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Exaggerated riding ability, does this drive anyone else crazy?
Topic Started: Jun 5 2010, 10:30 AM (619 Views)
Barn Girl
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I hate it when people exaggerate their riding ability. I mean, seriously, the horse world is small, you just can't get away with being a poser for long. You can be "anonymous" all day long on the internet but in the end, someone's gonna actually see you ride (or not ride, whatever the case may be.) :duh:

I guess it drives me crazy because I'm a weenie and not a fantastic rider and I own up to that, whether online or in person! ;) Especially since my horse knowledge often exceeds my riding ability, I don't want to come across as something I'm not.

I'm avoiding specifics but I've encountered people like this time and time again and another recent encounter just made me :huh:
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FlashGordon
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Well the thing about it is that you can't be a poser for long because once you sit on the horse (or even walk in the barn) the exaggeration is apparent. So I don't get why people pretend to be something they are not, when obviously it is going to be found out pretty darn quick.

Or maybe they really think they are super duper riders? Dunno. :huh:
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MayaTy02
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yeah I honestly think alot of these folks *think* they are so good because they may be the *best* in a crapola barn :) I hear ya Barn Girl, I don't get the point of exaggerating your abilities, it will be found out soon enough!
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SnackPack
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Drives me crazy too. I'm pretty up front about my ability, my issues, etc. I will tell people that when I ride a new horse I'm often terrified, etc. Why try to hide it or pretend like it's not true?

Unfortunately, I have a lot more knowledge than ability so I might come across as an exaggerator...until you ask me about how I ride. Then I'll lay it all out there for you. :teehee:
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Barn Girl
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SP, that's exactly how I am too. Been at it for a lot of years and rode decently as a junior (though nothing too impressive-- did mostly local 3' stuff) but now I'm old and crippled and a nervous nellie.

I won't elaborate on the most recent thing that really bugged me, but past things include a girl I went to school with who nobody ever had first hand knowledge of her actually riding and bragged to everyone at school that she jumped 4'... assumingly to show up my friends and I who showed 3' together on the local circuit and actually rode every day. Then there was the boarder at my old barn that told everyone she rode on the hunt trails all the time, etc. when in fact nobody else EVER saw the lady at the barn. Ever. And we were a busy show barn so people were always there. I mean, unless she rode at 2AM, I don't see how that's possible. Then there was a lady I leased a horse from one time who I never saw ride, who used to put her breeches on and go tack shopping on the weekend and tell everyone what a fabulous ride she had. Then the boarders I've encountered over the years that never rode yet kept a horse presumably so they could tell people they rode and owned a horse. I never got that one, it wasn't like they even liked to groom or hang out with the horses, so why pay for them? I could go on and on, it just baffles me. :huh:
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OpticalIllusion
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Ive found that the rule of thumb is the better the person says they can ride, the worse they truly do.

When someone asks me, I generally just say I can hang on lol.
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MayaTy02
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OpticalIllusion
Jun 7 2010, 06:47 AM
Ive found that the rule of thumb is the better the person says they can ride, the worse they truly do.

When someone asks me, I generally just say I can hang on lol.
OMG I totally agree OI.

A little off topic but evidence of the same type of person. I did an (recruiting) interview for an executive director of an animal welfare organization last week, just happened to be someone from the horse world (apparently!). She is also a local politician. This woman went on and on about how she is a "big" trainer in the horse world (she didn't know I rode) and had an "absolutely untarnished reputation among the best in the world". She was blowing her horn about her background as a "top rider in Grand Prix jumping" and how she hated it when she had to ride and train fancy expensive horses, so she got into pony club :huh: and now if her resume is to be believed she's a big wig in the pony club world. Well I of course immediately set to googling her to see if I could corraborate any of this and the only mention I can find on her riding and her supposedly active training facility is on her bio. HMMMM...it would seem that if you are really an active trainer with kids out competing, you might end up on the internet. I really hated this woman and of course she is not getting a 2nd intv :)
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RHowell
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Sometimes it's not trying to be a poser, it's being delusional about one's riding abilities. I think a lot of people aren't aware of their riding abilities or are in denial. I could give examples, but I don't want to *out* people publicly with personal experience stories. People need to take a step back and evaluate who they are as a rider sometimes. For me--

My strengths: I'm good at teaching flatwork, I will ride almost anything you'll let me sit on, I love horses and I think that love coupled with the willingness to ride lots of different horses translates well into being able to ride lots of different horses fairly well as opposed to having one kind of ride, I try to take good care of all horses and learn as much as I can both in the saddle and on the ground.

