Rant alert.

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piaffe

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Why, in Gods name, should I rush my horse to get him up through the levels? Im sick of being critisised about my horse not being able to do this or that properly yet.
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I have a 5 year old who was broken in at 5, yes 5 not 3, like most horses. People seem to quick to forget that fact. He hasn't yet been broken in for a year. So why, why why should his preformance be compared to other horses who have had at least 2 years more experience?
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I am so fed up of being put down. He is a difficult horse to ride, I work full time and look after the children, and am at uni and have no spare cash for a trainer at the moment yet I should be out competing at elem/ med by now and, I quote: "Do you have no drive?"

I was also told, the other day that I wont get anywhere in BD because of his breeding. Am I the only one that wants to compete for personal goals and not winning?
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Ok, I have finished my rant now. Please feel free to ignore me. But i do feel better having got it all out.
 
Who is saying this stuff? They are totally wrong on all counts. Pushing a young or inexperienced horse up through the levels too quickly will sour them and spoil them. Keep doing what your doing and in a couple of years time you will be the one having the success whilst they chew their own lips off with jealousy.
P.s it has absolutely nothing to do with drive. If you had no drive you wouldn't get out of bed each day.
 
Piaffe, who on earth told you that for gods sake????

Take no notice, he's YOUR horse, YOU look after him and it's up to YOU what you do with him - end of.

I doubt your boy stands in his stable at night and rants to the other horses how his street cred is missing coz he doesn't compete at medium yet!!

Just do YOUR thing my friend!!
 
Piaffe all I have to say is he is YOUR horse and YOu can do what You like. I hate it when people try and tell you what to do, why should you rush your horse just because somebody else has said so.

Just ignore them.......
 
er, who told you that? V is fab and youve done an amazing job with him........and i cant wait to meet the little star himself and have a ride sometime!!

You're not rushing him in anyway, if you think hes ready then you might aswel go for it, its nothing to do with anyone else apart from you.
 
Jealousy - pure outright jealousy!!

You have and will continue to do a grand job with him - he can be stressy, why ask too many questions too quickly and blow hs head even more??!!!!
 
Your boy will still be going strong in 5 years when the others are burnt out! Ignore them it is difficult enough when you have a family and work full time. Enjoy him and do what you want to do.
 
Thanks all. Don't worry, its noone on here.

I also keep getting (at every opportunity) the "race horses are harder to retrain than breaking in a horse" speech. Probably because the said person has an ex racer.
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I do not agree with rushing horses at all and am happy to take all the time in the world as long as he is happy and confident in his work.

I certainly wouldnt take on any of the "advice" being offered but it just infuriates me that some people even have these views.
 
Piaffe take your time. My mare is rising 10 and has only been backed for 2 years - hence I treat her like a youngster and refuse to over faze her, regardless of her age. At least I know when shje hits 20 she'll still be out competing and not burnt out and knackered
 
Piaffe.........and breathe!
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As the others have said, he's YOUR horse to go at YOUR pace and to do with what YOU want.

We'll see in a few years time who's horse is going the better shall we?
There's no merit to having a tense, nervous horse that can do all the 'twiddly' moves but can't walk, trot and canter in a soft, confident and relaxed manner.

Also, although still in a minority, I can name quite a few Iberian horses that are doing very well in BD including at advanced level. In fact I think they may well come into their own more at the higher levels due to their great ability to 'sit'.

Ignore them!
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You are not alone in feeling like this. I am always getting someone telling me I should be competing at Medium. They have never seen my horse competing and they dont ride her everyday. If they did they would get a shock. Just because she can do all the movements it doesnt mean that she can do them in a test whilst being relaxed. For now we are quite happy competing novice at working on getting relaxed in a test. I will move up to elementary and medium soon but it will be when ME and my instructor think she can stay relaxed come out with a good score.

Take your time, you have all the time in the world.
 
Don't let it get you down. I've had it. I was in a similar position to you. I bought a 6/7 year old who had been backed but had very little schooling. We took him jumping, he'd got a natural jump but it was dangerous as his groundwork was so bad. We stopped jumping & did schooling quietly in the evenings for 12 months. People were saying we'd given up jumping because we'd got a problem horse. It started to get annoying. We'd schooled him & had a trainer without broadcasting it about. Then we decided that we'd do some dressage on him at a local show. Off we went & competed against several from out yard & beat them all. He was in self carriage, working from behind, soft in ther back, on the bit, poetry in motion. The people on our yard were gobsmacked... I must confess to a certain degree of smugness by my family.

