Don’t Model Your Riding after the Top 1%
I understand why the next generation of aspiring professionals are disheartened. All they see are stories of wealth, beautiful barns, six-figure horses, and winning. Success looks expensive. I am sure everyone can tell me the names of at least three top equine professionals that come from families that hold the top 1% of wealth in this country. No wonder I see social media post after post about young people feeling like no matter how hard they work, they won’t be able to make it in this industry. They feel like there is no place for them.
I need every aspiring professional to know you don’t need to have an “A” show record to make it in this profession. You don’t need to own an imported horse to prove that you ride well. You don’t need to spend the winter in Florida to make the right connections. You need to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of and mechanics of riding, have the ability to develop horses of all ages and levels of training, and communicate clearly and honestly. That doesn’t require millions, it doesn’t require having a trust fund, and it is within reach for far more of you than you may realize. There are some things that will determine if you can make it in this industry: your grit, your resourcefulness, and your ability to learn, but having a million dollars is not one of them.
“ Success looks expensive...[but] don’t let the Jessica Springsteens’ and Lillie Keenans’ of this world dissuade you... Don’t give up on your dreams becuase others make them look too expensive.”
The truth of the matter is that incredibly wealthy riders, however visible and prominent they are, are the tiny minority of people in the industry. The rest of us are normal people of normal means; even many of the professionals at the top were able to work their way up without a multi-million dollar bank roll. Don’t let the Jessica Springsteens’ and Lillie Keenans’ of this world dissuade you. There are plenty of “normal people” at the top of the sport and you as an aspiring professional should not seek to model yourself, your riding, or your lifestyle after the top riders coming from the top 1%. Don’t give up on your dreams becuase others make them look too expensive, you need to approach them from a point of different view.
I once wished I had learned to ride correctly sooner. I wished I hadn’t spent so many years running around bareback on my horse, and I had fewer years foxhunting, and less time on New Mexico ranches chasing cows in my English saddle. I wished I had met FEI mentor and trainer earlier. I wished I had trained with her before I learned my bad habits. I wished I could have paid for my lessons with her instead of breaking my body as a working student. I wished I was a natural rider and that this was easy, instead of the hardest damn thing I ever tried to do. But you know what, two years into my solo professional career, every single one of those things that made this hard in the beginning, is making me more successful in the end.
Growing up fox hunting instead of “dressage-ing” means that when my young horses sour of arena work, or when I need to school a client’s spicy horse cross-country, I say “show me what you got”. If you grew up riding full-tilt over the bad lands of New Mexico, taking a horse for a semi-controlled gallop over a manicured course is a piece of cake. I didn’t learn that putting a horse “on the bit” was a thing until I was an adult, and it took me years to learn how to ask correctly. That means now when I teach other people like me, adults learning for the first time, or re-learning the right way, I can empathize with how hard this is. I can talk them through each step, each idea, because I had to do that for myself. And the list can go on. I am self-funded and on a budget, so when my client tells me they only have so much to spend, I get it. I got here making smart, economical decisions and I can help others do the same. I didn't get to ride the made horses everyday. I rode the young stock, the horses that were too green for their owners, and I had to develop my own horse from the very literal first steps under saddle. And now what? Now after all those years of not getting to show, of not riding the imported sales horses, of not buying six-figure jumpers, now I have a business I can support myself with. I have a group of supportive, happy clients who are showing, growing, and gaining the confidence to move up the levels. I get to start, develop and show lovely young horses every year, including a second place finish at the 2023 Young Horse Series National Finals. I am here to say it’s possible to become a professional without being wealthy. I am here to say those things that you think are holding you back, your lack of show experience, your normal horse, your lack of money, those are not a disadvantage, they are making you. They are giving you your own unique advantage.