Response to the above article
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I donât know. I didnât care for the original article - Leslie has plenty of money and this was more about Leslie and how hard it is for Leslie than about a genuine concern for accessibility in the sport.
I would have died to be able to afford a $3000 or $6000 horse 20 years ago. I would be much more interested reading about how we can make this sport accessible to all than how we can drag two poor teens through the mud for presumably having more opportunities than we did as a kid.
I thought the article was mean spirited when I read it too. You canât judge young kids and their knowledge on one clinic. Maybe their horse doesnât leg yield well (among other things) and thatâs why itâs with them and not a pro. Maybe theyâve had a stressful week at school and theyâre at their limit. I think for the most part young women and teens really want to learn.
Iâve been that rider at a clinic who couldnât get a horse to do something basic either. It wasnât for lack of trying â it just wasnât our day.
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Interesting reads. I generally agree with the rebuttal - I think the âkids these daysâ grumblings have started to go too far and it only makes people less comfortable asking for help. Lesleyâs article was pretty judgmental of two riders who showed up to learn, and she had no context of their backgrounds or their horsesâ situations before writing the article. I bet those girls are going to be thinking about this article every time they step into a ring for a while, wondering which railbirds are gossiping about them. Kind of the opposite of Lesleyâs goal to âinstill a thirst for knowledgeâ in young riders.
I also find it telling that Lesleyâs article puts the fault entirely with the riders and doesnât mention the role of their trainers until the very end. I liked this line from the rebuttal: âA young riderâs knowledge is very dependent on the coaching they receive.â In my experience, itâs getting much harder to find programs that genuinely focus on basics and horsemanship vs getting people into the show ring as fast as possible. Even people who are willing to learn may not have access to quality education, and itâs tough to identify quality training if youâve never been exposed to it before - you donât know what you donât know. A lot of the commentary about the decline of horsemanship is quick to blame âthe kidsâ without acknowledging who taught the kids in the first place.
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So my question is: "Is it true that there are an I ordination number of younger riders that have negligible horsemanship and stable skills? Is it true that they donât know how to groom, hose a big knee, clean tack, muck stalls, wrap legs, hitch up a trailer to a truck and coax a reluctant horse to loadâŠthe list of course is almost endless. Do they have these skills or not? What is the evidence?
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It is early and I have only finished half my coffee, but I donât hate Lesleyâs message - itâs one that has been discussed frequently, here and elsewhere. I think it was rather unnecessary to include such detailed/specific information about the clinic and the riders, because itâs not really relevant to the underlying point. It couldâve been written in a more generalized way and still deliver the same message.
The rebuttal⊠it does not matter who the riderâs parents are, or how high theyâve competed, and I think thatâs kind of Lesleyâs point. The young rider also makes a good point, that being mean just to be mean isnât helpful. No one asked to be singled out, and I would be pretty flabbergasted if I went to a private clinic and someone blasted the internet with my every move (unless it was a glowing review of my amazing skills, of course).
But it could also be a learning opportunity, to reflect on how you present yourself. If two high level trainers auditing view your behavior as bored, disinterested, and unwilling to work hard - itâs entirely possible that the person youâre paying felt the same way. Perhaps you did not get your moneyâs worth because of it.
I think Lesleyâs story resonates with a lot of people, though; except for the part about getting to the top for a minute, a lot of us grew up with stars in our eyes about being able to just work hard enough and youâd âmake itâ, you could be somebody. The financial reality eventually comes crashing down, and at some point most of us take the rose-colored glasses off about wanting to be a trainer, too. Seeing the trainers we know work themselves into the ground, riding injured because they canât afford to take a day off and donât have insurance, being taken advantage of or getting shafted by clients, trying to fit the square peg horse into the round hole⊠young people who actually WANT to become professionals and have enough experience to do so (not just low level riders fancying themselves a âtrainerâ and hanging out a shingle), they seem harder to come by. Iâm not that old, but a lot of younger riders these days canât even wrap a polo correctly 
25 Likes
Shades of gray.
I think both articles speak some truth and some inaccuracies.
