All of us riders that compete know what its like to have goals. It is a never ending uphill climb. I really loved the recent blog post from The Chronicle of the Horse: "Embrace the Suck."
It really felt so great to read that and nod at my desk in agreement (I have never ridden levels or movements that high but can relate!). For us worker bees that work all day and ride by night, it is so hard to get out there everyday. Even if it is a 20 minute ride just to push some buttons you've been working to install. You know, to make sure there is still some moment of "oh yes I remember we had an epic meltdown about this once or twice and realized if I just give in you'll stop the pressure"
Those little rides really do make a difference. So everyday I am sidelined I cant help but think of all the ground I am losing and all the progress made slowly slipping through the cracks that we will have to re-apply when we start back up again.
When I get a bit down and out about my riding and where Tillie and I are, I tend to have a much harder time letting things go and general lack of a sense of humor. I take it all way too seriously. I overthink everything. Both of those things are not good together.
Let's just say I am working on it. Maybe that is my problem...Working too hard at it all!? Let loose, have some fun. Why is that soooo hard to do as an adult? I almost feel guilty or like I am sneaking in the fun and if someone catches me I wasnt being professional or adult enough.
But why do I even care? Who cares if I am a goof? Or where Tillie and I are training wise? I am only making it harder on myself with all these expectations and what I think we should be doing. How about, we are where we are and that is just fine. - HA! if only that could be a mantra I could repeat and actually abide by. I am just as guilty of adding the pressure on myself as I am about caring what other people think.
Conclusion: I need to stop caring so much about what other people think. Tillie clearly could care less:
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| Tillie stretching after her chiro and acupuncture yesterday |
It's so easy to be discouraged by your progress or lack of progress and other peoples perception. We must remember to not get so caught up in visions of the end result that we forget to enjoy the process. That picture of her stretching is adorable.
ReplyDeletethank you :) You are totally right on about enjoying the process...The end result is always changing and there really never is an end is there?!
DeleteI am currently a barn hermit (I am almost always alone at a very private barn). It's lonely but I have a lot of freedom to be weird. It will be hard to go back into "real barn" life when Mystic goes for training. You are not alone in worrying what people will think!
ReplyDeleteI think you should focus on doing one thing you think is fun each ride. I really enjoy dropping my stirrups and reins and trying to steer with my seat so I do that every time. I don't think it makes a difference to my riding skills or Apollo's progression but it's fun to try.
Try not to be so hard on yourself :) (easier said than done!)
you and Tillie are doing super well and have already had some pretty sweet tastes of success this summer. it's super easy to get discouraged (esp when she likes to come up nqr at such inopportune times), but it's all still ahead of you - summer isn't over yet! hopefully Tillie's feet will feel better asap so we can ride!!
ReplyDeleteI think while it is easy to get discouraged, I think you need to look at where you started! You and Tillie are doing awesome!
ReplyDeleteI think that's almost one of the tricky things about reading horse blogs, too. It's so easy to read about everyone's accomplishments and daily wins and compare yourself to them.
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