For the Love of Horses

All my life, I’ve loved horses. My mom finally let me start riding when I was 8, and there was no going back. She was terrified of horses and was constantly worried I would get hurt, but she let me do it anyway. We could barely afford my weekly lessons, but my parents found a way to make it happen for several years. My dream even then was to ride on a college team. One day, the owners of the barn asked my mom when I was going to start showing. My mom told them that I probably wouldn’t since we didn’t have the money, and they told her that I wasn’t allowed to advance my riding until I went to a show. In fact, they said that I really should have started jumping months before, but they didn’t want to waste the effort on someone who wouldn’t show. My mom pulled me from that barn for obvious reasons, but I was still devastated.

It took a few years for us to find a new barn that we could afford. When we did, I had a really hard time getting my strength back. I remember wanting to quit because I could do so much more in my head than my body would let me do. My mom wouldn’t let me stop because she knew how important it was to me, and I finally got back to where I had been. I even started jumping for the first time, but then my dad lost his job. We couldn’t afford my lessons anymore, so I stopped riding again. I pretty much decided that I wasn’t meant for the horse world and gave up any hope of returning.

My mom had different plans. Even though it scared her, she knew that I loved riding. As soon as my dad got a new job and they sorted out our finances, she called my coach and planned a lesson. I didn’t want to go, but she made me. It was easier to start again because I had only been away for about a year. It didn’t take long for me to be jumping and helping to train horses again. I started to think about college, so I looked for schools with equestrian teams. My senior year I actually went through the process of joining the team at Berry. I told my coach that I wanted to join a college team, and she looked me in the eye and said that I couldn’t hack it. To this day I’m not sure why she said that, since she was letting me train her horses at the time. It couldn’t have been that she thought I was a terrible rider. Either way, I left that afternoon and never went back. I chose a school without a team and let go of my dreams.

Because of some health issues, I was granted a medical withdrawal from my spring semester. My mom helped me through all of that, and then helped me look at schools since I didn’t want to go back there. She only showed me schools with equestrian teams, and I ended up here. I really thought I was ready to start riding again, but when it came time for the team’s evaluations, I chickened out. It just seemed stupid for me to join a competitive team when I would be such a low level rider, especially in light of what I had done before. I somewhat regretted it, so in January I decided to finally reach out to the team. We scheduled a one-on-one lesson with their coach and I prepared myself for the worst.

At the end of the lesson, I was asked to join the team. The coach told me that I was a natural rider and that I would be sure to place at the shows. Obviously I still had work to do to get back into shape yet again, but I wasn’t awful like I had anticipated. I went to the first show just over a week later, with two lessons under my belt after almost two years off. I placed. I wasn’t first place or anything, but I placed. By the end of the year, I had my blue ribbon. This never would have happened without my mom, and I’m proud of her for putting her fears aside to help me get here. I’m proud of myself for finally realizing my childhood dream, despite how many times it seemed impossible. Mostly, though, I’m proud that I’m happy with this, even though I’m in a way lower class than I imagined. I used to worry that it wouldn’t be worth it to show at my current level, but now I know for sure that the love of the sport and the horses is all that matters.