Now, if this turns into bashing a particular discipline, I will shut it down.

This past weekend I announced a dressage show, and brought the owners along with the child's pony, just for schooling purposes. They have never been to a recognized dressage competition.

They attracted a lot of attention whilst out handwalking or in her stall, along with the usual offers to
*train her to her full potential*
*have her going First Level by Fall*
*breed her*
*buy her*
*train the 11yr old to Young Riders*
etc, etc, etc - all normal for a new fish in the pond.

BUT, the Funniest Comment:

Mom is supervising child cleaning stall. Woman approaches mom and child, and hands over business card. Normal converstion ensues ("lovely horse, pony, child, day, etc.). And then:

"But you know, your child CANNOT reach her FULL POTENTIAL mucking stalls. Children should spend their time RIDING and learning new skills, not grooming or cleaning stalls. Here's my card - I'll come to your barn, pick up your truck, trailer, horse, pony, load the trailer, bring your child to the show, unpack, etc...and you can fly in to see her rather than waste y'all's time with chores".

I wonder how much business this woman has, and/or is there any need to wonder why thing are in the state they are in.

That's sad but funny in the same sense. IMHO if you're going to hire some one to "muck stalls" instead of doing it yourself that seems to indicate a couple of things. 1. you might not be able to muck the stalls due to boarding arangements or driving distance or 2. you would rather board and not take part in the care of your horse. I am by no means "bashing" any dicipline but I have been there with rough board and full board. Yes its nice to have some one else take care of my boys for me but I actually perfer to do it myself (and it saves a considerable amount of money as well) Its a nice idea to have some one else muck stalls for you but you loose out on the experience of learning to read your horse and have a partnership with them.

How I was taught was to learn every thing you possibly could about horses. And not all of it would be riding. With mucking stalls and grooming you learn a lot about your horse and their care. To me, people that just hire some one to muck out stalls don't seem to understand that there's a lot more to horses than just riding. One of the places I used to ride at I made it clear that I didn't expect the horse to be tacked up and waiting. I was willing to put in some elbow grease with grooming and tacking up. This way with grooming I had a good sense on how the horse was going to be that day. I personally don't like riding a horse "blind" (not spending a few minutes to tack up or brush before riding.) Just my opinion and no offense intended.

Baha wow ya'll are aggressive about getting new clients in the dressage world arn't you? (just kidding

Thats pretty funny, if only it wasn't the norm for the higher end shows and barns....

Dear lord. If we all felt like riding was the most important task in the barn, our horses would be standing in manure all day long and look like they just spent 5 years in a dust storm.

Some people

Sadly I have seen this attitude all too often.

I work at a riding that differs from most in that i've been to in that the kids learn the most important part about horses is looking after them and forming a bond.\

in our 3 hour group sessions the kids have to prepare stalls for their horses and do about half hour regular barn chores like weeds or fencing or hay or cleaning rugs for repair. After that's done we get the horses ready and then we ride. if they're efficient they can be riding for an hour and a half. after riding they need to unsaddle and feed their horses making sure their stalls are SPOTLESS before they leave.

Obviously not all kids like this system. there is another riding schoool ten mins up the road and in the 3 years I've been here we've lost 2 students to them. There's about 10 of their students riding in our paddock every weekend!!

Of course the kids grumble and whine now and then but to be honest i'd rather be playingwith my girls then picking up their poo!!!

The parents of most of my students love the idea of teaching them responsibilty!!

Sorry this is a very long winded response but i feel very strongly on the subject. I've seen too many girls I used to ride with quit horses after buying one and seeing the work involved.

WOW. That quote has got to be the most contrary-to-fact quote I have ever heard of!

First off cleaning a stall has nothing to do with a person's riding stills and secondly, not only does scooping poop teach a child responsibility (hmmm, and possibly humility as well hehe) but wouldn't it also give the child that wonderful sense of accomplishment you get after a job well done? I feel great after doing some hard work and would think it's pretty healthy.

No, if I owned a riding school, the students there would most definitely clean their own stalls on a regular basis !

That quote has to be the most ridiculous I've ever heard (to me). Accomplishment and responsibility comes from caring for your own horse. You can't expect to own a horse and make other people take care of them for you all the time. I board my horse and pay Tom (the barn owner) to care for him, but I tack him up myself and spend quite a bit of time grooming him before and after rides. When I can drive I'd like Tom to help me understand how to clean the stall out so that he has more time to spend with his children and wife. It may not be a lot of people, but one person still gives him extra time to spend with his children and wife. I like the feeling of accomplishment after taking the time to groom my horse and tack him up. It makes me feel like I can do a lot of things even if I'm severely short for a 15 year old. I don't think that caring for your horse has anything to do with riding, in fact I believe that it builds muscles and the more muscle you have the easier riding is going to be (balancing, etc.) for those who have a horse and are active riders.

Brittany: You should talk your parents (and Tom) into letting you hang around the barn on weekends. That way you learn all sorts of things you don't get to expierence during lessons. Afterall, riding is only about 10% or less of the time your horse needs for care. You may even be able to trade lessons for work if your trainer is agreable.

I am a little confused reading the beginning of this thread it was around dressage and now its cleaning stables.

Dressage. My horse has an idea what to do. She had some training in that field by the previous owner My self well I'm afraid a foxtrot or quickstep and not very well is my effort. But cleaning out stables and picking up poo from the paddocks now, we are in my field.
Having a young teenager cleaning after their horse is not a bad idea there is more to a horse than the ride. I agree the ride is only 10 20%. The remainder of the work involved and the bonding that takes place is invaluable.
Just my two pennies worth.

What he said^ Also, I don't know about you, but by grooming and doing groundwork, I bond with my horse!