Equestrian Imposter Syndrome--interviewing for an equestrian position and TERRIFIED of not being "good enough"

[coffeehag]

I’m a lifelong horseback rider–but I grew up on a farm, no fancy horses, training troublesome horses every summer. I don’t have a show resume, I couldn’t afford to take time off to work as a working student, but I rode with Pony Club until I got my C3 rating, I’ve consistently ridden, even now, leasing horses and continuing to ride folks’ trouble horses.

I have a desk job, which bores me but pays the bills, and recently, was presented with the opportunity to interview for a job where I’d be an equestrian camp director and ride some of the greener horses. I know that I am capable of these things, but I have such imposter syndrome. I’m so nervous to ride in front of them and feel like I’m not good enough to ride with the girls who’ve got money or to enter a hunter ring.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

[Scribbler]

Everyone is a better rider than someone, and not as good as someone else. There are a number of different qualities that go into making up a good rider. A teen may be fearless; an adult may be more cautious but also more patient and have better skills.

If it helps I don’t think that the really high level young riders go to horse camp. They don’t need to. They are on the show circuit all summer with their own trainer and horse(s). The camp clients are more likely girls without their own horses.

Also the typical camp gets a bunch of auction horses in April and spends a couple months breaking them in before the kiddies arrive. It’s not a world of high end horses. This despite whatever blonde WASP daydream their marketing material projects.

Your pony club and green horse experience is perfect, and that’s why they want to interview you.

[clanter]

@Scribbler

Also the typical camp gets a bunch of auction horses in April and spends a couple months breaking them in before the kiddies arrive.

Two of my kids did work as Equine Camp instructors overseeing the programs…neither the Boy Scout Camp nor the Girl Scout Camp got their horses from auctions, they used a broker who was responsible to provide X number of horses that were ride-able. It was the Equine Director’s responsibility to assure the provided horses were safe to use otherwise rejecting the mount.

My son worked with the Boy Scouts for six years at three different camps (his records show he taught over six thousand scouts) My daughter worked a summer at a Girl Scout Camp.

I visited her taking this photo, later my wife had that photo on her desk at the doctors office she was working when a woman saw it asking why my wife had a photo of her daughter on her desk. Out of the millions of people around here her daughter was the one my daughter was fitting a helmet

[moonlitoaksranch]

Go for it! They need wrangler skills, not show horse skills.

[coffeehag]

Not me getting emotional over this on a Tuesday morning! Thank you–this is exactly what I needed to hear <3

[no.stirrups]

Oh girl, everyone with sense has had imposter syndrome. I’ve had long conversations about it with some of my most accomplished girlfriends. It’s a very valuable thing to recognize that you have more to learn, but for the interview and on to the job, focus on what you have to offer your students. Remember how you are feeling now and let that help make you an empathetic leader. You’ll do great.

[Foxglove]

Might be coming late to the party --but I had the same problem 40+ years ago when I applied for my first teaching job --until that moment I’d been a Dairy Maid --yeah – I got up at 3:00AM and milked 80 cows --then home to get my kiddos out of bed by 7 --not the best looking resume for an aspiring high school English teacher! I knew the hiring principal would see right through me and know I was just a farm hand . . .

So I called my ma (she of vast wisdom but little interest in her children -long story) and I said what do I do? Over the phone I heard her take a long inhale on her unfiltered Camel and clink the ice in her glass of Scotch —she said, "Look the part, speak the part, act the part, you’ll get the part. " And she hung up.

The day of the job interview, I dressed in my best Navy blue suit with a modest hem and a white shirt with low heeled shoes. I pinned back my (looks like Einstein) hair. I practiced sitting and standing and looking at (myself in the mirror) as if I were a classroom teacher. And I practiced speaking “like a teacher.” I made sure I spoke in grammatical sentences with clear pronunciation. Then I interviewed.

Of course I got the job —once in the classroom, I continued to look, speak, act the part of an English teacher. I think it took three years before I realized I WAS an English teacher --eventually I taught psychology too --I always told my classes about Impostor Syndrome and what my ma said.

