Sometimes it really amazes me that horses, for the most part, actually do the things we ask of them. I was walking onto the show grounds today and watching in awe as horses passed me by completely unphased by the fact that they were in the middle of a major city with little grass in sight. The fact that they’ll get on a trailer and come hundreds of miles to spend a week on concrete astounds me. How lucky are we that we can ride our horse (well not all of us can do it and live to see it) into a strange coliseum where they’ve never been and compete them. It is truly amazing that they trust us that much, and for the record I do realize it’s not just Appys that are that great.
Today I watched the trail classes for most of the day. Not one horse spooked at the obstacles or got upset if he bumped a rail when stepping over it. It’s pretty amazing what a horse will do for us when we ask correctly and teach them what we want. I could see my gelding just plowing through the rails, stumbling over each one and not caring at all. Obviously we won’t be entering the trail class any time soon.
A few things struck me today. One—how sad it is that the seats at equestrian events never seem to be filled—not even close. It isn’t just one breed or discipline—it’s all of them. I cropped my pictures the best I could so that you don’t see all the empty seats. Why is it that we can’t attract more fans? After all, this event and many others like it are free to the public. There are plenty of exhibitors in the seats along with their families, but that seems to be about it for those present. I am not sure how to change this, but now that I am taking pictures I am much more conscious of the fact that there are empty seats, and I am trying not to allow them to creep into my pictures!
I am learning a lot here. 
I am learning how very different horses can move when you go from discipline to discipline. I sat in the arena yesterday trying to pick out the winning horse in Western Pleasure. I picked one that I thought looked comfortable, moved well, and would be enjoyable to ride. I ride English, but I think I know what a comfortable Western horse should look like—not so. The guy I picked didn’t even finish in the top ten. We all need to have respect for each others chosen discipline, and I know in the past I’ve probably been judgmental, but watching this gorgeous breed do what it probably does best is teaching me a lot. The Western gaits are much more relaxed than English. I would also like to say they are much slower, but I have a feeling that word might offend some. I have been trained to always ask for and only accept a very forward walk in which the horse is always tracking up. This would be a stretch for me (but maybe it would help come me down a bit). The jog (aka trot for you English folks) is barely more forward then the walk and as a result looks quite comfortable. When the judge asked for a lope (aka canter) he kept asking for a lope with “forward motion”. When I heard that I thought ‘here we go, I am going to see some cantering,” again—not so. The ideal lope is apparently a very slow rocking horse type of movement that again, doesn’t seem to be all that different from a jog. Clearly, I have a lot to learn. 
Okay on to the warm-up area. I understand Western riders choose not to wear helmets, heck, a lot of dressage riders don’t wear helmets, but I would think in a strange city with dozens of strange horses rushing past you there might be some concern. I’m past it; I’ll try not to bring it up again. However, two other patterns seem to be emerging in the warm-up arena which surprise me, cell phones and iPods. I know you only need one hand on the reins to ride Western, but is your call really all that important that you have to talk while you are schooling or warming up a horse? I guess that is the difference between an amateur and a professional; I am nowhere near good enough to talk on the phone and ride even remotely competently. It wasn’t like it was just one person on the phone. I was quite a few. Also, I understand that music helps people get in the right frame of mind before a competition. I guess if Michael Phelps does it, it must work. However, do you really not want to hear the call of ‘runaway horse’ or ‘on your left’ or whatever the case may be. There are literally more than a dozen horses of all ages cantering, spinning, sliding, longing, all at the same time and in the same space. It makes me nervous just to watch it all happen, but I’m going to stick to taking the pictures and let them stick to the riding…for now.
The all-around horse is somewhat elusive—the horse that can go from English to Western with a simple tack change. But is it really possible? I am not sure a true English rider OR a true Western rider would agree. I think one horse can be great at one type of riding, but I am not so sure they can master all. That may be a bit much to ask of one horse. I am not going to rule it out, and I’d love to see it here, so I’ll keep you posted. Most of the English riders I’ve seen warming up are warming up in an English saddle and a Western bridle. Yesterday I saw a Western rider with an English bridle. I am not sure what’s going on with that, but I am keeping an open mind, maybe a new trend that the Appaloosas are on the cutting edge of.
--Jeannie Putney