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I am not spouting.

You are spouting. And name dropping, apparently... about a trainer who believes in clean water buckets, or obedient students, I guess.

Becky does not know what she is talking about.

Care to quote one thing she said that isn't a valid matter of opinion about which horsemen may very well disagree?

To: HairOfTheDog

Well, then I don't understand why people do it...any more then I understand bronc riders, and bull riders...

And I also know that jumping is hard on a horse, usually breaks them down before they would if they weren't jumping.

Just don't get it.

Becky

The above quote is a start.

As for your remark about name dropping, you will note that I said up front that I never met George Morris.

Therefore, it is not name dropping to refer to his teaching methods.

No more than if I were to quote a line from one of his many books and articles.

If I wanted to impress you with name dropping, I am quite sure I could. You might be surprised at the names of persons who I do know.

But all of that is beside the point.

It is a disservice to a very large part of our horse world to say that it causes horses damage, when it fact it does so only when and if abused and that is a totally different matter.

As for not understanding why people want to jump horses, the best answer is what has already been given. It is a rush. It is like down hill skiing, which I do not do but I with which I can emphasize.

No matter how many fences you have jumped, the next one is as big a thrill as the first one you jumped 66 years ago.

Each jump is an exercise in timing, coordination and cooperation between the horse and the rider. Move your hands or shift your weight at the wrong time, even in the most imperceptible manner, and you either throw the horse's timing off, or his balance, or signal to him that you are nervous, and you get either a bad jump or a refusal.

There is also the willpower and self control involved in getting forward when your own instinct for self preservation tells you to sit back or "brace".

Very few go through what it takes to be a good jump rider believing they are ruining the horse.

By the way, good jumpers bring big money. $25,000....$250,000...whatever.

I have a good friend that once sold a jumper for $1,000,000.

I am not in close touch with that end of the horse business now so I have no idea what the record is now.

But the point is that kind of horse gets treated like a baby, or a movie star.