AppyButt wrote:
JDKdressage wrote:
AppyButt wrote:
Nothing boring about cliffs, jumping logs, fording rivers or galloping up a nice big hill!

I think it's probably all about personal taste. I've done lots of galloping up big hills and fording rivers (not so many cliffs, the Adirondacks are a lot older than those spiky mountains y'all have in the West!), and even camping out with horses. It's fine, I enjoy it, but if I'm given a choice, you'll find me in the arena, ever so slowly working my horse towards the ability to do a correct, supple, relaxed, and joyful half-pass. image Now THAT is something that 99% of people I know think is completely and insanely boring!
Thing is, I can do those things on the trail too. My horse was much happier to learn to sidepass out on the trail then she ever was in the ring, and turn on the haunches made much more sense to her when a deer trail suddenly ended on a rocky cliff and we didn't have room to turn around any other way.

I see the point of ring work, but my best dressage has always been done in the middle of nowhere.

Lol yeah my doofus TB finally learnt what reinback meant when we came around a corner and couldn't go forward or sideways because trees had overgrow the track and there wasn't enough room to turn around! I walked back in and backed out a couple of times, until the aids clicked and he was able to rein back every day after that, lol lol.

But, if all else fails, you can re-create such situations in the arena...some drums, rails, blocks, a fence etc...

I like wildlife too - don't see the same amount of birdlife and interesting animals just going around in circles



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WhoKilledBambi wrote:
no kicking the nerds. We need them for sciencing.