If you couldn't compete, would you still ride?

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clairel

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As above really!
With all my horses being off games for one reason or another at the moment, I really have no urge to ride. I know it is because I don't have anything to aim for, no chance of getting eventing this year and am going to miss a lot of things with the coloured mare whilst we try to get her in foal.

So, is this normal!
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Do you think 'competitive' riders don't enjoy just riding, if there is nothing to aim for?
 
Nope. I ride to compete. All riding I do, even if just hacking is geared to performance in the ring. That doesn't mean I dont enjoy riding outside the ring, I do. Its just the competing gives me a focal point for it.
 
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Nope. I ride to compete. All riding I do, even if just hacking is geared to performance in the ring. That doesn't mean I dont enjoy riding outside the ring, I do. Its just the competing gives me a focal point for it.

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I agree with this. During a period of my life when I couldn't compete the only riding I did was riding out racehorses from time to time: I did get a buzz out of this, partly the speed and partly because it was unfamiliar territory for me (the small saddles etc) so adrenaline kicked in - if I'd been doing it every day I suspect I'd have got bored of this too
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Interesting thread btw
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Tricky one. When I've had horses off games in the past, I've had no urge to ride (I've got an old mare that I can hack) but I was depressed generally cos of the situation with the horse & didn't feel like doing anything at all. I.e., not riding & not anything else either.

I tried to hack out my old mare a couple of times a week to try & lift my spirits a bit and keep my riding muscles working.
 
Just be thankful you guys have all got horses to ride - some of us don't and would kill just to be able to hack out when I wanted to or do some schooling, let alone compete.

Not being bitchy but it's worth thinking about...
 
I agree with JunoXV, seeing as though my horse is off competition games atm, I am finding it hard to motivate myself to hack out etc, whereas in the winter i would happily get up at 430am to school, madness
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i do enjoy non-competitive riding, but I love to have something to work towards
 
I would still ride, but probably less often and certainly with less focus. I find that having plans/entries helps to keep me motivated. Personally I find hacking quite dull unless I'm 'Doing Fitness Work' etc, especially when the weather is rubbish!
 
I would if I still had an aim. If I was breaking/schooling a youngster for someone else or to sell on. I used to train NH horses/Pointers which I didnt actually raceride myself. That was still fine. Every horse had its own long term plan & that kept me motivated. I dont really mind what level I compete at so long as the horse is improving. If its out jumping 2 foot thats fine, so long as its progressed to 2'3" the next time!

I dont think I could just have a horse to climb on & go for a hack just for the sake of it.
 
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Just be thankful you guys have all got horses to ride - some of us don't and would kill just to be able to hack out when I wanted to or do some schooling, let alone compete.

Not being bitchy but it's worth thinking about...

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But thats the whole point of the thread. If i wasn't competing I would NOT want to hack out or school.
 
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Just be thankful you guys have all got horses to ride - some of us don't and would kill just to be able to hack out when I wanted to or do some schooling, let alone compete.

Not being bitchy but it's worth thinking about...

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But thats the whole point of the thread. If i wasn't competing I would NOT want to hack out or school.

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But does that mean if you couldn't compete ever again you'd sell up JUST because you couldn't compete? You'd stop riding completely because you couldn't go out and try to win a rosette and get results?

I'm genuinely interested in this
 
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Just be thankful you guys have all got horses to ride - some of us don't and would kill just to be able to hack out when I wanted to or do some schooling, let alone compete.

Not being bitchy but it's worth thinking about...

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i don't think that has anything to do with what we ride for, whether we ride or not doesn't have any effect on whether you have a horse to ride or not?!
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Oh... Glad I'm not the only one!

I do sometimes feel a bit guilty thinking that way though
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I think I would still have my 'field horses' to look after, but I wouldn't ride!
 
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Just be thankful you guys have all got horses to ride - some of us don't and would kill just to be able to hack out when I wanted to or do some schooling, let alone compete.

Not being bitchy but it's worth thinking about...

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But thats the whole point of the thread. If i wasn't competing I would NOT want to hack out or school.

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But does that mean if you couldn't compete ever again you'd sell up JUST because you couldn't compete? You'd stop riding completely because you couldn't go out and try to win a rosette and get results?

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I would sell a horse that couldn't compete anymore because I know I wouldn't ride it without having a competitive aim. The horse would be better off with someone who just wanted to hack or do a bit of schooling imo!
 
Depends on the horse. I've got one that is a lovely polite hack and great fun to school so I would still enjoy riding him if I didn't get to compete. The other one lives to jump and is best behaved when he's out competing - is a little horror to hack and school so not him. But in general, I also enjoy having horses about the place - I like the routine of checking them and feeding them and I really can't think what I'd do with my time otherwise.
 
I ride for relaxation and the pleasure of the horse. Competing is not for me at the moment I have I think lost that edge. I love watching my horses being competed though. I like getting them ready and then watching the my rider ride them for me.
 
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Just be thankful you guys have all got horses to ride - some of us don't and would kill just to be able to hack out when I wanted to or do some schooling, let alone compete.

Not being bitchy but it's worth thinking about...

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But thats the whole point of the thread. If i wasn't competing I would NOT want to hack out or school.

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But does that mean if you couldn't compete ever again you'd sell up JUST because you couldn't compete? You'd stop riding completely because you couldn't go out and try to win a rosette and get results?

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I would sell a horse that couldn't compete anymore because I know I wouldn't ride it without having a competitive aim. The horse would be better off with someone who just wanted to hack or do a bit of schooling imo!

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What about if YOU couldn't compete but could only hack out etc? I'm aware of para-dressage but say that you'd never be able to event again?
 
