[QUOTE=spacytracy;5859459]
Either I’m developing memory problems or there’s an influx of 15 year olds who have no concept of reality, but OP, did you post this same stuff on another board, and receive the same answers?
None of this bears repeating. I’m not wasting the keystrokes. Aint gonna happen.[/QUOTE]
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: I was thinking the same thing… that one is from VA though
[QUOTE=Properetiquette1;5859828]
I misinterpreted your previous post and i am sorry. Yes i am planning on doing what you did getting lots of saddle time, regardless of what expirience the horse has just to ride, and work too. But getting the saddle time and getting the exposure will both benefit me and other trainers. Their horses will get ridden and i will gain expirience. I’m not looking at what they can give me i’m looking at how life can be Equal for both trainer/owner and rider. I won’t be stuck up about these rides i’ll be thankfull that i’ll even get to ride the horses in the first place. hopefully this will lead to some nice big eq horses, but if it doesn’t i helped some people out. If it does maybe i can get a relationship with a tainer who will let me show their horse. If not i don’t get to go to the maclay, i wont be bitter i’ll just keep riding. Keep helping people out! :D[/QUOTE]
Best of luck finding a good situation.
Keep in mind that most trainers have more kids wanting to ride than they have horses that need exercise, so you have to make yourself valuable in ways other than riding horses for them. That is why doing barn work is so important. Do not look at “how life can be euqla for both trainer/owner and rider” because you are not their equal – they have a horse, and you need the horse. They have leverage and you have nothing to offer but a cheerful attitude and hard work.
If you start thinking your riding is valuable to the trainer, they will quickly look elsewhere for someone to ride their horses who has no such illusions. You are not doing them a favor by riding for them. They are doing YOU the favor by letting you ride. Never forget that. Be grateful for each ride, no matter how green or unfancy the steed, and show it.
No, actually we have evolved to trying to help you get unstuck from the 2’6" on lesson horses level you are currently at and present ideas for you. Your response is kind of “my rules (Maclay) or I take my ball and go home”. Hints to me you do not really love horses and just being around them and do not want to be the best rider you can. You just think that Maclay is going to be the be all end all in your life and any advice to help you actually get to 3’, let alone 3’6" is a waste of your time.
Rinsing somebody’s horse off if they cannot is NBD and I hope you do not expect to get paid for it. Most show horses are in full care barns with regular paid staff so there is NO WAY you can work off board by doing “something the stable hands usually do”. At best you would become one of "the stable hands"and at no more then that same rate of pay-7.50 to 10 per hour…and the term "stable hands??? That IS what you aspire to as a working student. You do realize that?
You don’t seem to know much or anything about how the business works and are showing considerable lack of maturity overreacting to factual information. You can learn here or go pout.
And, please, if you want to learn? Can you PULEEEZE clean up your spelling, grammer and punctuation???
[QUOTE=HenryisBlaisin’;5859744]
If i had a horse to lease to a rider (and believe me, I know about not having the money to reach big dreams, I had the same dreams as the OP) I would look at the following criteria:
Ability: Not just to look pretty but to actually improve my horse. A 2’6" rider is generally not going to improve a 3’ horse, and a 3’ rider isn’t going to improve a 3’6" horse. The rider would have to be proven at the level of the horse, or, preferable, a level above the horse. In other words, if I had a 3’ horse to offer, I’d want a rider with proven ability at the 3’ level. OP would be better off finding a lesson barn that does have school horses capable of doing 3’ and learning to ride that height before looking for a free ride on a 3’ horse.
Willingness to work: I’m not talking about standing on the stairs and some no stirrup work here, I’m talking about spending as many hours a week as school would allow really working: cleaning stalls, cleaning tack, hand walking horses, feeding, attacking cobwebs, whatever in exchange for an extra lesson or a hack on a quiet horse.
Goals: If two riders of equal ability came to me wanting use of a horse and one said, “I want to show at 3’6” and qualify for Maclay finals" and the other said, “I want to learn to be the best rider I can be, but what I really want is to be a fine horseman (or woman) and learn everything I can about horses,” second rider is going to get the ride. Heck, second rider would probably get the ride with lesser ability provided he/she was a decent match for the horse and not overmounted. Showing is a fine PART of the end goal but to me is never, ever THE end goal. Showing is fancy icing; true horsemanship is the cake it’s spread on.
