Sigh, there is no end to it is there?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Kimberwicke FAIL
A reader sent me this pic, it is a total FAIL. The bit is on COMPLETELY upside down. Now, I know it isn't THAT hard to look at a picture and see that that is not how they go. I also question the eyesight and competence of the judges and other competitors seeing as how apparently no one noticed it or brought it to the riders attention. The horse looks absolutely THRILLED too.
Sigh, there is no end to it is there?
Sigh, there is no end to it is there?
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That is just shocking. Gotta wonder what they thought the curb hooks were for and if anyone stopped them to educate them.
ReplyDeleteNever mind that a kimberwicke, used in any way, is just not a "western bit" for showing. eek.
Do you know what class this was supposed to be?
Next question:
ReplyDeleteWhy is she using a Kimberwicke AT ALL in a Western class?
And is she posting??
If this is supposed to be Versatility, well, the only "versatile" I see is a wardrobe and saddle change.
Red doesn't look good on a chestnut. Maybe her other horse is gray and she entered this class on a lark.
And her horse's neck isn't very nicely muscled.
Multiple layers of FAIL.
And before someone goes off on me, let me just say that whenever I see a big, obvious FAIL, I automatically start looking for little ones.
Plus, y'all know how I feel about any kind of "headset", but that poor little Arab is just all about hating that bit and her hands..... no wonder his neck looks so bad, and I suppose he's all hollow-backed too....
ReplyDeleteThat was my first thought too. She looks like she is posting in a western saddle. She looks like a poorly educated English rider in a western class. I bet she did not place.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that I hope that bit is not ported and is just a jointed Kimberwicke.
poor horse. You can tell too by looking at her saddle she's not that show experienced. It looks like a cheap western saddle. You know the ones you can find a total package deal for 250.00 .... whats funny is if you look at the picture of the rider in the background in the teal it almost looks as if she is looking at the gal in red thinkning "are you flippin serious????"
ReplyDeleteI can claim this one. It was on a store's website under their customer sent-in photos. THEREFORE, even the company who sold them the bit were happy to post the picture! It's the only one I found this much of a FAIL on, but feel free to look for yourself: www.tackwholesale.com
ReplyDeleteI've purchased some tack bags from this site and am very happy with what I purchased, but they mostly sell "economical" tack that I wouldn't buy.
And if you look at the WHOLE photo, the rider doesn't have her hair contained, and her hat? I know NOT MUCH, but I'm kind of thinking WTF with that crease? At least she's having fun.......... but I'm always seeing these kinds of riders who go to one little show a year, and I just want to take them all under my wing and edumacate 'em.
ReplyDeleteTotal failure, but I can one-up you on a FAIL. I wish I had a photo of it. Two girls, who CLEARLY knew better attached one of those generic western bits that come on every headstall to their english bridles and went into a class. When they got DQed they made a HUGE scene and left. UM HELLO! If I could ride two handed in a shank bit in english my horse would have a great go too!
ReplyDeleteWe're talking 18 year olds at a predominant open show! What goes through people's minds when they do that?!?!?!
A local "trainer/instructor" (both terms used very loosely) sent a student into the ring several years ago with a curb bit upside down with no curb strap - when the judge called the student to the center to discuss this the "trainer" got really angry! She argued with the judge over how wrong HE was.
ReplyDeletehah! there are some more photos that make you think :P
ReplyDeletephotos 97, 113, 127, & 131. are the reins going BEHIND the saddle? it also looks like the saddle doesn't fit him, or it's up on his withers.
also, there's only one kimberwick bit on the site, and it has a port. it's on the last page under "bits/spurs". pity for the horse, shame for the owner.
this pic made me go, 'omgwtflol'..seriously!
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked in the feed store, and was the tack buyer, I had a customer come in with a bridle her "trainer" had put together. They had used it in a lesson that day, and the horse just didnt seem right to her. Alas the Kimberwicke was upside down, this is a trainer whom I know, that has given lessons for 20 years, I cant believe she had never seen one before. Anyway I fixed it for the customer and she happily went on her way. If so called edgeecated people can do this....(((sigh)))
ReplyDeleteDang. Mebbe I SHOULD become an instructor, at least for beginners!!
ReplyDeletenothing in that picture goes together...maybe she thinks since the bit has a curb chain, that its a western bit. but honestly how hard is it to see where the bridle attaches to? she's probably someone that just buys the stuff and shows up to little open shows when shes never practiced what shes doing at it in her life.
ReplyDeleteJust to play devil's advocate here...I've noticed that a lot of catalogs will have the picture of a kimberwicke upside down. Perhaps this is why the person in the photo put it on that way? Still a fail, but possibly an explanation for the fail.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking closely at the background... It could easily be the grandstand arena at the fairgrounds here in Phoenix. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteIf so, then not only can it all be blamed on the heat, but also it would be something like the fair (county or state), "Livestock Show" or another such event where horse knowledge isn't a major factor.
