Equitation works!

I have a whole post planned on equitation and I don't have time to write that now, but I have to share this photo. I just took three students to a hunter show, two of whom had never shown before. I didn't have a chance to get any photos because I was busy coaching so I emailed one of the moms to see if she had happened to snap any photos. She said she didn't get many, and the ones she got were dark. Here is the only riding photo she sent me so it's not as though I pawed through a whole slew of photos and pulled this one out.

This is one of the girls who had never shown before. She is nine years old. The pony she was riding was a little nervous and forward and she handled it excellently. The photo is dark and blurry, but to the best of my ability I put dots at her shoulder and heel and at her elbow and the bit and drew lines between them. You will see that a straight line from her shoulder to her heel goes right through her hip, and a straight line from her elbow to the bit goes right through her hand. Although the pony was going faster than she was accustomed to, my rider kept her foot underneath her, her leg is wrapped around the pony, and her heel is down. This allowed her to maintain her base of support and not lose her balance. And although the pony's head is high, my rider kept a straight line from her elbow to the bit to keep a supple, effective communication with the pony. She may not have known why she was doing these things, but she remembered how to ride, even under pressure, and I'm so proud!

I must stop enabling.

I received an email containing the following statement the other day:

I hate to see practices that put riding out of the financial range of so many people.

I keep thinking about this, and I have to say that I soundly disagree. I'll echo the often-repeated phrase from FHOTD, "Owning a horse is a luxury, not a right."

I've been mulling this statement over for the past few days and then today a few minor things happened and taken together, it's all really made me regret the way I've tried to make this sport easier for some of my clients. I have always tried really hard to give clients less expensive options, such as having relaxed training requirements for the horses and showing requirements for the riders and allowing them to work off or trade services for portions of their bills. I think it's backfired though, and now I have people expecting that I will pave the way for cheaper horse ownership for them, no matter what the circumstances are.

The vodka and I would now like to make some points.

• I founded this program with the intention that it would be pretty low pressure and I'm not going to force anyone into competing if it is beyond their financial means or comfort level. If you are going to show, however, it is going to be expensive. It just is. Don't expect me to let you go to shows with low-quality clothes or tack because not only are you representing yourself in the ring, you are representing my program. I can work with you to help you find quality used things if the cost of new items is prohibitive, but if even that is beyond you, you're in the wrong sport.
• If you buy a horse, there will be expenses you don't expect. I can list out for you the prices of vaccines and dental visits and hoof trims and other routine needs, but do not be surprised (or indignant!) if you buy a horse and it turns out that he needs supplements, or chiropractic care, or extra feed, or whatever. I cringe when people balk at paying for a minor extra expense because it always makes me wonder what will happen if a real emergency comes up. A vet bill in the thousand-dollar range is not unheard of. Plan for it.
• If you choose not to buy a horse, that's fine too. I have a barn full of horses and likely there will be one that works well for you to take lessons on or take to some shows. It is unfair, however, to decide that owning a horse is too expensive for you but expect to use my valuable horses as if they are your own. If you are taking lessons or showing one of my school horses, there will be limits on how high you may jump or how many shows you may do. I have to protect my investment in my school horses -- you might be shocked to find how much it would cost to replace them. The lesson horses are the most valuable animals in the barn.
  
• There are going to be disappointments. I can do my very best to pick a horse for you and we can get a pre-purchase exam and do everything right but things might still go wrong. Whether we have bought a $4,000 horse or a $40,000 horse, he might only be a day away from major illness or permanent injury. If this happens you make a decision and move on. Yes, it might get very expensive (refer to second bullet point). Yes, you might have to get another horse if you want to continue to compete (refer to third bullet point). My horse died. If your horse is still breathing, f-ing get over it.

Now, more vodka.

March!

The other day I looked at the calendar and realized that it's March. March! Not February! I made it!

If you know me in person you may have heard my February rants. It's my number one, most despised month. December is the first of the really rainy months but you have the holidays to look forward to (if you happen to like them) or at least to keep your mind off the weather. January tends to have the most ice storms but that's at least a break from the usual mud. February just sucks. Calendar-wise it makes you think that you ought to be heading into spring but you're just not. February is all cold, boot-sucking mud and darkness. Often in February a physical despair sets in with me that makes it difficult to get my outside work done. Last February was just about the worst ever even though last year I had a partner. This year, as February loomed closer, I was nearly panicky about how I would get everything done alone when I had previously struggled with help.

But suddenly, it's March! And February wasn't so bad! Don't get me wrong, my property was still covered in cold, heavy mud and I was still feeding in the dark, so the difference is in me. The point of this post, which has turned rather personal, is that it seems a relationship can cause every part of one's life to seem hopeless. I lingered in that relationship even though I knew things were going horribly, horribly wrong because the thought of being alone was scary. Well, ha! Not only am I happier in general, but everything seems easier. Who knew?