[QUOTE=Laurierace;7550808]
I thought I was bitter. Now I am complacent? Maybe the psychic network is hiring. Or maybe the FBI’s profiling division?[/QUOTE]
You come off as bitter and complacent…and a bitch.
Reported
[QUOTE=vxf111;7550815]
It’s not all about height.
Set up last year’s medal test and ride it as groundpoles or crossrails. Until you can execute it PERFECTLY on 3 different horses, you have something to learn and can grow/develop.[/QUOTE]
Where I leased two horses for 3.5 years, I wasn’t allowed to go over ground poles outside of a lesson. Barn owner’s rule. Practically unheard of, I know. It’s part of the reason I stopped riding there. And I would ride 5-6 times a week when I was leasing. The days I wasn’t lessoning, I was hacking and practicing what I learned in lessons on the flat.
I know other people have problems. I definitely get that. There are many so much worse off than I am. And I can’t keep up with the Jonses’ which is why I quit.
You are one of the only people on here whose advice I appreciate. Thank you. 
And YOU my dear are a FRAUD!!!
Dressage (and eventing) is not expensive when you’re just starting. Dressage can become an overwhelming passion - a never ending drive to get that perfect harmony between horse and rider. It’ll also make you a better jumper.
It sounds like you need a break from both riding and these COTH boards.
Again, I strongly, strongly recommend getting Denny Emerson’s book “How Good Riders Get Good”. Read it and decide if you really and truly will do whatever it takes to achieve your goal. If, at the end of the day, you continue with excuses, then that does not bode well for your future.
[QUOTE=huntr_eq_blonde;7550818]
[edit][/QUOTE]
My dear, it’s clear you need to take a break.
[QUOTE=Claudius;7550839]
And YOU my dear are a FRAUD!!![/QUOTE]
How I am a fraud is beyond me. I’m telling you the situations I’ve gone through. Whether you choose to believe them is completely irrelevant to me.
Thanks for reminding me of how lovely horse people truly are!
There are thousands upon thousands of riders who have huge aspirations and too little money to fund it. What separates the horse people from the riders is the amount of energy and learning that they put into other aspects of the sport. What also separates the good characters from the entitled is gratitude. No one “duped you” or “did this to you.” You were gifted saddle time, period, and if you can’t pay to play it truly is a gift. Maybe you’ll learn the value of this one day, or maybe you’ll quit entirely. The only person missing out is you.
[QUOTE=Carolinadreamin’;7550848]
Dressage (and eventing) is not expensive when you’re just starting. Dressage can become an overwhelming passion - a never ending drive to get that perfect harmony between horse and rider. It’ll also make you a better jumper.
It sounds like you need a break from both riding and these COTH boards.
Again, I strongly, strongly recommend getting Denny Emerson’s book “How Good Riders Get Good”. Read it and decide if you really and truly will do whatever it takes to achieve your goal. If, at the end of the day, you continue with excuses, then that does not bode well for your future.[/QUOTE]
Thank you. You are also one of the rare people whose comments I will take to heart. I will actually buy that book. I read about it in Practical Horseman. In regular life, I don’t make excuses. The horse world is a totally different beast. Money talks.
I do need a break from riding, which is why I quit.
And I rarely post on here due to not wanting to converse with lovely people such as Claudius and Laurierace.
OP, dare I say your attitude might have something with the lack of horses to ride?
Those girls you see riding 4’ horses for free? They’re also walking the rehabbing half crazy ones, getting the kids ponies around, and saying thank you every time they mount up. Go find a barn, take lessons (no… the horses won’t be able to jump 4’, don’t complain). Get to know the trainer, ask if they have extra horses to ride. Be thankful for everything you get on, and eventually you might be on a 4’ horse. You’re making a ridiculous amount of excuses instead of actually going out and doing something.
[QUOTE=AndNirina;7550854]
No one “duped you” or “did this to you.” You were gifted saddle time, period, and if you can’t pay to play it truly is a gift. Maybe you’ll learn the value of this one day, or maybe you’ll quit entirely. The only person missing out is you.[/QUOTE]
My parents did “pay to play” in the leasing of that one horse and in taking lessons on that pony when I was younger. It was not a gift. I don’t consider things gifts when you pay for them. My family feels duped.
And maybe I am missing out, but right now, after this whole conversation with you “horsemen,” it is becoming more and more clear that I truly am not.
Lordy lordy. A bit of grace and understanding may be appropriate from all sides.
FWIW moving up in height has nothing to do with accomplishment. Seriously. It doesn’t. OTTB are a dime a dozen in your area, go find one start from the beginning, and maybe, just maybe you’ll find a love for something different than jumping high and going fast. Be sure you take someone who has a good eye for an athletic horse, and do a good vet check.
Why quit just because you can’t jump 4’? That just seems silly, and honestly exactly why you got such a strong reaction from people who would walk a trail horse on a rocky path just to sit on the back of an equine.
[QUOTE=OnDeck;7550860]
OP, dare I say your attitude might have something with the lack of horses to ride?