School. Personally, I would have an education requirement for a rider still in high school. I would expect good grades (at least a B average), and if they slipped, the ride would be gone until the grades come back. Lots of riders don’t make it as pros, and you need an education to fall back on. Plus, if a rider is slacking in school, the most important part of a teen’s life whether they think so or not, I’m going to wonder what else they’ll slack at if they don’t love it? Tack cleaning and safety check? Stalls? Waterers cleaned? There are things in life more important than riding, and I would want this rider to know that.
OP, I know you have dreams, and sometimes being realistic just sucks. But in order to reach your dreams, you HAVE to be realistic; they are not mutually exclusive. Your first step needs to be a sitdown with both your parents AND your trainer to discuss your goals and what you need to do to meet them. And that might mean altering your goals for the time being. If your trainer can’t take you to 3’ because of lack of available horses, your first step is to find a trainer (preferably with the help of current trainer) with horses you can learn that level on. THEN you can think about catch riding and showing at 3’. When you are successful at that, THEN you can, with your trainer, redefine your goals to 3’3" and then 3’6" and so on. 2’6"-3’ is a huge jump. If you set that as a goal for now, then redefine the goal as you improve, you have a much better shot at making it to 3’6" than if you just go at it with a “3’6” or nothing and anything lower is just lame" attitude. Lame isn’t a lower jump, it’s expecting to be able to somehow bypass the hard work and training it takes to get there, probably at the expense of a horse or two.[/QUOTE]
This is a good post.
Sweetie… everyone has dreams. Dreams are good, they keep us moving forward. But dreams are not always realistic so you should have dreams but also leave your options open should those dreams not be realized.
My daughter is a really good rider (ha… I’m mom so I can be biased). Her dream was to do the junior young riders. She had a horse that was good - bought her green green green when my daughter was 13 - my daughter trained her up but, unfortunately, she tops out at 4’. She is a great horse up until that height but she could not be her junior young rider horse. She ended up with not enough time to sell her current horse, buy another greenie - which is what she would have to do - and still do the junior young riders.
(Love the post above about school but I was much tougher than the trainer. My requirements for providing money for her horsey things was staight As.)
To whom much is given much is required.
My daughter had straight A’s thru out high school and won a ton on her horse but she was not able to fulfill the dream of junior young riders. Those straight A’s got her into college, a presidential scholarship, and now she is selling her horse and getting a greenie to do the Grand Prix’s with. Different dreams but still good ones. You have to be willing to bend and roll. Remember that.
She also has always been willing to ride anything handed to her as well. Wild ones - check, green - check, ponies jumping 2 feet - check, green ponies working on lead changes - check, flat excercising because someone is on vacation - check. Don’t limit yourself. Saddle time is saddle time.
And lastly don’t be envious. It is ugly and does noone any good. There will always be someone better, more talented, with more money, more connections. Rise above that. Worry about you and noone else.
Properetiquette1: If you ever meet Anyplace Farm and LeeB10 in person, you owe them dinner. They just gave you some really great advice.
[QUOTE=Properetiquette1;5859351]
To ride in the maclay I dont neccisarily have to ride at A shows all the time. I can qualify for regionals doing local shows. The only huge show I would have to do is regionals, and then finals if I make it
.[/QUOTE]
The Maclay classes at the local shows are usually much less difficult/less competitive. So even if you are winning all the qualifying local classes, it is very possible that you would not qualify at regionals to get to finals, especially in your zone which is a very competitive one. Even if you do make it to finals, if you only showed at local shows beforehand you would probably not be prepared for the questions being asked by the course. So using mostly local shows to get qualified is not the wisest strategy.
[QUOTE=Properetiquette1;5859789]
so what your saying is basically to just give up because i will never be able to do anything with a big horse because i will never be able to afford it. What i’m saying is thatfor board i will do everything that the stable hands usually do that i’m paying for to elminate cost of board so that i will be able to pay for a lease maybe. Maybe even not a lease. At the moment with the help of other fellow COTHers i am just trying to get as much saddle time as i can, as much exposure as i can so that when i do need a horse i have connections. I am also not saying that this will guarantee me a horse im just saying that i will not be beggin anybody for a horse. Sure it would be totally awesome if someone on here would let me ride and show their horse a couple times. But like said by other people that isn’t too lucky. That would be a dime in a dozen type of situation. What i really want is to get good, really good and see where it takes me. If someone can’t make it to the barn to ride their horse, i’ll offer. If someone can’t bathe their horse before a show because they are busy, i’ll do it. If my trainer can’t get a groom short notice, i’ll step in. I’m just saying i want to establish good connections, good skills, good work ethic. And maybe it will get me the things i want in life such as a couple rides on some good horses. If i don’t get far so what i least i tried.[/QUOTE]
If this is what you took from reading Trixie’s post, then you just Do. Not. Get. It.
