Loving your horse won't save it from stupidity.

I saw this video months ago and didn't have the means to really put forth my outrage at the idiot riding this poor mare. A few years ago I had the misfortune of briefly giving lessons to a know it all girl who's dad had a bottomless wallet and no backbone. Little girl got everything, including a brand spanking new horse from a decent trainer in the area. Little girl took this horse and ran and jumped the hell out of her- every day she was a frothy mess and every night she required bute. Nothing I could say would deter her from this treatment and I was little more than an apprentice to the owners... I was forced to sit and watch the inevitable happen. Little girl decided to run her sweet horse across pavement and then jump her over a curb on to more pavement. Horse slipped and, for lack of a better description, ripped all the muscles on her underside and armpit. I don't know the exact muscles, I do know the horse had to be put down on the spot. A beautiful horse that could have been any little girls forever horse had to be overdosed on the pavement because her little girl was an idiot who could not respect the decency of life.

So tell me, why is this girl jumping her horse on what seems to be pavement? Why is she using poorly designed standards capable of causing serious injury? AWESOME you can jump 4 feet... now lets learn to jump it correctly and footing that won't kill your horse. Frankly, loving your horse just isn't enough to save him from your own stupidity.

While on the topping of jumping in general... here is something else near and dear to my heart... height. Is it so hard to gauge the difference between 2'6 and 4 ft? When riding a pony to a fence you claim is 4ft and the pony towers above the fence... please don't get confrontational over your inability to measure.... if you can't tell the height of the jump, you really have no business jumping it and contrary to popular belief, overstating your abilities does not make you cool, it makes you a buffoon.

On another note, campers are here... we used Jovie as our anatomy horse... she and Stupendous got the names of their major body parts taped to said body parts... and both girls acted perfectly and politely. I love my mares... and I don't care what any of you anti-mare people say :) Do you have a preference on mares or geldings? My favorite horses have been mares except for Jackson- and he was a stud! Geldings have always been trouble in my book.