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

I sold my horse last year as I could no longer afford to compete and have my lorry.

I sold her as it would have been a waste for me to keep her and not have her outdoing things. Plus I am not that interested unless I have a goal to work towards or a competition etc.

I think I did the right thing, better than having a very nice horse stood in the field doing nothing apart from the odd hack.

She went to an excellent home and thrives on being out most weekends.
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I however, have put my feet up until i have the finances to buy another and get going again. Quite nice to have a holiday after 20 years
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Just speculating - but could it be that the routine of competing and the grind stone, means that you are enjoying the time off and have no urge to ride at the moment?

I need an aim to get up the gumption to ride and train every day and be on the crazy treadmill of work. If I couldn't compete, I would get a baby as then you can train and still have clear goals.

I know what you mean though, would I keep a fully trained perfectly healthy horse to just hack about and not compete... well it would depend on the circumstances, but probably not.
 
For me to enjoy riding I have to have an aim - something to motivate me and work towards. For me, my aims are always competitive.

If I could never compete again then I would pretty much give up riding I suspect. I would still be invoved in horses, breeding, and depending on the sitution probably driving if I was capable of it.

Teapot, you probably don't have that competitive edge in you to really understand this. For me if I want to go for a hack there would be a million and one friends horses I could that on, I wouldn't need to pay for my own!

I have the most lovely horse, he was my competition horse and I adore him. Unfortunately he is no longer capable of competing. If I wanted to I could just about keep him sound to hack (at some expense) but I have no desire to do that - if I can't dressage and/or jump him I don't want to ride him, even though I can't express how much this horse means to me. He is now retired.
 
I definitely ride to compete, everything i do with my horse is aimed towards the next competition and progressing both of us further. That's not to say i don't enjoy hacking and schooling at home but i think i enjoy them because of why i'm doing it, ie to increase fitness or to further his training.

When i was a student i didn't have my own horse and missed it desperately. Not just the competing but being around horses and just being able to ride whenever i wanted. I found i had plenty of friends horses to hack etc but this wasn't enough and, although fun to do every so often, i needed the buzz of aiming for a competition to keep me motivated.
 
i have been in the situation were my mare could't take me to the level i wanted to go in aff sj, could make the height just not the distances.
i didn't have the money to get another and i'd had her for a while and she ment alot to me so i didn't want to sell her. did think about loaning but i'm a fussy bugger so she stayed with me.
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i was my choice to go the way i did and i didn't like not having a purpose for my schooling but i did still want to ride but only because it was her if you know what i mean.

she was put down due to colic earlier this year far to early as at 19 she was still full of beans and the fittess on the yard. i will start looking for another at some point, they will hopefully take me to the levels i wanted to go to with my old mare.
if i was to be in the same position as before would i do it again? probaly not. all i know is i ride to compete because i enjoy everything that goes with it, the schooling, the getting up early, feeling when it all comes together in a class, that means more to me than a rossette
 
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Do you think 'competitive' riders don't enjoy just riding, if there is nothing to aim for?

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I love producing horses but I think I'd struggle with that if I didn't have the competitions as my benchmark of how I'm doing. I'd still teach but I think competing helps with that side of things so I'd probably run out of victims.....I mean clients.
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If I didn't have my own horses then OH would have his hunters even more beautifully schooled than they are already.
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If he didn't hunt, then I'd probably turn into a gym bunny with a nasty shopping habit to waste all the money I'd ordinarily spend on my horses.
 
Yes, is the simple answer, I used to compete lots, all the time, now I'm older I have no real urge, maybe something local for fun, my horse is a seven year old warmblood and has taken a long time to mature mentally, although she's not big. i just enjoy being with her and schooling/hacking with no pressure.
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Yes probably
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I spent last summer riding a horse which was not really up to competing unless I put loads of work into it, which I didnt want to do as it was not my horse (lazy I know
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) So I just hacked - it was OK, but I certainly wasnt motivated to ride six times a week.

Now I have my own horse I am back to riding six times a week, and I have to say my riding is more aimed towards competing than ever before in my life - I am always practicing for the 3 elements of eventing, whether that is at home or at local competitions.

I must admit though that I am constantly tired (working full time and competing every weekend) so might be slowing things down a bit before too long
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a nasty shopping habit to waste all the money I'd ordinarily spend on my horses.