You want to eventually be a professional?
So what exactly is so bad about the idea of buying aottb for $1,000, taking lessons on it till you’re blue in the face, and hopefully selling it for $6k in 6 months?
Voila you will learn how to make up a horse and get involved in the buying/selling/training end of the horse industry.
Then you get another one and do it all again.
Maybe if you treat your riding like a business you will learn how to be a professional.
Oh but you want to shooooowwwwwww.
In the three siiiixxxxxxx.
Dear OP -
You would have to prove to any owner that you would treat and improve the horse better than if it were your own.
You would have to work your butt off at any barn to offset some expenses.
And be grateful and courteous to whomever offers you the opportunity!!!
There was a junior at a barn I was at about 10 years ago…and I offered this Jr. the ride on my fabulous 3’6" hunter. Would I ever do it again? NO!!! I helped pay the braiding expenses (so that the JR could focus on riding and not be up all nite braiding), I paid for my horses extra stall (so the horse could be in a doublewide) and I paid for the extra shavings during the FL circuit since the horse was in a doublewide. What did I see when I got down to FL to watch my horse? My horse was given a stall and a 1/3 and they sold the other 2/3’s to someone else. Did I ever get a Thank You card, gift or even a soda bought for me? No. And the horse was “returned” to me via phone call that the horse was broken in FL. I was billed for the vet costs, lost shoes (oh yeah, I was paying the board and the shoeing the whole time) and then I had to pay for the layup and layover and the return trip home. And you know what the Jr. asked me when the horse was sound again? Could they take the horse to Devon since they qualified for the Junior Hunters?
I wish I had told the to jump off a bridge. I was too polite.
And you know what - this ex-Jr. rider is now a professional whose name comes up all the time when someone is looking to buy a horse. I wouldn’t trust this person with a 10 foot pole. Used up my horse (and my wallet) like nobody’s business.
Show of hands from everyone who was a teenaged barn rat? Everyone who would muck, groom, etcetera etcetera for an extra ride here and there? Everyone who would slave away day after day in order to get more horse and saddle time?
I feel like the OP thinks her willing “sacrifices” are something special and different and unusual and unique. I’d bet at least 75% of the people on this board did the EXACT same thing she is suggesting – although most of us didn’t demand to get to show big eq horses in response…
[QUOTE=AmmyByNature;5859922]
Show of hands from everyone who was a teenaged barn rat? [/QUOTE]
Dang, I’m an adult barn rat… But luckily the BM is my boyfriend so he deals with me 
“If you just leave me alone, you can ride my fancy western pleasure horse and even show it if you want… JUST GO AWAY!” Love… 
Anyway, they are right. You have to have something special to offer and a lot of luck. It’s possible, but attitude will take you farther than anything else. Good luck OP and lose any feelings of entitlement.
Show of hands from everyone who was a teenaged barn rat?
For real.
I was feeling a little sympathetic until the lame ass 3’ comment. I know you said you’ve been stressed and grumpy, but that doesn’t excuse a comment like that when many people are trying to help you.
I was a lucky kid and had a horse my parents bought me and paid board and lessons on. He was short strided, cheap, and not very talented but I plucked around on him for fox hunts, schooling shows, trail rides, and many many many backyard rides for years. In able to keep my horse through school (including college) and show a little, I worked my butt off teaching lessons, braiding and doing barn work.
Now I’m an adult and have a decent career and a good situation, which gives me the luxury to pursue riding again at a nice farm with nice horses. I’m looking for a free lease (just like you, except I expect to pay all the horse’s expenses plus showing) and one day aspire to be able to show the lame ass 3’ on a safe horse!
You can make all sorts of situations work for you in the horse world, but politeness (and grammar) go a really long way.
[QUOTE=Properetiquette1;5859828]
But getting the saddle time and getting the exposure will both benefit me and other trainers. Their horses will get ridden and i will gain expirience. [/QUOTE]
OP, here’s where the miscommunication is occurring - this statement is precisely where you and reality part ways.
Putting a 2’6" rider on Maclay worthy horse serves no benefit whatsoever to the horse, owner or trainer. More than likely someone’s confidence (yours) or patience (horse’s) gets shattered. Or worse, a beginner mistake leads to an injury that was entirely avoidable.
