Horse Trainer Memes, The new way to showcase your ignorance

Facebook has been an interesting evolution in horse knowledge. There are quite a few good groups out there and some that just make you scratch your head. When you read a lot of the horse groups you almost shiver in horror at the questions being asked, the methods being defended and the overall ignorance of a lot of the horse owning public. And then there are people that take it to the next level and decide to use their own little hate groups to go after someone that has corrected their erroneous ways of thinking. One such group is
Horse Trainer Memes You'll have to log in to facebook to see it. It starts off all funny and cute but quickly becomes apparent that it's also going to be used as a forum for personally attacking people. Well hell, if that's okay let's get it on!

The owner of the group is Justin Mundt. Justin is now a meme.



I bet his parents are proud! The one he still lives with at least! Justin also has a website! Justin Mundt As you can tell from the meme there are some issues going on. Who buys an already trained demo horse? That would be the person that cannot train a horse. Why is a trainer still working at Wally World? Hmm could it be because he can't get enough clients? Well maybe if you got out there and actually learned to train a horse instead of sitting on facebook and posting stupid memes about people you might score a few clients. Justin, here's a tip for you, whenever anyone searches your name in google from now on, they will find your page, and they will find THIS page. How's it feel to be all bad ass now?

But enough about Justin. He's posting monkey memes now to justify his existence!

Let's talk about the "mean girls". Now some people say I qualify as a mean girl because, well, let's face it, I say mean things. And I do. But my ridicule usually serves a purpose. I'm outing abuse, poor breeding practices, severe equipment or people that are just leeches on society. Outing these people is like picking on Nazis. You're allowed, because well, they are Nazis. Craig Ferguson had it right when he said The no one cares if you pick on Nazis.

However, there is a new trend now that makes that Lindsay Lohan movie just seem like good clean fun. I'm talking about the "you've pissed me off so I'm going to create a group to bash you" mentality. Yes, you read it correctly. Disagree with one of the little barrel racer screwballs or western pleasure jerk and spur crowd and they form their own secret groups where they sit around and bash you because oh, heaven forbid you implied that maybe using their shitastic bits and having fucked up riding skills was a bad thing. Come on you little deniers youtube is full of your videos showcasing how big a problem you are to the poor horse. So the mean girls come out and think they can trash people, create memes and just be the miserable self entitled bitches they are. Yes, I'm looking at you Leslie Sawyer, Liz Nitz, Rebecca Gonzalez-Cook, Carla Fletcher, Lia Jennson and the rest of Group Shame. You're a pack of ignorant bitches that like to act all bad ass while giving your horses grief and hanging out on your secret groups and bashing everyone else. You want to play bad ass on facebook, well let's see how it plays on GOOGLE where everyone can see you for what you are. Boy that sure will be fun when someone searches you for a character reference and this pops up! Whooot! Ain't it a party. Oh and when I start posting screen caps of some of the shit you say about other people in the industry it will get REAL! You won't be laughing when some other trainer calls your ass out at a show or it costs you a sale. Sure is fun to make racist, sexist, derogatory comments where the whole world can see them. Sure is going to help with the future job searches!

Oh and this blog has been around a long time. I simply lent the name to the facebook group just for giggles. But the blog is mine and will continue to post about all of you until, hmm, well the internet is forever!

Ms. Maus

A Post about Posts

                                      What the hell is going on with the breeding of halter stock horses?                                     Let's explore the change of the hind legs, shall we? Good.

We'll start simple. This is a post:

Well, three posts, but you get it. Straight up and down wooden posts. They are supposed to be able to hold up a fence or a building, or show markings for boundaries. They are not meant to sway, bend, or curve.

These are hindquarters from modern AQHA/APHA/ApHC halter horses:

I'm seeing a resemblance here. Halter stock horses these days are good for nothing. They have zero angulation in the hindquarters. It's like a straight line from the pelvic bones to the ground. What the fuck happened to the proper angulations of the hindquarter? You absolutely can not get any kind of movement out of a horse that cannot even bend its rear legs properly.

One theory is, they are breeding them to be as posty as possible with straight up and down legs and column straight pasterns to hold up their enormous beefcow bulk. I can see this as true. If you were to put any normal angulation on a 15 hand tall horse that weighs 1400lbs you'd be snapping ligaments, tendons, and bones left and right under the strain of holding up all that weight. Few of them look like they can even move past a walk with their post legs.

Horses with legs like this will never have a riding career. Those legs wouldn't be able to handle it. They are good for one thing only, standing at the end of a lead rope for people to gawk at.

Anyone need something to string rails between? These guys' ass ends would make fabulous fence posts.


Raevyn

Tie me up, tie me down

When it comes to tie-downs, and the proponents of their use, it's a losing argument.

Why was the tie-down created?

