I'm writing a paper so I need your help. What discipline do you ride and why? why do you jump,do dressage or ride western? What thrills you about the style you ride? Have you tried something else before and why did you change?

why not?

I ride hunters. I ride hunters because thats what i started riding 11 years ago when i was six. I wouldnt give the sport up for anything, its my life. I love the thrill of jumping and the challenge of trying to find the perfect distance. I love learning new aspects of the dicipline. i''ve ridden dressage and love it. I think without dressage there wouldnt be good equitation. I think dressage, for any rider no matter what the discipline helps tremendously to developing supple hands, a good seat. I think the hunter/jumper circuit is one of the hardest to compete on. there is so much skill out there. I enjoy going and seeing the nice ponies and horses i am up against. I enjoy going to the bigger shows and meeting new people. I like the competetive atmoshpere. I've also tried eventing and i have never seen such kind hearted people at a horse show before. It truly is in a class of its own. its a nice change to see people out there competing, but not out for blood. they do it for the love of it. Granted people in the hunter/jumper world do the shows because they love it but i think there is more money involved, too much of their own bussinesses to enjoy it with heart. I horse show because i love to do it. I love spending quality time with my horses because i love them and cherish them more than anything. I think the discipline you choose defines who you are. Riding western, just wouldnt...be me, if you get what i am saying. Its almost as if i was born to ride on the hunter/jumper circuit, competetivley or not. I also think that the hunter/jumper circuit is all about winning the blue. Sure its nice to win a class every once in a while, but showing isnt all about that. In my eyes, it tests your skill. Your not going to win every time out. Everytime you dont win, it shows you have room for improvemnt and you can go home and start to work on differnt things every week. I think the "critics" of the hunter/jumper world focus on who has the best horses, who competes nationally. They dont look at the people within the states of this nation, who cant always afford to travel all over the nation to compete at big shows. There are excellent riders out there that go around and do well and bring horses along extremely well but dont get the credit they deserve. You see the same names over and over again being published. What about the riders elsewhere? Its hard for me to put into words. But im done writing a novel. ENJOY!

Caylei Arnold

Wow, TinyMite - I could not have said it better myself! You are a credit to the sport.

thanks freddie....

Hunters- I love to jump .

EVENTING, bitches!! oh, and i do it because dressage takes such precision and accurate skill and connection[especially witha horse that just wnats to run and jump!], and it gives me a rush when we finally GET IT RIGHT. Stadium is a blast bc its jumping, and technical, ad the slightest shift of your body can make or break that fence..XC is sucha rush, but it requires an immense amount of quick thinking and exceelent aids. I hate to see the people that just blast through xc without even trying to balance, and go flying over the jumps. It should be as rythmical as stadium, althougha much greater difference in speeds, if you ride it correctly..


but really, if you are taking a poll on the percentage of riders in general, this is really skewed bc this is mostly a h/j forum..

Junters- I love to hump.

so where can i join junters? i never see the classes at shows. or is it in the VIP tent? fucking lucky ass VIPs..

Been riding hunter/jumper since I can remember. My dad rode and showed h/j and my grandfather was Master of Hounds. It's kind of a family thing I love riding, I'm 24 and have never for a moment thought about not riding. Even with school and everything. It's the one constent in my life that keeps me happy.

I've done a little bit of hunters, jumpers, eq, and eventing, but most of my experience is in equitation, which is my favorite. I showed IHSA through college and liked the challenge of riding all different horses. I feel like it proves you as a rider more when you can show a horse you've never even ridden before! Jumpers is fun too, but eq is definitely my thing.

Hunters, Jumpers, Eq. Whatever I can do. A round of fences is a thrill. I'm just an adrenaline junkie.

if you really were, you be doing something that requires you to have BALLS, such as xc, foxhunting or skydiving..

