Please please please stop making your pet choices based on what you saw on tv. Regardless of if it’s “based on a true story” Hollywood will always add flair and drama to everything they produce.
Quit trying to buy a f***ing horse after watching some magic Disney BS or reading some fantasy book with dragons and such.
No I will not sell you a horse because you find that breed ‘pleasing to the eye’.
No I am not interested that you want a ‘war stallion’.
There are more breeds available then just the Arabian and Quarter horse.
Which brings me to the SC on one of the rare days I was training people not horses.
SC: My daughter wants to do riding lessons.
Me: okay, I can actually do an assessment right now if you want as my next lesson cancelled. Has your daughter had any previous experience?
SC: I’m sure she’s a natural.
Me: *grabs a halter to get one of the horses I know is both obedient and well trained to do most flat work*
SC: no not that one!
Me: I assure you he’s well trained and was an A-level Dressage horse until he was semi-retired.
SC: I know what a good horse looks like I see them all the time on the tv! And she wants to do J-U-M-P-I-N-G (said really slow like I’m stupid or something) not dressage.
Me: I’m aware but jumping comes after flatwork is satisfactory because of the risks otherwise involved. It will likely be at least a year before she’s allowed to jump even an small X.
SC: I know that’s not true! -blank character- won -insert high stakes Olympic level event- after just a year of training.
Me: The girl in question had been riding for years previously and started when she was still a toddler. The horse was the one new to that particular event.
SC: that’s impossible it was based on a true story!
Me: yes, based on. Not an exact copy of events. It is physically impossible to achieve something of that caliber without starting young. This is because the sport puts so much stress on the body at competition training that it will actually force the body to alter its physical structure. Which is why it’s important to start when the body is still growing before the teenage growth spurt so that the body can then handle the stresses put on it. There are exceptions but these are from people who have stressed their body in other ways when they were young, ie ballet, gymnastics, certain martial arts.
Seeing a mother daughter combo coming by, mother being the non equestrian and the daughter still riding I ask her to dismount. Since it’s hot out most people are wearing as little as possible. This pair is one of those parent/kid combos where the kid is basically a clone in appearance. And I thought they’d do well.
Me to helpful pair: mind demonstrating the effects of riding when started early?
Helpful pair: sure. I’ve used them before for the same purpose but different reasons.
Me: see how straight her back is? At this point she’s probably incapable of curving her spine forward without hunching her shoulders up. If you look at them from the side the rider has a duck butt while the mother’s spine is a normal curve. See how the riders feet are pointed out? That’s because of how they sit in the stirrup makes it very hard to stand on the ground with toes forward. *i get them to walk a circle around us*. See how the rider drags her heels when she walks? It’s because the muscles behind the knee and ankle have lost a lot of their elasticity while the ones ahead of the knee and ankle have become less elastic. It helps reduce stress to the body in the saddle. See how her hands never really uncurl? There’s a reason when interviews at Spruce meadows are given it’s from the waist up while standing in one place. Helpful rider here has spent between 8-12 hours in the saddle since she was 4 years old.
Another thing is that if you want to go competitive there will be injuries and there will be concussions. There’s no way around it. One of the first things we teach before we even go into how to hold the reins is how to fall off properly to minimize injury.
How old is your daughter? (Something I probably should have asked earlier)
SC: 15 but she’s a natural! I just know it.
*Sucky Daughter joins parent*
Me *looks kid up and down* I can tell you that unless your talking mentally, physically she will have a lot of hard work to do as her body type is not ideal for a jumper/hunter.
SC: are you calling my daughter fat?!
Me: No, im saying with her shorter arms and large breasts she will find balance difficult and rein length and contact with the horses month will not come naturally. Those long legs would be good for dressage though. The narrow hips might make sitting the trot a challenge. So no, physically she won’t be a natural for jumping. That’s not to say she can’t jump she most certainly will but you are going to have to put serious work into to compensate for your body’s natural tendency to lean forward and get used to having a longer contact since your arms are short. Too long though and you’ll flap like a bird, too short and you will pull yourself out of position.
Daughter: you can tell that from body shape?
Me: there’s pros and cons to having certain attributes bigger boobs means more weight up front which can be hard to compensate for when you’re already be asked to do so much else with your body for instance. It’s not impossible but another obstacle to overcome.
