[QUOTE=xemilyx805;6085124]
I’m out to make something of myself. I think everyone out there who rides has a dream of traveling and competing at the highest level. Well, for me it’s a lot more than a dream. I know that everyone else might say that also, but in this case it’s very different. I am willing to give up everything to do this. I want to be in the equestrian world for the rest of my life, and I have never wanted anything but. My life has been giving up expensive clothing, technology, and everything else, for riding clothes, tack, and all horse things. My life revolves around horses and I love every single second of it. I heard a sermon about fulfillment, and being happy. Well, I know exactly what fulfills me.
In the summer I do the exact same thing every day. I wake up early and run anywhere from one to five miles. Then I feed the horses, and pick stalls or paddocks while they eat. After that I ride the horses we have for training at my house, and then I ride my own horses. I stay outside working and riding and sometimes teaching until it’s too dark to do so anymore. Usually I’m too busy to even eat lunch and haven’t sat down or rested all day. I’m up at 6 and I don’t rest again until 9 when I collapse into bed. For most people, this is the day that they groan about having, and try to avoid. But these are the days I love to have. That is the type of day I want to have every single day. That is where I find my fulfillment and my happiness.
Sometimes I have lessons that are long and almost painful, where I’m working so hard that I’m sweating and almost out of breath, even in the winter, and when I get off my legs are shaking and exhausted. Most riders hate these lessons, where they’re posting the ring without stirrups, they get off almost bow legged, and they wake up the next day sore. These are my favorite lessons. Those are the kind of lessons I crave. I want to work so hard that I can barely move. I want to ride all day. I don’t need to take breaks or vacations. This kind of work is my ideal.
I was tailor made. Everything about me is suited for this lifestyle. I was created to not be attached to life anywhere. I love my family more than anything, and I love my friends. But, I could leave in a heartbeat. My dream is with horses and competing and, especially in the way my personality is, nothing stands in my way. I’ve never been homesick. I am made to travel. My home is wherever I’m closest to my dream, whether it’s the barn, my own small farm, or anywhere I get the equestrian knowledge I crave. I will work my fingers to the bone if I think it is getting me closer to my dream. George Morris himself said that what he looks for in top riders is attitude not aptitude. It’s all about how bad you want it.
I was never one to party or ever do anything wrong. I could never waste my time with things like that. I know that messing up in my youth could affect my dream, so I keep on a straight path. I never gave into any type of peer pressure. Making stupid mistakes as a teenager would bleed into my future and that was a risk I never wanted to take. Every single decision I make is based on how it will affect my future. With a goal and dream like mine, I can’t mess up and jeopardize everything I’m working towards. And I know I can make it.
At two years old I was riding better than I was walking. I was desperate to ride and for my birthday, my father bought me a couple months’ worth of riding lessons. When we showed up at the barn the trainer saw me and took my parents aside. She informed them that she only worked with children five or above and kids as young as me didn’t have the leg muscle needed to really ride. My mother convinced her just to test me and if I didn’t have the strength she would come back in three years. Well, at two years old, I could ride half of the large dressage arena in half seat, and at three I could post the trot by myself. I was the best student that my instructor ever had. Every single day I was at the barn. If I wasn’t riding I was helping however I could, brushing the horses, picking rocks out of the ring, and picking stalls when I started to get older. I’m still the exact same way.
If anyone has the attitude to thrive in this industry it’s me. I have been trying for the past two years to get into some type of situation where I can make my way to the top, without buying it. I don’t have the money for eighty dollar lessons three times a week. I also don’t have the money to buy a half a million dollar horse, and board it at a prestigious show stables. And I don’t have the money to be shipping out and competing every weekend. But I have an attitude better than any kid I’ve seen yet on the circuit. I’ve been on the circuit as the lowest on the chain. I’ve been grooming for riders who take everything that they have for granted, who complain about the heat, and would rather be relaxing by a pool. I don’t ever complain about where I am even if it’s grooming, and I’m thankful for every opportunity I get to be an inch closer to my dream, even if it means being the absolute lowest on the totem pole. But, if I got the opportunity to be on the horse, not under it, and in the ring, not outside of it, I would never let anyone down, or ever take it for granted.
It’s true that I’ve never had the opportunity to ride a nice trained hunter or equitation horse. I’ve never had the chance to train with any instructor more than once a week. I’ve never ridden a horse that could take me around a 3’ course. But, the only reason I don’t have the skills is because I have never had the opportunity. If I was given that opportunity I promise I will blow people away. I have a work ethic like no one else. I am 100% sure that I belong in the equestrian world, training, teaching, and competing. I will do absolutely whatever it takes to make it there.
Trainers say they like to take on riders because they know their students want it. They want to win. They will work their butts off to win. They’re not there for someone to hold their hand and speak kindly to them. They’re there for someone to force them out of their comfort zones, and push them as far as they can possibly go. They’re not scared to get their feelings hurt, they’re there to work, and ride, and win. I’m that type of rider. I will start at the complete bottom. I will work all week, just for one lesson at the end of it. I will ride any horse anyone puts me on and work harder than anyone else. I will do anything if I know that it will get me closer to my dream. I just beg that someone will give me the chance to prove myself.[/QUOTE]
I’m sorry, OP, but come on–this is fiction. This is like the Donald Trump of COTH talking. You are 16, for crying out loud. You are playing these nice people here.
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