If you and your horse aren't safe, don't ride in the arena with other people.
If you notice people leaving the arena when you mount up, and it happens every time? You're not safe.
If you notice people deliberately waiting for you to be done before they come into the arena, and it happens every time? You're not safe.
If you and your horse aren't safe, don't ride in the arena with other people.
*shudder* We had one of those at the current barn for a while. She took her time getting saddled, etc - because she looooved her horsie and had to spend a bunch of time getting him prettied up and saddled - and we'd all either ride before she did or wait until she was done. It wasn't that she was overtly unsafe - I mean, she wasn't hanging off of her horse or doing stupid shit. It was more a problem of communication issues between a very sensitive horse and a very high-strung, not-sensitive rider. They were like a thirty minute session with a powder keg and a lit match. I honestly sat and watched them some days just to make sure someone was on hand to call 911 in case that horse actually blew.
Second place in the pet peeve list definitely goes to "let's all go stand at the gate at the end of the ride!" Just... why. Why would you do this? Your horse already knows that the gate goes out, and that going out of the gate means you're probably done. And the people that always do that also are the ones that always dismount by the gate. Can we say "recipe for a massively gate-sour horse"?
Absolutely agree with BOTH of these.
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