Cob snobs and jealous people

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Regular poster who just needs a vent :(

Watching a rather stunning colored cob doing extremely well in a dressage test friend said "these cobs do well at prelim stuff but anything at a higher level they will struggle as they just havent got what it takes ies the paces" etc :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:


Bearing in mind i have a colored cob and have just worked my butt off with her, totally backed her myself, only 4yrs old and shes going beautifully and excelling at lower level dressage getting a few 2nds (yet to have the red!) and generally really positive remarks from judges and showing people and having offers from people wishing to buy her at shows/dressage comps!!
I had to retire my 10yr old WB due to an injury which was heart breaking - we used to struggle with dressage (he was a SJ) and again i put lots into him, friend used to beat us outright at every competition despite not putting in any work with her gelding, i used to be genuinally pleased for her!
Now my cob is excelling and getting better marks than her horse, friend is making it hard for me to want to enjoy my cob and our achievements, i just cannot stand the bare faced comments about cobs any more!!!
This is supposed to be my friend.
I just want to shout - "why can't you just be pleased for me??? you have seen the amount of effort & time i pour into my horses - i deserve some success!!"
It was all okay whilst i was struggling with my other horse........now am back with a cob its all a bit much for her to take!!!!

Sorry it sounds petty but am actually quite upset :(
 
Try not to get upset about it, some people just have these single minded views. I am neither a Cob or TB fan, I just like the horses I like regardless of their breeding (I've had TB's in the past and currently have a Cob x), but some other people cant see past the breed. She is right that very few Cob types will ever get up to the highest levels, but plenty can get well above the 'low' levels (my coblet, before going lame last year was schooling up to elementary level very happily!)

If you're happy and pleased with the way your cob is going, thats all that matters.

best of luck with your coblet as you get going and competing and proving your friend wrong!
 
I am sure that it is just terrible jealousy and nothing else maybe she could only wish to have the sort of knowledge and horse that you do, it sounds like you need a jolly big pat on the back, I certainly wouldn't know where to begin with all that tricky stuff, just staying on and making it to the end of a hack alive is my goal each day!! Really unwound say don't surround yourself with negative people as they will only bring you down but if you do want to remain friends then ask her why she has a problem and ask her exactly what you put. There are plenty of people you can be friends with who would just be happy for you flying the flag for cobs!! Good luck hun and chin up, be positive going into the next one and prove her wrong...make that red yours :) xxx
 
You are going to have to develop 'snow bliindness'!! I have a coloured cob, who I think is the best horse in the world. If anyone every says anything bad about 'cobs' I always assume they are just jealous and feel a little bit sorry for them.

Seriously, there is a technique called 'teflon coating' yourself. If a remark comes your way which you consider mildly offensive, literally imagine it pinging back off you and just say, 'oh yes' or some other mild non commital reply. Well, thats how Tony Blair survived!!!

Anyway, I agree with you Coloured Cobs Rock!!!!
 
I too have a coloured cob who competes at Elementary level successfully.

I too had a "friend" like yours. Everything was fine until I started to do well.
Needless to say, she is no longer a friend.
Life is too short to be listening to people like that.
Good luck to you and your cob for the future. Hope that elusive red ribbon comes your way soon.
 
It's not worth getting hot under the collar about what other people think, enjoy your horse and continue doing well, that's all any body wants, no matter who you are, what breed you have or what level you are competing at. :)
 
To be fair, I have yet to see a coloured cob competing at GP dressage (and no, I don't mean a wb with a bit of bone, I mean a true cob). But that's fine, that's not generally why people breed, buy and ride them. It's like saying Shetlands don't make great eventers (although Teddy O'Connor was 1/8 American Shetland and he did pretty well :D ) or that my horse wouldn't do well in a coloured showing class - because he's not coloured!!

The vast, vast majority of people will never compete at a high level. We don't need horses capable of competing 4* eventing or GP dressage (although I have heard a few trainers state that most horses with correct training would be able to cope with the movements required at PSG). It's about buying something that suits us. If that is a cob, great. If it is a warmblood, a thoroughbred, a native pony, great. Horses for courses ;)

What I'm trying to say is don't take it to heart. Different people like different things. Your friend did not say 'cobs are ugly, useless and should all be shot.' She said that in her opinion they weren't necessarily capable of competing high level dressage.

