Life in the Blogosphere - Trash Talking Arabian Horses, Old Riders, Dressage and Natural Horsemanship Part 3

Well, I've dealt with slam toward Arabian horses, but I can't let go of this until I've dealt with the others trashed by this blogger as well. While my readers range from kids to older than me, I still think jabs at older horse people need to be addressed. Not to mention that to do this Parelli and dressage were used like they were some kind of disparaging words. So here's the quote that began my rant.

“The second group of 50+ horse owners are the “old hags” I touched on them in the “classical riding” post. These are the sour, bitter dregs of humanity. They are either “dressage” freaks because they are too scared to jump anymore (not that I blame them for that) but still don’t really ride. They can also be rabid parelli freaks who need to ‘desensitize’ poor Jasper before they ever ride him. Jasper must be really, really spooky because it takes them about 5 years to “desensitize” their horses.”

The first thing that comes to mind for me is what's the point in slamming someone because of her/his age. We all grow old. Unless this blogger has good reason to believe she won't live to be fifty, she's going to be in this category someday. I think this blogger is pretty good proof that one doesn't need to have age to be "sour, bitter dregs of humanity." Bitterness knows no boundaries. It is ugly under all circumstances.

In addition, the fastest growing portion of the horse owning population in our country just happens to be the baby boomer. That would be this over 50 rider the blogger is talking about. Many of these are getting her/his first horse. Others are finally getting back into horses after raising their kids. Either way the baby boomers are pretty taking over the market if numbers mean anything. I know it's meant a lot to the AQHA, the Paint Horse Assc, and the Arabian Horse Assc. All are doing marketing to target this group. Those over 50 riders are being targeted by the advertisers for all kinds of horse products as well. So someone is appreciating this group in the industry.

Personally, I am thankful for dressage. I don't ride dressage per se, but many of the techniques I use are firmly rooted in dressage. I find that by flexing and bending my horse and doing lots of half passes (among other things) I can build a pretty decent western pleasure horse, one that is not gimmicked but has true self carriage and good gaits. The best part is the horse will go on that draped rein and didn't have to get his face yanked off to do it. So bless you dressage! Without you I wouldn't be riding western pleasure because there's no way, I'd do that other stuff to my horse.

I am not sure what "really ride" means. Does the handicapped jockey who know rides in the therapy program featured on Extreme Makeover - Home Edition not really ride? Does the 70+ rider on an Arabian horse who not only competes but places in the top ten in the Tevis Cup (the grand daddy of all endurance races for those who do not know) each year not really ride? Does the 70 something amateur who trains his own english pleasure and park horses and competes at the national level and WINS, not really ride?

As for Parelli, I think he was attacked while the principle was really at issue. I am not versed in Parelli but know many who are, including some bloggers here. I don't really care whether it's Parelli, Anderson, Lyons, Roberts, Pony Boy or my Harvey Jacobs. What matters to me is the principle that gives people tools to humanely train their horses.

Anyone who criticizes an owner, trainer or handler for desensitizing the horse before they begin to ride it has already shown their ignorance. How long it takes someone to teach a horse isn't really important in my view. What is important is that the lesson is learned without injury to the person or the horse. There is a lot of value in safety to me. There was even when I was young.

In my time with horses I have seen fast trainers and slow trainers and plenty in between. Mostly the fast trainers are that way because their clients expect them to be. How much it is going to cost is more important than what is best for the horse. Horses trained under those circumstances might start off okay but sooner or later it all falls apart. Many end of fried or burned out. Neither is good for horse of rider at that point.

Training is a process. It cannot be managed against the clock. It can only be effective if it is accomplished one step at a time and without confusion for the horse. I would much rather see owners go to clinics to learn natural horsemanship skills than allow those horses to walk all over them.

A horse without good "people" skills is at risk of ending up being passed from owner to owner. The more times a horse is sold, the more likely the odds that horse is going to end up in a bad situation. Educating owners into the proper care and handling of horses from day one would save horses a lot of misery. So I for one don't care how long it takes them to learn the process. The important part is that they do.

OK, that's it for me! I'm so off this blogger. It's horses that I care about and good horse owners and trainers with kind hearts. Tomorrow, I will need some opinions, but about a totally different matter. I have heard from Brittany (as in Rhythm's mommy) and she has asked us for some help. So stay tuned..................





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