My biggest criticism of Lesleyâs article was that I donât think this is a new problem. Every generation has looked at the younger generation and criticized them. It becomes human nature to glorify the âgood olâ daysâ and crucify modern times. I was listening to a podcast the other day discussing Jack Le Goff. They were recounting how he came to USET and, Iâm paraphrasing, told medal-winning riders they understood nothing about horses and eventing, kind of like the article. She is spot on that the sport has changed and its future is at risk due to those changes, but it also had me going, âok, boomer,â at times (I know she isnât a boomer, Iâm a huge fan of hers, Iâm just using the expression).
But the rebuttal⊠whoa. I 100% agree with the sentiment. He is spot on. âWeâ need to stop being judgemental biddies and build people, especially the younger generation, up instead of cutting them down. This is true in every facet of life. But what sat poorly with me was identifying the one rider and defending her. I donât know why they rubbed me the wrong way, but it really bothered me that now this young lady, who was mostly anonymous except to a few in the know, is now blasted all over the internet. Both he and Dominique probably thought they were righting wrongs committed against her, but for me, it made both articles take on a juvenile and cliquey element. Outsiders thought the riders looked bored and uninterested; thatâs valid criticism that had nothing to do with their accomplishments or who their parents are. It just means maybe they need to work on their RBF and soft skills.
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THIS.
Going back to the mid-80s.
I still remember the entitled Jr who had no shipping wraps for her pony. So I loaned her a set if white polos to go over the cotton batting wraps someone else contributed.
When we got home from that show, she pulled off my very soiled polos & Trainer asked if she was going to wash them. Her answer:
âWhy should I, theyâre not mine.â 
Flipside is me as a 1950s barnrat, convincing my nonrider Mom to leave me at the stable I lessoned at weekly, on the weekends.
So I could handwalk (to cool down) the horses of adult boarders. 5-Gaited barn, horses ridden into a sweat & handed off to us kids.
Who were more than happy to have the job.
We also learned to strip a stall, clean tack, bathe groom & braid as part of a Summer Camp parents paid for.
Though, looking back, barn got a lot of free - if not perfect - stablework done by us Campers 
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As I read the Lesley Grant-Law piece, I perceive a combination of self-pity and self-aggrandizement. Yes, there are those among us who have won the parent selection lottery and been given unappreciated equestrian opportunities others can only dream about. Whining over it will change nothing.
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I agree, I donât particularly like either article. Lesleyâs one was tone deaf and entitled. The rebuttal, I also thought was tone deaf and I also didnât like mentioning one specific person. Now it makes it easier to find the girls who Lesley mentioned.
As someone who has a horrible thinking face, I could also come off as not paying attention, bored or angry. None of those things would have been true of me.
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I guess it depends who you are and where. I have seen exactly what Lesleyâs article said but I also donât agree with using real people as examples.
I also think the rebuttal is over the top. Itâs not bullying to talk about what you witnessed in an article. Mean? Maybe. Not cool? Maybe. Not bullying imo.
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That reminds of me the time I was helping at a hunter show. Handed the ribbon to a local kid maybe 11 at the time. She looks at the ribbon and says âoh my god, itâs wrinkled! My nanny is going to have to iron thisâ.
Kid then did the next round and the horse counter cantered the one turn. She came out bawling her eyes off and threw a complete fit.
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This is super common and very relevant point!
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BAD PONY! not going around on autopilot, expecting your passenger to do more than pose 
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[quote=âdmveventer, post:3, topic:786340â]
wondering which railbirds are gossiping about them.
[/quote].
I can relate to this, fear of criticism that I âshouldâ know, or if I donât know I shouldnât be trying to train. But how do I learn if I donât try?
Emphatically yes!! It is true there is fantastic education/theory available online but there is nothing like a good quality coach with actual eyes on you.
1 Like
This crossed my mind too, especially if it was that hot out. I could absolutely look miserable or uninterested when I was really just trying to process everything I was being told.
IDK, Lesley wasnât really talking about what she witnessed. I found most of her claims so hyperbolic that I have trouble taking her seriously. âCouldnât even pass a whip from one hand to the otherâ - really? The rebuttal claims the rider was there to get help with a green horse, not riding a ârobotâ as Lesley said. From a distance that could appear as though the rider lacked basic skills, but the author would have no idea. She just jumped to the conclusions that fit the âback in my dayâ story she wanted to tell. Sure there are riders out there who learn to jump big fences without ever learning basic flatwork, but I think theyâre the exception not the rule.
