A group of us horseback riders formed a "club", if you will. The purpose of the club was to get together with our horses once a month and learn horse handling and riding skills from each other. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
The first meeting was held at a trail ride ranch near Houston, Texas. Several people met on Friday night and grilled hot dogs and sausage, drank some beer and had a good time watching videos of horse training exercises. One member of the group had attended two horse training seminars and wanted to share with the rest of us what he had learned.
The next morning they all got in the arena or the round pen and practiced what they had learned. Because my husband travels for a living, we didn't arrive at the ranch until Saturday around noon. We all went on a trail ride and had a great time.
Several of the people were riding fairly young, inexperienced horses and it was good for them to travel with the older, more seasoned horses and learn how to calmly cross water, climb steep hills, traverse mud and fallen trees and other obstacles. We had another barbecue that evening and rode again on Sunday morning after a great breakfast. So far, so good. It was a lot of fun.
During that first meeting, two rules were established. Are you surprised? How can a group form without rules? The two rules are "no bitching" and "no kids". The "no kids" rule totally alienated one person who normally rides with us because she felt like she was being singled out because she is raising her 10 year old grandson who she wanted to have participate with her. Even though that was not the purpose of the rule, the damage has been done.
The second meeting became more complicated. The videos became mandatory and the meals were planned out right down to the condiments with the host couple being responsible for all the cooking and organizing. After breakfast, we all sat around watching videos on the TV on a perfectly beautiful morning until almost noon. Then we got in the arena and "practiced" what we had seen on the videos. These exercises were extremely beneficial for the riders with young horses or those among us who need horse handling lessons.
Here's the rub for me. The person who had attended the training seminars began acting like he was the only one who knew anything about horse handling though he was in his forties and had been riding for only a few years. He yelled and prodded like there was no tomorrow. Most people didn't mind, but I got tired of hearing him boss everyone around.
Here's rub #2, I ride a 13 year old quarter horse gelding who is highly trained and very willing. When the seminar person tried to work with my horse, he promptly set back, pulled the rope out of his hand, ran off and stood in the corner. He was not going to have anything to do with someone out there whipping at him with a rope when he hadn't done anything wrong and didn't have a clue as to what he was asking him to do.
Ok, I'll admit, I have only been riding horses since I could climb up on one when I was around 4 years old. My style of working with horses is to gain their trust by working with them regularly and rewarding them often, not scaring them. The training videos are much different than I like to do to work with any horse.
Just because a person has been to a couple of seminars doesn't make that person an expert on every horse out there. When I worked my horse in the manner he was accustomed to, he did everything I asked perfectly and on the first try.
I don't mean to sound like the way I do things is perfect or that my horse is perfect, far from it. There's not enough money in Texas to buy the "perfect" horse, even if one could be found. I will be the first to say that I learned a lot during our get togethers. As a matter of fact, I just helped a young girl work a five year old horse who is broke to ride, but has no ground manners. The methods I learned during our meetings are invaluable in such a situation, just not appropriate for every horse, and that's what many people don't understand.
The third meeting was at another couple's house. Again, I didn't arrive until Saturday because of my husband's travel, but this time I didn't even take my horse. More of the same. Videos until noon, work in the round pen, more exercises. We even drew names and worked with other people's horses. The seminar person even had us loping in the round pen on unfamiliar horses with no reins! Now I don't know about you, but I am damn sure not going to lope down the feeder street of I-10 at rush hour without a headstall and reins. I guess I just don't understand the point.
My husband and I went home around 7:30, but those people tried to work in so many exercises that they didn't even have dinner until 11:30! Sounds like a waste of good food and a relaxing time to me.
The fourth meeting has been canceled supposedly because of the heat here in Houston in July, but I had already made up my mind not to attend. I won't be going to the one in August either, if there is one. I just want to ride my horse and have fun.
I guess the point of this discussion is that if you take anything to an extreme, it takes all the fun out of it. I'm tired of the mandatory videos, the meal planning and most of the exercises. I think the people who need it should work their horses at home several times a week, not just once a month at the club meeting, so that when we do go on a ride, everyone can relax and have a good time as well as learn some new things to do with our horses.
© 2006, Cindy Staudenmaier and TheOpinionatedBitch.com
