Journey as a Rider

As I have recently done for Q and Stan, I intend to also write a specific post about Griffin and where we're at with things. But then Emma had to go and pose questions that really got me thinking. So, sorry, Grif, but I'mma write this out first.

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Do you define yourself as a rider by your goals or ambitions? Are they inextricably linked to your specific horse? Or maybe instead, your preferred means of deriving enjoyment are defined by the horse you have currently? 

I'm a rider first and foremost because I love horses, being around them, training them, caring for them, and everything in between, good and bad. Horses scratch an itch that none of my other hobbies can. I can't explain it better than that. Secondary to this love, however, are goals and ambitions. I'd say that most simply, these goals and ambitions are to be the best I can be while helping my horses to be the best they can be.

The life of owning, riding, and competing three horses of my own wasn't what I envisioned for my journey with horses. However, it is where I AM. And in an effort to live fully in the present moment and make the best of it, I'm doing all I can to help each horse find success within jobs they enjoy that I also enjoy. I include the caveat, "that I also enjoy" because there are a few disciplines I have zero desire to ever dabble in. Fortunately, those are so few that I shouldn't have a problem finding other fun things to occupy my time (and money)! It is also fortunate that each of the horses I have right now is athletic and capable of pursuing many disciplines.

The first lesson pony: Rocky. Also, there are horses all along the bottom of my t-shirt. Obsessed

From the moment I sat on a horse, I wanted to do more than walk. For a time, after a bad first fall, the canter scared me, but once I moved past that I wanted to canter lots. I wouldn't necessarily say, "I wanna go fast" because I don't have much desire to gallop hither and thither, but I DO like feeling like I'm going somewhere and doing something. While I always dreamed of jumping, the opportunities to do that in my area were slim growing up (and now, too). Trails were easy to come by though! Before I ever knew endurance riding was a thing, I spent hours out on trails every week trotting and cantering up and down mountains, through creeks and rivers wherever I could find to go. So it's no surprise endurance makes me happy. And now that I'm coming to a point in my life that I have the time and the means to travel to event, I'm finally pursuing that, also.

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Have you had to make decisions about buying or selling a horse based on its suitability for your goals or purposes?

Orion. The first horse I owned for 5 months in 2011.

Horses that I've spent time with in life have largely come to me through serendipitous events. I borrowed horses growing up and didn't own one until 2011. That horse, documented shortly during the beginning of my blogging time, was a crash-course in Conformation 101 for me. He was NOT suited for anything I really wanted to do (endurance or some sort of jumping) and ultimately I sold him because I didn't want to spend time and money on a horse that I couldn't pursue what I loved most with.

Yep, hard to believe that's Griffin nearly 5½ years ago. 

Griffin came along a few months after I sold my first horse. He was an ugly little 18 month old intended to be a learning project for me for groundwork. I took him on in order to learn something and maybe keep him. I learned a ton, decided to keep him, and we continue to learn together. Fortunately, his "ugly" was only a phase and he grew into a really nice critter with the best personality ever. He loves jumping the most, puts up with dressage, enjoys the trail, and is very "gamey" in the way that cutting horses are when allowed to chase/herd dogs. As chronicled on the blog, we've pursued jumping, dressage, and trails so far. I hope to put him on cattle and see if he'll work a cow some day, too.

The second morning with Q the weekend I met her. I was leaning heavily toward buying her.

Q is the only horse I have intentionally purchased with some semblance of a plan to do so. I knew I needed a "riding project" in addition to Griffin as a "groundwork project". I'd been hunting for Arabians for a month or two online. I'd found one mare in Kentucky at an Arabian re-homing facility that I really, really liked, but I was too hesitant about the financial burden of two horses to bite the bullet on her (ultimately, the guy in charge of that place kept her for himself because she's so nice). When my riding club went to a horsemanship and trail ride clinic, the cowboy had Q and was looking to get rid of "that crazy psycho". She was super comfortable to ride, jumped neater than any horse I'd ridden prior, and had the build/breeding to stand a chance competing in endurance. I adored everything about her after 2½ days with her and the rest is history.

4 year old Stanley!

Stan, with whom I spent many years during HS and college with, fell into my lap last summer when his owners decided to "get out of horses". I always knew this would happen at some point and had no hesitation telling them I'd take him. He's an athletic horse that, to this day, hates working in arenas and loves being on trail. While I plan to do an LD with him in about 6 weeks, I don't know that I will continue to pursue endurance with him after that. It will largely depend on how difficult it is to manage him metabolically as I really don't have a great desire to micromanage that aspect of endurance much more than I have in the past. I don't feel the need to compete Stan to feel fulfilled.

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Do you feel like there's something bigger out there, something more overarching in your own journey as a rider, independent of the horses that may come in and out of your life? Or maybe you feel the opposite - that it's less about striving forever for something, and more about enjoying each good moment as it comes?

I try to enjoy the good moments as they're presented. Have a horse that likes trails? Pursue trails and endurance. Have a horse that likes jumping? Pursue that. Have a jack of all trades? Do it all!

That being said, I am a competitive person and do enjoy working toward goals. As my horses have expressed their opinions on favorite jobs, I have stretched us both forward to see how far we can go within those jobs. I enter with cautious optimism about achieving what starts as an easy goal and move upward from there if success is found. I don't believe that I must achieve a certain level within endurance or eventing to feel fulfilled/successful. I will pursue the sports within my horse's realm of ability and enjoy every moment along the way.

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Have your opinions or thoughts on this matter had to change over time due to different circumstances? Or maybe you've never actually thought particularly deeply about it at all? 

I hadn't thought deeply about it until these questions. 😉 But now that I am... yes, my thoughts and opinions have changed over time as life has presented options to me.

Once I learned it was a thing, I wanted to do endurance. I didn't know at what distance though and was honestly intimidated about each longer distance until I became confirmed at the one below it. Q succeeded at LDs, so we tried 50s. She succeeded at 50s, so we did a 100. I'd still like to do more of that if she still wants to tackle it. If/when she doesn't want to, I absolutely WILL one day find another horse who wants to. I'd love to be able to pursue more 100-mile rides and participate in 3 to 5 endurance rides per year. I have zero desire to win any ride, but have every desire to complete the rides with a sound, happy horse.

Griffin loves jumping and doesn't mind our dressage work. I'm pursuing eventing and fulfilling a childhood dream to jump and go fast in the process. We're also pursuing dressage because as an adult I am fascinated by it and see huge value in it for myself and the horse. If my summer competitions at the elementary division go well, I'd like to pursue beginner novice in the fall. (We regularly school 2'6" and 2'9" at home, so if I can get our dressage to a good point, BN seems more than achievable.) If BN goes well, I will absolutely dabble at higher levels within eventing as long as I feel comfortable and the horse can handle the questions.