Horses and Balance

Sunrise out my back door.

We all need balance, our bodies thrive on it. Not just the physical balance either. I think alot of folks in the horse industry could use some balance...

When I think back now at memories of how upset people would get over how they did at the shows I can totally understand. When you make it "your life" or a big part of your life - it a huge blow to your ego and yeah, your life, to lose - to have a crappy show. But it also robs the fun out it too. That's where I was heading when hit by that car two years  ago. I was becoming that person who's mood for the day entirely depended on how I did at the show. This is why my blog does not focus only on horses anymore....

Patrick and I - 2008

This break from horse showing while sad, has shown me that I need more balance in my life. There are alot of things I enjoy doing, that I couldn't do while I was showing so much. I had made my life all about "horses" and I thought that was good for me. I was focused. I was driven.............and I was missing out on alot. I LOVE hiking - love it. No, trail riding is not the same, sorry its just not. There is something about being out in woods with a pack on your back testing your physical limits - seeing what YOU can do that draws me out there time and time again. I LOVE my photography and writing. I never had the time to focus on it, because I was spending every spare researching this or that to improve my performance at the shows, practicing, redoing show programs, helping out the QH club or showing.

I also LOVE doing stuff with with my dog. It's sooooooo much fun and cheaper than showing horses. Horse showing is fun - but it has its ups and downs, could be really frustrating considering it cost so much money to do it, and was alot of physical work. I have a wonderful smart dog and I didn't hardly have time before to notice it. One of the main reasons why I wanted him was so he could........wait for it........yes, keep me company at horse shows. I had it worked out - before my wreck I was spending a month and half, a year, in my horse trailer living quarters just by going to shows, that's crazy - it was fun alot of times but still crazy.

DockDogs 2010 - 3rd in Big Air

"Country" can still be a "lifestyle" for you and me, but it shouldn't rob you of life's opportunities in the process. I worked at a job that was high stress, for two bosses that treated me like crap, just so I could have the money to keep my horses in training and show them in the summer. It got to the point where I was proud of the fact that (outside of my work clothes) i didn't own a pair of tennis shoes. If you looked in my closet it was mostly just boots. I am not proud of that any more. It was proof of my imbalance. Look in my closet today and you will see not only tennis shoes to exercise in, but hiking boots, regular warm winter boots, flip flops, sandals AND cowboy boots. Now that I don't have that overwhelming drive and desire to do only that one thing, I can see the possibilities that lay before me to improve my life. Career possibilities, chances to improve health, chances to be the "artistic" person I was in my youth and opportunities to have fun and travel. My car wreck and Hubby losing his job was a "wake-up" call. As was my gluten intolerance. I was an opportunity to put my "life" on hold and see what I was missing - a chance to balance myself.

Me at the top of Red Rock Canyon looking at the beautiful
 desert valley below.

When I get the accident stuff settled and have some money again. I don't plan on diving head first back into horse showing. I plan on getting Patrick some more training since he was nitwit this summer, and maybe hitting a couple of local shows with him, IF i can afford it. I am not going to fill my summer with a high stress horse show schedule. I buried my dream of competing in the AQHA World Show when the barn burnt down with my colt inside, and I am done flirting with it. I will show for fun in the future and if it becomes "not fun" then I will do something else with my ponies. It's easy to see why the industry jumps from one extreme to the other, and why silly things go on with horses, people and trainers when you consider that it's mostly all people who have made horse showing their "lives".

Pat

Balance is Good! And its healthy - there is alot of people showing at the mid to upper levels of the horse show world that could use a good dose of balance. It would make for a more stable, healthy, enjoyable show environment for everyone. It certainly has been good for me.

A good horse show friend of mine who has balance - once said to very nervous and scared competitor "What is wrong with you? It's a horse show, not chemotherapy. Go out there and ride your horse."