20 Stall Dressage Performance Facility in Newtown, CT run by Jannike Gray Gallagher
03/01/2025
This message is for those who don't want to be normal. If you want to fit in, stay safe, be average, I understand and respect that, it's the normal thing to do. But then this email isn't for you.
Also note: This post is about dressage, but it's also not about dressage.
I was browsing the international rankings of the FEI CDI 1* and noticed that just over 400 riders participated at that level.
There are an estimated 175,000 dressage riders in the world today.
That means only 0.2% of the dressage riding world competes at the lowest level of the CDI ring.
I came to a couple of conclusions.
🔹Dressage is insanely hard. The odds are against you. If you're riding at PSG or above, you should pat yourself on the back, you've made it much further than most people ever will. Don't underestimate that accomplishment. It's huge.
🔹Getting to PSG or above is not the norm, in fact, it's statistically improbable. If you want to ride at that level too, you have to be willing to approach your entire life with a different mindset.
Doing what's normal or average, is doing what everyone else is doing. That makes up the very definition of normal. Normal people get normal results.
But, you can't stand out, achieve more, be more, do more, or succeed more, while doing what everyone else is doing.
You have to approach things differently. It's a fundamental necessity.
This is where things can get challenging. You can't always look to your peers because chances are they are normal too.
You have to be the one to break away, to forge your own path. It takes courage and strength, a vision. You have to believe it's possible or at the very least, worthy of the pursuit.
If you want to stand out, you can't fit in.
Big dreams take big risks, and having the courage to chase them isn't for everyone.
But if you want to push the boundaries of what you're capable of, you have to go all in.
And that....is far from normal.
