Can someone please explain the whole, 'My horse is naughty, that makes me a good rider...my horse is bigger, that makes me better' attitude?

[maya2008]

I don't understand it. We occasionally come across a rider with this attitude who is always bordering on rude with her comments.

Please help me 'get it' before one day I lose the ability to be unfailingly polite and say something!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

We have a few here, who you ride past and they look down at you, and I say under my breath, *beam me up snotty*

 

[popcorn1]

From my experience, this is normally children/teenagers. Adults normally grow out of it...at least I think when it comes to naught horses anyway.

The big horse thing is just plain snobbery.

 

[TPO]

Isn't it obvious?

Only good riders can cope with their hot and sharp horses that should really be with a pro.

Everyone knows that bigger horses are better and require a rider with a higher skill set.

I'm guessing that you're one of these people that thinks if you're as good as you make out you'd actually train you horse to have manners and be rideable? Pfft

Its pretty blatant how jealous you are of people with actual skills.

????

 

[Roxylola]

Where there's people some of them are dicks. Best I can offer

 

[nikicb]

I find it's very much linked to the..... "you're so lucky, your horse is so well schooled/polite/easy" crowd.

 

[RHM]

Anyone who thinks it’s harder to ride bigger horses has never ridden a pony ?

 

[catkin]

big horse + low branches = no go area

that's OK, more space for me and me pony..............

 

[wren123]

Never heard that expression and I wouldn't give it any headspace.

 

[Upthecreek]

Yes it is funny how some like to boast about their horse’s antics to big themselves up as being an amazing rider for having sat the bucking/broncing/rearing or whatever. I’m not sure what they get out of that, but each to their own. Now if you really want a test of your riding ability, ride a pony ?

 

[scruffyponies]

Anyone who thinks it’s harder to ride bigger horses has never ridden a pony ?

Yup. We have to patiently explain to new sharers why it is we are not putting their novice child on the Shetland... obviously it is small and therefore totally calm and biddable

 

[JFTDWS]

Isn't it obvious?

Only good riders can cope with their hot and sharp horses that should really be with a pro.

Everyone knows that bigger horses are better and require a rider with a higher skill set.

I'm guessing that you're one of these people that thinks if you're as good as you make out you'd actually train you horse to have manners and be rideable? Pfft

Its pretty blatant how jealous you are of people with actual skills.

????

See also:

"my horse's second cousin twice removed went to the Olympics, so obviously I'm a better rider than you!"

 

[ycbm]

There was a weird woman at a trainer's that I went to once. Her husband was filthy rich, her horse cost €70,000 and was a gem. She watched me have a lesson on my genuinely difficult horse and then spent ages trying to tell me how hers was naughtier than mine. I didn't realise it was supposed to be a competition!

.

 

[criso]

There was one in particular at a yard I was at. A teenager with lots of very hot difficult horses, some of which she sold. The general attitude was that X is so good as her horses are so difficult with no one asking the question of why every horse she rode was like that.

 

[ihatework]

I quite like the retort ‘well I’d consider it a failing in my training if other people couldn’t safely ride one of my horses’

 

[SEL]

Big horses mean you're a better rider?? Bring on my draft horses!!

Except I nearly got dumped by a 12.2 earlier so I'll creep back to my fairly useless corner ?

 

[palo1]

At a very well known racehorse trainer's yard (NH) jockeys are required initially to demonstrate their riding ability on an older pony. The jockeys usually think this is some kind of joke or initiation thing. Until they get on the little old pony...!! Honestly, I think it's a bit sad that there are so many people who allow their ego so much room - in trying to establish their place in the equestrian pecking order they are probably neglecting so many training opportunities, not to mention consideration of why a horse might misbehave. As for the size thing? Just yawn...

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Ah, I must be a shocking rider then! I have the world’s most sensible four year old... and she’s an Arab! (Well, 80%) Clearly, I must be very untalented if I cannot illicit a buck or a rear from that.

And she’s 15hh on her tiptoes ?

 

[ester]

In my time it came from you were the one sticky enough to sit on the shittier RS beasts.
But everyone grows out of that don't they?

 

[smolmaus]

I had the same attitude, when I was a teenager in a RS and getting put on Baby Jack for a lesson meant the instructor thought you were probably good enough that he wouldn't leave you in mid air when he teleported. Maybe some people brains get stuck that way when the wind changes?

Ester beat me to the punch on that one

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Yup. We have to patiently explain to new sharers why it is we are not putting their novice child on the Shetland... obviously it is small and therefore totally calm and biddable

I think I may genuinely still be traumatised from my time lead reining a Shetland. It was chasing me, is what that was!

The naughty/dangerous horse = cool thing seems very evident on social media. Kind of put me off getting back into riding, then I realised it's probably less exciting to share videos of horses doing boring things like not crashing about all over the place/bucking/rearing etc so probably not a representative sample.

Where there's people some of them are dicks.

This is very sage advice for life I think.

 

[SOS]

I’ve heard the naughty horse thing and only last week had someone say ‘wow you’re so lucky to have such EASY horses who do everything for you’. My answer was ‘they just well trained to do their jobs’. Crap horses cost the same to keep as nice ones.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

This is how I ended up with my dartmoor ...

In showing Shetlands are in wirh Dartmoors, Exmoors, Welsh A's and B's. Just up the road was a stud of Dartmoors and all of the kids on the ponies regularly looked down at me (literally and metaphorically) as I was on a Shetland. They were probably just jealous as I beat them every single time ???? I got fed up so my gran bought me a bigger and better Dartmoor. So I broke him in, took him showing and still beat them all all over again ????? It shut them up aswell.

 

[splashgirl45]

i always felt that if my horse was misbehaving it made me look crap, not the other way round. my first horse used to fly buck quite a bit and i got to the stage where i knew a split second before he was going to do it so he never got me off , so it looked like i was a good rider but it was only me knowing him that kept me on board.

 

[shortstuff99]

I had an absolute sh*t for a pony as a kid, and I think people said this to me to make me feel better about falling off ALL THE TIME. They told me that riding a naughty pony made me better....TBF it has made me very good at staying on..

 

[View]

I always wonder how much of it is down to some people's insecurity being felt by the horse.

I was told so many times that a horse I was sharing wouldn't go past whatever. Really? I just expected him to behave and he breathed a sigh of relief and walked on calmly.

Apart from the ninja ducks. No one warned me about them. He teleported!

 

[criso]

I remember years ago a little fun show and there was a child handler class. One of the kids was asked to leave the ring because the Shetland she'd borrowed was so badly behaved. Cue parents and friends all saying how she should have won as she had the most difficult pony.

 

[View]

I had an absolute sh*t for a pony as a kid, and I think people said this to me to make me feel better about falling off ALL THE TIME. They told me that riding a naughty pony made me better....TBF it has made me very good at staying on..

Yep - I was a dealer's crash test dummy (with my parents' blessing). Definitely helped me develop a sticky bum.

 

[Leo Walker]

The heavy horse group on Facebook is amazing! 5ft6 women stood by their 19hand horses, except the withers are in line with their 5f6 heads ?? It absolutely cracks me up! Every horse on their is enormous apparently. Someone posted not so long ago asking for photos with a measuring stick on showing their huge horses. Not one person could provide one ?

 

[JFTDWS]

The heavy horse group on Facebook is amazing! 5ft6 women stood by their 19hand horses, except the withers are in line with their 5f6 heads ??

I had to read that twice to work out how the heck a 5'6 woman could get their head 19hh off the ground ???