If this doesn't give you tingles you don't have a soul.

[is_it_tru]

I know there's a lot of Saddlebred lovers on here as well as some people that may still need some convincing. After spending last summer grooming some for an accomplished AA rider, I can truly say there ARE good Saddlebred people out there who ride sound, happy horses. I hope this video helps prove that.

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Comments

[a_aurantia]

Wow. Definitely gives you an idea of how much work it is to ride one of these horses. :) I'm still not a fan of tail docking, and I'm glad my guy escaped that fate. But otherwise you have happy, if hot, horses. I noticed each of the three horses featured was consistently cocking an ear back to listen to his rider. And there were a lot of happy ears going on, too. Most show ASBs tend to enjoy showing. The ones that don't, don't get shown. But ASBs that don't enjoy being show horses seem to be rare. I have only met one ASB that wasn't an attention whore. :D

[greyskyridge]

This doesn't show how the horses were prepared for the show or what sort of lives they lead when not showing.

One of the websites for one of the people featured states:
"Supplies that are needed to present your horse for showing such as baby powder, baby oil, ribbon, ginger, shoe polish, tape, Vaseline, Vicks etc…. will be billed on the monthly statement through out the show season."

[sm923]

The only one of those that you mention that is questionable is the ginger (and for the record, I HATE gingering horses). All the others are standard supplies you'd need to show a high quality, competitive show horse. Baby powder to teach them to look ahead and to whiten socks, baby oil to make their muzzles and eyes shine, ribbon for the manes, shoe polish for the hooves, tape for all kinds of reasons, etc. Normal stuff..

[suraineko]

What about the Vicks? Isn't that worse than ginger?

[concretengrace]

It could just be because I live in the boonies now, but I was under the impression people still use Vick's to distract stallions? Though I doubt if actually works

[is_it_tru]

Um wow. This turned into a shit storm.

Just my two cents...

1. The ASBs I worked with did not have docked tails. Not all do.
2. Vicks is commonly used on stallion's muzzles to block the scent of other horses. I come from an eventing/dressage background and knew this. It's not just an ASB thing.
3. I see nothing wrong with using voice commands if they aren't penalize in the type of competition you are showing in. Why wouldn't you want to talk to your horse? It's an aid that's easy to use and doesn't harm the horse. I've always been encouraged to talk to my horses as long as I'm not in a dressage ring.

[ernestinewalker]

Well put, all around.

[is_it_tru]

Also forgot to mention, Vaseline is also commonly used in multiple disciplines to had shine around a horse's eyes and nose. Just a common little trick, but you do mostly see it in ASBs, Arabs, and I think QHs.

[ernestinewalker]

I think the QH girls at my barn use baby oil more than Vaseline, but I know that they do have Vaseline for a NUMBER of things, just like we all do.

[harnessphoto]

I know that there are good SS people out there and I have met many happy Saddlebreds, but this video isn't what I'd use as an example... docked tails, exaggerated gaits, huge bits, horses frothing and sweating.... it's not the worst I've seen, but it's still not my cup of tea. I'd be very interested to see what the horses' lives are like outside the show arena...

[is_it_tru]

How can you tell the horses' tails are docked from this video? And honestly, I think ALL the bits ASBs are wearing at this level are considered big compared to what we see in dressage or H/J. Big doesn't mean bad in the right hands. And sweating? Since when was sweating a bad thing? Some dressage horses sweat like crazy. I'm not sure what you mean by frothing... you mean foamy mouths? I was always taught that foam in the mouth signified that the horse's mouth was relaxed. The Lippizanners foam like crazy.

[harnessphoto]

You can see docked tails all over the background of this video... in the ring, in the stalls on the way out. At 12:14 you get a pretty good look at the video rider's horse's tail. At 14:33 the horse looks downright terrified... then again, I hear they like that look.

[sm923]

There are no docked tails in that ring-there may some tails that have been cut (though many saddlebred people are getting away from that and using sets to lengthen and train the muscles and tendons in the tail to show an arched tail) but none are docked.

[ninjafingers]

Okay, going to weigh in on this