Each week, we share a real-life barn or show moment that left someone wondering if they were in the wrong. This week from "Sensitive in the Schooling Ring” Recently, at a local show during a flat class full of kids, a trainer was standing on the rail, clearly frustrated. The pony wasn’t barely trantering around, and the trainer snapped loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, “Take your spur and DIG IT INTO HIS HEART!” I was stunned. I get that tensions run high at shows, and I think she meant it as a joke, but that kind of “joke” didn’t sit right with me. These are children. These are animals. Words matter, especially when you’re in a position of authority and literally teaching horsemanship. So I said something quietly, “That’s really not an appropriate thing to say, even as a joke.” She rolled her eyes at me, muttered something about how I clearly have no sense of humor, and then treated me like I didn’t exist for the rest of the day. Now I’m left wondering… was I being overly s...