Discipline

When I was looking to buy a horse, I asked my barn owner to help me find an English-trained horse, preferably a thoroughbred or warmblood, who could jump. Instead she found me Walker, a Western Pleasure Quarter Horse. I have spent many a night grumbling about this to my mother so I won't go through it again here. In the end, Walker was a lot of what I needed at the time (not to mention everything I adore), and now that I'm ready to move on, he's willing to try and come with me.

The problem from the start was my lack of discipline - not discipline as in willpower or determination, but discipline as in area of interest. In my dreams, I have dabbled with thoughts of all of them and still haven't really settled on a clear winner:

Walker's purpose in life

Western Pleasure:
Obviously Walker's forte. He's got the comfiest gentle jog ever. For the record, WP is not as easy as it looks, but despite all my beaming pride when I'm able to accomplish such a drastic change in speed or gaits, it's definitely as boring as it looks. I like doing this mainly now to practice speed control. I get Walker going really fast and then I reel him in, preferably with seat alone, and I think it's a generally good skill to have all around.

the most impressive thing about reining: the sliding stop

Barrel Racing/Cow Penning/Reining:
I probably do the rest of the Western disciplines a disservice by lumping them together, but they are characterized by their speed and generally more practicality than, say, WP.  I rode a barrel racer once. It was not such a good experience. I asked her to lope but when she noticed there were barrels in the ring, she thought it was a competition and tried to end her run at a gallop out the open gate. A brave man actually had to leap in front of her to stop her, and while exhilarating in most situations, I'm not sure if its anything I'd do other than just for fun. The same goes for cow penning and reining. Looks fun, but I don't own any cows so the skills are pretty much lost on me.

Obvious choice of rider here

Hunter/Jumpers:
My current obsession.  I want to jump, and although Walker lacks the natural ability and god given talent, he makes up for it all by never refusing to jump a fence, even when he's unsure, even when I'm unsure, especially when I'm no help!  I've decided we can work on it.  We'll never be competitive in it or anything, but I enjoy the thrill of it.  I also think there's a part of Walker which likes the freedom of being wild.  Poor Western ponies don't get a lot of that.  In the future, I'm seriously considering taking lessons at a jumping barn, leasing a jumper, or buying a jumper as my second horse (second horse meaning I'll be keeping Walker and living in abject poverty forever).  That time is not now though.

Walker's leg will never do that.  Never.

Dressage:
I think this is where Walker might ultimately end up even if I end up sticking with the hunter/jumpers. We can always retire to WP, but I think dressage gives us a chance to work on other fancy maneuvers to keep us both fit and using our minds. My only concern with dressage, as is my concern with most of the English disciplines is Walker's Western tendencies: a low set head, lack of impulsion, and general dislike of firm contact.  I realize these are fairly crucial to the sport, but once again, I don't intend to be competitive.  I simply want to utilize all the tricks and tips that dressage is so good for.

I chose this picture for the sheer absurdity of it.
Obviously we can do that no problem

Eventing:
To be honest, it's not so much the three-part event that attracts me as the cross country schooling, and even then, I'm not so sure I'd want to get into eventing as a discipline. I picture cross country courses as more fun when I'm just out cantering in an open field and, oh hey, there's a log we should jump. I think it brings me back to my original plans for horse ownership, which was simply being able to ride regardless of the situation. I had a lot of dreams of open fields and trails, and I think cross country courses best preserves that image in my mind.

Whatever we do, several things are clear to me.  I have a good-natured horse who is willing to try it all.  He may not be particularly talented at a lot of them, but that's where a second horse comes in.  I don't expect Walker to do things if it starts to mean injuries or dread of me coming to see him at the barn.

For now we will play around, and who knows, maybe once we get going, he will turn around and surprise me.  It wouldn't be the first time.  I complain all the time about his "slowness", and then a couple months ago, I watched him outrace a thoroughbred in the back field who everyone by far thought was the fastest horse at our barn.  They can surprise you, those ponies.