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Post by Lavender on Dec 31, 2006 20:06:58 GMT
Sandie has to use a mounting block to get on Rhum because of her knees. Ok, yes she's had 7 operations, but it doesn't mean she can't ride! I think saying that because someone needs a box to get on a pony, they shouldn't be allowed in the ring or to ride is quite a sweeping statement. I echo Kate totally. And if GW got her way and mounting blocks/crates were banned in the ring, Sandie could get a doctors note, excempting her from the ban, in the same way, people use them to get out of running in hand ;D This comment is meant as a joke!
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Post by Goldenwood on Dec 31, 2006 20:13:00 GMT
this is now getting a little out of hand,i was saying that what happened to the days when people could actually mount ponies on their own,if any of you were in pony club. were you given a leg up every time you wanted to get on your pony.i think not. I know there are exceptions but hey i have no cartilage in either knees and i can still mount a pony. everyone is entitled to an opinion.
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Post by lochlands on Dec 31, 2006 20:13:03 GMT
Rhummy I don't think anyone has suggested that people who use a mounting block for reasons of ill health, or for everyday use cant ride. What has been said , is that there does appear to more use of blocks in the showring, where you would think that the vast majority of exhibitors should be able to mount quite easily with the assistance of their groom holding the stirrup, or by giving a leg up.
Kate, you are no crock, just look at those fantastic pics in your signature, the thread I am sure, is only made in ref to the showring, not for mounting at home.
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Post by valliant on Dec 31, 2006 20:41:14 GMT
I agree nothing wrong with a mounting block at home not in the ring, with regard to medical reasons then obviously ther will be exceptions but as a general rule in the show ring it doesn't look very good.. I dont think we should be landing like a sack of potatoes on a pony anyway. Should have said also it was aimed at people who are too fat and unfit to mount correctly.
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Post by hannah on Jan 1, 2007 17:40:10 GMT
well said Valliant, I agree.
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Post by Bedrockshetlands on Jan 1, 2007 18:08:26 GMT
Goldenwood, I NEVER get on anything without a leg up or a mounting block I'm afraid I think it puts a strain on their backs to get up from the ground I do see where you are coming from though, I've been looking at piccs from shows last year I agree with this 100% I use a mounting block to get on most of mine and it sure as hell isn't because I am too lazy or unfit or my horse is too big (there isn't one over 42" ) , constantly mounting from the ground with a stirrup onto any horse or pony puts a strain on the back and additional wear on the tack. I'd actually like to see more mounting blocks in the ring. I don't think it should be expected that competitors should be able to mount unaided, so I don't really see it fair that Sandie would need a doctors note just for the privelage of using a mounting block in the ring. Surely in the interest of health and safety it is safer to encourage the use of mounting blocks. You also don't need to be slim to be fit, I am a size 8 and 7 st 11 and a bit unfit ETA if we carry on like this we are going to need our own debating forum hehehe Don't get me started on half of my bugbears
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Post by v8kate on Jan 1, 2007 19:34:03 GMT
Goldenwood - I think we've moved on from 20 years ago when a back person was a rarity, horses weren't so valuable & most had an annual holiday to recover from the wear & tear on them.
Most people were still riding on 20 year old half panel saddles at that point & spring trees were still considered a luxury.
The other problem is that modern saddles aren't upto being pulled about as much - we use synthetic materials in trees, I doubt you can get an unsprung tree these days which in their design are inherently weaker.
Ok so everyone should be taught to mount correctly but it's also good manners & training for a horse to learn to stand by a mounting block quietly without someone hanging onto its head to keep it still.
I personally don't think it looks that ungainly using a block in the ring - far better a quick step up, easy lift of foot to stirrup than to watch some riders hopping & struggling to look even vaguely dignified.
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Post by lochlands on Jan 2, 2007 11:33:23 GMT
I think this debate has moved off track from what GW started it as. No one has disagreed that the use of mounting blocks at home isn't is often good practice, and I am sure all the people who have supported GW on this thread would agree wholeheartedly, that it is a valuable lesson for a horse to learn to stand still while at a block or being mounted in any other way.
I agree with you v8kate, it looks equally ungainly seeing people hopping and heaving to mount in the normal way in the ring, but that brings us back to the original topic. Exhibitors should learn to mount in the ring ,in a manner that isn't ungainly, either with the use of a leg up, someone holding the stirrup, or a block if health really dictates, but otherwise these leg hoppers and saddle pullers should, as originally stated also get themselves fitter and healthier to enable themselves to do the job properly.
