[Petstorejunkie]

Wouldn't it be weird if Anky qualified for reining but NOT dressage?

Oh that would soooo make my YEAR if she was not competing in dressage at WEG. Reiners you can have her

(I know that's trollish of me but she turns my stomach. Maybe horses will get really lucky and she'll take up gardening)

[Auventera Two]

She managed to ride a reining horse with his nose on his chest. Gee, what a surprise.

[Bluey]

Riding a reiner well enough to show at any other than the lower levels takes years to do well.
I think Anky has been reining and not steadily some three years only.

It is not as easy as it seems, not easy to ride well or understand what is a good performance and why.

Once at the top, is even harder to tell why one great run was better than another, unless you really know what you are looking at.

As I said, it is not as easy as it looks to do it well, but go try it, because what it is is great fun to learn.

[katarine]

I thought she did fine.

Anyone moving from lots of contact to (relatively) none, is going to have a hard time with it. anyone who thinks horses can't feel weight and tension changes through a western saddle and pad, ain't never ridden a good one.

If she's the reserve champion in Sweden, I suspect she's about the best they've got, so what. Don't like it, move to Sweden, become Swedish, learn to ride a reiner, and go beat her. Oh, wait, too much work? So...Give them time. Italy's already ready to beat the pants off Sweden in reining. They've been studying it much longer.

[Equilibrium]

I think it's pretty cool all the same and I just love how people cheer, hoot, and holler at the shows in the western disciplines. Good luck to her.

Terri

[Nojacketrequired]

As I said, it is not as easy as it looks to do it well, but go try it, because what it is is great fun to learn.

It is absolutely a hoot. When you sit on a good one....you'd better be ready if you so much as move in the saddle. They are lightning fast.

If you really want to see a spectacle, try to get seats for the Congress Freestyle. Absolutely wild. Wear ear plugs. Be prepared to be amazed.

NJR

[Coreene]

Well, think of it this way. She does the dressage thing better than 100% of you. And now she rides reiners better than 99.999999% of you as well.

Tally ho!

[netg]

It is absolutely a hoot. When you sit on a good one....you'd better be ready if you so much as move in the saddle. They are lightning fast.

If you really want to see a spectacle, try to get seats for the Congress Freestyle. Absolutely wild. Wear ear plugs. Be prepared to be amazed.

NJR

Also fun - cutters.

As a teenager I had a horse who had spent a short amount of time with a lower-level cutting trainer. One day I was helping ropers in 4-H by opening and closing the gate at the end of the arena for the cattle to get back into the chutes. A cow didn't want to go, and I made the mistake of pointing my horse toward him and using my leg. Barely stayed on. The same kind of split second athleticism reiners have -and awesome fun.

Too bad not all western disciplines are as fun! Western pleasure is the direct opposite, imo.

[see u at x]

Also fun - cutters.

As a teenager I had a horse who had spent a short amount of time with a lower-level cutting trainer. One day I was helping ropers in 4-H by opening and closing the gate at the end of the arena for the cattle to get back into the chutes. A cow didn't want to go, and I made the mistake of pointing my horse toward him and using my leg. Barely stayed on. The same kind of split second athleticism reiners have -and awesome fun.

Too bad not all western disciplines are as fun! Western pleasure is the direct opposite, imo.

I had to laugh when I read this. My new horse is a Doc O'Lena grandson on his dam's side (his sire is WB) and he is not fond of cows at all. Poor thing about had a heart attack when he went out west to be a roping a horse before I bought him.

[NOMIOMI1]

Well, think of it this way. She does the dressage thing better than 100% of you. And now she rides reiners better than 99.999999% of you as well.

Tally ho!

LMAO

So true!

She is fantastic rider, controversial, but one of the top riders in the world period, of course she can float on over to another discipline.

OH and another poster had said about the use of the seat here, and how much more is needed.

If you completely back a horse off the bridle, yes, you are riding off of the seat and big spurs, but you have to intimidate them enough to NOT want you to lift that hand up first with big bits and lots of spurring to said bits.

