07/21/2024
Be quiet about it.
The reality is, no one cares about you as much as you care about you. I hear all the time about rider goals and they want to do xy and z in the show ring and ride this horse or that horse and jump big. I hear their words, loud and clear.
But I don’t see the actions that go with those words. So be quiet about it.
If you have these things you want to do, but aren’t doing anything to accomplish them, then your words are empty. If you aren’t willing to work, to ride the hard horses, the horses that aren’t made, sweep a barn aisle, or for the love of god, even learn how to clean a stall correctly, then be quiet. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a top level successful rider who didn’t work hard to get where they are. They probably couldn’t talk about their goals because there was too much dirt in their mouth from being thrown off the horses no one else wants to ride.
I think back to my childhood. Sure, I had horses
I preferred and didn’t, but I’d ride anything because I wanted to ride. I rode the crazy ones. I got on the ones that scared me and the ones that excited me and the ones that bored me and the ones that made my arms sore. I cleaned stalls. Scrubbed buckets. Fed horses. Learned the ins and outs of a barn.
Today, I asked a group of riders what their goals are. Some had answers, some had to search for them. My next question was this: what are you doing to work towards your goals? The answers were scattered.
I went on to tell them that I can’t care about their journey any more than they do. I can’t work any harder for them than they will for themselves. And if they aren’t working, don’t expect to go win. Winning is earned (lol actually it’s horses. Sometimes it’s bought). But to truly be a winning human, a hard working, winning-in-your-soul, quality character, human and horseman, you have to work.
Often I remind my riders of something. If they complain I say “oh, and what is riding?” By now they have learned the answer. “Hard!” Yes, riding is hard. Accept that fact and move on, or don’t. Either way be quiet about it.
I admire the riders who are out there chugging away on their journey, bettering themselves. Emulating what it means to be equal parts grit and pushable. Equal parts determined and humble. Equal parts teachable and hungry. The riders who aren’t above any learning opportunity, whether on the ground or on the horse. The riders who are doing the work, and being quiet about it.
Words will only get you so far.
Words courtesy of Jessica Strott