Daughter: looking doubtfully at the horse (yes wind blown winter coat is not exactly attractive like the perfectly clipped hunters/jumpers at spruce.)
Me: how about I hop on and show you what he’s actually capable of (totally not using this as an excuse to climb on a horse.)
SC: *watches me slip the halter on and pull the blanket off. Clips reins on to halter cuz I’m lazy. Quickly gives hooves a pick cuz I’m not that lazy. And climbs on.* But there’s no saddle no bridle?! (How can this be?!)
Me: I don’t need it. Particularly on this horse. *does basic warm up, old dressage test, and then proceeds to try (rather poorly because dressage is NOT my thing. If I wasn’t bareback I couldn’t sit the trot properly I’m that bad at sitting trot) to copy Fuego Xll Kur Grand Prix Freestyle at Kentucky 2010. It’s a very very iconic performance (and he was totally undermarked for it) so either the rider/or mother pulls up the YouTube video and blasts the music. It also shows off the Andalusians natural movement so well.
Anyway, I get off and ask if they still want an assessment.
Daughter wants to ride bareback now to which the answer is the polite version of hell no.
And proceed another hour of “but this movie....” by the time they finally got it through their heads that movies are not a sound base for what a sport entails my next lesson was heading into the barn so I had to tell them if they wanted that assessment that it would have to be scheduled in as my next lesson was here.
Que bitching whining and moaning about how they don’t have time...! Yet they still want to see a lesson. Whatever they wanna watch there’s no cost there.
-afterwards-
Que whining about how I was so mean and how I yelled at someone to stop and blah blah blah. “That’s not what the instructor in such and such movie did”
What part of you are sitting precariously on 1500lbs of muscle that has a strong flight over fight response and can kill you or worse with a single misstep can’t people figure out. We literally have a wall of people who started at our barn, went on to a professional career and ended up seriously injured or dead because of a single misstep or accident.
Rant complete. All in all there’s a reason I train the horses and don’t interact with the idiots who half the time end up wanting them. People are dumb. If it weren’t for our ability to procreate like rabbits then we would have died off as a species eons ago.
Quit trying to buy a f***ing horse after watching some magic Disney BS or reading some fantasy book with dragons and such.
No I will not sell you a horse because you find that breed ‘pleasing to the eye’.
No I am not interested that you want a ‘war stallion’.
There are more breeds available then just the Arabian and Quarter horse.
Which brings me to the SC on one of the rare days I was training people not horses.
SC: My daughter wants to do riding lessons.
Me: okay, I can actually do an assessment right now if you want as my next lesson cancelled. Has your daughter had any previous experience?
SC: I’m sure she’s a natural.
Me: *grabs a halter to get one of the horses I know is both obedient and well trained to do most flat work*
SC: no not that one!
Me: I assure you he’s well trained and was an A-level Dressage horse until he was semi-retired.
SC: I know what a good horse looks like I see them all the time on the tv! And she wants to do J-U-M-P-I-N-G (said really slow like I’m stupid or something) not dressage.
Me: I’m aware but jumping comes after flatwork is satisfactory because of the risks otherwise involved. It will likely be at least a year before she’s allowed to jump even an small X.
SC: I know that’s not true! -blank character- won -insert high stakes Olympic level event- after just a year of training.
Me: The girl in question had been riding for years previously and started when she was still a toddler. The horse was the one new to that particular event.
SC: that’s impossible it was based on a true story!
Me: yes, based on. Not an exact copy of events. It is physically impossible to achieve something of that caliber without starting young. This is because the sport puts so much stress on the body at competition training that it will actually force the body to alter its physical structure. Which is why it’s important to start when the body is still growing before the teenage growth spurt so that the body can then handle the stresses put on it. There are exceptions but these are from people who have stressed their body in other ways when they were young, ie ballet, gymnastics, certain martial arts.
Seeing a mother daughter combo coming by, mother being the non equestrian and the daughter still riding I ask her to dismount. Since it’s hot out most people are wearing as little as possible. This pair is one of those parent/kid combos where the kid is basically a clone in appearance. And I thought they’d do well.
