>>>> I'm pretty turned off by the saddleseat I have seen around here, I don't think it's really a good way to ride. I want to see more relaxed and natural.
My first impression of the Helen Crabtree video was that it was a relic of a bygone era, an era when the ladies of the plantation sat on the veranda, fanning themselves and sipping lemonade. Of course, "ladies" would never treat an animal unkindly by yanking on its mouth, so one HAD to have "quiet hands" and a good rhythm to follow that big ol' trot. It didn't appeal to me - I'm southern born and bred from many generations of "fine southern ladies", but somehow all that gentility just didn't "take" for me! I just thought her video was more out-of-touch than appalling though - it seemed rather stuffy and prissy. The riding really was not bad at all - just not especially practical for a trail rider. I DO find the riding in this video Raven linked to be appalling however - nothing genteel or mint-julepy there. That's just bad riding, whatever the style it's associated with. Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
