Alright. I need to vent. Sorry if this makes no sense, but I am seriously angry right now.
My trainer has this friend, we'll call her M, who my trainer lets come ride any of our horses, any time, any day, whatever. In the past, M has used my tack without permission, gotten it muddy, stressed out my horse, etc. And I spoke with Lisa about it and she said she'd tell M not to use my tack anymore. So yeah, okay, fine, no problem.
Every time M rides Chief, my next ride on Chief is utter hell. My opinion on the horse's other riders really shouldn't matter, since he's not my horse, but I AM using him in 4H, and I AM using him for show season this year. I understand I am not a top priority. That's fine. But today, I went out to ride. I get there, and Chief is so stressed out that he is literally soaked in sweat. Do you know how worrying that is to me? He was breathing like a freight train. That's awful. No amount of bullying in the pasture from the other horses should make him sweat like that.
I talked to Lisa about M riding Chief just now. She said that M had ridden Chief a few times this week. Wow. Okay. That explains something. I told Lisa my opinion on M riding Chief, and said that maybe it's just conflicting signals, whatever, but that every time that I rode Chief after M did, Chief was stressed and confused and angry and wouldn't listen. The response I got back was:
"[M] is a professionally trained and very skilled rider. We've given her permission to ride any of the four SBS horses."
Okay, cool. I wasn't trying to disrespect M. I didn't confront Lisa about it or talk about M in a manner that was disrespectful or condescending. I simply stated my opinion. So, this is a time when I had to bite my tongue. I said back:
"i know. i respect her and appreciate her riding Chief, it's a good experience for him. he's not my horse and therefore my opinion really shouldn't matter, but i thought i'd tell you what i've observed. he may just be confused from two different riding styles. it's not a big problem. thanks for your time."
What did I get back?
"K."
HONESTLY?!?! HONESTLY? THAT'S ALL I GET? "K"? I am stunned. Never have I texted more than a sentence to Lisa and gotten "K". I don't even know what to say.
My feelings on it is that M has no place riding Chief. Chief is FOUR YEARS OLD. FOUR! He gets confused easily, he's got a fragile mind, and there's only so much thinking that little bran can do at a time. Having a "professionally trained" rider ride him and end up confusing him? That worries me a little. If that's how the professionals train their students to ride, then the world's ending. If I can make Chief happier and less stressed than M can, and I'm just a 14 year old with 9 years of riding under my belt and M's a "professionally trained rider", then we have an issue.
Whatever.
2 comments:
First, if anyone used my tack without permission, I would be a lunatic. I can understand why you are angry. Yes, it is upsetting that your opinion was not appreciated, but bottom line is Chief is owned by Lisa. Chief is young and perhaps, in the big scheme of things, she is trying to expose Chief to different ways of riding to make sure he’s a well-rounded, disciplined horse?? You obviously have Chief’s best interest at heart and you have done the right thing by letting Lisa know what you have observed. And, now that you have brought your concerns to Lisa’s attention, you never know…..she just might start taking a closer look at how M. is riding Chief. Let's hope so.
Oh trust me, I was a hard core lunatic when I found out she was using my tack. I spent hard earned money on it.. She has no right to use it. I understand that Chief's Lisa's horse, and I respect that. I merely wanted my opinion to be at least acknowledged, instead of brushed off and pretty much ignored. I just don't want such a gem of a horse to end up a crazy horse because someone is making him stressed and confused and angry. Oh well. It's sort of out of my control. At least after a warm up, he's pretty much back to normal. I'm willing to just leave it alone for now, since obviously my opinion isn't wanted by Lisa.
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