"DOOR!"

Ok - I'll admit when I heard the hunter/jumper "trainer" at my barn yell this when she came into the ring, I almost laughed... I thought it was silly - I could see her, after all... it wasn't anything anyone else at my "english" barn ever did so I figured it was one of those "english-y" things that english riders do that my western riding self would never think to do...

Then a couple of weeks ago, this person didn't talk to me when I was at the barn and I thought it was rude and strange... right after that I emailed the barn owner that I wasn't happy and wanted to change barns... she emailed me back and talked me down, saying that soon there would be more people around and peopel wanted to trail ride with me and it would be ok... shortly after that I heard from one of the other instructors at the barn that this hunter/jumper trainer told the barn owner that I hadn't said "door" when I entered the ring and had therefore been bucked off and that's why she didn't talk to me...

.. now I'm going to ignore the fact that had she been bucked off, I would have seen it from my ever so stealth position at the gate of the ring and I'm going to ignore that she never said a word to me about being bucked off.... we'll skip right to this week when I go to the barn and ride my lovely girl, announcing myself going into the ring and when I went to walk her behind the property. Frankly, I thought I was being super considerate to these english-y people and was very proud of myself.

So, ms. Hunter/Jumper is in the indoor ring (on a very nice day) and I walked Sky through the barn (not into the ring, mind you, into the BARN... through the aisle .. far away from her and her horse).. the next thing I know she's pulling the horse by the bit outside, apparently crying... I say "oh my God, are you ok" and she says "no"... I wonder what's happened now, considering that she goes flying through the air on a regular basis... I think, maybe I shouldn't leave if she's in trouble. ... so she goes into the outdoor ring and another boarder, who has a young daughter, walks up to her to ask what happend... they keep the young girl on the other side of the ring while ms. hunter/jumper tries to get on again. After three or four kicks to the belly (yeah) the horse finally stands still and off she goes riding her.... so I go up to the other boarder and ask if all is ok... this is what I am told:

"you really need to say door when you walk through the barn b/c this horse flips out when it hears another horse"....

WHAT! I am (again) the cause for ms hunter/jumper losing control of her horse and getting thrown! I am shocked and appauled for two reasons and they are as follows: 1. The rule last week when the first incident happened was say "door" when entering the arena... now I must announce myself when entering the barn as well - what's next.. Hi, I'm on the premisis.. Hi, I'm driving down the road in the direction of the barn.... and 2. If I'm a trainer and my horse "flips out" at the sound of another horse, that would be the behavior that I'd fix first, before riding and jumping and showing for my own safety. I don't believe that as a rider, let alone a trainer, I can or should ever blame my horse or anyone else for the behavior of my horse.... let alone ask anyone to change their behavior in order to accomidate my spooky horse... a horse cannot be trained in a vacuum!

So, after a small confrontation right there and another with the barn owner and several converstations with other horsey friends, I'm resolved to do whatever rules are layed out by the barn, whether I agree or not, and shut up about my training philosophies... But still... I am having a hard time letting it go.

Good-bye for now.. will keep you updated... by the way, Sky is riding GREAT!

C