Hi,
First of all you have missed the whole point of the
article, hence I will sum it up into
a simpler concept. All the western
disciplines are, or at least believed to be, related to the use of cattle
horses. The point of the article is that the Reining has nothing in common with
the cowboy’s use of horses anymore than the “Western Pleasure” has, hence
I use the term magazine cowboys.
First of all the ropers, like the team penners,
are working with cattle, but mostly both of these disciplines are gaming sports
(compete against time), they are not shows (judged by judges).
The ropers use
their horses to get something done, some work or some game. The discipline is
not a subject to some judge’s opinion but simply to a time, who is faster
wins, it is simple as that, hence hardly much of corruption. Reining, similar as
Western Pleasure or dressage, is corrupted because the performance is subject to
some judge’s opinion. Have you not ever been to any show?
Did you not hear the
participants saying: “This judge like this and does not like that and so
on”? Why I say that the ropers are better horsemen is very simple, they take a
horse and get the job done, which requires skills.
There is no need for them to
learn how to have a horse to change leads, for what? They are riding a cattle
horse that moves in his own way to help the cowboy in getting his job done.
Now
the reining for God sake is completely ludicrous, because a last thing a cowboy
wants to do is pay attention to his horse when he is working with cattle. A
decent cattle horse is like a military horse, it takes care of it self when
under the rider, while the rider concentrates at the work at hand.
The whole
reining concept is stupid, there is no need for the cattle horse to learn
dressage (reining claims to be a western dressage), because they work all day
and get fit directly from the work that they are doing. Hence when the reining
people say that reining is a western dressage, they are just as stupid as
dressage people these days.
The dressage, whether in the military or in the
parade, was a form of training and conditioning a horse for riding purposes. In
simple, the military horse was not on the battle field every day as the cattle
horse is working everyday.
The dressage in military has its practical purpose in
keeping the horse fit for the battlefield since the horse was not in the battle
everyday. In short it was equivalent to military “drilling” to keep the
horse in fit condition in a case of war. Cowboys worked daily with their horses;
they did not need to train them once the horse was broke.
Further more a decent cattle horse is well bred and self trained. The reining simple makes no sense
what so ever, hence insane and for the fools. The reining was created by fools,
mainly by greenhorns, who get influenced by the flying dirt when the horse
slides. For God sake take a look at it, where is the practicality of the slide,
where is the practicality of the insane spin?
One turn around hunches is one
thing, but spinning around like a dog chasing his tale is absurd, not to mention
that it is completely against the nature of the horse. I can see horses doing
all sorts of moves when free or at work willingly, but if and when I would see a
horse doing the reiner’s spin, while free on the field, I would be calling the
veterinarian thinking my horse has lost it.
Why I am saying that the ropers are better horsemen then
reiners has nothing to do whether they injure their horse in the process or not,
but at least the ropers make some sense in what they do, while the sliding or
the insane spinning of the reiner is simply insane.
In other words, horsemen are
first and for most rational people, hence I say you can never find any among the
reiners, because the whole display is irrational and insane.
Please, next time differentiate between the gaming
disciplines and the show disciplines. You will never find any horsemen in the
show disciplines, but you may find some here and there in the gaming equine
industry, like racing and such. All the shows are equally corrupt, they are
simply invented to give the amateur horse lovers something to do with their
horses, and hence they invent all sorts of shows.
Now in order to accommodate
these “horse loving” folks they invent various disciplines like the Western
Pleasure, English Pleasure, halter classes, horsemanship classes, reining,
dressage and such, so the cowardly city folks have something to do with their
horses other then to look at them, while these require limited talents and
skills and the danger to the rider is minimized.
It gives them some reason to
own a horse, since most want to own a horse just for the sake of owning it. 99%
of them do not spend enough time with their horses in the first place, since
their use of horses is exclusively for entertainment, while many of the gaming
disciplines offer a way to a horseman to make a living with horses.
So, in conclusion, whether a horse breaks down or not is up
to the individual’s horsemanship abilities, while in what activities one takes
part will determine who one is. In short, you are not what you eat, you are not
what you wear or what you do for living, because we often have no choices, but
you are that which you do for entertainment. Genuine horsemen do not own or use
horses, or any animals, for entertainment! Cowboys are cowboys, horseman are
horsemen, though both different, they are both professions, a horseman is a
profession like plumber and such. Just because one can fix a leaking drain it
does not mean he is a plumber.