I am not entirely in agreement with the cost of saddles analogy today as opposed to £20 years ago, but I wholeheartedly agree that tack is expensive and most of us value our tack and wish to look after and preserve it as best we can. However 20 years ago takes us back to 1986, the first time I bought a saddle with my own money was in 1983, it was a brand new jeffries saddle bought for a highland pony and cost £380. It was to me, a hell of a lot of money ( still would be ), and in 1983 I bought a jeffries inhand bridle, it was £55. The saddle then cost me less than my pony had done, that would be just about impossible today. In 1984 highland foals were selling for colts £100, fillies £200 this from the larger well established studs. To buy the foal equivalent now you would have to multiply the cost by 10 , but not so the tack. The inhand bridle now would be £80 and equivalent saddle about £750. Not £550 and £3800.
Incidentally my jeffries saddle in 1984 was a springtree and far from a lot of peoples fond imaginations, most highlands even then were well turned out. Mid eighties one of the most consistent highland ponies on the ridden circuit was Sorn of Glenbuckie ridden by Chris Cousen's, this pony had a superb rider who we all know today, she could most certainly mount her pony and it was not ridden in tack that may have been a relic from the 2nd world war, and neither were many of the other highlands that were on the circuit then, I could name them but I wont. Some of us were around even more than twenty years ago.
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Post by onipony on Jan 2, 2007 12:20:26 GMT
I agree with Lochlands, we did have decent saddles way back then and were even quite smartly turned out even by todays standards. You know what the ponies even cantered. Yes there are a lot more ridden Highlands now but quantity does not always equal quality. Back to the debate, one thing you did not see so much of 20 years ago was fat riders. Its not just horses backside that have got bigger !
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Post by jeni17 on Jan 2, 2007 12:42:30 GMT
I find it really hard to mount properly! I'm only 5'1" and a smidge and I have very short legs! I also have a bad knee from landing on it on a stony track. Put that together with my very table top shaped pony and my saddle almost always moves. At home I have a large block, and if out I will walk till I find somewhere to stand. But if I was showing, I would get my excellent at leg-ups groom to help! It is just far more elegant than using a block in the ring!
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Post by Lavender on Jan 2, 2007 12:57:52 GMT
I too think this thread has gone off track a bit! No-one is knocking the use of the mounting block(my coments about using a Dr's Note, was meant as a joke ;D), just the un-gainly way some people heave themselves on to their ponies/horses! It is worth learning how to do it properly, as I learned in my mounting lesson, I was doing it wrong and looked unproffesional, remember whilst in the ring you are on show at all times Interestingly enough, I read in H&H many moons ago about a judge banning all competitors from using steps, leg ups, etc in a hunter class (you wouldn't get away with that now ) It was reported that only a handful of competitors managed and one even managed to vault on without using stirrups!
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Post by pammy on Jan 2, 2007 14:24:40 GMT
I would rather see someone using a mounting block in the ring than making a pigs ear of it for whatever reason. When I was a lot younger I could mount anything from the ground but by the time I took my exams it was getting a bit of a struggle. Nowadays I can mount up to 15.2 ish from the ground. But there is no way I can get on the big fella, I need a block or a gateway and he is trained to stand still. I would in the ring rather not use anything but now find it impossible. When I was in my twenties I could still spring on a 15 hander bareback, fat chance now I am 5ft 8 and weigh 10 stone so am hardly fat just worn out
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Post by Goldenwood on Jan 2, 2007 14:28:36 GMT
jen17 - Glad someone has grasped at what i am saying and not taken offence given their own situation and also pointed out the importance of a capable groom.It is so much more elegant and professional.
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Post by lochlands on Jan 2, 2007 14:33:06 GMT
Pammy this discussion was directed at people riding ponies, not horses.
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Post by pammy on Jan 2, 2007 14:36:33 GMT
I agree it is far more elegant to get a capable groom, but that is if you are lucky enough to have one. I personally have to rely on my mother a retired riding instructor with arthritis. At this rate showing would become an elitist sport only for those with the money or with capable friends who have a real interest. I am not digging and everyone is in different circumstances but most folks can only go by their own examples. There is still were I live anyway a major problem with showing. If you ask a capable friend to give you a hand they nearly always say "showing how boring" therefore everyone has to make do with what they have got
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