Me to helpful pair: mind demonstrating the effects of riding when started early?
Helpful pair: sure. I’ve used them before for the same purpose but different reasons.
Me: see how straight her back is? At this point she’s probably incapable of curving her spine forward without hunching her shoulders up. If you look at them from the side the rider has a duck butt while the mother’s spine is a normal curve. See how the riders feet are pointed out? That’s because of how they sit in the stirrup makes it very hard to stand on the ground with toes forward. *i get them to walk a circle around us*. See how the rider drags her heels when she walks? It’s because the muscles behind the knee and ankle have lost a lot of their elasticity while the ones ahead of the knee and ankle have become less elastic. It helps reduce stress to the body in the saddle. See how her hands never really uncurl? There’s a reason when interviews at Spruce meadows are given it’s from the waist up while standing in one place. Helpful rider here has spent between 8-12 hours in the saddle since she was 4 years old.
Another thing is that if you want to go competitive there will be injuries and there will be concussions. There’s no way around it. One of the first things we teach before we even go into how to hold the reins is how to fall off properly to minimize injury.
How old is your daughter? (Something I probably should have asked earlier)
SC: 15 but she’s a natural! I just know it.
*Sucky Daughter joins parent*
Me *looks kid up and down* I can tell you that unless your talking mentally, physically she will have a lot of hard work to do as her body type is not ideal for a jumper/hunter.
SC: are you calling my daughter fat?!
Me: No, im saying with her shorter arms and large breasts she will find balance difficult and rein length and contact with the horses month will not come naturally. Those long legs would be good for dressage though. The narrow hips might make sitting the trot a challenge. So no, physically she won’t be a natural for jumping. That’s not to say she can’t jump she most certainly will but you are going to have to put serious work into to compensate for your body’s natural tendency to lean forward and get used to having a longer contact since your arms are short. Too long though and you’ll flap like a bird, too short and you will pull yourself out of position.
Daughter: you can tell that from body shape?
Me: there’s pros and cons to having certain attributes bigger boobs means more weight up front which can be hard to compensate for when you’re already be asked to do so much else with your body for instance. It’s not impossible but another obstacle to overcome.
Daughter: looking doubtfully at the horse (yes wind blown winter coat is not exactly attractive like the perfectly clipped hunters/jumpers at spruce.)
Me: how about I hop on and show you what he’s actually capable of (totally not using this as an excuse to climb on a horse.)
SC: *watches me slip the halter on and pull the blanket off. Clips reins on to halter cuz I’m lazy. Quickly gives hooves a pick cuz I’m not that lazy. And climbs on.* But there’s no saddle no bridle?! (How can this be?!)
Me: I don’t need it. Particularly on this horse. *does basic warm up, old dressage test, and then proceeds to try (rather poorly because dressage is NOT my thing. If I wasn’t bareback I couldn’t sit the trot properly I’m that bad at sitting trot) to copy Fuego Xll Kur Grand Prix Freestyle at Kentucky 2010. It’s a very very iconic performance (and he was totally undermarked for it) so either the rider/or mother pulls up the YouTube video and blasts the music. It also shows off the Andalusians natural movement so well.
Anyway, I get off and ask if they still want an assessment.
Daughter wants to ride bareback now to which the answer is the polite version of hell no.
And proceed another hour of “but this movie....” by the time they finally got it through their heads that movies are not a sound base for what a sport entails my next lesson was heading into the barn so I had to tell them if they wanted that assessment that it would have to be scheduled in as my next lesson was here.
Que bitching whining and moaning about how they don’t have time...! Yet they still want to see a lesson. Whatever they wanna watch there’s no cost there.
-afterwards-
Que whining about how I was so mean and how I yelled at someone to stop and blah blah blah. “That’s not what the instructor in such and such movie did”
What part of you are sitting precariously on 1500lbs of muscle that has a strong flight over fight response and can kill you or worse with a single misstep can’t people figure out. We literally have a wall of people who started at our barn, went on to a professional career and ended up seriously injured or dead because of a single misstep or accident.
Rant complete. All in all there’s a reason I train the horses and don’t interact with the idiots who half the time end up wanting them. People are dumb. If it weren’t for our ability to procreate like rabbits then we would have died off as a species eons ago.
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