Be pleased and proud of all you have achieved with your horse, and don't feel you need to justify him to anyone else. If you are happy then does it matter what kind of horses your friends prefer? :)
 
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Cortez said:
Oh you're going to have to grow a thicker skin if you want to dabble in the shark infested waters of the dressage sea!
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:rolleyes: am beginning to find out why now!!

I can deal with other people throwing cob comments at me but didn't like it when the friend was at it to. I thought the cob comment about levels was a bit off, and generally looking a bit pissed off when i was beaming with my nice blue rosette :( i almost didn't want to mention it and certainly didn't talk about it further incase she thought i was bragging :(

I am under no illusion about my cob, of course not many people get to the top and am certainly not expecting to :D am thinking up to elementary level and county showing :) we have a long way off them goals yet but i am determined to do well with her!
 
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not-newbie said:
Regular poster who just needs a vent :(

Watching a rather stunning colored cob doing extremely well in a dressage test friend said "these cobs do well at prelim stuff but anything at a higher level they will struggle as they just havent got what it takes ies the paces" etc :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:


(
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Thats a hackneyed old phrase people trot out without thinking. There are cobs strutting their stuff very successfully, but really, don't take offence. Horses for courses, cobs are fab horses, but seriously, a cob's movement cannot be compared with breeds bred for dressage.
My H/W cob moves like a dream, but physically, his neck is too short and thick, his legs too short and wide for higher movements. He is a cob and no amount of matchy matchy will change that.
However, I am incredibly proud of him and the things he can do. He can outclass many local dressage wannabe's, but he has his limits and thats fine by me.
 
not-newbie said:
:rolleyes: am beginning to find out why now!!

I can deal with other people throwing cob comments at me but didn't like it when the friend was at it to. I thought the cob comment about levels was a bit off, and generally looking a bit pissed off when i was beaming with my nice blue rosette :( i almost didn't want to mention it and certainly didn't talk about it further incase she thought i was bragging :(
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This is her problem and not yours, just go out and enjoy your horse, its supposed to be fun, and if your friend cant be pleased for you I really wouldnt worry about their opinion!
 
horserider said:
Thats a hackneyed old phrase people trot out without thinking. There are cobs strutting their stuff very successfully, but really, don't take offence. Horses for courses, cobs are fab horses, but seriously, a cob's movement cannot be compared with breeds bred for dressage.
My H/W cob moves like a dream, but physically, his neck is too short and thick, his legs too short and wide for higher movements. He is a cob and no amount of matchy matchy will change that.
However, I am incredibly proud of him and the things he can do. He can outclass many local dressage wannabe's, but he has his limits and thats fine by me.
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well said :)
 
The best way to deal with this is to beat the pants off them - my adv med welshd (long ago PTs) only started off doing dressage cos an instructor said to me that he'd never do a walk to canter. - when I beat her at medium level on her flash wb with that little cob the grin on my face was ear to ear..., revenge is very sweet!!
 
horserider said:
Thats a hackneyed old phrase people trot out without thinking. There are cobs strutting their stuff very successfully, but really, don't take offence. Horses for courses, cobs are fab horses, but seriously, a cob's movement cannot be compared with breeds bred for dressage.
My H/W cob moves like a dream, but physically, his neck is too short and thick, his legs too short and wide for higher movements. He is a cob and no amount of matchy matchy will change that.
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Agree with some of this, but just by having a neck that is too short and thick and legs that are short and wide, does not stop him from doing higher movements. Its all in the training. Agree the warmbloods and TB's of this world find the movements easier to do as they are usually have naturally athletic and elastic paces. Cobs may have to try alot harder, but there is no reason why they shouldnt be able to do more than Prelim!
 
Dirtymare said:
Agree with some of this, but just by having a neck that is too short and thick and legs that are short and wide, does not stop him from doing higher movements. Its all in the training. Agree the warmbloods and TB's of this world find the movements easier to do as they are usually have naturally athletic and elastic paces. Cobs may have to try alot harder, but there is no reason why they shouldnt be able to do more than Prelim!
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I'm of the opinion that any horse can be trained to perform high level movements accurately. It may not look as flashy as a wb type with their ridiculous paces, but it will still be accurate, if relative to the paces of the horse. Iirc, I have read that 60+ years ago, the sorts of horses you would see at the highest levels of dressage were much more diverse than they are now.

