Monday, September 14, 2009

How do those legs feel?

Riding in shorts and half chaps seems to be a new trend, especially among teenage riders. Why is this?

It completely defeats the purpose of wearing gators. Sure, your shins are safe, but your knees and thighs are going to be chafed to hell within ten minutes of a posting trot. That is, if you're riding correctly and actually have a firm seat.

I remember the one time I wore capris and tennis shoes, and I have the scars to remind me of what an unpleasant experience it was and to never do it again.

I have not seen one person riding in shorts who had decent equitation. It's not bad enough that they can't ride to save their lives, but they have to LOOK like they don't know what they're doing, too!

I'm not sure what's going on in this photo. The rider's ass is sticking out and she's lying across the horse's neck like so many hunters do these days. She has a bad ducking problem. It looks like she's saying, "OMG look! There's something shiny down there! It's so pprreetty!!!"

Horse: "There's nothing there..." -_-'

See what I mean about all of them having bad riding skills?

Another annoying trend that makes me want to bang my head into a brick wall: riding in flip flops. If you are riding correctly, there is no way you could do this. Your feet would slip right out of your shoes and subsequently out of the stirrups.

This rider actually looks pretty good other than her lack of proper footwear. I understand if you forget to bring your boots or you lose them or something, but why would you ride without them? It's worth the trip back home. Scratch that -- why would you even go to the barn in flip flops? I've gone in sandals a couple times when I had no intention of riding, and it doesn't bother me when people ride bareback in sandals or even barefoot, but come on. That can't be comfortable. If I don't have my boots, I don't ride.

One more thing I wanted to add to the list.

Who was the genius that invented these? You'd have to be riding pigeon-toed not to jab your horse every two seconds. What's the point?

You can't even aid the horse without using the spurs. Plus that would be annoying as hell when you're walking. Knowing me, I would trip and fall flat on my face within ten seconds.

I guess there's a reason I've never seen anyone using these and I hope I never do.

3 comments:

  1. Oops..I am guilty of both the shorts and the flip flops o.0

    I didn't notice the chafing so much until a few hours later (after the first few minutes at least)...And yes, I still have scars...though they didn't stop me from doing it again! Generally, I'll just go bareback when I have shorts on, but there are times when I really do not want to hop on my slightly psycho horse without a saddle.

    Sometimes I go to the barn in flip flops, but don't usually ride in them. I have, especially bareback, but usually I'll just go barefoot. Which actually isn't as uncomfortable as it sounds.

    I used to always ride in tennis shoes or no shoes because I hated boots, but I don't do this anymore because I splurged a bit for boots that actually fit and found them actually comfortable

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  2. Hey, I understand about the boots. Most tall boots murder your feet. I'll take cowboy boots over English ones any day. lol I ride bareback barefoot and in shorts sometimes. It's nice and warm and it horsey fur feels good on cold feet. Hehe... I can't for the life of me do that in a saddle, though. My legs get rubbed raw every single time.

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  3. You can call me a rabid psycotic if you want, but I will not allow anyone around the horses without proper footwear. I do wear clogs out to feed, but they are leather and stay on. Would not wear them in mucky ground or anything like that. The pink stuff, the scary black, white and teal stuff---ummmm, not so much. I guess I am too conservative for that.

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