After wading through 13 pages of posts…I have just a FEW things to say:
Jen West: Hon, please, as a very wise man once said: “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”. That said, I will address some of your complaints. Are you really that old?? You’ve ridden a REAL war horse?? COOL!!! So, the didn’t spook huh? really? Have proof??
I’ll be honest, I have noticed a lot of floppy legs in dressage myself, but if western saddles weren’t so stiff…you’d see a lot of floppy legs there too.Now, I am sure you are a very good rider and do incorperate dressage into your training program, however, I don’t think you can say you are the best Western Pleasure rider in the world…so I hardly think you are in a position to say you can ride better than the current leading competition dressage rider in the world, as dressage is not your sport. Now, that said, I wouldn’t want to ride like Anky either…I don’t feel her method of warm up is the best…but then again, who am I to say. If it works for her, then so be it…mine works for me.
Western Pleasure needs ALOT of help. Peanut rolling is not pretty and it is very bad for the horses. I know most WP people don’t do that any more,but still.
Now, dressage riders, DQ’s, hunters, jumpers, etc who posted:
Have you ever ridden a barrel racer? Nope, didn’t think so. I have, so I’ll say a few things. Tie downs are not cruel or anything else…ride most barrel racers without one, you’ll and up with a smashed mouth and a broken nose. Barrel racers, for the most part, do have quiet hands. My mother rode in the gaming events when she was in HS. She trained her horse from the ground up. He was #1 in the nation for barrels, #2 in the nation for Pole bending, #1 in the State of California for Pole Bending, #1 in the State of California for Barrel Racing. That horse, who was a grade gelding, continued to win saddles into his late 20’s. My mom tried to look him up to buy him back when she got back into horses when I was 3…everywhere she went people would say “Oh, that little black gelding…yeah, the last time I saw him, he was winning a saddle!”. Now, does my mother (she doesn’t ride anymore) have bouncy hands, nope! Does my mother jerk on a horse’s face…nope! Do her ankles wobble, nope!
So, like I implied to Jen West, unless you’ve been there, done that…please keep your mouth shut.
All that said, we all need to remember that bad days are had, people make mistakes, horses make mistakes, people fall off, horses go lame, and…no one is perfect!
Yeah, I’ll probably get killed for this post, but I felt the need to say a few things.
I’ve ridden barrels, hunters, and now dressage…I like dressage the best, but it has its faults and its nasty people, just like anything else.
Ride because you love horses and want to improve yourself as a person, not because you have to prove something…there will always be someone better than you.
Rosey
P.S.
Yep, I’d bet there are better riders than Anky out there…as wonderfully talented as she is:) Just ask the Spanish Riding school!
) Going back to the photo and looking again I have to go my original thought: behind the bit.
