Feeling down in the dumps lately? Me too. I think we can all take one big collective sigh and agree to feeling exhausted with just about everything right now. And I think I can speak for nearly all of us when I say it’s A LOT and we’re not getting nearly enough pony time to cope with ALL THE THINGS right now.
When I’m feeling burnt out, or generally down, or frustrated with something, my horse and my trainer and my barn friends are usually my outlet. It’s their wisdom, or their support, or just a nice warm soft muzzle that makes me feel a little bit better. In their absence in recent months, I’m often left feeling untethered and more irritable than usual. So now my husband gets to bear the brunt of all those feelings. Sorry, husband.
When I expressed this to said husband recently, he replied jokingly: “Don’t you just pay your trainer to tell you to ‘add leg‘?”
We had a good laugh about his non-horsey insights. But it became a mantra that stuck. Every time I felt crappy, about what I was reading in the news or about the longterm job outlook, or even not knowing when I’ll be able to horse show again, my husband would remind me to just “add more leg.”
So obviously that makes no sense when you’re not in the saddle. But it was the sentiment behind it that made the difference.
When in doubt, like the many equestrian memes say, add more leg.
It’s become a running joke in our household, but it’s also given me a glimmer of hope in those dumpy moments. Don’t want to go to work? Add more leg. Don’t want to get out of bed? Just add more leg.
So here are some motivational memes to make you feel better, whether you’re riding or not.