5 Reasons Not To Take Your Riding So Seriously

We’ve discovered one of the most effective solutions to getting caught up in our emotions, the challenges of our horses, and the ever-confusing decision about which blanket to put on.

Stop taking your riding so seriously. Here’s why: 

1.    Horseback riding and showing is ridiculous.

We put our hair in lunch lady hairnets, slap a trendy plastic hat on our heads, and ride animals around a dirt or sand ring for pretty colored ribbons. C’mon, laugh a little.

2.      We don’t have all the time in the world.

Don’t spend your time in a job you hate, in a relationship you don’t like, and certainly don’t spend your time in a division where the jumps are too high for you. We don’t have a ton of time to waste doing things that aren’t fun and don’t make us happy.

Spend your time wisely. Make the most of it by doing what makes you happy with your horse.

3.      Worrying about your ride or situation doesn’t help.

Wisdom suggests worrying won’t help you solve anything. Worry does absolutely nothing for you. But what if you forgot to put sticky spray on your boots and your horse spooks in the class? But what if you don’t make the Derby cutoff?

Worry is as useless as using spurs on a dead-sided, cranky pony. It gets you nowhere.

4.      Other people can take things seriously for you.

There’s a whole host of other people on this planet. Most of them are stressed out about what grain to feed their horse next, if they have the right bit on their horse, and how could their child not win? She was, by far, the best rider in the class!

They take things seriously enough that they can prove to you it isn’t worth it. Let others be worried.

Ride your best, and smile sympathetically when someone else’s parent is frustrated with them because they didn’t win.

5.      In the grand scheme of things, a ribbon isn’t worth much.

So, we wear our lunch lady hairnets and ride in circles in front of people we pay to give us an opinion. Some of us do this to test our knowledge, to see our progress. The rest of us? We might be doing it for ribbons.

Why get caught up in our emotions for something that looks like it was made in an arts and crafts class? Think about that the next time you add in an extra class just to be sure your horse is quiet enough to pin in the hack.

If riding was meant to be taken so seriously, stress wouldn’t make us sick and people certainly wouldn’t own horses for pleasure. Enjoy your ride like you’re meant to.