Comments on: It???s Only Fun Until the Rodeo Starts

By: CINDY HALE

CINDY HALE — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:43:33 +0000

HEY, I’M WITH YOU, SAMANTHA! I DON’T EVEN BOTHER TO TRAIL OUT TO PARKS ANYMORE BECAUSE THEY’RE SO POORLY SUPERVISED AND OVERRUN BY NON-EQUESTRIANS WHO SEEM “PUT OUT” THAT THEY HAVE TO SHARE THE OUTDOORS WITH A HORSE. THE IDEA OF A MULTI-USE PUBLIC TRAIL SYSTEM SOUNDS GOOD, BUT IT RARELY WORKS IN REAL LIFE. SO I’M USUALLY SPENDING MY TRAIL TIME AROUND HERE, TOO, WHERE THE TRAILS ARE TRUE BRIDLE PATHS.
AS FOR WHAT YOU WROTE ABOUT VAQUEROS: DITTO. 🙂

By: Samantha

Samantha — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:54:53 +0000

Cindi – I have great respect for the Vaquero tradition. Taking years to mold the perfect working partner into a true “bridle horse”, slowly and progressively is a beautiful thing. I’ve seen true Vaqueros working their horses, and it’s inspiring. But the Charros are very, very different it seems, and do not share the same respect for the horse that the Vaqueros they so poorly imitate. It may be different elsewhere, and I’m sure as with any group there are good riders who are kind to their animals and call themselves “charro” but sadly, I’ve yet to meet them.
And frankly, in my area, trail riding just isn’t as fun as it once was. There are so many people, riders, mountain bikers, hikers, and campers, who have no respect for the other people sharing the trails. I’ve actually gotten to where I will usually trailer out to “trail ride” on the bridle paths in town, rather than hit the park’s trail system, because at least the bridle paths are flat and open with visibility that allows you to better anticipate potential problems with other trail users.

By: CINDY HALE

CINDY HALE — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:32:36 +0000

THANKS FOR ALL THE COMMENTS! APPARENTLY I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO WISHES MORE RIDERS WOULD DEMONSTRATE COMMON COURTESY AND PLAIN OL’ ETIQUETTE ON THE TRAILS AND IN THE ARENA.
SAMANTHA, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CHARROS IN YOUR AREA. UGH. DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE WHOLE CHARRO ISSUE. *SIGH*
I BELIEVE I UNDERSTAND– AND EVEN APPRECIATE– THE LONG TRADITION OF HORSEMANSHIP THAT GOOD VAQUEROS REPRESENT. BUT CHARROS (PERHAPS DUE TO THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH MEXICAN RODEO EVENTS) EXUDE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT DEMEANOR. WHY DO THEY INSIST ON RIDING PRANCING, BARELY BROKE STALLIONS, MANY OF WHICH ARE NOT BREEDING QUALITY ANIMALS? MEANWHILE, THE REST OF US ENJOY RIDING COMPLIANT YET SPIRITED HORSES. AND WE CALL THEM “GELDINGS.”

By: Amme

Amme — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:30:41 +0000

People like this floor me with their stupidity

By: Samantha

Samantha — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:56:49 +0000

I can’t tell you how often I deal with this kind of thing. Hordes of unsupervised young teens careening up behind you on narrow trails and almost crashing into your horse. Self-taught middle aged beginner riders with minimal control trying to run the barrels and cutting you off when they run so wide they almost hit the rail.
The worst are the self-proclaimed “trainers” who think it’s fun to yank, spur, and crank on their terrified, bullied and angry horses deliberately into your path. Seriously, one guy who is a well known “trainer” in our area was intentionally trying to run or back his horse into my student’s horse while I was teaching a lesson in a public arena. When she was forced to take evasive action, he actually laughed at her and smiled at me. He kept harassing us until we finally gave up and left.
Another such “trainer” thought that it was fun to sideswipe me and my students; and if we staked out a small area of the large public arena, he would send HIS students into our way to disrupt us until we gave in and left. When I tried to ask him to politely respect our right to ride also, he assured me that he was sorry, and would stop, and then immediately resumed having his horse and his student’s horses sideswiping us. When I confronted him, he laughed in my face, and I made a formal complaint to the park management. But these kinds of things are commonplace.
The most disturbing people to share trails or an area with are the “charro” riders. These riders break horses younger than two, tie them to poles with a rider on, and beat them with sticks or whips to make them “dance”. Then they “dance” their horses all over town, yanking on their mouths with Cathedral and Spade bits, literally bloodying their sides with sharpened spurs, running them into trees or fences to make them rear and spin, hitting their hind ends with sticks to make them buck and kick. One charro in my area actually rode a horse to death several years ago by galloping him on trail in 100 degree heat until the horse collapsed. We only have Animal Control, and they deal almost exclusively with small domestic animals, not livestock, so repeated calls, complete with photo and video evidence of the abuse has yet to yield any results from the authorities. Even sending evidence into the police and submitting a statement has only earned me the response of “not everyone agrees as to what good horse training is.”
So Cindi, I really do feel your pain. It’s so sad that the ignorant, the mean, the stupid, and the abusive share the trails and arenas with those of us who want to enjoy our horses in a safe and fun environment.

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:13:40 +0000

Thank you again for a great story Cindi!

By: Horselover

Horselover — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 05:06:02 +0000

Great story

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 16:41:19 +0000

I blame the movies and music videos! All you see is this image of people at full gallop then suddenly hitting a dead slidding stop. It’s not real and it’s not right. Also many families have no idea which end of a horse is which. So they think they can just hop on a horse, ride how they want and hop off….like an ATV. Again it’s not right! The lack of respect and concern is just too much to take sometimes. I was never allowed to treat any animal that way. I’m 23 and many people my age make me sick with their lack of concern about animals of any kind. We need more people who care and take the time to learn about the horses they plan on riding/owning, and more parents who say no when they see their children treating animals badly.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:51:20 +0000

I feel for you! Even though I don’t live in a horse riding community, I see enough of this at my local riding school to make me sick. My number one pet peeve is people cutting in front of me. When there’s literally only three people in a decent-sized arena, NO, you DO NOT need to put your horse’s butt right in front of my horse’s nose. Or when the “faster” horse goes in front and they’re actually about a million miles slower or suddenly seem to slow down :/. My second biggest one is people stealing my cross-ties/pole. Just because the layout of cross-ties/poles is like this: Here’s the horse that bites you, here’s the horse that bites your horse, this one’s a billion miles from the tack room, this one has a veritable obstacle course on the way to the tack room, this one’s awesome, this one’s ok. Repeat if need be. If I’ve used it all week every day every ride without fail, IT IS MY CROSS-TIE.
Ok, ok, I’m good, lol!

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:56:42 +0000

Out east, I think people lack the same consideration for their horses, but in a completely different way. Here, we see riders who have absolutely no regard for their horses’ mental well-being and just ride them in circle after circle, over the same ground routines and obstacles every day. They never get out of the arena, not even for a nice romp around the pasture if their horse isn’t the trail type. It looks terrible to me. Then they look down their noses at us trail riders as if we have no technical skill. It just makes me angry. I want to warn them that that’s how so many horses get ring sour, but it’s not like they’d listen.