I’m an equestrian – I have been riding horses for around 4 years and will start attending various competitive

horse shows next year starting February. This is a massive achievement for me, because I have been dreaming of
competing against other riders and earning medals ever since my first day on a horse. As I progressed and
switched coaches, I kept hoping that every day I was moving closer to my end goal. I took up as many lessons as
possible in a week (4 is my current maximum), and each lesson I’d soak up everything the coach taught us and
strived to be the best I can each lesson. After a while, I began noticing that more and more people around me
were getting signed up for competitions… except me. I began feeling discouraged and even broke down multiple
times and cried because of it. As much as I wanted to give up and submit to the feelings of worthlessness, I
didn’t. Every question and concern I had, I used it to my advantage and would constantly pester the coach
about when I was going to be allowed to attend the shows with others. Finally after a while, I got told that I’d be
participating in shows starting next year, and it was one of the best feelings I had in a while about this sport. My
efforts were finally paying off, and I couldn’t be happier. Each lesson is now a competition between me and me
as I try even harder than before because of how desperate I am to win something good on my first ever show. Is
it realistic? Maybe not, but at least it encourages me to really give my all. If I were to just accept that I’d probably
get 4th or 5th place on my first show, I wouldn’t have any motivation to try hard.
Sometimes I doubt myself and my riding, but surprisingly enough this is the only hobby where if I have those
thoughts, I just think “how can I improve then?”. It’s the only reason why I have kept this activity going for
almost 4 years and never let myself get discouraged for too long. When my coach tells me to work on a certain
area of my riding, I never take it as an insult or start thinking I’m not good enough because of that criticism. I
appreciate everything she recommends, since she is the reason why I’m a good rider, and if she has any more
suggestions on how to improve, I’ll accept those gladly.
This sport has helped me a lot in keeping me busy, giving me something to look forward to, and of course it
provides consistent exercise that I otherwise would lack. You’d figure that something like this wouldn’t really
affect how you perceive yourself or others, but it helped me realize how patient I am with animals in a way that
I’d never be with other people. I have gotten thrown off horses many times, I have had to ride naughty horses, I
even got busted ribs and a concussion from a young and inexperienced horse who refused to do what I said. I
was meant to go over a jump with her, but in the last second she changed her mind and went past it, rapidly
speeding up. Without being able to prepare for such a quick change, I began sliding off the saddle to the right,
and before I knew it, I was being ridden straight into a metal pole. My last thought was an “oh no” as my head
slammed into it full force, and I fell off my horse into a crumpled heap. For the next few seconds, I couldn’t
even tell where my legs were and head began. I began bleeding out of my nose and almost passed out if it weren’t
for the coach telling me to keep my eyes open as she tried to find my father and bring me back to a stable
condition. My vision went really blurry, I couldn’t form words, my ribs hurt, I couldn’t move or control my
hands, and of course there was the intense pain all over my body. I got rushed to the ER straight after that.
Thanks to my helmet and protective vest, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Even after all that, I still didn’t feel
any sort of anger or even frustration towards my horse. She’s young, she just wanted to play chicken. It wasn’t
her fault that I lost footing and began sliding off. I never understood people who would get mad at animals for
not doing something right or listening to commands. Animals can’t communicate the way we can, and they
certainly don’t have as complex of thoughts as humans. If an animal doesn’t like something or is scared, it just
won’t cooperate. It’s not going to fake smile at you and tell you it’s all good when it isn’t like a person would.
Their wellbeing is on the people working with them, and if those people can’t handle the responsibility, then
they shouldn’t be working with animals to begin with.
Horse riding is a great and fun sport, albeit a risky one. Is it the hardest sport out there? No. Is it the most
dangerous? I’d honestly say yes, because you’re still riding an animal that could very much react unpredictably
and hurt you on accident. Still hasn’t discouraged me from doing it. My plans for the future are to sign up for
any show that will seem enjoyable as well as challenge me in a good way so that I could improve my riding even
faster. Since I still have time before that happens, I’ll just focus on doing what I can now to ensure that when I
attend my first ever show, I won’t make a fool out of myself in front of the judges