Jack of all trades master of none....?

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Morgan123

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Random pondering really (+ work procrastination) - do you stick to one discipline and get particularly good at it, or do you like doing everything?!

I do mainly endurance and flatwork with my own horse, but I also regularly ride someone's lovely luso dressage horse and two SJers. I'm a bit of a child and when I'm doing endurance I'm like 'omg this is the best thing ever, this is what i want to do!', but then exactly the same when I'm doing SJ or pure dressage! And don't even get me started on when I went team chasing. Or hunting, and wanted to give up my job and go every day....

Lucky as I am to ride all these very nice and very diverse horses, I am bankrupting myself by trying to do too much and have lessons/compete in too many things, and I also feel like I'm still a fairly average rider - if I put all my training in one area, I could definitely improve to a decent level.

I know this is a non-problem! But anyway, what do you do - stick to one thing, or did you make the decision to focus on one area particularly - or just have fun and do everything??
 
I think I coasted through most of my late teens and early twenties doing a bit of everything i.e riding club, gymkana, hunting and then I found something I really loved (which for me is eventing). I don't think it's a cheap hobby whatever discipline you try within it.
 
Interesting thread OP!

I started as a riding school pupil so just riding was a thrill, but did always like going fast and jumping!

When I got my own at 16, I still liked going fast and jumping but my little horse hated jumping, so we stuck to going fast (hacking, fun rides etc) and showing which she is awesome at :D. From this we stuck with flatwork and showing for the next 5 years with the odd bit of jumping.

Then we bought my mum's horse who will jump the moon, so I was back jumping, SJ and XC plus a bit of hunting. Felt fulfilled no need for poncing in circles except for the dressage part of eventing, until we had a nasty fall and I bust my collarbone. With the rest of the season off games, I decided to get some dressage lessons in over that winter to improve our canter and so improve the jump. This lead to affiliating with BD, going to summer regionals at Novice and the Area Festivals at Elementary and then the Winter finals in one year! We now just jump for fun and varity to keep life interesting for her, but mainly we do dressage and my riding has come on leaps and bounds, she seems much more settled in the dressage ring and has such a talent that I want to see how far we can go despite coming to it quite late.

I've also bought a youngster who I will break this year, she will do whatever she wants really whether she loves to jump, hack or ponce in circles. I'm a big beliver in listening to my horses and doing what they enjoy, regular lessons have been key to improving my riding rather than sticking to one discipline.

I'm probably always going to be a very average rider, but I dream big and will work hard to achieve my ambitions, its just those ambitions are always based on what the horse wants to do, and as such we don't get rid of our horses we just change discipline depending on what they are capable of :o.

x x
 
Some things compliment each other. Mostly I want to SJ but I also want her flat work to be good so that her SJ is improved. Therefore I work with a dressage coach (who knows I mostly want to SJ) and a SJ coach. I enjoy the SJ lessons the most for sure but I work on her flat work to make that even more enjoyable.

I did endurance with my last horse but it's not really for me, I've no interest in going further than the just a big hack stage really.

I think if you enjoy it all then why not do it all.
 
I did a bit of everything until I got my current horse and had to give up the draghunting. I did a lot of sj, but she was never a consistent double clear sort of horse.. It was working professionally in a discipline that hooked me on it. I always loved eventing, but grooming for a rider meant I was living and breathing it.
Once I started, there was no stopping me! eventing really suits my horse, and I just love the sport. I don't work in horses now, but still event, and I think I'm hooked forever!
 
Evented all through my childhood and teen years and LOVED it. Now I ride endurance, and dressage/flatwork was meant to be a means to an end (we always do a couple of rides a week in the arena to keep all the bits of the horse connected to each other and to encourage proper use of his body). Lately though I have been having dressagey urges: bling browband, and a nice new dressage saddle even though you can do flatwork in a treeless which is what I use for endurance. I now own a dressage jacket and long boots...
This is all a bit alarming as I used to view dressage as a necessary evil when I was eventing!
We may be entering a local dressage show quite soon...
In my defence my endurance horse is a palomino and does look lovely in his dressage gear.
 
I have this problem as well! When I groom for one instructor doing bd regionals etc or have an amazing flatwork lesson, I always think about moving to pure dressage. But when I jump my pony or take him xc schooling all I want to do is event. Then again the dressage seems to be going more successfully - got eliminated at my first event last weekend - and is certainly cheaper..
 
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