combined training

Down the street from my modest barn is a farm that breeds reiners. Across the street from him is a hunter/jumper establishment. Next door to her is a guy who buys and sells the occasional racehorse. Next door to him is the backyard Appaloosa breeder. And so forth. We all like each other, and we all talk horse over the fence. We share the same help and when Larry's horse died from West Nile a few years ago, he called everyone in the neighborhood to tell them to get their horse vaccinated.

We're a neighborhood of horse lovers.

On a large scale, why can't we all get along, like we do in my small community? As a former event rider, I've taken serious lessons with dressage coaches and hunter jumper trainers. But never the twain shall meet. The snobbery we each carry in our separate disciplines does nothing for the horse industry as a whole, and frankly I'm sick of it. Are endurance riders any less serious than dressage queens, even though the two are fashionably disparate? Would I want to ride 100 miles in my leather full seat breeches? No way. I have great respect for endurance folks. Nor do I think hunter riders are any less serious riders than dressage queens, even though some think their trainers do all the work (common misconception). After all, it's tough to get an exact twelve foot stride and meet every fence cleanly and gracefully. Over the years, I've gained respect for all the disciplines (even roping. I once tried it. I roped my head and fell off my horse). Fox hunters have their rituals, but fundamentally they have to be able to ride, red coat or not. We all have to learn to be good horse people.