Work Ride & Conquer: How I Get It Done
It happens to everyone – days don’t always go as planned. Deadlines come up. A kid gets sick. Projects require extra time to get done. That means a lesson gets cancelled.
Juggling a horse habit on top of work, family and everything else, can be exhausting some days.
We get it. Heels Down is celebrating the adult amateurs who understand the struggle. Life gets in the way of riding sometimes, no matter how much we wish it didn’t. Read on for stories from real riders on how they get it done.
Mark A. Harris, 50, from Penn Grove, Calif.
What do you do? I’m a mortgage broker and also own and run 24 different companies. They are mostly real estate holding companies, but also include a hemp farm and a CBD supplement company. I also own and manage a chain of fitness centers, which includes the real estate they’re in. And then there’s the solar and construction companies. They’re all connected in some way.
How many hours would you say you work a week?
Unlike others with a typical office job, I don’t have set hours. If a client wants to talk at 9 p.m., that’s what I do. If I had to guess, I’d say I work around 70 hours a week.
Tell us more about your horses.
My partner and I own six horses. Two are minis and are basically just for comic relief. My competition horse is Royal, a grey Irish Draft cross. He’s 17.3 hands and I event him at Novice level. I rode polo for 30 years before my fiancé converted me to eventing, and Royal’s been the perfect partner to start this next career with. We’ve been in the ribbons every time and just moved up to Novice this year. He’s my forever ride or die.
How often do you ride a week?
We’re lucky to live just eight minutes from the farm where we board our horses. I shoot to ride about six days a week, but now with traveling picking up after the pandemic, it might be harder for me to do that. I’d say I ride at minimum four times a week.
Tell us more about your riding routine.
I left polo to event so I could ride more with my fiancé, Aaron. He has a normal 9-5 job, and I usually can find more time to ride than he can. Our routine is that we go to the barn together after he’s done with work around 5 p.m. We stay for about three hours or so, then go home. At night I might still be answering emails or making phone calls, but I do that so that I can leave my phone off while I’m at the barn. Occasionally I might have to take a work call from the barn but I try really hard not to. We try to compete at least once a month, and do trail rides and other fun outings in between.
How do you force yourself to be OK with not getting everything done in a day?
I time-block my schedule every day. I build in time so I can get a good ride, or do supplements or clean my tack. My horse never goes without. But I have to schedule it in. I’ve come to the realization that I’ve brought this all upon myself. I can only do so much. If something doesn’t get done, it becomes a priority the next day. The unfinished project will get slotted in. My whole life can’t just be work and horses either – I realize that I’m doing the best I can, and when something stops being fun then it’s time to reconsider why I’m doing it in the first place. I don’t want to live to work. I want to work to live.
How do you stay motivated to reach your riding goals?
The culture at our farm really helps. Everyone is so supportive of what we do and each other, that it just makes you want to do well. We put so much time and effort into this and our trainer takes her job personally. I think in my heart, I’m just a kid eternally trying to please my mom – aka my trainer! That keeps me going. I also have to give credit to Royal – he’s my first horse in this sport and he’s been an incredible partner. If it wasn’t for him allowing me to be a total goofball and screw up sometimes, I probably would have gotten frustrated and given up. It’s important to have a horse that’s compatible with you and I’m lucky to have that in him. I’m not going to Kentucky any day, this is purely fun for me. When it stops being fun, then I’ll move on. Can I come in last place and still have fun? Absolutely.
Piece of work-related advice that’s always stuck with you?
People say perception is reality, and that’s one of my mantras. If your work is overwhelming and awful, that’s the reality of it. I try to live by a philosophy that I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I have the opportunity to run these companies, so my reality feels that way. Then when people are on the outside looking in, they feel that too. Mindset is everything.
This series originally published in the Heels Down Spark newsletter in June 2021. Sign up now for the Spark to read more stories like this first, delivered to your inbox.