Tie-downs were created to keep the horse from raising his head above a certain level. As in, to literally tie the head down. Some are bonnet style which go over the ears and around the crown of the horse's head. Others go over the nose. There is also a combination of both in the headstall style. Then there is the 'head-setter' tie-down that tightens. The point is, they are called tie-downs because they were created to tie the head down and prevent it from going up above a certain point.

They are not called a 'face-brace', a 'stop-helper', a 'shoulder-lifter'...

The failed 'bracing' argument...

3 out of 4 people who use tie-down's, especially barrel racers and ropers,  will tell you their horse 'needs' a tie-down to 'brace' on when running or stopping. This is absolutely NOT true. Horses running full speed at liberty (and even with a rider) will brace with their hind legs and 'drift' forward with their forelegs, while lifting their shoulders and neck. This is the natural way of things. Think of a reiner's sliding stop, that is basically how it is done, only less flashy. If your horse cannot carry himself and needs something to lean/counterbalance on then there is much more wrong than you thought. Either with his training or with his rider. Horses should naturally carry themselves, and balance on their own when maneuvering. They do not 'need' anything to help them do what nature already intended them to do.

What they affectionately call 'bracing' is due to heavy contact on the bit, as in to getting them to stop, and the horse wanting to avoid the bit and the rein pressure by throwing his head up. Much of the time this would mean hitting the rider in the face with the neck, or running away head jerked up and back, going through the bit to avoid it and the pressure it exerts.

And the argument that a horse with a tie-down cannot rear is also absolutely not true. A horse in a tie down can very much still rear, and quite a few have.

Let's face it. It's purely a crutch, a bandaid for bad training or lack of training.

The horse uses its neck, spine, and tail for balance. If you tie his head down with a tie-down you are basically asking a tight-rope walker to walk a tight-rope with no hands. That means the horse is using you and the reins for balance whenever he cannot stretch out his neck when needed. Ever wonder why so many horses trip, fall, and tip over while turning in barrel races? Most, if not practically all, are wearing tie-downs.

Tie-downs also pose more than one danger for horses. Think about this: You're cantering along and your horse trips in a small hole and goes down on the forehand. With his head tied down he cannot put his head up and out to regain his balance. What about if he should fall on a turn and get his leg caught in a tie-down used without a breast collar (which is seen far too often)? You'd have a nasty accident.

A naturally high-headed horse forced to wear a tie-down can actually be made to be in pain. Or he has a high neck/head set and that is what is natural to him, instead of teaching him to round up, come into the bridle and onto the vertical, tying his head down can cause, an upside down neck, stiffness, soreness, and even neck vertebrae issues. If the horse is not high-headed when he's in the paddock or at liberty but is when you put a saddle/bridle on him and climb on his back that usually means you have a pain, tack, fitting, etc issue. It's not the horse, it's the equipment/rider causing it. Slapping a tie-down on to stop this behavior on a naturally-lower headed horse that puts his head/neck up when being ridden will only cover up the pain/pressure/sensitivity he is trying to convey, or even cause him pain.

Barrel racers, tie-downs, and gag bits...

Whoever thought this up and made it the okay/normal thing to do needs to be shot, and if they survive, shot again. A gag bit is a pulley leverage bit. Gags with shanks are very severe, sliding gags with a gag mouthpiece also are the worst and most severe. It climbs up the mouth/face higher and higher with rein pressure. This asks the horse to raise his front end, put his hindquarter under, put his head up and his muzzle outward. A tie-down asks the horse to lower his front end under and bring his rear up, put his head down and holds his muzzle inward. These are two very conflicting, very opposing signals. Basically the horse's head has nowhere to go and if it attempts to move its head either way it is met by sharp resistance. A tiedown and a gag, lifter, elevator, draw/sliding gag, or any kind of bit used to 'raise' the head/neck/forequarter should NEVER be used together.

Using a tie-down on a speed horse can actually decrease his overall speed, as he cannot stretch out, flatten himself, and run from his center of propulsion. He cannot run properly with his head tied down being unable to use his neck properly for balance.

If you think you 'need' a tie-down, let me just say, you DON'T. You, as a rider/trainer need to go back to training and horse's anatomy 101.

-Raevyn

I've sold the blog, no not to the little crazy asses on facebook, and will be transferring things over to the new owners this week. There will be some guest bloggers and posts, so stay tuned.


And the new owners know about the group of facebook shitwhistles, so they'll still be featured as long as they act like such a group of douche bags.

It was nice knowing and posting for all of you, now it's time to continue with my real job and let others take over the reins and shine the light on horse abuse in the show ring.


T. Jean Maus

Hiding like the cowards they are...

Really Amy, Matthew, Dave, Hill, Jarred and the rest of the chickenshits, you think forming a new secret group to hide in actually keeps the shit you say hidden? How stupid are you? The answer is very! Don't worry, it will be reported too and the nasty posts saved and forwarded to facebook.