DQ Rant

So I recently switched my horse to a new barn. I had never met a DQ before, but this one's a doozy. She's an upper level rider and doesn't let anyone forget it. Her over priced warm blood doesn't have an ounce of muscle on him. He's in his stall most of the day and only gets out for the 20 minutes that she works his butt off and yells at him most of the time. I'm sure the poor horse would do what was asked of him if he were just given sufficient time to warm up his stiff muscles, but that's not gonna happen.

Today, I was just heading out for a ride at an adjacent farm where the riding ring is much larger when she arrived. I headed off property through the woods and proceeded to ride for the next hour or so, mostly practicing canter-trot transitions. He worked really hard and then we went out into an adjacent field and romped around for another 15 minutes or so before heading back to the barn. In the 5 minutes it took us to walk through the woods, he was bone dry without a hint of sweat on him. When we got back, the DQ was already long done with her ride and was walking her horse to cool him out. The horse was breathing heavy and dripping with sweat. The ring she rode in is tiny. There's very little that can be done there in terms of work, but he is so incredibly unfit that he cannot be ridden for 20 minutes without breaking into a lather.

The rant part here is, I just don't get how anyone can expect a horse to perform at any level if he doesn't have the proper conditioning or muscling. How the heck are they supposed to get either if the horse never leaves the ring? I don't know of any rings that have hills or the necessary terrain to build muscle. Any riding for 20 minutes?? I can't even warm my horse up in 20 minutes. What the heck does keeping the horse in a stall all day accomplish other than creating a lard ball? This woman complains all the time that he arms get tired because she has to constantly hold her horse in a frame. I just want to shake her and tell her that maybe her horse could carry himself if she just gave him the proper tools to do it with. If that's how upper level dressage riders treat their horses, I'll stay at training level.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Wow, I can only feel bad for the horse. I would hate seeing that.
:/

It is not uncommon for some dressage riders to be afraid of the outside world. Go out of a ring??? EEEEK! I have had to reschool many upper level horses that were so fearful they could hardly function out of a controlled environment.

She can't be competing at too high a level. Upper level tests require a very fit horse.

Allison, totally off topic, but that is a fantastic picture. Is that you jumping? That is totally textbook!

some people just dont turn out their horses, ever its kind of weird. most horses get arthritus later in life. some people dont leave the ring. i didnt at my old barn, because there wasnt anywere to hack. i do alot of 20 minute rides. but it all depends on how fast your horse warms up. but i usually ride 2x a day when i do shorter workouts.

She is probably afraid of her horse.
That's not a DQ - that's an idiot.
Real DQs will not ride in an arena smaller than 100x200, they will not ride if the footing has not been harrowed that day, they demand that their horse is turned out a certain way or handwalked every day and they are constantly having vets, chiros, massage therapists and saddle fitters out to make sure that their $100,000 baby is perfect, at all times.

And Allison - it is not that we are afraid of the outside world - it's that we're afraid it will make our horses lame :P Dressage people (including myself) have some of the most irrational phobias concerning their horse's soundness and well being.

Yes, that is me. That is a stallion, son of the famous Abdullah, that was so rank, all that he was used for was breeding. Everyone was afraid to try to ride him. He looked so miserable, I took him in. Within two weeks of using real positive reinforcement training, we were best friends. Even with him being such a sweetheart, people were still too afraid to ride him. He did combined training and jumping.


Anebel, I am a higher level dressage rider and ALL my horses gallop and jump in the real world. I have trained a $250,000.00 GP stallion who also galloped and jumped. Mental soundness is as important as physical soundness. I take real precautions when they are having fun, and not one was injured. They all had excellent attitudes....not the sour ones so common in the dressage world.

MyBoyPuck, that is common to see in almost every world of the Equestrian World. I see Hunter/Jumpers doing that.

Heck just the other day when I went and rode, I was still walking Nelson in our first 20 minutes of our ride *we do allot of stuff at the walk - shoulder in's/out's, Leg Yielding, Riding circles in a box shape* both ways - and the majority of the riders who were in that ring, were trotting, jumping and cantering in the first 5 mintues they got in there.

Frustrating, yes it is.

Here's my question - did you say anything? Did you stand up for the horse?

I did. But I have a big mouth and don't care if I offend and I say what is on my mind.

I didn't say anything. She's been scowling at me since I got to that barn, and since I don't even know her, I doubt my opinion would matter much to her. It's not like it's outright abuse, and last time I checked it's still a free country, so it's not my place to tell her how to ride or care for her horse. I choose to rant and rave like a lunatic here instead! Here's the funny part. Today I find out, she's certified in equine massage!!!! Un-frickin-believable!

You don't have to be outright blatant about it lol. Not like you have you to say "Lookit here you unintelligent @#@!@,.......etc, etc, etc" lol - only imagine the outcome with that....

I wasn't outright blatant, but I got my point across.

All I said to the riders were "I wish my horse was as in great of shape as your horses are, to be trotting and jumping fences already when you've only been on their backs for a few mintues! Must be nice! Here I have to spend up to 20 mintues doing walk work just to get Nelson warmed up."

Some went "oh, you're right" and went back to the walk, and others didn't. At least I stood up for their horses, who have no voices.