I have a 5 y/o highland, who I may pursue a dressage career with (recently shown a lot of scope and bravery out xc and jumping so who knows!). He does pretty well at prelim, despite having been broken, schooled, competed and trained by the least dressage orientated rider ever (me :o). I know of highlands competing up to medium, but people at local competitions regularly sneer at his native-ness from their WBs. Frankly, if I had a posh wb with the paces and schooling of their animals, I wouldn't be pissing around in an unaff prelim class ;) :rolleyes:
 
You have to just ignore people like that and their comments. He's your horse, you are doing well and you are enjoying him and that's all that matters!
I get comments about my TB, my friend will say 'I f'ing HATE Tb's ' with me standing right there but I don't let that bother me, she's entitled to her opinion and it doesn't stop me loving and having a great time with my special horse.
Honestly It's not even worth paying attention to those statements.
Incidentally I'm riding my friends chunky 16.1 Irish cob at the moment and I love him! He's got legs like tree trunks but he is a fabulous forward ride and he can jump a 3ft9 course! I'm not going to want to give him back ;).
 
JFTD said:
It may not look as flashy as a wb type with their ridiculous paces Frankly, if I had a posh warmblood...
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SusannaF said:
Well, when their WBs and TBs are on box rest for the nth time this year, you can smile sweetly and go up a dressage level :p
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So it's ok to generalise and negatively stereotype warmbloods then... just not cobs? ;) :rolleyes:

Seriously, you can actually appreciate ALL horses for their merits, it doesn't have to be exclusive to one breed!

And, going off topic slightly (what else would you expect with me ;) ) I found this earlier in an article by William Micklen, talking about the great(est) classical trainer Nuno Oliveira

He describes how as a young student in Nuno Oliveira's Classical Dressage School in Lisbon, he remembered an episode when the master stopped everybody in the class and dramatically asked why we all rode horses. After each student had fumbled some unsatisfactory answers, Nuno Olivereira stated: "I ride horses because I love them".

Jean Phillipe went on to say "To this day, that powerful affirmation remains vivid in my memory, particularly in a horse world that has increasingly become a 'straight business' environment. A horse loving his trainer learns the fastest and performs reliably. After all these years, this fact is undeniably clear to me and the only way I know to achieve that desirable success is to love the horse first, because what goes around comes around! Every rider has his or her own level of proficiency, ambition and every horse his own level of God given talent. This results in presentations that can vary greatly in technical quality, yet the most endearing and noticeable aspect of any enjoyable equestrian spectacle, at whatever level, is a look of happiness on BOTH faces of the rider and the horse!"
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I liked it :) and am lucky enough to train with another of Oliveira's proteges when she comes over from Australia :)
 
Having now got my big heffalump cob, I experienced it earlier in the summer after he did really rather well in the showring (posted about it!). It's just jealousy as, deep down, they all want the comfort, brains and reliability of a cob!
Mine's just gone round a 2'9" XC, no spurs, no hesitations, the only other clear was another (albeit, lightweight) cob!
 
superted1989 said:
It's just jealousy as, deep down, they all want the comfort, brains and reliability of a cob!
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No it really isn't and no we don't all want cobs ;) OPs friend didn't say anything that even sounds like she's jealous of her owning a cob. She pointed out quite correctly that cobs do not usually make high level dressage horses. Maybe she's jealous of OP doing well at the shows but that's something different to being jealous of her owning a (in your words) heffalump!
 
She's, on the whole, correct. It's not to say that you and your lovely cob won't have success at Novice or Elementary but that once you get beyond there not many cobs keep venturing forth (and I'm not counting welsh Ds, because physically they're a different ball game!).

And as for some people not liking them- it's not that they don't like your horse, they just would rather not ride it!
 
Spring Feather said:
No it really isn't and no we don't all want cobs ;) OPs friend didn't say anything that even sounds like she's jealous of her owning a cob. She pointed out quite correctly that cobs do not usually make high level dressage horses. Maybe she's jealous of OP doing well at the shows but that's something different to being jealous of her owning a (in your words) heffalump!
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Well re-reading the original post, the friend actually said Cobs dont do well above Prelim - and i completely disagree with this and see plenty of Cobs competing very well at Novice and elementary...
 
Well i have both a Cob X (gelding) and a TBxWB (mare) and yes the mare does have the better paces and scope but the gelding has the potential to do it I just never have and with him being older its less likely we will ever get beyond affiliated prelim/unaff novice :)

I know hes restricted in what he looks like agains bit WB or others bred for the task and i dont let peoples comments about him get me down, we have had alot of fun over the years and I dont take comments like the above to heart. For what its worth i have more genuine fun riding my little gelding than my mare as shes more highly strung and fractious than he is :D
 
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