English Horse Showing Used to be Great (a rant)
I’m getting so fed up with the English riding sport. It’s expensive, it’s clique-ish, it’s judgmental. I’ve been in this sport for over 14 years and I’ve slowly watched it boil down into politics, overpriced warmbloods and rated shows, spoiled children, and underappreciated grooms. No one at my local rated show knows what it’s like to muck out stalls, feed in the mornings, or put actual work into their horse’s training rather than money. No one knows what it’s like having to save up for those new pair of breeches or that new bridle piece your horse broke, or for that next local barn show you really want to do. Schooling shows are considered pathetic and the turnout gets smaller and smaller because people don’t want to be seen as low-level shows. It’s bad enough to the point they’re not even hosting many schooling shows in my area anymore. It’s all rated, it’s all over a thousand dollars for four trips around the arena. At the end of the day, a ribbon is just a ribbon. Yeah, memories are cool too, but so is having enough money after a show to fill up your car or go out with your friends. It’s all about money now, and being elite and being able to showboat your financial income. The prettiest warmbloods win, the fanciest tack places, but the best rider? She’s on a quarter horse, so she gets an honorable mention. She’ll have better luck in the jumpers, have fun with the extra fees, and we hope your horse can manage that 3’6 spread at the lowest. The English sport used to be so great. I had the best memories, great friends and accomplishments, and I could actually afford to get Mexican with my barn afterwards. Now, it’s always a struggle, because my family isn’t rich and my horse came from a kill-pen instead of Germany. I do my best, but my best is never good enough in the arena.
