Being an Equestrian

maybe it's not a sport; it's so much harder and more rewarding

MAYBE IT'S NOT A SPORT; IT'S SO MUCH HARDER AND MORE REWARDING

For all you ignorant people out there, figure out what the heck you're talking about before you go telling people, especially equestrians, that riding is not a sport and/or that it is easy. Our job is to make it look easy. They tell you to rarely take lessons from people who have a lot of awards in a certain discipline because their horse is usually super trained, which is true in a lot of cases, but the people I show against that have super amazing horses (or mules) typically train/finish them themselves and have earned every single ribbon. Those of us who actually care put so much more work into it than you could ever imagine.

I have stressed, cried, bled, sweat, limped, gotten little sleep, iced and used hot pads for years, and when I want to do nothing but go home, take some Advil and sleep, I suck it up and take it like a man. I have put too much work into something I love for someone to tell me that what I do is easy. We spend more time preparing our horses for shows than ourselves: working the night before, cleaning tack and putting it in the trailer, washing, clipping, trimming, banding/braiding, and pulling out manes until nine at night, having not even having had dinner yet, to still go home, eat, shower, go to sleep at nearly eleven, to wake up at four in the morning to eat, get dressed, get to the barn, load horses, drive to the showgrounds, and ride for hours on end under the blazing sun or in the frigid winter, your clothes never being weather appropriate and shining like a pagent girl when you feel like anything but.

It takes mental, emotional, and physical strength. You have to be fully attuned to your own body and emotions, your horse's body and emotions, your surroundings. You have to fix you're horse's head with the slightest hand movements, control their every motion with barely anything except leg pressure and your seat.

So maybe it's not a sport, because we pour more into our passion than any other athlete.