Some things I really dislike include oversimplification of a reining horse spin or a Trail walk-over or any manuever involving striding. It also iritates me to see various styles of a stop combined into one - a reining stop is a reining stop and a halt in dressage or a quick stop in Trail are unique and the individual aspects of each must be understood and respected. Among my biggest pet peeves are explanations that are "dumbed down" to the point that we are to longer advancing the art of horsemanship.
And, on the flip side, I find over-complication of training a horse to be just as bad! Collection is balanced motion that has been contained. A horse that leans with any part of his body (including his mouth) is not balanced. This is not "rocket science" and it's up to us to teach our amateurs all the underlying principals of training. The principals of good training are not a mystery and they don't do any good if we don't teach them and pass them on. A rider must be able to work all parts of the horse then put those parts together and ride the whole horse. It's not difficult if you let your horse teach you but first you must be ready to listen and learn.
And no, all styles of riding and showing are not the same. Just because someone rides one discipline does not mean they understand another. Riding dressage doesn't mean you can train a good Western Pleasure horse. We must all appreciate each and every discipline and its specific particulars and the the different talents that all these disparate disciplines demand of the horse. For me, it always begins and ends with the horse! See you next week, JD.
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