Set the riding mower to six inches and go back and forth until just stubs are left. They actually regenerate nicely this way, but of course are small for the first year.

Yup, came upon that one after getting scratched up in rose tangle one time too many. It's my version of that iconic scene in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' where Indiana Jones ponders fighting the swordsman with his whip, and then just pulls out his gun and says "To Hell With It" and shoots the guy.

i had pretty much all my woody plants in a mess last year after some serious neglect. the worst, i just satisfied myself with taking the real- going in the completely wrong direction- stuff, and will fine tune it next year.

Tea roses?
floribunda?
climbing?

What I find helpful is googling for " pruning tea roses"
or
"pruning floribunda roses"
then looking until I find an article with pics, most good articles have before and after pics.
The overall trick to pruning roses is to cut just above the "eye" ( new bud) where the new stem will grow and produce a flower.,
you want that stem to grow to the outside of the center, not towards the inside of the center
and you want to cut way back any black, diseased, dead stems, all the way to the ground.

Whipping a badly overgrown bush will take a few pruning sessions over a 6-9 month period.
right now cutting out all deadwood is a good time.
Then cutting off a branch when bush is in bloom, to remove the blooming rose for a vase
or
remove the dead rose on the plant.

Roses are related to blackberries, so it is almost impossible to kill them, they will usually grow back even if you cut them down to a few stalks.
But moving/transplanting a developed rose bush will teach you that they have a tap root that goes deep, for miles.

I was doing such a bad job that one of my neighbors called me out on it. Talk about embarrassing!

So this year I took a course. I'm trying to do it right, but I am never sure whether I have really spotted the eye, the bud that will sprout for the year.

I see that my neighbors have beautifully trimmed roses cupped just right with all the buds pointing outwards. My roses are too messed up to get them looking that good. Well, it's good to have a challenge.

Thanks again. You stated it so clearly.