colorisnteverything wrote:
When people tell me they trail ride, I usually don't take them seriously. If they told me they did endurance or competitive trail riding, I would think that was great, but if they just trail ride, I wouldn't see the point. Most trail riders around here are people who don't know what they are doing.

When I see people with ASB's, I think they are probably nuts just because I worked at saddlebred barns as a teenager, went to shows, and dealt with nutty as horses and even nuttier ass owners. They seemed to allow this strange behavior to continue, even though the horses wouldn't try crap with me and the other grooms. Oye. This could also be regional.


I didn't take any offense to these two statements what-so-ever, and in fact had a chuckle! Mostly because I 1) trail ride and 2) trail ride on my (partbred) ASB gelding! Just thought it was kind of funny because those to comments were back to back and both applied to me. Now, I of course am a trail rider that does know a thing or two about trail ridng, and my gelding is quite sane. I just have to post some pictures to show Color that some of us trail riders do know a thing or two, and that not all saddlebred's are insane. Well, he's only half, but I still think he counts. :P (He's also an arena pony too and is learning all the other important things in life.)

image
image
(Mine's the bay - and that was his very first river crossing ever! On his very first trip to the mountains [he's four this year].)

image
(And to prove that we were indeed in the mountains. He was playing tired the whole way up until that point, but the minute we stop for a picture he didn't want to stand still!)

Again, this was all said tongue-in-cheek, because I couldn't help myself!

Now, as to the original question, like many other people, I look at the overall picture the horse and rider present. I at least like to try and look the part of what I'm doing (of course, saying that, you'll notice my english bridle on Nova in those pictures - it's because I haven't found a western one that I like for him yet).

Nova and Christine
image