9 Likes
This times 100!
It kills me on COTH when people suggest a âprofessionalâ can fix all problems caused by âamateurs.â Itâs not that simple and all professionals are not created equal.
Quality education and quality training are not as easy to come by as one may think.
Taking this a step further, I think people forget money and hard work arenât the only two factors in success. Inherent talent plays a HUGE role, along with quality coaching to hone that talent.
All the money in the world wonât automatically make you the best. All the hard work in the world wonât make you the best. You need talent, and letâs face it, some people are naturally more talented riders than others. I think hard workers without money yell at the wind that people with money have it so much easier, which is true, but the money alone isnât going to cut it.
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Yes, exactly! Iâd be the first to admit I have gaps in my education and things I was just never taught growing up. Iâm self-conscious about it sometimes, but at the end of the day I canât help the things I didnât learn before, I can only help what I choose to do about it now. I think anyone still working to better themselves in our sport deserves respect, not ridicule. And thereâs no better way to drive people out than by laughing at them when theyâre trying to learn. Of course, as an âadult amateur typeâ and not a future professional my horsemanship apparently doesnât matter to the author of the original article⊠but I still wish the professionals I worked with growing up had taught me better in the first place.
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Hopefully, the person who was outed gave permission for it.
For sure the whole âthe next generation has no clueâ is something that has been around since the beginning of time. What has changed are things like Safe Sport and an increase in the desire to sue. I expect many barns are loath to set themselves for a lawsuit. I am not saying that Safe Sport is the problem but now people are more aware of the need to be more careful about being alone or letting kids run wild.
Leslie was somewhat judgy. I donât think itâs fair to judge people based on their facial expressions without having any clue of their story or thoughts. She had no idea what they were actually thinking and itâs tough to tell. Many people wear masks and it could well be that the young women werenât bored but realized that there was steep learning curve coming their way. And there were going to be witnesses. It is very difficult for someone to come out and say within the context of that situation and flat out say âI have no idea what you are talking about, can we start at the very beginning of that.â
And now, knowing that someone will not only railbird to whomever is around, but will full on write an article about it is highly unlikely to help that.
It reminds me of when someone shipped into a lesson at a former barn. There were 3 in the lesson. The person who shipped it and didnât know the other girls made some crack about a friend to the effect âitâs easy when you are on a made horseâ . Yeah, well, the friend was the one who made him - he started off very challenging. Bucked her off, couldnât catch him, couldnât trailer him and so on. After her work, he went on to be champion in both the hunter and jumper rings. So, not a robotâŠ
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This resonated with me because I ride my homebred mare. Iâve done the majority of her training myself, which means sheâs basically perpetually green. We have had a long road with issues under saddle galore. But a couple years ago I was at a fix-a-test clinic and the judge kept telling me how lucky I was to have such a well schooled horse and how I need to trust her schooling let her teach me. Iâm there thinking, âlady, this is the blind leading the blind.â 
But it also was a huge compliment, indirectly.
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This may be an unpopular opinion but I think the demise of the barn rat days is generally for the best. There were too many kids left at risk of being exploited (for free labor or something worse) and barns shouldnât have to be responsible for supervising kids on top of everything else they have going on. As a boarder now I also donât want my horseâs care left in the hands of whichever barn rats are hanging around that day. Plus, the quality of the âeducationâ still varied depending on what program they were in. I worked in a few barns growing up and mostly just learned how to muck stalls and fill water buckets for no money. In order to advance my riding I needed to half-lease, which required actually getting paid, which took me out of the barns to find a ârealâ job.
There are plenty of ways for programs to be deliberate about instilling good horsemanship without allowing a free-for-all. The pony club model is a proven system. Iâve seen a few barns offer/require horsemanship lessons for young riders separate from their mounted lessons. I learned a ton volunteering with a therapeutic riding program when I was in high school. For those whoâve proven theyâre committed you could implement something like a junior working student model, where a small number of riders get to shadow barn staff and learn more advanced horse care in a more structured way than just being dropped off for the day. I just donât see a lot of current professionals innovating to keep up with the times. Thereâs a lot of griping about how things worked when they were juniors and then they go back to churning people through as many lessons and shows as possible. I donât blame them, thatâs where the money is, but then we canât act surprised that riders are growing up missing basic skills.
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