Are you kidding?! RANT

I had a friend come over yesterday with some friends of hers. She is a horse person and so are the friends that she brought over. They had two little kids with them who wanted to go for a horse back ride. So I went and saddled my mare Dee.

A little bit of history about Dee. She is a great horse, but not really broke. She is very kind natured and has been packing GR around for the last couple of months. I started doing some real training on her this last week. I think she is doing great! Her turns are really good, altough with direct rein ( I do neck rein but teach them by first next reining and then pulling on the direct rein) Her stops are AMAZING, great speed transitions and beautiful back up.

Anyways so all three kids ride her around with us leading her and she did great, as usual! After the kids were done my friend asked if she could ride her. I said sure be reminded her that Dee only has 6 rides under her belt.

She is riding her around and Dee is doing great! But her friend comes over to me and says "You know you would get a lot further with her if you would cross her reins under her neck and neck rein her that way!" But he did say it kindly, it was snarky and rude!

Can I not just train MY horse my way with out taking short cuts!? What the heck is with people and why do so many of them think that taking short cuts with horses is with the way to do?! It really irks me when people are more worried about being able to ride easily then have a well trained horse!

I don't understand why people are so into the short cuts and easy fixes either! Unfortunately that's the mindset people have rather then working hard. Look at all of the diet pills out there! "eat what you want, skip the exercise, and lose pounds FAST!" oooookay.... Sadly horse people with that mentality are everywhere. Best you can do is smile, be glad they're just trying to help (or feel bad for their ignorance if that's all they know) and say thanks.

You know I was good about it and just said..."I've heard of that, but I have my own methods that have worked for me so far...possible one day I might try that..."

Even though I never will. It just really got to me that he was looking down on me because I was taking my time training my horse the right way!

That's why she's your horse, so you can train her how you like. And it sounds like you're doing great.
You had a much more mature response then I would've though, hehe.

Trust me that is not what I felt like saying!

When I go out to see someone's horses it doesn't matter how much I think I know, I keep my mouth shut!

Yep, I feel your pain. Most often, the people that give snarky advice are the ones who's horses have all the vices; bracing against the bit, head slinging, zero stop or back-up, etc. Just take what he says with a grain of salt and be satisfied in the knowledge that you already have a better horse after 6 rides than he probably would after 6 years. :)

Wow, the nerve of some people!
I am curious though... what good would come of crossing the reins under the neck? Guess I'm dumbfounded by that one.. or just haven't trained many western horses! :P

Apparantly Allie you can neck rein them (not really) and they don't even have to be trained to neck rein! I wouldn't actually know because I've never done it! I'm actually a bit confused on it myself...maybe I will have to try it to enlighten myself.

What happens is when the rein puts pressure on the horses neck, it also pulls on the side of the bit that you want the horse to move (does that make sense..?). Personally I think its a waste of time and completely pointless as the horse gets confused when you put the reins back to normal and its not the same type of pressure and you basically have to start from scratch. Very smart horses pick it up soon enough, but its effort wasted. What you're doing with her is fine and will teach her better than any other method I can think of =)

Congratulations on keeping your head on because I know I wouldn't have!! Hahaha,, and well done on training your horse so well!! I have a thoroughbred that's been trained by top show/dressage/eventing people and I wouldn't put a child anywhere near his saddle!!!keep us updated on her progress!!

Sally the pressure would be totally different. The amount of pressure and the point of pressure wouldn't be anywhere close to the same! I will continue with using neck rein but renforcing with direct rein.

Dee is a great girl and will make an awesome horse once she is finished, but I am willing to take my time to finish her the right way!

I will keep you guys updated! Maybe even post some pictures later today after I ride!