So dress the part, speak the part, and act the part. You’ll get the part!

[furlong47]

@clanter

Two of my kids did work as Equine Camp instructors overseeing the programs…neither the Boy Scout Camp nor the Girl Scout Camp got their horses from auctions, they used a broker who was responsible to provide X number of horses that were ride-able. It was the Equine Director’s responsibility to assure the provided horses were safe to use otherwise rejecting the mount.

This is how it worked when I was a camp instructor. Ours showed up about a week before camp started and we had to ride them all so we could assign them levels and make sure they were all tuned up and suitable (some went to winter lease homes but others had just been hanging out in the pasture for months.) We sent one or two back and he sent replacements. But some other camps do have their own horses that they keep year-round and use for lessons or trail rides in the off-season, and some fancier barns do run a big camp program. If OP is applying for a full-time job, one of these might be the case.

OP, go apply and the worst thing that happens is you don’t get the job. Even if the camp program is at a fancy barn, it’s still likely that the students will be beginner or lower-level kids.

[moonlitoaksranch]

Raise your hand, every person that has been trail riding for years on your reliable trail mount, and then, has to suddenly ride in front of a stranger. I felt like the biggest sack of potatoes! I was trying out a horse in front of a horse trainer who was selling him. Not my horse. Not my saddle. Not my arena. I thought I looked like garbage, but the seller never said a word. I could feel my body move in ways outside of the normal routine. I kept checking that my arms weren’t flapping and my heels were down. Good gosh! I never do any of that on MY horse. I didn’t end up buying that horse. The one I tried out and felt good on was the one I bought. In that case, the trainer actually complimented me.

We are far too critical of ourselves.

[starrunner]

Just be yourself, you’ll be fine!

I worked for a summer camp for a number of years and the skills required were not the same as I use now while showing dressage.

In fact, most people will love your pony club education and being able to handle a horse on the ground and educate will go a long ways. I definitely never felt the judgement passed in the camp environment as I do now in my current endeavors.

All camps are different, so it may be worth asking on their horse policies. Do they lease? Do they own their horses? Is it a year round position? Will you be in charge of horse care and maintenance or just programming?

The facility I worked at and still do some volunteer work with own their own horses that are donated, so there definitely are always horses that need miles and education, but it’s also nice because there is a certain stability with having the same core group of horses year after year.

[candyappy]

My boarding barn did summer day camp for years and several of us high school" barn girls" worked there. If you can ride a horse who needs tuning up you are most likely a much better rider than most kids who show and haver a trainer/ instructor.

You never know until you try. If you promote yourself to them as you are, you have a good chance at success.

[Scribbler]

In any interview, let the employer have time to explain the job to you, and then you ask questions. In this case, good questions include: how do you source horses? Do you keep horses over winter or buy every spring? How long will you have to tune them up? What happens if horses don’t work out? What’s the riding level of the students? How many coaches do they hire and what are their backgrounds? What are your job duties, what’s the split between manager versus trainer versus barn chores? Is this just a summer job or does it go year round and if so what do you do in winter?

Then you can tailor your responses to the situation.

[173north]

I also grew up riding all sorts of horses at un-fancy barns and never had my own horse. I felt pretty insecure about it for a while, but now I am SO grateful. I have a lot of tricks in my toolbox and I can ride a super fancy show horse, an anxious greenie, or a cranky lesson horse and get good work out of all of them.

Being good with green/naughty/burned out horses and being good with a diverse range of horses IS a skill set, and a useful one for a camp job. If you’re an effective, kind rider with a good seat and solid horsemanship, that is what they are looking for. The ability to lay down a beautiful 3’6 hunter trip on a made horse doesn’t come into play here. There are lots of riders who are extremely good at that - and it is not easy! - but don’t have any experience with green or problematic horses.

Comparison is the thief of joy. Your background will pay dividends through your life in horses, trust me. Don’t assume that just because someone has a made show horse and a lot of ribbons that they are a well-rounded rider or horse person. Many are, but many aren’t, and it’s a lot better to be the person who can ride anything and everything than the person who’s only ever sat on expensive packers.