I hope enough people will see this. I'm pretty sure the thread is still fairly active but in case people read this later, here's the link:
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/how-do-you-feel-about-sending-156029/
I don't just want this to be one big complaint, but I'd like to offer a bit of explanation and hopefully curb a bit of misunderstanding. My first post was a huge mistake. I didn't realize when I wrote it how extremely derogatory it must have sounded to people who do send their horses to trainers. The replies were defensive but very informative. I talked it over with my mom and she was under the same impression that I was: that when people show and compete their horses, they're showing off what training the rider has done. We both grew up seeing horses as personal projects. So needless to say, I was completely shocked and felt like the biggest jerk of the century when I found out not everyone views their horses like that. It made me feel so stupid and gave me a whole new outlook on horses and how diverse the horse community is.
I would be lying if I said that I had always thought sending your horse to a trainer instead of learning to train it yourself is a good idea... and obviously that came across in my post.
We are all here for the same reason: because we love doing what we do and we want to do it better. We love horses, we're all in it for the love of horses in one aspect or another. The worst thing you can tell someone in this field is that all the hard work and time they've spent is pointless and insignificant-- that they are not worthy of their goal and they are stupid for thinking they could dream of such a thing. Even though that is everything I stand against, that is exactly what my post is saying. And people are responding back to me and others in the same manner.
So mostly, this is an apology to people who I insulted by my post. I never want to fight when asking for information, and no one should ever be insulted for sharing their opinions. I learned a lot more from the thread besides how different people view horses... I need to be careful how I ask about things. But also this is a kind of wake-up call to people who are following the thread (especially those arguing the whole "bonding" theory), people have beliefs and opinions, and when you say their opinion is garbage, it hurts. An opinion is exactly that: it's someone's opinion. And just like choosing whether you want to send your horse to a trainer or learn to train the horse yourself, you're experiences and perspective are going to shape what beliefs you have.
I hope that clears up a lot of confusion and will help explain the thread a little bit, since I know my later posts aren't read much. I can't change what I wrote, but I learned my lesson and I hope people who read it later will also learn what it was that I had originally started it for.
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/how-do-you-feel-about-sending-156029/
I don't just want this to be one big complaint, but I'd like to offer a bit of explanation and hopefully curb a bit of misunderstanding. My first post was a huge mistake. I didn't realize when I wrote it how extremely derogatory it must have sounded to people who do send their horses to trainers. The replies were defensive but very informative. I talked it over with my mom and she was under the same impression that I was: that when people show and compete their horses, they're showing off what training the rider has done. We both grew up seeing horses as personal projects. So needless to say, I was completely shocked and felt like the biggest jerk of the century when I found out not everyone views their horses like that. It made me feel so stupid and gave me a whole new outlook on horses and how diverse the horse community is.
I would be lying if I said that I had always thought sending your horse to a trainer instead of learning to train it yourself is a good idea... and obviously that came across in my post.
We are all here for the same reason: because we love doing what we do and we want to do it better. We love horses, we're all in it for the love of horses in one aspect or another. The worst thing you can tell someone in this field is that all the hard work and time they've spent is pointless and insignificant-- that they are not worthy of their goal and they are stupid for thinking they could dream of such a thing. Even though that is everything I stand against, that is exactly what my post is saying. And people are responding back to me and others in the same manner.
So mostly, this is an apology to people who I insulted by my post. I never want to fight when asking for information, and no one should ever be insulted for sharing their opinions. I learned a lot more from the thread besides how different people view horses... I need to be careful how I ask about things. But also this is a kind of wake-up call to people who are following the thread (especially those arguing the whole "bonding" theory), people have beliefs and opinions, and when you say their opinion is garbage, it hurts. An opinion is exactly that: it's someone's opinion. And just like choosing whether you want to send your horse to a trainer or learn to train the horse yourself, you're experiences and perspective are going to shape what beliefs you have.
I hope that clears up a lot of confusion and will help explain the thread a little bit, since I know my later posts aren't read much. I can't change what I wrote, but I learned my lesson and I hope people who read it later will also learn what it was that I had originally started it for.