The demise of Riding Schools due to insurance expense has resulted in a complete lack of horsemanship education prior to even thinking about competitions. 4H is not Western Pony Club. Now people go from beginning rider straight to showing, where " Winning isn’t everything, it’s the ONLY thing"
Either Stay Away from these shows where there are no good trainers to administer justice for poor horsemanship (ala Lord Helpus’s example), or appoint yourself the fixer.
Good luck.
What constitutes abuse is a huge and complex can of worms. I could argue that certain well accepted and established veterinary treatments cause a lot of pain and suffering in horses- we don’t call it abuse because we’ve rationalized that ‘we know’ the horse will eventually get better. I could also argue that if snatching a horse in the mouth is abuse, then we must not teach people how to ride, because an inevitable part of the process is that they will snatch a horse in the mouth (and bounce on its back).
Many posters here have seen many videos via this forum of ‘big name’ (and very popular) ‘trainers’ whose methods are quite arguably abusive- never mind teenagers having meltdowns at local shows.
As has already been observed in this thread- open horse shows do not have the corner on any ‘abuse’ market.
[QUOTE=lightlee;6980808]
I went to an open horse show a couple of weeks ago…[/QUOTE]
My troll alarms sounded. Wouldn’t a person upset by what they’d seen and wishing to discuss it on COTH post sooner than “a couple of weeks” later?
Then the time frame changed. Poster has some history but this thread looks like a troll.
[QUOTE=Plumcreek;6982993]
The demise of Riding Schools due to insurance expense has resulted in a complete lack of horsemanship education prior to even thinking about competitions. 4H is not Western Pony Club. Now people go from beginning rider straight to showing, where " Winning isn’t everything, it’s the ONLY thing"
Either Stay Away from these shows where there are no good trainers to administer justice for poor horsemanship (ala Lord Helpus’s example), or appoint yourself the fixer.
Good luck.[/QUOTE]
A) 4-H is not necessarily “Western”
B) My 4-H leader would not have tolerated that sort of behavior from any of the members of our club or any other where he was present.
C) The Winning is everything is certainly not limited to 4-H or “open” shows.
The current state of affairs in h/j land is evidence enough of that.
Originally Posted by lightlee
I went to an open horse show a couple of weeks ago…
[QUOTE=Bicoastal;6983151]
My troll alarms sounded. Wouldn’t a person upset by what they’d seen and wishing to discuss it on COTH post sooner than “a couple of weeks” later?
Originally Posted by lightlee
…but I was somewhat appalled at was I saw today.
Then the time frame changed. Poster has some history but this thread looks like a troll.[/QUOTE]
Good catch!
I was bothered by what i saw at the show a couple of weeks ago. I am not trying misrepresent the situation…or throw stones at anyone. I was just dismayed regarding the lack of sportsmanship.
[QUOTE=lightlee;6980887]
Maybe I am overreacting - but I have never witnessed similar un-sportsmanship like behavior at local dressage or hunter shows. Maybe they do at home - but never at the show grounds. I really like western judged shows but I was somewhat appalled at was I saw today.[/QUOTE]
This is why I HATE most local open shows, or anything affiliated with our local 4H. I’ve also seen it at local HJ shows and schooling shows.
I want to remind the readers that this yanking and pulling is done with curb bits with good lengthed shanks, for the most part. Very punishing. Not the same as a quick correction with a snaffle.
[QUOTE=ezduzit;6985899]
I want to remind the readers that this yanking and pulling is done with curb bits with good lengthed shanks, for the most part. Very punishing. Not the same as a quick correction with a snaffle.[/QUOTE]
You need to travel around with one of our local vet/dentists for a couple of weeks. She can regale you- and show you examples to support it- about the fact that the very worst mouth damage she’s seen in 20+ years of practice is in horses who have worn nothing but snaffles- often enough dressage horses. In one case, an 8 yo homebred dressage horse, she showed me and the astonished owner/breeder the deep cuts and scars in the tongue. She will tell you that the plain old snaffle is the worst, because people are under the mistaken impression that they can do no damage with a snaffle. It is not, at all, the bit that is the culprit- it’s the hands.
[QUOTE=ezduzit;6985899]
I want to remind the readers that this yanking and pulling is done with curb bits with good lengthed shanks, for the most part. Very punishing. Not the same as a quick correction with a snaffle.[/QUOTE]
I’ve seen more than a few morons saw away with a snaffle.
And I’ve seen some pretty ugly “snaffle” mouthpieces.
You can do a great deal of damage without the necessity of a leverage bit.
[QUOTE=ezduzit;6985899]
I want to remind the readers that this yanking and pulling is done with curb bits with good lengthed shanks, for the most part. Very punishing. Not the same as a quick correction with a snaffle.[/QUOTE]
Then again, the only broken jaw I’ve ever seen on a horse was done by a snaffle.
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