If we all wanted to get extremely picky... The headstall as it is, is adjusted as 'tight' as it goes. If the bit were put on correctly, it could possibly fall right out of the horses mouth!
This is where we all get together and pray that the bit is a broken mouth and not a curb.
ReplyDeleteWhere the heck was the ring steward? She should never have been allowed in the ring without fixing that bit.
If you go to the website that Silly Pony posted and look at the pictures, you can see that this is just a kid on that that horse. There is a pic of her and the horse with a show halter and then a pic where you can see all of her in this picture. So, the upside down bit may not be her fault, but a parent or trainer's.
ReplyDeleteThat horse looks like a baby. I've caught riders using bits backwards that had been doing it for years and nobody ever noticed. (shaking head) Just because you've had a horse for years, doesn't mean you have any horse sense I guess.
ReplyDeleteIf you all would take the time to help educate people nicely about things instead of spending hours on here ranting about people doing things wrong you wouldnt HAVE to go on here because you could educate people.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know the girl riding didn't do this? it could be a trainers work, a friends horse, you never know.
Yes you all can say your experienced and have been riding forever but all your opinions stink when it comes to things like this because instead of educating people you choose to make fun of them. get a life, I'm a teenager and apparently im more mature than half the adults on here
XMarisa,
ReplyDeleteUm... most of us on here have probably tried to gently help people.
Most of us on here have probably gotten our heads bitten off because of it.
Most of us on here probably still try to help.
I have totally undone and put back together backwards bridles for people, I take my leather punch to EVERY 4H meeting because at least half of the kids' stirrups are too long, I have suggested, demonstrated and adjusted out the ying yang for people, esp. when there's a potential safety issue.
And not everybody WANTS help. I don't know why.... if I'm doing something wrong, I'm always open to suggestion. Heck, even if I'm doing OK, someone might have an even BETTER way of doing things.
But we gotta vent somewhere. Because there are people out there who will simply NOT learn, and end up looking stupid or getting hurt, or hurting their horses.
And I can take some flak when I'm doing something wrong. Serious riding instructors don't care that much about your feelings - they care that you know how to do things RIGHT. It's not personal, they don't hate your guts, they're just trying to make you understand the importance of CORRECT.
Like a drill sergeant wants you to operate your weapon correctly and not shoot off your buddies' heads.
cp, OMG, that drill sergeant comment is RIGHT ON! I LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteLook behind the horse's elbow. I think the horse could use some extension and groundwork as well as regular exercise to get that weak flab muscled. Anyway...I didn't know anything about a Kimberwick, so I looked it up. She's choking that poor Arabian, and the mouth is too sensitive. The bar is upside down and now putting too much pressure on the jaw.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteIf you've ever seen Starship Troopers, there's an important scene where a soldier is flogged because his carelessness on the firing range caused a fellow soldier to die. Not because his CO hated him, or because he was a Bad Person, but because his actions caused serious harm. And it really drove home the lesson.
Now... I'm not a big fan of The State administering corporal punishment (though posting without stirrups comes close), and ST is definitely an awesomely campy and sometimes hilarious movie, but that scene kind of illustrated the point that "Stupid Should Hurt." Horses are big, potentially dangerous, but sensitive and wonderful creatures under our care.
It's up to the humans to make our interactions with them go as well as possible, and that means education. SO Marisa, I don't want to just piss you off right off the bat, because you might not have thought this through.
It's NOT a popularity contest, it's not about bashing somebody. It's about concern for horse and rider safety, horse welfare, and holding us all to the standards of effective and proper horsemanship.
cattypex - i respect that, however.. i think sometimes people need to learn the hard way. Sometimes yes it comes at a horses expense, but atleast they learn not to do it again. I came from an uptight barn where i learned everything, everything had to be right and im glad i went there because last year i moved to a different barn to support my riding discpline and i know a lot of things most of the other girls do not know how to do. If i hadn't started at the barn i wouldnt have had the opportunities i have gotten because my trainers expect you know what your doing.
ReplyDeleteWell, if they have to learn the hard way, I'd rather see it happen with their OWN broken wrist, bruised behind, or something, rather than a horse get ruined.
ReplyDeleteIt's GOOD to learn at an "uptight" place, I think. Then, even if you think you're slacking, everyone else will be impressed by your attention to detail. ; )
A very good instructor in ANYTHING (horses, music, Jedi training, whatever....) knows when to let a student screw up to bring home a lesson. For example, if you've got a student who "knows everything" and yet insists that a backwards bit is OK, I'd be inclined to say "have it your way" and let her fall on her butt when her horse dumps her. In fact I just got back some business in another area because my ex-client found out that the "other" vendor wasn't nearly so great as advertised, and I'm getting some extra perks out of the renewed relationship.
With horses, there's a limited range of "correct," but "wrong" is pretty damn bad, and I wish that more people took the time and energy to get the education they should have.
I just hate to see good horses ruined or messed up... that Arab looks cute and even loved, but his rider has gotten either bad advice, or NO advice. Or won't even TAKE advice, which is worst of all. THAT chaps my hide like nothing else!!!