Shut up and ride!
If riders had not got away riding with overly tight nosebands for all those years. In all, any of the bad officials out there have helped pushing the boundaries in a bad direction for the sport.
Years ago when back at the riding academy one of our head teachers basically told us to shut up and ride.
These days children, and adults would probably run home crying if told to shut up and ride but those were different times. Both for the good and the bad.
In the present I often write, and say out loud that we need better officials. Cause if we did, some of the problems that is stalking dressage right now would never have been a problem.
For instance, if riders had not got away riding with overly tight nosebands for all those years. Or had not been able to win FEI Dressage World Cup™ competitions sitting on horses with their mouth open the whole test.
Then we would not have that much of a problem towards society in general and crazy animal rights people in particular.
In all, any of the bad officials out there have frequently helped pushing the boundaries in a bad direction for the sport.
However, bad officials are not the only problem. The attitude of the riders can also cause problems. Let me be the first first to admit I did not watch the FEI World Cup™ in jumping from Stuttgart during yesterday.
But I will probably also be one of the few to say shut up and ride!
If you rode it you approved it!
Just in eventing, where mud and water can cause HUGE problems not only for cross country, but also for dressage and jumping when held on natural grass arenas, there is no excuse to complain about the conditions after one have been riding!
If you have issues with the course, the fences, the lines, the build.
If you have issues with the whole freaking concept of a show jumping or cross country course.
But yet you ask your groom to saddle up your horse. To mount it, do the warm up and end up entering that starting box or canter in between those white and red flags by the start. Then you lost your right to complain about the conditions.
You also lost your right to claim the animal welfare card.
You also lost your right to “lecture” the course designer and or the organisation over the ground conditions.
If you rode it, you also approved it!
It is as simple as that.
The course may have been bad as shit. For sure that is on the course designer. But you, as a rider, made an active decision to accept the challenge.
After you’ve passed that starting point, anything else you may bring up to the table afterwards is no more than a whiny after construction trying to save your own ass.
If you really had the gut and truly cared about the welfare of your horse you should not whine about it afterwards. Instead you should have been standing first in line to boycott the whole thing in the first place.
