Skip to main content

i get knocked down, but I get up again (adventures in Equestrian)

Ya know I'm sitting here thinking to myself that I don't fall off horses because I'm stupid or I did anything wrong. When I was young, we used to say "I learned something when I fell off, and I'll never fall off for that same reason". The last couple times have been complete and utter accidents. 

Accidents happen. You try to avoid them. Sometimes you can try all you want but you might make it worse. So yeah, I feel like I hit the ground more than I should(at my age/level), but I can count plenty of times I could have hit the ground and I didn't. That's what is exciting and scary and exhilarating about my sport- I team up with a 1100+ lb animal with a mind of its own who speaks a different language. Sometimes we get each other, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we trust each other, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we trip and fall on our faces. But we do it together. And as long as I want to get back on and the horse lets me get back on, I will keep on climbing up into that saddle. Because no matter how scary a moment I had, there's so many more moments of pure joy that my horses have brought me. I just get some bruises along the way  ‪#‎rideon‬ ‪#‎cowgirlup‬‪#‎equestrian‬ ‪#‎fallandgetbackon‬ ‪#‎nevergiveup‬ ‪#‎livethedream‬ ‪#‎liveyourdream ‬‪#‎horsegirl‬ ‪#‎dirtoffyourshoulder‬ ‪#‎cantstopwontstop‬

And honestly- anyone who isn't an avid horseback rider who thinks they know a little something about horses and thinks I clearly don't- keep your opinion to yourself. I've got 20 years under my belt and I learn something new every day. No I don't train under top names in the industry, but I've ridden some damn good horses and been taught by some damned good people. 


I read something today where someone who competes in high level equestrian events said “If you don’t risk, you’ll never win!” and someone else replied "That mantra is what may account for so many recent horse deaths and rider deaths".

My thoughts on that were: I have fallen off 2x in 2 months- one was because the horse spooked and one was because the horse tripped. Every day that you choose to saddle up and get on you take a risk. Every day that you team up with a 1,000lb+ partner who doesn't speak your language and who is programmed to "fight or flight", you take a risk. Every time you ask them to do something- be it walk, trot, jump- you risk them not understanding, overreacting, or throwing a tantrum because they just don't want to. Honestly, sounds like the daily interaction you'll have with most people you encounter! Sometimes "risk" means dangerous, sometimes it just means outside your "comfort level". My husband is afraid to trot. Some would say that's not a very risky thing to do on a horse. With knowledge and training and encouragement, puddles and poles don't seem so scary- to people or horses.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Everyone's thinking it, I'm asking: Is today's left wing liberalism a mental illness?

This is a serious topic of discussion on 'the right'. Not even the far right... the center right. The " 68 % conservatives", the "Centrists", the "Young Outsiders", and the "Somewhat Liberals".  I don't know what the spectrum is for "political or world views" but I'd have to say I hang to the right and the conservative. Which sounds so weird, because CONSERVATIVE is not really a word I'd  ever  use to describe myself. But I talked about this in past blog posts... today's topic is, are people on the FAR LEFT suffering from mental illness? My psychologist sister would have you believe that everyone suffers from some form of mental illness in varying degrees. I suffer from anxiety which induces depression. FUN! The anxiety is inherited, the depression is what occurs when you stop learning how to cope with new or prolonged anxiety inducing situations. Anxiety is a product of chemical imbalance, it can be trea...

sensory overload

We soothe ourselves and distract ourselves and, if we can’t even face the demons inside our own brain, how can we be expected to stick something out, to love someone even when it’s not easy to love them? We bail. We leave. We see a limitless world in a way that no generation before us has seen. We can open up a new tab, look at pictures of Portugal, pull out a Visa, and book a plane ticket. We don’t do this, but we CAN. The point is  that we know we can, even if we don’t have the resources to do so. There are always other tantalizing options. Open up Instagram, Facebook, SnapChat and see the lives of others, the life we could have. The life that just looks so much more glamorous, vibrant (thanks, filters), and exciting than ours. See the places we’re not traveling to. See the lives we’re not living. See the people we’re not dating. We bombard ourselves with stimuli, input, input, input, and we wonder why we’re miserable. We wonder why we’re dissatisfied. ...

The new normal: Fat acceptance

A new study published in the 'International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology, and Education' reveals that the average size of an American woman is now between a 16 to 18, which is an increase from 10-year-old data that indicated most women in the U.S. were a size 14. "I am hoping this will help nudge the fashion industry to seriously consider expanding their sizes," said study author Deborah Christel, Ph.D. LOL...  But you don't make the connection between larger sizes of humans overall and obesity? You don't hope that the results of the 'study' you did encourage people to start eating better and exercising more and you know, stop being obese? You just hope the multi billion dollar fashion industry changes its ways... er, um, sizes. Because... feelings? I mean, anyone who says they can't find clothing in their size is forgetting to tell you the whole story, leaving out key factors like: can't find clothing in their price range, can...