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But does that mean if you couldn't compete ever again you'd sell up JUST because you couldn't compete? You'd stop riding completely because you couldn't go out and try to win a rosette and get results?


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Basically yes. I gave up gliding when I reached a standard that required a certain qaulity of glider to compete. Didn't have £120k spare
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If Juno were perm injured and I couldn't get another ride then I would still continue to look after her for the rest of her days but would hang up my boots.
Its as much the challenge of training the horse to compete as the actual competing that I love. The comp is really a test of your progress.
 
I would still ride as I only recently discovered competing anyway, I enjoy it
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but equally I am quite happy just hacking/schooling and doing a bit of jumping.
 
It would depend on why I couldn't compete any more! If it was finances, I probably wouldn't ride, but if it was *touches wood* something more serious, I might still continue as your aims would have adjusted?!
Does that make any sense?

Juno is putting it far more eloquently than I am!
 
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But does that mean if you couldn't compete ever again you'd sell up JUST because you couldn't compete? You'd stop riding completely because you couldn't go out and try to win a rosette and get results?


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Basically yes. I gave up gliding when I reached a standard that required a certain qaulity of glider to compete. Didn't have £120k spare
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If Juno were perm injured and I couldn't get another ride then I would still continue to look after her for the rest of her days but would hang up my boots.
Its as much the challenge of training the horse to compete as the actual competing that I love. The comp is really a test of your progress.

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That's really interesting - I can see the logic understandably but stopping altogether to me anyway seems wrong. Riders are lucky enough to do such a wonderful sport as it is, competing's just a bonus surely?

And gliding WOW
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That's a rather cool hobby!
 
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It would depend on why I couldn't compete any more! If it was finances, I probably wouldn't ride, but if it was *touches wood* something more serious, I might still continue as your aims would have adjusted?!
Does that make any sense?

Juno is putting it far more eloquently than I am!

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Yes it does make sense
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Friend is currently "off competing games" at the mo and everything she does is geared towards BE. However, she's still riding (well trying too) as she said she owes it to the horse and I know it's killing her mentally that she's riding despite the season being 95% over for her already
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It's something I'm just interested in as I've never even been an owner, let alone competing and for me I'd just love to have a horse around, to do, to look after, ride etc with competing as the big bonus
 
My old horse is now out on loan , he couldn't compete to the level I wanted to get to after PSD. I love him to pieces but we just got frustrated with each other because I naturally asked more than he found comfortable giving, and it broke my heart compared to how he used to be. I spent 8 months finding him a lovely perfect home that only wants to hack and occasionally do a prelim. I was riding him less and less and not enjoying it. Now I have my 5yo and everybody is happy!
I have a suspicion otherwise i would just have ended up hacking and doing nothing more.
 
I don't actually compete much myself, just a bit of dressage and more because I feel I ought to have an aim than because I really love it. But, I have a rider who events my horse and so my schooling is geared towards her moving up through the levels with him.

I would find it hard to get motivated if my horse was not competing though I don't think I would stop riding completely. I'd probably put her in foal (depending on the reason for her being off) and buy another one!

I know that even if I was unable to ride myself I'd still get a lot of pleasure out of owing a horse and watching it compete.
 
Still ride and am competitive but not competed for 3 years now as not had the finances to fix lorry as well as do up house - my lad is 20 this year so unlikely not to ever compete hime again
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(certainly wouldn't reregister him BD now) but e is still in full work.

Lorry just needs reflooring now and looking for a youngster so fingers crossed I will soon
 
When I was younger I did actually give up completely because I couldn't event anymore. This was mainly due to personal circs and finances but I really didn't see the point in riding at all if I couldn't event. I was always drawn back to horses though - I taught at a summer camp in the usa for 5 summers and rode a bit there and eventually found a horse to share.

Now I have my own again and whilst I am still competitive I think I would ride regardless of competition now. I have re-trained an ex-racehorse but he has had lots of time off and I find him tricky to SJ so we haven't really got that far! However I do love him and get great satisfaction from seeing the progress he has made.

Even if I don't get to do as much with him as I would like I wouldn't part with him. I do still dream of eventing at a decent level again but for now I enjoy whatever I can do with my current horse and get lots of satisfaction from the small things that show how much he has come on.
 
clairel I get this you are not the only one
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Everytime I do anything with my horse I am constantly trying to teach him to be better behaved/behave the way I want and to produce better work. I do this becasue I want us to improve and I compete for the fun of it and as a guage of how well our training has been going. I keep my horse to progress our partnership on every level from leading in from the field to attemping medium trot I am constantly schooling him to be better at everything he does so that we can progress and be more competitive when we do compete. If I didn't compete then I would have no external guage of how much he/we have improved as our work would be all theory but not practise, if you see what I mean???....

I enjoy riding to compete because I have that type of personality where I love to research learn and attempt new techniques, masdter them or improve on them, and then be tested on my progress, analyse the resu7lt and build on that perfromance. I think if you like to compete in this manner (not just for the adrenaline thrill) you are secretly a bit of a nerd like me
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when Andy injured himself last year i lost all enthusiasm for riding, even considered giving up (crazy talk!!) as i could not afford to start competing again if Andy go better enough to be able to event..
i like having something to work towards, even if its just a dressage test. even tho i couldn't bear to be parted from Andy, and even tho he is just an average RC horse talent wise, i would have to have a serious think if we couldn't compete again.. not sure he'd be a happy bunny if he had to be retired!!
luckily my situation has changed so i can now afford to go out again and my enthusiasm has returned!!
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