What is the reasoning for riding the Trans-siberian railroad?

Horseback riding different methods, your opinion?

• I did horseback riding 6th, 7th, and 8th grade; i was in hunter at 2'. i stopped for about a year and a half, and now im trying to get back into it. today i tried one place and instead of hunter, they train more like dressage i guess; i mean they said that after we work on my "seat" we could start jumping; pretty much the difference is that your back is more hunched, reigns are looser, and things like that so the horse is more natural or powerful or whatever. the reasoning was logical, but im not sure if i like riding that way; i like how in hunter you sit up straight and have more control with the reigns, but they made it sound like hunter hurt the horse more and had more accidents. what's your opinion and do you think i should continue with this new barn or find a barn that does hunter?

• Answer:

  Ah... The old stereotype bug has struck again. This supposed "controversy" between the show hunter world and the dressage community has been around for so long that it nauseates me. Dressage people inevitably think that hunter riders hurt their horses by not having them collected enough, whereas the hunter riders think that all dressage riders are ice queens and kings who care more about fashion than they do about their horse's welfare. Know what? NEITHER GROUP is entirely right or entirely wrong, but they still use this "dispute" as an excuse to bash each other. It's sad, really. In hunt seat riding, you don't sit hunched over- you sit forward, and you need to be able to lean forward to jump safely and correctly. What a lot of dressage divas don't understand is that "forward" DOESN'T MEAN that you have less contact or no contact with your horse. Show hunters are JUDGED on their manners and form, and in order to obtain this, they have to know at least some of the basics of dressage. This barn you are at has people there who obviously are from the old school, which says that a rider must first develop a strong, independent seat before he or she can diversify and learn to use other parts of his/her body. That's all well and good if you're someone who's planning on making a career out of classical riding, but the vast majority of people aren't. Most people are more like you are, and want to ride for fun, and perhaps do a little showing on the side. They're in it as a hobby, not because they necessarily want to become Grand Prix dressage riders. And hunter riders are no more prone to accidents because of their riding style than dressage riders are- in fact they are considerably LESS PRONE because at least in the hunters, you're required to wear a helmet at all times. Most dressage riders I've ever met generally believe the old, dangerous myth which says that head protection becomes unneccessary once a horse passes a certain point in his or her training. That myth has even pervaded the top most levels of the sport, and there are and have been members of the Olympic team who obviously believe it too. One of those people was Courtney King-Dye, who almost DIED from a fall in March 2010. She was schooling a young horse at the time, and the horse spooked at something and threw her. Dye suffered a skull fracture and some brain bleeds, and was in a coma for two months after that accident. When she woke up, she was paralyzed. She's getting horse assisted therapy now as part of rehab, but she'll never ride at the same level again. And the worst part about that whole episode is that it might have been prevented entirely if she'd simply had the common sense to put a helmet on her head before she got on that horse ! As it is, she's had to learn the hard way what so many other victims of traumatic brain injuries already know: that dead or damaged brain cells don't regenerate, and that once you've been injured that way, you may never regain your former level of function. You may be able to avoid making Dye's mistake by simply avoiding being around a dressage barn- and more power to you if you do. Since show hunters are your main interest, you should look for a barn that provides lessons in that discipline. You won't be happy at this place you're at now, and there's no point in opening the door for people to criticize you because they don't like the way you were taught to ride. Good luck.