My weaknesses: I'm an inconsistent show ring performer (why can't they hold Devon by youtube submissions :teehee: ) and sometimes lose my nerve jumping when my eye isn't working, I ride so much by myself that I'm not always good at tuning out distractions. My barn, trailer and trunk are always a mess.

I think that's me as a rider.

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MayaTy02
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I agree RH, I think that if they don't ride with any real competition, they don't know how good "good" is.

I am the first to say that I used to be a good rider, now I just try not to be too scary :)
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OpticalIllusion
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My SO's dads best friends wife (that's a lot to say lol) is one that brags about how well she rides and how she saves all these horses that big hunter trainers throw away. I have to listen to her go on and on every holiday that we spend over there. She started over Christmas about how she just went and bought this one rescue horse a blanket and she thinks she might have to get him some grain. :brickwall: I try really hard not to talk to her about horses. She knows I ride, doesn't know where I work, doesn't know what level I ride at, or anything else.

There is another person who was going around claiming they were riding for a BNT, when in reality they are just cleaning stalls and doing barn stuff lol.

I'm a strong believer that you can always learn something new. My SO doesn't understand why people need lessons. He thinks people should just 'get it' of course he has never sat on a horse in his life.
Edited by OpticalIllusion, Jun 7 2010, 07:35 AM.
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Won for Me
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My favorite story: I moved my horse into a boarding barn in Florida and one of the riders told me constantly that she showed in West Palm Beach/Wellington. Okay, anyone can pay the entry and show. She said she was very successful. She didn't seem like a great rider, but maybe she was well mounted. She brought pictures...yes, she showed in West Palm...at someone's house! It was this make shift ring put up in someone's back yard. Looked like a very fun backyard (literally) show.

When I met her father, he made a big point in saying, "did you know my daughter showed in West Palm?" :mallet:

I truly think that people have no clue. I don't think there are posers either. We all know the rider who was a one horse wonder and won everything, but can't ride her way out of a wet paper bag...We all know the excellent rider who is taking rank horses and making them beginner safe, but has never shown above a local schooling show. There are lots of ways to be a great rider and no way to truly measure excellence.
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Barn Girl
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I hear you guys as far as sometimes people think they ride better than they do, or the big fish in small pond thing, but the latest example was someone who posted on another online horse forum that they were jumping courses of a certain height when the reality IRL is that they can barely get over a single crossrail. So I'm not sure how there's room for interpretation there! :huh:

It reminds me of the Brad Paisley song "Online" (I'm so much cooler online... :rofl: ), if you haven't heard it look it up, it's funny as heck.

Maya, I can't believe you didn't wanna hire the "grand prix" rider! :teehee:

OI, you're totally right, it's sort of like money and other things in life-- generally if you have it, you don't feel a need to brag about it.
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SnackPack
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Delusional drives me a little crazy as well. But at least it's not intentional, I suppose. I'm also not a fan of "barn blindness". I don't understand why people can't be honest about themselves or their horses. It's not taking anything away from their horse to be able understand what the horse is, and what the horse isn't.
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vxf111
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Won for Me
Jun 7 2010, 08:21 AM
My favorite story: I moved my horse into a boarding barn in Florida and one of the riders told me constantly that she showed in West Palm Beach/Wellington. Okay, anyone can pay the entry and show. She said she was very successful. She didn't seem like a great rider, but maybe she was well mounted. She brought pictures...yes, she showed in West Palm...at someone's house! It was this make shift ring put up in someone's back yard. Looked like a very fun backyard (literally) show.

When I met her father, he made a big point in saying, "did you know my daughter showed in West Palm?" :mallet:

I truly think that people have no clue. I don't think there are posers either. We all know the rider who was a one horse wonder and won everything, but can't ride her way out of a wet paper bag...We all know the excellent rider who is taking rank horses and making them beginner safe, but has never shown above a local schooling show. There are lots of ways to be a great rider and no way to truly measure excellence.
This just makes me laugh. Backyard show indeed!!! :) :teehee:
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Fish Cheeks
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I usually find that no matter what the issue is, the more people talk about it, the less ________they are. The person who talks about how much money they have is really in debt. The person who shows up on the ski slope with the fanciest outfit can barely get down the hill. The person who brags on their riding skills really have a lot to learn.

I think I may underestimate my abilities, but I will never overestimate them. I know what I'm good at and I know what I'm not good at. I love learning anything I can about horses and riding and I love to be a student and do my homework and see progress. It is all about the journey.
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