Those girls you see riding 4’ horses for free? They’re also walking the rehabbing the half crazy ones, getting the kids ponies around, and saying thank you every time they mount up. Go find a barn, take lessons (no… they horses won’t be able to jump 4’, don’t complain). Get to know the trainer, ask if they have extra horses to ride. Be thankful for everything you get on, and eventually you might be on a 4’ horse. You’re making a ridiculous amount of excuses instead of actually going out and doing something.[/QUOTE]
I have. I ask to flat other people’s horses. I rode sale horses in lessons. I’ve ridden the crazies and gotten thrown off. At all the barns I’ve ridden at, there are no girls riding 4’ horses for free. Those girls own 2-3 imported horses and jump and show the hell out of them. By no means are they helping around the barn, rehabbing horses, or giving lessons to little kids. They get on and they get off. I guess that makes them riders and not horsemen, according to other posters’ standards. But that is the reality of what I am around. I can’t move and can’t change where I live for the time being.
I wouldn’t let the OP ride any of my horses… no matter what I did she’d end up bad mouthing me on the internet and I’m sure people in her area know that.
Lets be real, the horse world is a small one and you don’t have as many grievances with as many people as the OP does with out getting a reputation.
Plus, if she can’t work because of sickness and too many doctor visits, why would an owner think she’d be able to put the needed time into this magical 4foot horse they are free leasing to her?
NEXT!
[QUOTE=huntr_eq_blonde;7550883]
I have. I ask to flat other people’s horses. I rode sale horses in lessons. I’ve ridden the crazies and gotten thrown off. At all the barns I’ve ridden at, there are no girls riding 4’ horses for free. Those girls own 2-3 imported horses and jump and show the hell out of them. By no means are they helping around the barn, rehabbing horses, or giving lessons to little kids. They get on and they get off. I guess that makes them riders and not horsemen, according to other posters’ standards. But that is the reality of what I am around. I can’t move and can’t change where I live for the time being.[/QUOTE]
It’s not impossible to ride 4’ horses for free IF you have a good attitude. (I’ve jumped three different horses 4’ in the past three months, don’t own any of them. I rode a lot of 3’ - 3’6" horses in between). If there are girls who own 2 - 3 imported horses in your area, you’re in a GOOD area to find these kinds of deals.
[QUOTE=huntr_eq_blonde;7550883]
Those girls own 2-3 imported horses and jump and show the hell out of them. By no means are they helping around the barn, rehabbing horses, or giving lessons to little kids.[/QUOTE]
So good for them, that’s their reality, not yours. What’s the point of being jealous? It’s a good life lesson to learn that someone else will always have more than you.
Just know that part of growing as a person and as a rider is time spent in the saddle, no matter what. You’re young. Horses will be there your entire life if you want them to be, and there is always a way. Sometimes you have to pay to ride even the crappy ones. I’ve paid to lease a horse recovering from EPM who was talented and spent the better part of a year walking/trotting because I wanted to ride and it was my only option. It’s still a nice horse, owned by someone else, and yes that is a gift. Perfect horses with perfect financially feasible situations don’t come around often if at all.
If you had all the money in the world to buy whatever you wanted, it could conceivably break just as easily as a cheap, naughty pony. Ask me how I know. every time we get in the saddle, we roll our dice and take our chances with horses of any type. You can learn from them all, it just depends how badly you want to. I think that’s our point. Good luck to you whatever you choose.
OP, you’re still young so step back, think and reflect. Read Denny’s book - it contains good, hard advice and real life examples. Good luck!
[QUOTE=woodhillsmanhattan;7550665]
What’s even more inspiring is those that post on COTH that are “more mature” and haven’t “made it”. They simply enjoy and love what they are doing. And I often learn the most from their posts in regards to horsemanship, approaching things from a different view point, etc.[/QUOTE]
Yes! This! Thank you for articulating what I couldn’t!
OP, I’m recovering from surgery right now. I’ve been fighting with this injury for years. As an endurance athlete (on top of work and equestrian hobbies,) it has been a huge fight for me. And there came a day when I looked down at the injured area and it was swollen and ghastly and I finally just quit. And no matter what it is that I could have kept on doing, I didn’t do that. I didn’t want to hear everyone’s recommendations for how to spend my newfound free time, because all I wanted to do was what I had been doing, which I could no longer do due to extreme pain. I got so many good suggestions, but all I could say was, “No, I don’t want to do that.” No, no, no. I would rather just be depressed about not doing what I want to do.
I call this, “wallowing.”
I think you’re in that place. I think there are a lot of people on this board who understand the place you’re in. There is a lot of really great, compassionate, heartfelt advice being given to you. I understand why you’re choking on it, but you have to realize that at some point you have to deal with what you have. You’re going to have to make the best of it, or you’ll have nothing. Maybe that feels like what you want right now, but if riding is truly in your blood and in your heart, then you’ll eventually come back to this thread with a new set of eyes and eventually, maybe not even soon, what everyone is saying will make sense.
I’m truly sorry about your situation. But please don’t lash out at the people who are trying to help, even if this feels like nails on a chalkboard. They really are right. There is a lot you can do, when you’re ready to accept those possibilities. It will probably take a lot of work to get to that place. That’s okay. You can wallow. Eventually, you’ll want to get out. When you do, come back and reread this thread.
[QUOTE=Claudius;7550703]
I need someone good to show my horses. I have ALWAYS needed someone better than myself, but could not afford the professionals!! SO I did it myself, love it, rode and sold horses I got off the track and prospered. Now my horses are so much better than I am…find someone like me and you will have a win win situation!! And if you LOVE it, as you say you do, don’t charge them!!![/QUOTE]
You are in my zone… and this is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for!
