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.