I'm a jumper rider. I've always ridden English with the goal to learn to jump a decent sized course nicely. Now, I'm in love with my horse and my trainers so I just can't stop. And I really want to accomplish my goal--I hate quitting and hopefully I can do it next year.

i don't really know.

i've always liked horses, since i could remember anyways, and my best friend had horses. i went to her place and rode a few times, and got hooked.

I ride H/J's because I love to jump. I started off riding and showing western, but I guess I got bored with it so I tried english and I fell in love with it.

I show in Eq/Jumpers because I love to jump

I started out riding western because we live on a ranch, and then I got into reining and working cow horse, which was great for a while. Eventualy I wanted to do something different, so I got into english Eq, but that got boring after awhile, so I started doing some jumping. It didn't take me long to find out that my horse can jump incredibly well for a cowhorse. He can clear his four foot fence easily, does it about once a week. Anyways, I really enjoy jumping, but I'm not really capable of competing because he's so unpredictable. One minute he's fine, listening well and the next minute he's totally off track, and won't respond to any cues. He's completley destroyed a whole course more then once. I like to ride a variety of different styles, because I still enjoy western, but I find that changing it up on him keeps him more focused.

Hunter/Jumper

I'm a total perfectionist, so I love the precision it takes for a great equitation round. I would do dressage too, but I also love the thrill of jumping and I think I would be bored doing only dressage. I feel so happy after I've had a perfect equitation or hunter round- a feeling I couldn't get if I did jumpers or cross country because you mainly need to be fast and clean. I understand those are just as hard, but for different reasons. I love having a round that is smooth everywhere, and that makes me feel most accomplished.

Hunter/jumpers, 'cuz like most of us on here, I love to jump (and I did 3'3" for the first time tonight!! ). But I'm also a speed demon. I love taking the school horses around a barrels or poles course for fun, and some of them are pretty good (others are green and don't turn), or taking the ex-racers out for a gallop to blow off steam. But really, being airborne is where it's at.

Riding horses is my anti-drug. It gives me an extra high when I jump.

That's the concussion from when your head hits the ground.

Im an all round girl here.

I ride eventing 'cause it kicks ass and it's fun. Plus it combines my 3 favorite disciplines (sj, xc, dressage....okay mostly xc) and I like the people better than those in other disciplines. I show dressage regularly as well though, and fit rated h/j shows in whenever it works out, so I don't just do one discipline. My pony loves eventing.

Plus, eventing is loads more affordable than h/j no matter which way you slice it.

ehhh, its gets pretty hefty, though. Its less expensive in the fact that you don't have to buy multiple colorshirts, shit with crystals in it, stuff to make your horse sparkle, and tranqs, but events are freaking expensive, entry fee wise. Also, getting all new tack is a bitch on the checkbook

I voted for hunter/jumper because that's what I have done the most, but I also do horse trials occasionly. I'd have to say that combined tests are my favorite shows to ride in actually. They're not too long and have both jumping and dressage.

I really like the turn out aspect of the hunters. Looking nice dosen't require alot of money, but it does necessitate hard work and dedication, which I do have. I like riding in equitation classes just because the courses are so interesting, but it seems so fake and forced. Top event riders have the best equitation in my opinion, but that's because they have to.

I'm not saying it's cheap but it's much more affordable than hunter jumper. If I really really really scrimp at a rated show it comes up at nearly $600, not including trainer fees, and of course basically everybody but me is also paying for braiders and grooms. Events are $350 max at prelim and below, also not including trainer fees. (Obviously, h/j can get a lot more expensive than $600, but I'm not into it).

You can get all new tack regardless of your discipline.

I just find shows cheaper without the whole tack-trunk-sod-flowers-mexican grooms deal.

I ride jumpers, because I love the big jumps I would love to do hunters also, but Tommy isn't exactly hunter material and we just SOLD one horse... I don't think buying another one is on the agenda. I've alway ridden english, though. I have ridden western before, but I hated it. I mean really hated it. I tried dressage and eventing a long time ago, but I was bored with dressage, the show jumping was way to easy, and the cross country scared the shit out of me. Hence, I now show in the junior jumpers. The end.