tough ones, and the all-around great riders and horseman can ride anything, and spent a lot of time on difficult horses, but they also had access to nice, quality, made rides, especially early in their development. Often, if you don’t have money for the nicer stables or a move away from lesson horses as a kid, you never even get a chance to sit on a horse that can actually show you what a good hunter round feels like, how to put a horse on the bit, how to ask for a lead change, etc.
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I just had a phone conversation with a gentleman inquiring about one of my horses. He is a weekend warrior, successful businessman during the week. He told me he promised his wife ,family and business partners, that he would never jump higher then 1.20m, and he would avoid horses with any really training issues (understanding that horses and showing are inherently dangerous. He simply cannot afford the risks assumed when the jumps get bigger. by KMH’s standards, should this guy not even bother? Is he not worth her time and energy, even though he has the money to play?
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