Do you think horse people are by nature more competetive than average?

Question

I haven't asked any questions before, and I've noticed that there seems to be a strong competetive spirit exhibited by the people on this site...just curious what you all think.

Answer 1

I dont think this can be narrowed down just to horse people. I think all people who 'compete' in any sport maybe tend to be more competetive anyway.

And then it can all depend on social influence, the way you were brought up by your parents, teachers, genetics....

:-)

Answer 2

I don't consider myself competitive unless you can turn that round and make it mean competing with myself. I don't do shows and have no urge to, I don't mind watching and I'll ooh and ahh with the rest but I just don't want to be "out there"

Answer 3

I havent been around horses that long but i think your right to a point , my daughters have been wanting a pony for the last 4 years (my husband at last agreed) at the moment my girls just want to have fun and spend time with the pony and they are not competative at all but alot of people at the yard keep trying to push them in to shows . No doubt though as my girls get older they will want to compete it just seems the natural progression

Answer 4

it really depends on the person there are some peple who are snoby people thinking they can do what ever. the averagehorse person is out to have fun with horses and get to know more baout themand get involved with them.

Answer 5

i LOVE horses, but im not really that competative, unless it unvolves animals or horses or riding!! lol

i dont really know, but us horsey peeps understand WHY we go to shows, WHY we want to win, WHY we NEED to win, whereas my mum, who isnt into horses at all, doesnt have a clue why we do it! so sort of, yh :-)

Answer 6

I dont think its that we horse people are more competitive, but we take everything more seriously.  Ita all good fun to show and it takes a strong person physcially and mentally to be able to work with aniamls such as horses.  All horse people are nice and at shows there always a little spirit of compition but over all we are just ordinary people who have a very stong passion about our animals that we devote our lives to everyday!!

Answer 7

no im not competitive at all i just go out and hope me and my horse do our best and thats what matters to me

Answer 8

I think you have to have the horsey personality to understand some on here. When I ride with friends we all tease each other about the horses "no matter if its the best horse in the world we will find something about it to pick on" LOL Its just meant as friendly insulting because everyone thinks they have the BEST horse. You live and learn and ignore ....or try too......

I have a story that recently happened.

I am overweight and it bothers me and of course my OLDER lol sister knows this. She loves my horse and wants her for herself so she told me my butt looks HUGE on my lil pony horse, well I fell for it and am buying this thick 15.1 TWH that I have been wanting but kept telling myself I didn't have the money for because I am horse poor. She got really excited ..."thinking her lil butt was gonna get my mare "giggles" .......I gave her to my 8 year old son LMAO!!!!

Anyways it ended up great because I love this new horse and my son is tickled to death about him getting my lil pony. And my sister got nothing! But I got a horse that has a bigger butt than me. ; )

Answer 9

I don't think so at all... you just never "see" the people who are horse people and not competitive, because they're not out in public competing.  I think horse people are as competitive as any other people.

Answer 10

I'm a competitive person just by nature. I'm the middle child in my family and inorder to get attention it turns into a really big competition.

I'm competitive with just about anything. When I started showing horses, I loved it, before that it was soccer, I was very competitive. I believe in giving it your absoulte best. Being competitive is a bit bad, if a horse acts up and they know that their not doing it, I'm ticked for example. I show pelasure horses, I went into a class and the horse raised his head up, I majorly got after him, over punishing him to put his head down.

Answer 11

No doubt more "wild hairs" by nature...same for a Grand Prix driver, base jumper, cross country riders, etc.  It's all about the challenge and some people just enjoy living on the edge.

I did not say all horsebackriders; but there are those wanting more of a challenge.

Answer 12

I think competitive people are drawn to the sport of riding. Even riders who do not compete I find are very strong willed and opinionated.

If you are at a tack shop and need something to treat...say rain rot... and you ask somebody which is the best, they say Betadine but somebody else says Eqyss and somebody else says just to curry them like crazy.

Trail riders compare their resume of rides, eager to out-mileage the other. What started out as a simple hack can often turn into a race. People who come new at my barn will talk about how they can do 3'6" courses, but the second they get on the horse we can all tell that they are still in the cross rail division.

Go watch any hunter flat class and even in the 12 and under division, you will see riders intentionally cutting off their competition just to steal the blue instead of the red.

I don't know if the sport cultivates a competitive spirit or if strong willed people tend to seek out the sport because of its generally competitive nature, especially if they see the unruly horse as something to be overcome rather than a partner.

Answer 13

There are those who just wanna ride and enjoy being with a horse. On the other hand those who show. I think it is the competition that drives them, the difficlty of the sport. The drive to be better. I see it more with horse people than with non-horse people. I love to compete. Its the rush. If you look at sports like rodeo for example. The cowboys don't do it for the money. They do it for the love. If they did it for the money rodeo would be like all other sports where you get paid just for showing up. Rodeo, if you don't place in the money (rodeo on average only pays down to 4th, big rodeo's 10th) you don't get paid. At all, infact you paid the winner cuz your entry fee whent to that person. So, yes I think horse people are more competitive than other people, on a whole. But I think its the competion that brings us to horses.

Answer 14

I am...not so much anymore...

But when I entered shows...I would work my horse every day, even if it was just for 15 minutes.  I figure if I took the time to enter a show...I could take the time for training so that I could do my best.  Not so much against the other riders...but to do the best I actually could.

If I didn't place...it wouldn't be because I didn't try with everything I knew how to do.  And it wouldn't be my horse's fault either.

So I guess that is more competitive against myself.  

*Although there is always one or two in the show ring that you want to BEAT THE PANTS OFF!!  When their mommy and daddy buy a top of the line, finished horse, that a trainer works with...and the only time the rider actually gets on the horse is to enter the ring.  This also goes for the ones who can afford a finished horse without putting anything into it...instead they have a trainer to keep the horse on it's game.

I'm not against 'affording' a finished horse...just not keeping the horse tuned up yourself...