Remember Why You Started...

Have you ever looked way back to when you first fell in love with horses?
Maybe it was when you first started walking,
Maybe it was after high school or when you dropped out of university and needed a shoulder...
Maybe it was years after your mid life crisis when your kids had grown up and you needed something.

For whatever reason, do you remember the why of it all?
For me it was love at first sight as a child, but I've returned over and over again to horses with the same why throughout my life.
The incredible peace and grounding that horses provide no matter the circumstance.
After I dropped out of university I went straight to working at a horse farm.
Shortly after I started riding again.
And then I went horse shopping for my first horse.

From there it's history for me.
But I can so easily forget that "why" when I am working 100+ hours a week.
I forget when I get worried to ride.
I forget when I am tired and aching.
Sometimes I even forget when I am training, and get stubborn.

I've decided to make it daily practice to remember why before I work with each horse.
Why am I here with this horse in particular?
Why am I going to ride today?
Why do I need to treat this horse a certain way?




Why did I start training in the first place?

For me it has always been an urge to do something incredible for my horse.
To give them a better life, a better herd, a better hoof hold on life, better health, better soundness.
Ideally that all lends itself to better performance but I've never felt I was in this to win anything.
But I forget that sometimes.
I forget that when I step into the show ring, or when I start making competitive goals.
How easy it is to try and overlook my most core morals when competition starts to be an option.

I see it in students from time to time.
How frustrated they get when they see others progress differently.
How frustrated they get when they don't get to show off the skills they know they have because their horse decides to have an off day in the ring.
I see them forget their why in an instant.

When frustration starts to boil, take a deep breath.
When giving up feels like a great option, remember the beginning.



Remember the journey.

That one show day isn't going to matter in the grand scheme of things.
That one off schooling day where you threw your hands up in the air and called it quits, is not what defines you or your horse.
Remember why you started...

It's because deep down you love this peace.
You love the munching sounds of horses eating hay in the barn aisles.
You love watching horses run freely in the fields.
You love the nicker of your favourite horse sending love your way.
Always remember....






All photos copyright; Rebecca Drimmie of Lily Equine Photography
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