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This article is going to start with a little bit of a
rant – apologies in advance.
I’m
frequently on the sidelines at shows or other events and
am often startled by the way people will comment on
others and their horses. Nasty remarks in clear hearing
of many people about the horse, the way the person
rides, they way the combination looks – the list goes on
and on. My own view is that if you’re out there
competing or attending riding club or on a trail ride,
you’re doing it because you enjoy it. You’re doing it
because you enjoy riding your horse, spending time with
your horse etc. You love your horse, you spend goodly
portions of your hard earned money on him and why the
hell shouldn’t you! What anyone else thinks is
completely irrelevant. However it hurts people terribly
if they overhear comments or have them relayed back to
them third hand. Chinese Whispers anyone? I’ve even
heard of people deciding not to continue in their chosen
discipline due to what someone they probably wouldn’t
care to be friends with anyway has said about them.
The
rant above obviously assumes the combination is
reasonably well matched, the animal is cared for and
sound, the rider is not being unnecessarily harsh and
the horse is not a danger to either the rider or
bystanders.
It’s fortunate we also hear of people encouraging 100%
from the sidelines regardless of who they know and this
can make all the difference to how someone feels about
competing or participating in an activity. We’ve all
seen the combination of tiny kid and shaggy 100-year-old
looking pony at pony club. The pony who turns up at the
judges car, looks the judge up and down with a ‘which
test is it lady’ look and turns and trots off to A with
a ‘hang on kid I know what I’m doing’ look on his face!
What a godsend these ponies are and how hard are they to
find?! They rarely leave the pony club or area they’re
based in and are simply rotated amongst families, often
well into their 20s. The pony’s various owners rarely
give two hoots about what this pony looks like, its
breeding, its performances, its conformation etc. The
fact you can put a child on it in complete confidence
means it’s worth its weight in gold.
So
at what point do we as riders and/or parents change our
view from ‘safety and enjoyment are at the top of our
list’ to ‘I need bigger/flashier/this particular breed
or bloodline/ to keep up with my friends’? I teach many
people with confidence issues, some genuinely too scared
to get on, some just worried if the movement gets too
big. Most of them are now on a very suitable mount. Most
of them have had an animal which for whatever reason has
been unsuitable and has scared them.
I’ve a good friend who had a tall thoroughbred who she
loved to ride out on trails. Life moved on, she had a
child, her priorities changed. She was still fantastic
with him on the ground but getting on was a different
story. He was fresh, she was understandably nervous
after having a child and also had concerns of the ‘what
if I get hurt’ variety and all of a sudden the
combination was dangerous. |