At best, the very act of you competing the horse in classes below its level of ability deflates the value of that horse, especially if you don’t win these classes. This is not a benefit to the owner.
At worst, your inexperience leads to injury of the horse, the development of bad habits such as stopping, or flat out ruins its brain and sense of humor. These horses aren’t just sitting around ready to carry starstruck little girls to their dreams. Horses such as you want often demand quite a bit of respect from their riders, and they prefer you learn that respect on someone else’s back thankyouverymuch. This is why 2’6" riders are put on wise old beasts that have seen a million foolish distances and don’t take offense to random attempts on their lives.
Your request is asking owners to take Very Big Chances with their Very Expensive Horses - this risk is way too high for most people, and they care about their horses too much to lend them out as mere vehicles for someone else’s blue ribbon dreams.
I wish you all the luck and really, I think all you need is a little rewording of your dream and you will find it much more attainable. Showing isn’t the end all be all, the Maclay most definitely isn’t, and I think most of us are just sad to see that is the only thing you care about.
I too had the goal of riding in and winning one of the big eq finals when I was a kid. Like the OP, I did not own or have access to a big eq horse to compete on. However, I was open to riding lots of horses regardless of their capabilities and ended up with a fabulous jumper (even won a reserve champion zone HOTY), a few high placings in regional eq finals (on another horse), some regional and national awards on the breed circuit (AQHA, etc) and some other rides on some nice 3’ hunters.
Did I ever step foot in the Big eq ring? Nope. Do I wish I had gotten there? Sure, it would have been nice BUT I ended up with a pretty nice resume for a jr, all with hardly any money. Being successful in the horse industry is all about being able to adapt. Bottom line- Beggars can’t be choosers.
Eh, I went to Maclay Regionals. Guess what? No one cares.
Not a queen, sugar.
Spent my childhood as the neighborhood equine crash test dummy.
Rode anything they picked up at the local auction and wanted me to get on.
Everything from QH’s in western tack to Saddlebreds.
Never got to show. didn’t have a horse, a saddle, a trainer, or a trailer.
Didn’t send a CV to the racetrack, but did send a letter to a local TB trainer.
He hired me because he was amused to get a letter asking for a job shoveling manure.
Turns out he was also a big R hunter judge, and when he threw me up on a TB occasionally, I’d get an impromptu lesson while he tried to sell the horse as a hunter prospect.
Great move–from him, I made the connections that encouraged me to even think about veterinary school.
Bottom line is, that while I went to shows to watch, and desperately wished I could do that too, I made the best of what I had, worked my butt off, and loved every minute of it.
OP, what do your parents have to say about your goals? I’m assuming they foot the bills for your riding.
Do not look at “how life can be euqla for both trainer/owner and rider” because you are not their equal – they have a horse, and you need the horse. They have leverage and you have nothing to offer but a cheerful attitude and hard work.
If you start thinking your riding is valuable to the trainer, they will quickly look elsewhere for someone to ride their horses who has no such illusions. You are not doing them a favor by riding for them. They are doing YOU the favor by letting you ride. Never forget that. Be grateful for each ride, no matter how green or unfancy the steed, and show it.
These horses aren’t just sitting around ready to carry starstruck little girls to their dreams
This, and especially everything that dags said.
You’re not actually providing anything of value - yes, it’s helpful to get a horse ridden and out but in terms of adding value, the animal needs to be ridden flawlessly to perform at its best. This is why most people with this kind of animal and the means for someone else to ride it pay trainers, or use juniors of professional quality.
The animals that you’re looking for - one move up horse and one Maclay quality horse - are valuable animals. This means that the owners can earn real money from leasing them out - so it’s little to no benefit for them to just get them in the ring. It’s not win/win for them to have you riding for free - in fact, it only benefits you.
These are the economic facts, and this IS a business.
Now, there is nothing wrong with 3’6" as a goal. But there is more than one way to do that, and the ways that tend to work don’t involve fairy godparents.
I was a barn rat too - still am as time allows.
[QUOTE=Properetiquette1;5859803]
Yes my plan for the future is maybe combining being a trainer/Instructor and a professional. I want to be able to still ride out alot of my career but i also want to help others out. So yes in my plans the big eq is just a stepping stone.[/QUOTE]
You don’t need to do the big eq to be a trainer. Just saying from personal experience.
Lots of good advice here. OP, take the time to digest it all. Right now, it may seem harsh. Good luck.
Are you not in school right now? (As opposed to surfing the internet.)
Does anyone else think this sounds like an Xtranormal skit???
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