No, I have not changed. I still do not like horse shows, especially for kids. I do not approve of any activity that teaches a 12 year old girl that she should sell her best friend and purchase a stranger because the stranger might be able to win a different color strip of cloth than her best friend can.
That sums it up. Horse shows promote the idea that a horse's worth equals his sales price and if he is a winner then he is worth more.
No, horses, like people, are all of equal worth. Some cost more than others but that has nothing to do with "worth." A horse's worth is not something that people can assign to him. God assigned the horse his worth when he drew his first breath as a foal.
However, if competition could be designed that would encourage people to work with their horse and stick with their horse instead of trading them like base ball cards, that would be a great thing. That is what the awards programs of the American Indian Horse Registry and the Horse of the Americas Registry do. By awarding cumulative points for various activities they encourage kids to spend time with their horse and to earn points for their activities with their horse.
This form of competition encourages the development of a strong relationship between horse and rider. Conventional competitions work to weaken that bond.
Once again, I go back to our purpose. The primary reason that we practice natural horsemanship is to create better people. Consider these two models:
1. Fourteen year old whose parents purchase her a $20,000.00 horse and have it trained by a professional for the purpose of hauling it to a series of horse shows over the summer to be sold for a higher price if it does well during the season, or replaced if it fails to bring home the blue ribbons.
2. Fourteen year old whose parents adopt a wild Corolla Spanish mustang for $700.00 and the teen works tirelessly to gain the horse's trust and to gently train it for the purpose of riding endless miles on trails for the next twenty years. If it needs additional training the teen provides that training, producing a "worthless" horse that the teen would not consider selling for even $20,000.00.
The AIHR and the HOA have an awards program that recognizes the value of the second option.
Which option do you think produces the better person?
(This little stallion is The Black Drink. He is the first stallion that we have produced in the Corolla offsite breeding program and is the anchor of the Corolla progam at Boy's Home of Covington, Virginia)
We compete in horse shows, both me and my kids - but as my husband always says if it's not fun anymore don't do it! My kids do it for fun (they like the gaming classes) and we of course send our points in for the HOA awards :) The great part about that is they don't HAVE to go to an insane amount of horse shows to get an award. If we go to 3-4 a year to compete and have fun! We also view it as a well rounded experience for the horses, who also trail ride, and many drive also. I too hate seeing the "made" horse winning - you know the one with oodles of training bought at a high price. Those kids just sit there. The horse could probably win the class with a sack of spuds on it's back. What's fun about that? And what is the child learning? I do know several youngsters who have trained/worked with their own horses and do amazingly well at shows/games. I've noticed they also trail ride and do more with their horses than just "show". My kids are looking forward to the spring shows - BUT - you can bet they won't care if they get a 5th or a 1st place ribbon!!!
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