The "Official" Critique Me, Please Guidelines

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Home » Young Rider Forum » Critique Me, Please » The "Official" Critique Me, Please Guidelines...

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The "Official" Critique Me, Please Guidelines...

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BornToWin

Posted 1/25/2008 8:34:57 PM

Advanced Member

Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 9:16:09 PM
Posts: 2,475, Visits: 2,730

Yeah, so I know most of you already know this & that this has been posted before, but I thought I'd elaborate on some basic Critique Me guidelines;; just to give newer members an idea of what to expect and refresh the memories of a few of our older members Wink

1. These are my opinions, agree or not, it's your choice. Feel free to add to them.

2. If you post something to be critiqued, then accept people's critiques. Don't freak out at someone because they said you're not perfect. Don't fuss at someone for pointing out flaws with your riding, that's what you're asking them to do. No one likes someone who can dish it out but can't take it.

3. Don't give a lot of excuses ("my horse was being really bad and i was breaking in new tall boots, that's why my o/f form was so bad", etc.). We can all see through lame excuses, and it's just a waste of space & sounds like you're trying to wriggle out of an honest, frank critique.

4. "The horses knees aren't even" is NOT a critique (we're talking if that's ALL you post). When someone posts something to be critiqued, they want an ACTUAL critique. Duh, anyone can see that a horse's knees aren't even. Post something that will actually HELP. To actually give a useful critique, critique the rest of the horse as well- nice bascule, trailing hind end, etc AND offer some insight as to what the rider can do to improve the horse- more gymnastics, more flatwork, getting the horse a vet check to make sure he's sound, ladidadida, you know the rest. Which brings me to my next point....

5. DO NOT critique if you don't know what you're talking about! It is HUGELY annoying to have useless critiques from people who don't know what they're saying. As a general rule, critique at or below your level- if you're only jumping cross rails, don't critique someone who posts pics of themselves schooling 4'6", because there's no way you'll know what its like. It's like a walk-trot student trying to give George Morris a riding lesson.

6. This is an obvious one, but don't post pics that aren't of you and claim they are. We've had some issues with that lately. It's not cool. We're nice people; we'll accept you for who you are.

7. Critique NICELY and TACTFULLY. Don't we all agree that "You're jumping ahead of your horse's motion, causing your leg to swing back and your heels to come up. This makes jumping difficult for your horse. Try doing no stirrups work to build up your core of support, and close your eyes five strides out from a fence so that you have to let your horse's motion lift you out of the saddle instead of getting up their neck" is a much better critique than "You suck you shouldn't be jumping so high go back to crossrails!"? (Okay, so the first one isn't a great, detailed critique either, but you get my point Wink

).
Also, people do like getting compliments. If you like a particular horse or think someone's pony's super cute, you can post and tell them so.

8. In a critique, don't only point out the flaws in the riding; post things that the person can do to improve as well.

9. [from BetOnBlackjack] You do not overrule the member's trainer. Don't start a fuss about the bit in the horses' mouth, the martingale, the draw reins. The trainer knows what she's doing, and the member will listen to the trainer, not a 12 year old over the internet. Be respectful of the trainer's authority. Critique the member's riding and their horse's form, not the equipment their trainer has them ride in.

10. All in all, post critiques that are kind, respectful, helpful, and worth the person's time Smile

.

EDIT: I thought I'd link to something that Rori wrote too- http://board.youngrider.com/Topic502982-11-1.aspx.

"Well if your life revolves around horses and you're home for 2 weeks out of the summer and you live off overly expensive food at horseshows and the difference between a good day and a bad day is whether you got a lead change or not and you have too many pictures but love them all and you know what it feels like to fly over a 5' oxer and what it feels like to slam face first into the ground and you love the feeling of getting the top call in the jog and you plan out your winter shows the spring before and you live for Devon and Indoors and you know how impossible this sport is but you'll try anyway and you're part of the most trying sport but wouldn't give it up for anything, then grab a drink and we'll go for a walk and know that we're living the best life there is."

OBAMA '08

BORNTOWIN.

Post #503238