I love reining, dont get me wrong, but if chin to chest is the death of dressage, DO NOT go watch the reiners warm up

One of the top methods right now is long trotting for warm up with reins short and wide. Those are not snaffles but they sure ride em like they are.

[angel]

Snaffles are not used correctly either in dressage if they are being used as you are suggesting you see the reining warm-ups being done with a curb.

[tempichange]

You know I've been on reiners and ex reiners and they are perfectly capable to do a fourth level test, at the age of six. The majority are ponies on top of it.

I'd take one of those horses any day.

Personally speaking, she deserves a tip of the hat for trying.

[Coreene]

And at the show she just did she scored 68 and 68.5. Nowhere has she said she expected to do well at WEG if she did qualify in reining, just that it would be something to try for. The horse was a gift from her family after Hong Kong, Rieky is a good friend of hers who lives close by (she and her husband have a lovely place) - why not try it?

[monstrpony]

And at the show she just did she scored 68 and 68.5. Nowhere has she said she expected to do well at WEG if she did qualify in reining, just that it would be something to try for. The horse was a gift from her family after Hong Kong, Rieky is a good friend of hers who lives close by (she and her husband have a lovely place) - why not try it?

I am not a particular fan of Anky's, but I WILL say that I admire her interest and willingness to give reining a try. Given the beating that disciplines other than dressage take here, her openness to trying it and embracing is very refreshing. For that, and because I genuinely believe that The Cowboy Way has something to offer, even to the reigning Queen of Dressage, I wish her well in this endeavour.

[Coreene]

As Monstrpony know, I bought a lovely pimped out silver show saddle last year - sometimes it's just fun to have something different for hacking out. Went the whole way with the pimped headstall and reins too, quite smashing on a huge WB. There's a little cowgirl in all of us, and I tip my hat to those who do the reining / cutting / western riding stuff. The WP I just don't get, but it's just as much of a skill as anything else, and hats off to anyone who wants to expand their horsey horizon.

[Dressage Art]

http://www.horsus.nl/nl/?p=videos_ni...11&nb=4232&t1=
That was fun to watch. I'm not a fan of RK training or Janssen training methods, but it's amazing what Anky was able to do with her life from the very beginning + she knows how to have fun! Fun to see her letting her hair down!

[monstrpony]

Yes, there is the fun side of it, but my very first post on this thread was not entirely facetious, either. One of my dearest friends is a dedicated and accomplished dressage rider. Lately, we've done some trail riding together, and she keeps apologizing for her WB's orangutan-ness while we're tacking up in the open, in a strange place. She, too, still believes that the reason my aged QH gelding is so well behaved is entirely due to his age and QH-ness. Sure, that's a significant factor, but also embracing a horsemanship that values being able to operate a horse from the ground as much as under saddle, is a part of it. I would never wish to be the ground man doctoring a cow that was tied off to her WB . Granted, reining doesn't get into this kind of stuff directly, but the horsemanship value basis is a lot closer there than in high performance dressage. And, like it or not, I will blaspheme and say that there is a hole in Anky's horsemanship in this area, and I genuinely hope her excursion into reining helps her to find the patch. Why? Because I like Anky? No, because I care about horses being handled in a way that makes them comfortable and confident in addition to being brilliant.

[mypaintwattie]

As Monstrpony know, I bought a lovely pimped out silver show saddle last year - sometimes it's just fun to have something different for hacking out. Went the whole way with the pimped headstall and reins too, quite smashing on a huge WB. There's a little cowgirl in all of us, and I tip my hat to those who do the reining / cutting / western riding stuff. The WP I just don't get, but it's just as much of a skill as anything else, and hats off to anyone who wants to expand their horsey horizon.

And your horse does look smashing in his western get-up. For those that don't get WP, just try it, it, like most of the western events, are fun!!!! OMG I can't believe I just said that...

[Nojacketrequired]

Wattie! You blasPHEME!!!!!

Do 4 20m circles of 4 beat lope and say WHOA.

NJR

[egontoast]

Ok I'll say it. I don't get reining.

Those dizzying spins , those YOWWW sliding stops. How long do those horses stay sound? Do they compete at the upper levels up until 18?

Just curious. Please don't hurt me.