“Are you a horse girl,” is a question I try to avoid at all costs. My father grew up a farmer and my mother grew up in awe of horses. They both came from a small town with families that were dedicated to saving money. Hard work, dedication, and caring for animals is how they were taught and what brought them together. My dad was working as a horse surgeon while my mom was riding horses and working at a barn on the side of her job in sales at a hotel. Years later when they had my sister and me, we were both quickly thrown into the saddle. I was on top of a horse before I could walk fully, and I developed my riding skills for fifteen years.
“Are you a horse girl,” is a question I try to avoid at all costs because to me it was not a weird thing to ride horses, it was what made my schedule and something that I was involved in every day. From three to twelve hour days for years straight, I learned the same themes of hard work, dedication, and what it meant to care for animals. Cleaning the stalls, training younger rider’s horses and my own was my job for my whole childhood. Owners sometimes would have a horse that ended up needing more medical attention and upkeep and if they did not want to pay for it, they would sell their horse to my dad for lower prices. He would fix them up and my instructors and I would train them and then we would sell or lease the horse once they were trained and healed. It was our family business.
I was not the girl that had posters on her walls of horses or only watched horse related movies, I viewed equestrian as my way of life. In high school, I was jealous of the girls that played other sports and dominated their fields. Their athletic skills were jaw dropping, while mine were considered weird. I do not think that people fully got what I was. I had an awful injury which led to me taking a break from riding. Getting involved here and there at the barn is what my four years of high school looked like. In college, I miss feeling like I was great at something, and I missed the competition aspect that riding horses provided me. To fulfill my competitive needs, I strive to be the best student. Being an equestrian taught me what it means to work hard and spending extra time to perfect things, so I cannot help but carry this theme and approach life this way.
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