4-H And Horsemanship Do Not Mix

The Kentucky 4-H State Horse Show started on Sunday, June 28, and will go on until Saturday, July 4. I was there competing Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and I again realized that people are not lieing when they say 4-H is scary, especially when you get into the jumping.

To be completly fair and honest, my round in Green Horse 2' O/F was somewhat scary, but all things that made it scary were entirely my fault. I did not punish my horse, nor did I ever think she needed punishment for her preformances on those days. Yes, there were times when she was not behaving like I expected her to, but she is green, she was in a new place, and it was very hot. We'd also been to a show the weekend before too. Her behavior was excusable, however, as the "bad stuff" didn't happen until the ends of the days when everyone was ready to quit, both horse and rider. As a whole, though, I could not have been more pleased with how she handled everything. However, had Baylee started pulling out inexcusable behavior, I would not have tolerated it for any amount of time.

The way some trainers there ALLOWED their riders to treat their mounts was very inexcusable, though. For instance, in one of the higher jumping classes, one girl did not set her horse up for a jump very well, and the horse ran out. The pair was disqualified, and as they walked out, the girl proceeded to saw back and forth on her mount's mouth. Not suprisingly, he immediatly went behind the bit, and pinned his ears. I kept watch on the rider, because if she had the nerve to do that with every eye in the ring on them, who knows what they'll do when not everyone is looking. While in the holding pens, everytime the horse moved a foot, or bobbed his head, she immediatly picked up both reins and sawed at his mouth. She kept at this until all entrants were called back into the ring for placings.

That, now that was completely uncalled for, and is always inexcusable. I am not a Natural Horsemanship cult follower, but you've got to at least have some sense of horsemanship. Ripping consistently at your mount's mouth for something that is YOUR fault is NOT horsemanship. 99% of the time, when something goes wrong, it is the rider's fault. Sure, a horse is going to have its days, and not want to cooperate (Baylee had a few of those moments this weekend), but it is almost always going to be the rider's fault. We are the ones asking them to do whatever it is; they are not volunteering. Because we're asking them, we have to make our requests as clear as possible, and we can't blame them when we don't make them clear enough. Horsemanship is realizing that. Horsemanship is not a series of "games", or your hundreds of first place ribbons; it's not how well you are able to ride, or your $400.00 "air ride" saddle pad. Horsemanship is working WITH your horse, not AGAINST it. The moment you start working against your horse, you've lost the game, and you ALWAYS will lose the game. Period. Horsemanship is realizing that, sometimes, your horse is not going to be up for something. It's when you recognize an improvment and reward it, even if it's not a fully perfect job. It's when you take in the well being of your horse BEFORE your goals and aspirations for the day. Horsemanship is also RECOGNIZING a problem, and trying to find a solution to it - NOT letting the problem "solve itself" to the point where you end up with a dead foal and a starved mare.

I am so happy to be with my current trainer. Of the several trainers I've been to, and the others that friends have been to, she is one of the only ones putting a major focus on the horsemanship aspect of horses. She doesn't care how bad the ride went, how high you can jump, how nice you look, or whatever. She cares about the horsemanship because then, when learned, you're thinking about how something will affect the horse, and not just thinking about yourself. I remember her saying once that "Immature riders are convinced it is the horse's fault; mature riders are convinced it is theirs." That way of thinking changes your horsemanship; I've lived that change. After I heard her say that, I started to take notice on the horsemanship of others, and it drives me insane to see people treat their horses like a machine.

Now that I've become aware of horsemanship, it saddens me to see focus being taken off of it. I don't care if you fit a certain look while you're on the horse. If you work with the horse, and don't hinder the horse, then it shouldn't matter how you look. I'm not saying that equitation doesn't matter at all - it does as it was developed to keep you safe in the saddle (heels up, and your feet get stuck, anyone?), and to help your horse do its job, but it should not be the lone focus. I've had compliments on my equitation while at shows before, and I hate it. Partly because I hate recieving any kind of compliment, but mainly because I'd rather my horsemanship be noticed that my equtation. Who cares how pretty you look while riding if you're fighting your horse every step of the way.

I'm 16, and even I know better than letting a student get away with bad horsemanship. Unfortuantely, since I'm not the girl's trainer, I really could not go over and tell her that she needed to improve her horsemanship.

What about you all? Any trainers that are excellent horsemen or horsewomen? What about seeing poor or excellent examples of horsemanship by equestrians? I know that Kentucky is not the sole surviving homeplace of true horsemanship.