Something came up at the barn last night that had me thinking. Someone said I was like a walking horse encyclopedia. If they had any horsemanship questions, they knew they could ask me and I'd have an answer. Of course I have to be careful since I'm still learning the quirks of the new barn, but in general, how to handle a cut is pretty universal. How to pull a mane, braid, clip, blanket, wrap legs, and a hundred other little things are just sitting in my head, waiting for an excuse to come out.
On the flip side, ask ten riders how they get a horse ready to show and you'll get eleven answers. Opinions vary wildly and people can be very devoted to their side of an argument like what side of a horse's neck you should have the mane trained to stay on. I say right, Trainer A says left, and we have just agreed to disagree. What I do will be different than what a lot of other people do.
Most blogs have how to articles or theoretical discussions. I've never done that, since I never felt like I had anything specific to add. But now I'm starting to think that there is some knowledge rattling around in my skull worth adding to the cumulative knowledge treasure trove known as the internet. Your mileage may vary with my advice, of course, but over the past three decades I've done a lot of horsey stuff. I even spent some time at a western pleasure barn, just for the experience.
So what do people think, is there room for yet another blog with some how to articles scattered in amongst the tales of mi papi and our struggles to be a real, honest to goodness, grown up dressage team? I'm thinking horsemanship and turn out primarily, since that's the area where I seem to actually know stuff people want to know. Don't ask me about dressage theory, you'll get a bunch of random words and sketches and 'I have no idea why' comments. Jumping? Completely muscle memory and repetition, I struggle to describe what I'm doing in words after this long. Makes Trainer A crazy when I devolve into random gestures and adjectives when she's trying to discuss biomechanics.
But proper procedure after a hard cross country school? That I have words for.
So what say you, intertubes? Need more how to in your life?
One adult amateur rider's flailing journey through horse ownership, wonky cervical discs, and still chasing the Bronze Medal in dressage.
Always love a good how to post!
ReplyDeleteHow To's are great because they're usually timeless. My neighbor just brought me a pomegranate from her tree. I've only de-seeded a pomegranate once or twice before. Guess what I did? Googled it. Also, my "How to Fix a Broken Zipper on Boots" has been probably my top post over the 2 years I've been blogging. There's always room for more well-communicated instruction. Go for it!
ReplyDeleteyes. you should do it. there are a lot of people with horses but not necessarily good information on how to manage/care for them.
ReplyDeletebring it on!! :)
ReplyDelete