5/18/13

Rant.

I can't hold this rant back anymore. ;) So here is a post!!

Recently, I've been hearin' a lot of hate coming from English riders-not saying all English riders are like this, I know a ton of very sweet ones-about Halter, Western Pleasure and just Quarter Horses in general.
First of all, not all halter horses look like this.

And not all of them have bad conformation.
Like this. Note the tippy toes and high butt.
 Actually, a good halter horse should look somethin like this:

Or this:

Or maybe even this:

Did y'all know that Red was once used as a halter and WP horse??? Cuz' he was! Yep. My once skinny pony was used as a halter horse.

A lot of people believe that a halter horse is only good for shows. Wrong. A lot of halter horses are ride-able. Didn't know that? Don't believe that? Here's proof:
Here I am, riding my once-halter-horse.
Listen, I don't have anything against English Riders, and there ARE a LOT of badly cared for halter horses with bad conformation and that aren't ride-able. But there is probably more great halter horses.

Onto Western Pleasure. A lot of people give everyone grief about Western Pleasure horses and how they hold their head too low and it's unnatural.
Low head.

Low head.

LOW HEAD

Oh hey, there's Red! Low head!

Low head! (Ignore my bad footing, I've fixed that problem. Lol!!)
While some riders don't like the low head set, there is nothing unnatural about it. It's just the horse. So, don't tell me "My horse is unhappy and should be put down or retired because he hates people riding him and is lazy" which by the way, is a rough quote from someone who said that to me. Yeah, my horse is so abused. (They said that too)
Poor abused pony...Look at him.
Another thing is the VERY touchy topic. Helmets.

I don't wear a helmet.
No helmet.

No helmet.

No helmet.

Baseball cap!
I'm not saying helmets are useless and that people shouldn't wear them. I recently told a girl who was thinking about switching from English jumping to Western. She said, "I want to feel the wind in my hair when I gallop around barrels and I want to do it soon." I proceeded to tell her TO KEEP THE STINKING HELMET ON AND DON'T GALLOP AROUND BARRELS TWO SECONDS AFTER YOU BUY A WESTERN SADDLE. Just don't, kay?? Western riding is just as dangerous as jumping, and considering she had never ridden in a western saddle, let alone barrel race, she should keep the helmet on for awhile at least and work on getting used to a saddle, don't just start trotting barrels. You'll end up hurting the horse and yourself!

Back to the topic.

I've also been told I needed to rehome my horse because I don't wear a helmet and I should stop posting pictures on Facebook, Pinterest and my blog of me riding without one because everyone will do it.

Pssttttt, followers who wear helmets, you didn't quit wearing them because of a first time horse owner teenage girl, correct???

Yeah, correct! If you did, let me tell you something. I am a first time horse owner teenage girl. Do not take inspiration from my riding!! Please!! I don't want to be responsible for your untimely deaths or anything!! ;)

So since I don't wear a helmet, I suppose I'm a bad rider, that's what people have told me.

And ONE more topic. Okay. Almost done. Almooost done ranting.


Do we have any barrel racers here???? If I do, you should know that when barrel racing, you should look like this:

Loose reins, good footing, concentrated, nice, relaxed horse....

NOT like this:
Tight reins. Hands on the horn. BOTH OF THEM! Butt WAY off the saddle, feet kicking WAY too hard. The horse is into it, I bet you money that if she calmed down herself, the horse would go just as fast.

Just because you barrel race doesn't mean you are, A. Abusing the pony. B. Ruining the horse. C. Being too rough. Or B. Put your horse on supplements to make them hotter and steroids.
See the loose reins???

Did y'all know my mother barrel raced?? Yep. She owned some of the fastest horses money could buy in Florida when she was younger.

She was good.

Good enough to make the pro's cut her girths every time they saw her at a rodeo. Good enough for her stirrup to fly off and stay on and win. Good enough for her girth to break-after a jerk cutting it-and her fall off, get back on bareback and brideless and beat the jerk who cut the girth.

NONE of her horses were drugged. NONE of her horses were abused. NONE of her horses had problems later on other than issues due to old age and the random abscess.

WOAH: You mean barrel racing horses aren't all abused?? I do!

My mom is the type to say, "KALIN! HANDS OF THE HORN!!!" and "LOOSEN YOUR REINS!!" she's not one of these "Tight rein barrel racing people":
Ouch.

She's the person above who exclaimed, "Kalin!! Take a picture of me and the turkey!" and hugs on Red all the time.....

Back on topic: Dear people, don't be rude to western riders when you know nothing about our discipline!! And dear Western riders, you guys can be mean to English riders, as well. Be nice guys.



10 comments:

  1. Hey! This is so true! Hahah :p *just to let you know all of these people that said that stuff I never have

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  2. Unfortunately, I live in a "western" area (especially barrel racers and WP) and have seen my fair share of abuse.

    That being said, I've also seen questionable practices being used with the dressage horses and hunter/jumpers.

    Abuse is not limited to one disciplined or "western" or "english" riders.

    Unfortunately, wearing a helmet is not required by law in all states (it is in mine if you aren't 18). I can't lecture in good conscience because its not truly my business, HOWEVER, I can say with full certainty that considering the number of times I've hit the dirt and landed on my head, I don't doubt that I would have been far more hurt (possibly dead in one instance) had I not been wearing one. I love my helmet and definitely feel naked without it!

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    1. I live in a more western area, as well, and there is a fair share of abuse. My main point of this post is to say there is abuse EVERYWHERE and in every discipline. I've just read and heard a lot of mean things towards western riders recently. As for the helmet, it is not required to wear one, although I think a lot of the time you should wear one, like when riding a new horse, breaking a horse etc. Maybe one day I will find a nice helmet and love it. I'm not against that or anything.:)

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    2. Really? I haven't heard any stuff about that I've only heard about abuse in saddle seat. :(

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    4. There's abuse everywhere. Dressage, Saddleseat, Jumpers, Western, you name it, there will be people who abuse.

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  3. I worry about making sweeping generalizations about all of your rants posted here honestly. I wear a helmet. I prefer my horses (regardless of discipline or what they train in) to not be butt high so they move forward properly, and a lot of halter and western horses in general are built down hill. That doesn't mean they're bad horses, but they're not for me. Regardless of someone's opinions on these matters, nobody should ever be rude to someone regarding their choices with horses so long as the horse is well cared for and loved like Red is.

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    1. Everyone has their opinions. :) That's totally fine with me. If someone doesn't like Quarter Horses but likes a certain kind of pony, that's fine because I like QH's and dislike a lot of pony breeds. ^_^ My main thing is when people who don't know a lot about Western horses say they should never be bred and aren't worth anything, especially when they target MY horse. Someone very recently posted something on my Pinterest account about Red having an ugly build and her hatred of Quarter Horses. I don't like horses to be butt high or have bad conformation of any kind, and I hate what people have done to a lot of halter horses, but I think a lot of people who don't know anything about Western shows or riding see the horses with bad conformation and think all of them are like that. :) I don't like to rant very much, but I won't stand by and let people be rude about my horse. I LOVE English riding and I LOVE Western riding, if someone doesn't like one of them, I don't think they should be rude about it. It's a preference. :)

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    2. We have several nice QH's in our barn and where I don't like all of any horse and I there are disciplines I do not want to ride I don't make sweeping generalizations about them. I totally see that everyone has a different thing they like :).

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    3. And I believe that's what you should do. :) I personally have no interest in Polo riding, but that doesn't mean I should be rude about their ponies. ;) Everyone has different points of view, and I'm fine with that, but I just don't want people to be rude, especially toward my horse. ;)

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