[CJnBucksMom]

Figured I'd post this in training. All the threads on rollkur (sp?), WP, etc have got me thinking. Whatever happened to just good ol training? Sound basics? Having a horse that could go in 10 different classes and be competitive without having all this 'specialized' training? Anyone remember those days when you were a kid where you'd go to the horse show and competed in everything and anything and didn't have to worry that you weren't cranking your horses head in enough, or that your lope wasn't slow enough, or that your form O/F wasn't pretty enough? And you could have a good time with it because everyone there was and they all had versatile horses who could do a little bit of everything because of a great basic foundation? Does anyone else miss it, or is it just me?

NOTE: This is NOT bashing ANY discipline. Let's not go down that road. I'm simply asking if anyone else remembers these days fondly and wishes things weren't so based on trends now, no matter the discipline. Granted, trends have ALWAYS come and gone but now there seems to be so much more emphasis on 'fitting in'. No?

[BlingRacer]

Those horses are still out there. I own 3, and am training another. But you can't expect a horse to be excellent at everything....You can have a jack of all trades or a master of one or two. So you're going to see those all arounds kicking butt at open shows, but you aren't going to see them in the WP world show finals.

Really just depends on the rider's preference of which route they want to go.

[Taihoa]

Yeah I remember those days, back when I was younger - did flat classes, played games, did some show jumping and a bit of show hunter, thew in a bit of dressage and went eventing. How times have changed
I personally aim to produce versatile horses (even though I'm an eventing rider) who can compete in any discipline. My big horse Tai plays games and goes on trail rides etc cos I don't want to put him in the 'eventing box' and leave him there, although eventing is the long term goal. As for not fitting in, I don't think I've owned a 'cookie cutter' horse in my life LOL - I love having different looking/bred horses and proving they are just as good as the classically beautiful ones.

[tryintofly]

I agree with Bling Racer horses are like humans they have one or two special tallents and some people seem to be talented at almost everyting. I never experienced the good ol'days but i just go and enter classes for the heack of it!

[mammamia]

I hear ya.... I truly do.

[CJnBucksMom]

Originally Posted by BlingRacer

Those horses are still out there. I own 3, and am training another. But you can't expect a horse to be excellent at everything....You can have a jack of all trades or a master of one or two. So you're going to see those all arounds kicking butt at open shows, but you aren't going to see them in the WP world show finals.

Really just depends on the rider's preference of which route they want to go.

Oh I know, trust me. I'm not saying that all horses have to be great at everything. And I do know there are still versatile horses out there, as like someone else said I try to make the most versatile horse I can. One of my geldings is competitive in barrels, poles, reined cow work etc but is also trained and could compete in lower levels O/F, dressage, trail, HUS, etc. I think what I'm really trying to get at is now it just seems like SO many people (no one here, or you, just generalizing) seem to think that you can ONLY show in this if your horse was trained by such and such a trainer, or is such and such a color or you have this saddle vs that or you have to crank their head to their chest in dressage because so and so does it and wins. It's like more people are jumping on the 'whatever it takes to win' bandwagon with all of these trends and less are aimed at producing horses who excel at their chosen discipline but are well trained and versatile enough to at least TRY different avenues.

[clover91]

As a member of the "good ole times", I have to admit that I do not miss it one little bit. I am almost 60 (this December) and my Dad plunked me on a cow pony when I was 6 months old with him to work cattle in OK. I have been riding/breeding/showing almost ever since. Of course I have fond memories of bunches of horses in my many years. I also remember that a whole bunch of them were knot-heads.
A lot of the training methods of the so-called "natural horsemen" have been around a lot longer than I have. Do some of them work? Of course! I also remember that a lot of slow easy work with a lot of the young stock just made them crazy.
I adore my beloved QH, and have seen the many changes in the breed since specialization, and for the most part think it's a good thing. Of course the quality of the horses has also improved with the keeping track of bloodlines and what they excelled in since the inception of the AQHA. I have had many horses over the years that I could do everything with, but they really excelled at nothing. That is why carefully controlled breeding by responsible breeders is such an advantage over the years.

[magic_rider]

You do get horses like that, particularly in pony club. My horse jumps 1.20m, does novice dressage, hacks and even does pretty well in sporting, he turns nearly as well as the little games ponys. There are still plenty of horses like that.

[Cheyenne1193]

We have shows like that here. In the winter they're called the "Fuzzy shows" cuz you don't have to shave the horses. You just bring them in straight from the pasture and just have fun. Who cares who wins what! It's just a good ol' time.

[Idrivetrotter]

I had a QH mare that did driving, trails, cattle, popped over a fence and we did a ton of showing with her.

You don't get that as much now. Everyone wants to be a one trick pony. My standardbred trotting mare does dressage, drives, jumps, trails, and when we show we do as many classes as we can. It's fun for both of us. Horses get very bored doing the same thing over and over. I think a lot of training problems come from sour horses.

Let's bring back those classes!!