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Post by horseguy on Jan 11, 2017 1:13:24 GMT
I work in a bakery a few days a week. I am helping Karen, my partner, start an artisan bakery and I wash pans and mop floors because that is all I am good for in a bakery. I also do deliveries. Karen bakes in what used to be a culinary school. It's a big place and she rents the part there they taught baking. Down the hall in a former cooking education kitchen there is someone who teaches cooking classes, many of which are for corporate "team building". I guess the idea is if you get people out of the workplace doing something different together and they will work better together. Might work, but all I hear from that kitchen is loud socializing, the sounds of knifes chopping (scares me) and pots rattling. I observe them sometimes and it's just entertainment as far as I can see.
Food entertainment, horse entertainment... makes me wonder if there are firing ranges that are based on entertainment. I suppose so.
In watching those "cooking classes", where I doubt anyone really learns anything, it hit me that this is the typical lesson barn in America today. The age range is about the same as the typical riding student, mostly women 35 to 50, enriching their lives, or trying to, with a quality diversion. It really does not matter, food, horses, whatever, I think.
My barn was never entertainment, entertain-ing once in a while maybe when I came off a horse, but not focused and directed at entertaining people. Students were expected to learn and progress. If they did not, they were placed in a lower level class and their social friends were forced to say goodbye to them. If they took private lessons and didn't work to improve, eventually I stopped teaching them. I suspect there are cooking schools like that where students are quiet, too focused on the food preparation to gab and gaggle. If I could find one that taught baking, I'd take classes and earn a promotion out of my sink area.
I am wondering if there are lesson barns around where readers are that are focused on learning and progression and not at all on entertainment.
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Post by rideanotherday on Jan 11, 2017 12:12:46 GMT
I work in a bakery a few days a week. I am helping Karen, my partner, start an artisan bakery and I wash pans and mop floors because that is all I am good for in a bakery. I also do deliveries. Karen bakes in what used to be a culinary school. It's a big place and she rents the part there they taught baking. Down the hall in a former cooking education kitchen there is someone who teaches cooking classes, many of which are for corporate "team building". I guess the idea is if you get people out of the workplace doing something different together and they will work better together. Might work, but all I hear from that kitchen is loud socializing, the sounds of knifes chopping (scares me) and pots rattling. I observe them sometimes and it's just entertainment as far as I can see. Food entertainment, horse entertainment... makes me wonder if there are firing ranges that are based on entertainment. I suppose so. In watching those "cooking classes", where I doubt anyone really learns anything, it hit me that this is the typical lesson barn in America today. The age range is about the same as the typical riding student, mostly women 35 to 50, enriching their lives, or trying to, with a quality diversion. It really does not matter, food, horses, whatever, I think. My barn was never entertainment, entertain-ing once in a while maybe when I came off a horse, but not focused and directed at entertaining people. Students were expected to learn and progress. If they did not, they were placed in a lower level class and their social friends were forced to say goodbye to them. If they took private lessons and didn't work to improve, eventually I stopped teaching them. I suspect there are cooking schools like that where students are quiet, too focused on the food preparation to gab and gaggle. If I could find one that taught baking, I'd take classes and earn a promotion out of my sink area. I am wondering if there are lesson barns around where readers are that are focused on learning and progression and not at all on entertainment. In theory, the "cooking classes" and other team building events like it are a way to teach people how to follow a process in a lower stress environment than the work place. It's also a chance to be social without the burden of "work". There is also the added entertainment factor. I don't understand boarding / training barns as entertainment. That's not what I did. While I'm not nearly as old school as horse guy, horses are work, a job and companions. I do derive quite a bit of enjoyment out of riding and learning more and bettering my craft, but I wouldn't call it entertainment the same way a movie is entertainment. Largely speaking, horses have become more of a social experiment and a form of escapism. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It is also to a certain extent elitist. Horses are an expensive luxury. |
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Post by Jlynn on Jan 11, 2017 13:00:54 GMT
I've done a few "clinics" (for want of a better word) with a writer. We get six to eight people together with three or four horses and have them watch and listen for the footfalls. (Think of the trot and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening") A few may get on and walk around, some lead the horses or direct them around, and some are more comfortable watching. Horsemanship, no, but they find it beneficial to their writing.
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Post by horseguy on Jan 11, 2017 13:33:32 GMT
I've done a few "clinics" (for want of a better word) with a writer. We get six to eight people together with three or four horses and have them watch and listen for the footfalls. (Think of the trot and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening") A few may get on and walk around, some lead the horses or direct them around, and some are more comfortable watching. Horsemanship, no, but they find it beneficial to their writing. The writer workshop/clinic sounds interesting. It does not sound like it is entertainment oriented. I guess the distinction I'd make between real horsemanship and entertainment horsemanship is discipline. In the cooking classes I observe the demands for discipline are close to zero. Some participants stand to the side wearing aprons and hair nets and just talk and laugh. When urged (gently) to participate, they might go to a work table and pick up an ingredient and have a taste. That's their "contribution". The writing you describe sounds like it requires focused participation and therefore discipline, so for me it's not the entertainment kind of horse/cooking activity I was thinking of when I started this topic. Here is an example. I may have describe this before. There is a barn north of here that has a week night "open lesson". What this is, is a time 6PM to 8PM when anyone can arrive at the barn between those times, go to the aisle of the barn and they will be assigned a horse to ride. They tack up and go to the indoor arena where a 20 something instructor occasionally and irregularly yells "instruction" at them. The assembled riders might be rank beginners, riders who can jump, dressage riders, any body, any level, and any age. These "open lessons" are cheaper than the normal group lesson offered at the barn, and often fill the arena to capacity with horses. This is chaos for around $25 a head. I understand it makes good money for the barn. This is, I believe, the ultimate in entertainment riding lessons and remarkably like the cooking classes I am forced to endure the sound of from down the hall. It is indeed cooking in a group "without the stress of work", without any stress at all, completely without discipline. I suspect there are effective team building activities and leaders, but I also suspect they include an element of discipline. This cooking place is not one of the effective ones, I believe. |
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Post by Maritza on Jan 20, 2017 1:45:08 GMT
When I was looking for a place to take lessons at I was very particular in the questions I asked because I wanted a barn that treated horseback riding as a sport. The barn that I ride has a group of dedicated riders many of whom train and compete. Her daughter also competes (though I am not sure at what level). I have never gone for a lesson and not heard the boarders discuss with our trainer when they will be out again riding and what there horses need.
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