Badmouth my horse...

...I dare ya.

Seriously.

The other day I got into an argument with someone close to me.  This someone felt the need to tell me what was wrong with my horse.  Yes, they were probably right.  Yes, I'm well aware of the things that China and I need to work on.  But sometimes, sometimes when you share pictures of your horse, you just want to be told she looks pretty and that's really all that needs to be said at that point in time.  And sometimes the last thing you want to hear is what is wrong with your horse.

It's the weirdest thing about being a horse owner/lover.  I may complain about my girls from time to time.  I've even called China a cow at least once a ride the last couple of times I've ridden her.  But that doesn't mean you're allowed to call her that.  That doesn't mean when I show you pictures of us at a show you're allowed to say that she's doing this wrong or you just don't think she's the quality that I think she is.  You can say what you want about me as a rider, but you start bashing my horse and the hair on the back of my neck stands up and the mother hen in me comes out.

Let's do a quick reality check here.  I know that China isn't going to go to Appaloosa World and win the big time classes.  It's fun to do our local buckle series.  It was a blast to go to the App show that was in our back yard and run with some of the big names in Wissota.  But I have no illusions that we will be seeing ourselves on the cover of any top magazines any time soon.  I have simpler goals for China and I.

Goals:
This year we qualified in 3 classes for Champ Show (not that we are going - but we were qualified).  Next year I want to make it 4 and I want to go to Champ Show.

This year we mostly walk/trotted at competitive shows.
Next year I want to lope the entire season.

This year I loped on her bareback at home, one time.
Next year I want to do the bareback equitation class.

This year I failed miserably at showmanship.  A lot.
Next year I want to place top 5 (when there are more than 5 in the class).

Word to the wise if you just don't get it -   no matter how much someone talks smack about their own horse, 99% of the time it's a better idea if you only say positive things about someone else's horse.  Keep your Negative Nancy opinions to yourself and remember that your own horse might not be all that and a bag of chips.  And if you're not a horse person and someone shares pictures of their horse with you, to be safe, just exclaim, "Oh so pretty!" (or talented, stunning, athletic, there really are a lot of good options...)