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Very much agree, what would I do with all the money (and time) I spent on the ponies!?
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3 years ago, 2 days before BD regionals, my DWB gelding had a field accident and despite months of rehab and treatment, has never been totally sound since, from the original tendon injury plus DJD . I could have had him PTS but he wasn't really crippled, just unlevel. This year my vet offered Danilon to enable him to do some light hacking and beach work. Keeps him comfy and I get more fun out of this from my still sparko ex-BD and BSJA nag than I ever did when I was goal-driven and competing each month. Wouldn't have believed I could, but just love still having him and dread when his condition deteriorates to the point where I can't even ride him anymore.
 
I ride to compete. Bottom Line. As a previous poster said, everything is geared around that - fittening work, schooling, or doing something different to give her a break and keep her happy with her work - it's all about competing. I don't compete very often - 5 times last year - and if I don't have anything in my sights it's really hard to keep motivated to go in the school and slog away , whereas if I'm competing then it's exciting trying to improve.

When my mother (then aged over 60) couldn't compete because her horse was off lame for 3 months she took up competitive cake-baking at village shows - some people are just competitive and we're probably the ones who sign up for it in the fisrt place - in other words, we're a self-selecting sample!
 
Very interesting thread ClaireL!!

I have always enjoyed competing and have been lucky to compete fairly sucessfully on all of my horses over the years at lower levels and taken great enjoyment out of it. Sadly last year my best horse after qualifying for various things and looking to progress fairly easily to Elementary and beyond went lame. After a few months of investigation it became apparent that his problems may affect his ridden career and he may need to be retired in the near future. Also at the same time, i developed meningitis and septicaemia along with having an allergic reaction to penicillin, so neither of us were in the best of health to consider competition or ridden work. Once i had got over all of this and Alfie was still no better, i completely lost the will to ride anything. This was despite having 2 three year olds that needed backing and a lovely 9 year old cob that was screaming to do something sat in my back garden. I hadn't lost any interest in looking after them, far from it, they were all gleaming and had lots of time spent on them etc, but my main focus of competing Alfie had gone and therefore i wasn't interested in riding anything. It caused a lot of debate in our house as 5 horses is a lot to look after and keep if no one is going to ride them, but thankfully this year i have found a new enthusiasm for riding and competing (albeit not on Alfie but the others). My mum has just bought a young Highland mare which i am competing and bringing on, my babies are now 4, and i am taking great pleasure from bringing them on nicely and the cob is getting out competing as well, albeit at a lot lower level than Alfie was at.

So, in answer to the question; yes and no, i don't think i would give up riding completely if i couldn't compete but it would take me a lot of effort to get the enthusiasm to ride often if i didn't have an end goal in sight i.e competing. I get just as much pleasure from mine looking after them, as i do from taking them for a bimble around the woods everyday. I doubt very much i could ever be a keen, motivated happy hacker!!
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I haven't read past the first page but I so agree with Teapot.
I don't have a horse at the moment and no chance on the horizon so I would give my eye teeth just to ride.
yes, I loved competing when I had my horses, but I also loved just being with them. You can set yourself goals even just hacking out.
The way this thread seems to be going is that a lot of you just ride to compete and not just for the love of horses.
I am not critiscising any of you for that, just making a point.
we all have different views.
I always rode for the love of riding and horses and competing was secondary.
In a way I suppose I got the sense of competition just by trying to improve my horse.
 
Further to Baydale's gym bunny post and Hapsters post on competitive cake baking I think if you are really competitive you find something else to fill that gap. When I gave up years ago due to not being able to event I got into running and whilst I was never going to be a great runner I got a real buzz from pushing myself to continually improve. Only down side now that I have a horse again is that I am fatter!! I used to be able to eat vast amounts of food and still be thin ... them were the days!
 
I had a fairly successful pony 'career' as a kid and went on to take my AI, worked on a number of yards, etc, etc. Then decided I was completely hacked off with it all and gave it all up for a number of years. I did the Baydale thing - became a gym-bunny and spent inexplicable amounts of money on nothing very much.

When I decided to get back into the sport I did it for the love of it (I decided to have horses because I 'just love horses') but I very quickly got back into competing and my riding now does predominantly consist of trying to improve for competition purposes.

That said, I don't think there's anything to beat coming home stressed from work (I now have a reasonably demanding office job), going out to the yard and just enjoying spending time with them and hacking round the lanes.

So a very long winded way of saying - I don't know really! I love horses but I'm not sure just mooching about with them would be enough for me on a long term basis. I guess it would very much depend on the reason why I couldn't compete anymore?
 