As in all professions, there are only few of
those that like their job and are fairly good at it, hence being a professional
horseman does not necessary means that the person is good at what he is doing,
hence I often use the term “genuine horseman” referring to people that are
fairy good at their profession.
Horsemen work with their hands with horses for living,
it is their livelihood, and hence you will find them there where the money is,
more likely in the racing industry.
The reining people are neither cowboys or
horsemen, and some make money of the reining shows rules set by the reining
industry, they are performers, or better said comedians, hence horse show.
All shows are corrupted; all shows are about appearance,
hence about deception. It attracts women for most part, because women from the
childhood are obsessed with appearances.
Wearing a make up is nothing else but a
form of deception covering up their realities. For one to be a decent horseman
requires first of all honesty, hence a genuine horsemen are decent people that
would never take part in any form of deceptions, and since shows are about
deceptions you will never find any decent horsemen participating.
They may train
the horses in the background, providing they get paid for it, but seeing them
performing is against their conscience and extremely degrading.
As far as the cutting horse goes, that is pretty much equal
to the reining nonsense, while it attracts people that do not have to know
anything about horses to take part, since there is hardly any riding involved
and the horse does the work while the fool has to hold on to the saddle in order
not to fall off.
The whole scenario is ludicrous; one thing is to cut the calf
from the rest of the herd and chase it off somewhere and another is to keep it
dancing in front of you like some insane living pendulum. How much do you think
the cutting would change if it would not be allowed to hold on to the saddle?
(Or the team penning) I would like to go to that show!
J
Regarding your comment that I do not know anything about
roping horses, well I got to know several ropers in my life, not to mention that
I have shod some of their horses in latter days, while in my younger days I’ve
seen many of them, since I had to watch them in the rodeo in between my
disciplines, which were the bareback and bull riding, the latter being the final
competition.
Rest assure that I am and was aware of
the fact that riding horses in the rodeo in any discipline has nothing to do
with being a decent rider. One of my greatest life disappointments, when coming
to the states, finding out that the “cowboys” cannot ride horses, similarly as
finding out that the American Indians are not honest people (speaking with
forked tongue), or that most (99%) of Negroes in the US are racists (resentful and envious
of the whites). I’ve read books about USA before coming to the US, only to find out
that the books did not even remotely described the reality, one of the reasons
why I do not trust books anymore.
Ps: I had the chance to meet and associate with a US
reining champion, whose name I will not mention, understandably. He explained to
me the discipline, the purposes and showed me all these on his US champion
horse, while not knowing who he was talking to (I do not tell people where I was
and what I’ve done in my life).
One learns by listening and observing,
especially those that think that they are good at what they are doing. The man
had to go around like a comedian to make living by giving “clinics”, while I
preferred to sit in the clubhouse on the racetrack (not recognized) while my
horse made me $3,000 while I was eating a steak.
Horsemen are like horses they
do not care about fame, but easy living they will not turn down. Just like
horses, horsemen endure the hard time (hard labors) or they will enjoy the easy
time; it is not a steady and safe job. All very simple, I do the work and you
give me the money, which is what professional horsemanship is about, working
with horses for living, not for entertainment. Professional riders ride for
money, not for fun, thought many enjoy their job or work, while some not.
Most
prefer to enjoy the work; hence they seek disciplines where they can enjoy their
work. I cannot imagine any decent rider that could possibly enjoy the absurdity
of reining, cutting or any of shows disciplines ruled by incompetent judges that
know nothing about horses or their nature.
Lee
Note: One just needs to be observant and notice the corruption in horse shows.
Imagine that the pictures below (I have taken personally) show the front legs of
a horse that finished third in the "Worlds" as the third best looking
yearling of the APHA looking like this! Mind you with the legs like this the
horse was pinned as the third best looking yearling paint in the USA (The World).
The pics
were taken shortly after the show. How could you expect that anywhere in the
world people could respect the horsemanship in USA? The irony of this is, that
about 90% of amateur horse owners would not see anything wrong with the horse's
legs in these pictures, hence could not possibly understand this entire
paragraph.
That is how ludicrous the horse world has become. Now
imagine the horror of this, that this garbage is spreading all over the world
due to the Americanization of the world, where people think that folks wearing
cowboy hats around horses in the USA know something about horses.
Written by Ludvik K Stanek a.k.a Lee Stanek