We have now started jumping again & he went out on Sunday & jumped 2 double clears at 2'09" & 3'00" & came 1st & 2nd respectively. He has a load of scope & when we think he's ready we'll affiliate him & jump larger, but when we are ready!!

You do what you want with your horse & at the pace that you feel comfortable with. Forget about what others say, there's always someone that believes they know what you should be doing, better than you do. Stuff them...it's difficult but don't let it get you down.
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whoever is saying this stuff, you should distance, move away from! - blimey!

No-one has EVER told me what I should or shouldnt be doing either than giving me positive encouragement to go up a height etc!

It is your horse, your money, your decision and ultimately your neck! - why should it matter!!
 
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I was also told, the other day that I wont get anywhere in BD because of his breeding.

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Why oh why do people always forget that our best ever dressage horse at an Olympics was an ex-racehorse, yes, a TB!!
I hate it when people get snobby about breeding.. if the horse can do the job, then it's bred right!!

Ignore these comments, and i hope you dontinue to enjoy yourself!
 
Ignore it Piaffe!

My instructors horse is headed towards 13, and has just started medium, admittedly he was competitng sidesaddle and BSJA before that, but still, hes supposedly older and wiser (remains to be seen) but he, as generally the oldest horse there has won five of his first 6 medium tests I think.

Age doesnt matter.
 
Oh for god sake!

There are please who really talk out of their arse arent there.....

What a load of bollox, V has just as much of a chance at being a great dressage horse than any flashy warmblood.

Arghhhhhh this really does annoy me!

Dont worry hun, just keep plugging away and you will suceed!.
 
Ignore it all
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There are some idiots out there - a horse as young as 5 shouldn't be competing elementary/ medium anyways in my opinion - you don't see them aroudn intheir teens. A horse is for enjoyment. Someone once told me never to bother affiliating BD as we wouldn't get anywhere - well I now have great pleasure in being placed at prelim and novice most times we go out and have a few BD points. To me it's about being placed, having a good score and a positive test sheet - oh, and I like getting the points at novice too. It makes my day if I get all those things. My horse? An off the track racehorse that cost us £800 - not exactly bred for dressage was he?
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I'm with you - would far rather start a horse later and let it mature properly before asking lots of it. whoever says the 3 yo gets burnt out earlier is right IMOH. those who start horses at this age are usually pros who will probably no longer own the horse by the time it is 6 (and problems are emerging).
Don't worry about these stupid remarks and enjoy your baby - it is they who are miguided.
 
Simple, its jealousy.
Viento is a stunning horse and all yours - that means that YOU decide what you do with him, YOU go at the pace YOU want.
Breeding means next to nothing, and you are doing a fantastic job with him
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Ignore them. They're idiots. Just say there's more to life than winning! You're enjoying your horse and thats all that matters. Tell them he hasnt even been backed a year yet!!! Do they want you to ruin him in his first year? As for saying he wont do well due to his breeding - RUBBISH! I have a horse who doesn't have any SJ or eventing bloodlines at all, but he is doing really well in both.... they dont have to always be bred for it to do well.
 
Ignore the idiots!!
I think you've done a fab job in a short space of time and you know him far better than anyone else!!
 
Thanks Boss and everyone else.

Feel a lot better now. I knew you lot would make me feel better!
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I agree that some of it may be due to jealousy, not sure what else it could be. We were fine until she asked me to have a sit on her horse as she was having problems; its head was stuck up in the air and was tense, hollow and looked very very unhappy. I got on and straight away got its head between its knees, relaxed calm, taking a contact and soft through its back. It didn't go down well and my response was, well why ask me to ride the damm thing then? All this rubbish started once I got V. He was too small, too weedy, too sharp for me, too dangerouse because he was rearing, I had wasted good money, and would soon realise it... Then, well if he's that good you should be doing blah blah blah....
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I can ignore it, to a point but sometimes it gets you down, even if you do know your own mind.
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Thanks for putting up with my moaning!
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I know of a few Shire cross TB that reached Grand Prix, also I ride a horse that was rushed from novice to PSG in 2 yrs, and although he can do it all, he does not enjoy it or do it happily! All the horses I ride have had time taken with them and they are much happier.

Definitely take your time.
 
Oh yeh! Had forgotten about that. I used to work for an Olympic rider that took 2 shire x tbs to GP. Cant believe I hadn't thought about that. Ill remember that one next time!
 
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Why oh why do people always forget that our best ever dressage horse at an Olympics was an ex-racehorse, yes, a TB!!


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Was that Wily Trout? Hasn't Escapado got a fair dollop of TB blood in him too?
I love TBs
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Piaffe; You do what you think is best for your horse. You're right, they're wrong, tell them to eff off!
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