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I ride to compete. Bottom Line. As a previous poster said, everything is geared around that - fittening work, schooling, or doing something different to give her a break and keep her happy with her work - it's all about competing. I don't compete very often - 5 times last year - and if I don't have anything in my sights it's really hard to keep motivated to go in the school and slog away , whereas if I'm competing then it's exciting trying to improve.

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I was only talking to my OH about this the other day saying that if I couldn't compete I wouldn't ride. And I couldn't have put it better myself Hapster - everything you train them for (and yourself!) is geared towards competing. I couldn't imagine 'just' hacking. I mean, it'd be nice but that's all, and I wouldn't be fussed about it
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That said, I don't think there's anything to beat coming home stressed from work (I now have a reasonably demanding office job), going out to the yard and just enjoying spending time with them and hacking round the lanes.

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I find them great therapy when I come home from work and will spend time with them even when I'm not pursuing my selfish competitive aims
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. The hound puppies and I often go and sit in the field just watching them - or I do, the puppies normally just bu**er off to eat poo
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- so that blows whoever's comment out of the water that competitive riders aren't horse lovers (I'm bound to have misquoted someone and will get shouted at now, but hey ho....
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)

I have a theory that the cost of having horses is much cheaper than the cost of me employing the services of a shrink to try and retain my sanity.
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if i couldn't compete i wouldn't really miss riding. i love competing because i love improving myself and my horse and having aims and goals to be acomplished.

i would probably buy lots of weanlings and spend my time educating them and selling as 3/4yros if i couldn't ride as youngsters are really my passion
 

Further to Baydale's post about saving on the costs of a shrink I am not able to ride at the moment due to having a broken leg but I miss it so much. I'm back at work and find myself working all evening as well instead of relaxing and having fun with my ned. He is being schooled by a friend but as I can't drive either I am only seeing him about once per week. I may need a shrink by the time I get out of plaster !!
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Oh Rafferoo, I can sympathise as I was (even moreso than normally
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) unbearable when I was off with my fractured pelvis and so not myself. I've had periods of not having my own horse over the years and nothing else quite seems to fill the gap. Yep, it's official, I'm hooked.
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He He - thanks that makes me feel somewhat better! Its so bad I even feel sorry for my husband (that doesn't happen often!).
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Nope, I wouldn't. I have had 6 months without my horse and 3 months without much riding, and I have loved having a life! That's not to say I'm not looking forwards to getting him back, but if I couldn't compete then the amount of work it takes to be a good rider would seem a bit pointless to me and therefore I'd focus my energy elsewhere!
 
If I couldn't compete I might mooch around the countryside occasionally but I wouldn't bother with dressage much! Actually, no, if there were no competitions I'd probably give up completely.
When I retire one of mine to be a companion/paddock ornament I can rarely bestir myself to ride him or her, since I can't really see the point. The younger ones with, hopefully, a future competing, are a different matter.
 
Llanerch - fell off at home schooling over water tray - don't now whats wrong with me at the moment - can't keep horse between me and ground!! Dog totally neglected walk wise but she was very good company whilst I was off work!
 
I think it depends on a few things,

1) What is more important to you
a) Competing
b) Your horse

2) Do you ride to compete or compete to ride

3) Is your horse a tool or a partner

I found when I was competing at low ranked shows it didn't bohter me of I rode or not, when I went affiliated and couldn't ride I really missed it. However I missed the riding because I loved being with my horse.

Now I don't compete at all and do more in hand work with some riding and get 100% enjoyment from my horses
 
I can't say that we would sell up completely (if not competing any more), but it would be v hard to motivate ourselves to ride more than couple of times a week.

We would both then become horrendously fat and lazy, and lie on the couch every evening watching soaps - HELP - where's that shrink baydale mentioned
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!!!

Seriously though, I think I would either take up another sport such as dog agility, or just have loads of kids and hope that they were all bitten by the 'horsy bug' eventually.

Fiona

PS - clairel - hows the big lad - I thought you were hopeful he would be out again over the summer??
 
Oh! This has turned into a long one!

At least I'm not alone in thinking this way. I wonder whether this same post would get a much different response if it were in New Lounge for example?!
 
In New Lounge it would turn into a witch hunt with all us competitive witches being burnt at the stake for treating our horses like machines (ticks box, yep, I mean I always kiss my car goodnight so why should my horses be any different
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) and having little regard for what the horse wants out of the relationship (ticks box, yep, mine all have full tummies and don't get too much work
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).
 
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