When all that stuff in the news was happening, I saw Srormy Daniels and her husband were Event riders. I looked at her riding videos and I thought she looked pretty good!
I ride mules now, although, I used to ride open jumpers as a kid. I am 65 now and just trail ride. I know I am out of touch, but why in the heck would you take up another profession instead of riding when you had so much promise? I know only she can answer that question and I do not condem her descsion. I just don’t understand it, because all I ever wanted was my own place with my horses, and now my mules. I finally sort of have it. And even though I am poor, I am happy.
I don’t want to speculate on why she’s made the choices that she has, but there’s plenty of reasons people wouldn’t choose to turn horses in to their careers. Fear of larger jumps, not feeling comfortable teaching lessons, want for security and more money, etc. All I really want is a farm with some horses, but horses are most definitely not my career and i’ve known that they never really could be, for the reasons above.
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I guess. The only way I was able to raise my kids, buy a home, and support my horses at the time was to work a regular job. I am just saying, with so much promise, why the the heck would’nt you stay in a jod that suooprts your farm? Are you saying it takes that much money to ride? Wow, maybe it does? Well, I guess that leaves me out.
I think it is a waste, that’s all.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&p=stormy+daniels+horse+rider+video#id=3&vid=f5b1b711f4fc3e0258d265bcdc4131c8&action=click
Honestly, when the discussions about being pro and ammie go flying around COTH, it really does seem like the nicest way to ride is as a very well funded amateur. And if your job is performance and running your own film company, and you find that fulfilling, and it makes you quite wealthy (wealthier than anyone could get just from horses): who would prefer to slog it out teaching beginner lessons?
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You’ve clearly never made a go at being a pro. I LOVE being an ammy now. I’m curious as to why you use her as the example since there and many many accomplished amateurs out there and many on this board.
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- None of our business
- I took a job not with horses, and I was decent, had a preset up barn I could have been relatively successful with lessons and selling horses.
Guess what? I’m not out in the cold or heat because I need to make rent, I get benefits, I make 6 figures and work a 40 hour week (ok- 40 plus but no where near a horse pro), I can take vacation time at work easily, if I break a bone my income won’t come to a screeching halt, I get to ride for fun, etc etc
- None of our business.
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Um, she did apparently stay in a career that supports her riding. That’s exactly the job choice she appears to have made.
I’m not convinced this thread would exist if she were a talented ammie who was in a long and successful legal or medical career. Or shoot, if she were a performer whose fame was built on Disney movies. You don’t see people asking, “why doesn’t Kayley Cuoco just quit that tv show of hers and train jumpers for a living” very often.
Who cares what her day job is if you appreciate her riding talent?
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No, no. You all tare taking my question all wrong. (I quess I should have never mentioned it.) I just think she was a good rider, giving her credit and her horses. To me, they were beautiful.
Believe me, I am not a professional. I didn’t have that kind of opportunity. Don’t want it anyway. I just think she let it slip her’s away. Why would anyone do that? I guess I am sorry I asked. Way too much.
Heck, maybe she owns mules now and trail rides!
Ha,ha! Maybe I sould try to get a hold of her. She can finance me and my mules? That would be great!
So glad you are a pro. Good luck to you and your horses. I am sure you work very hard. Post some pictures of your animals. I’d love to see them even though I am not on here that much.
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Funny OP you post about catty drama filled horsewomen and say you won’t post much on this forum because of it. Then this thread happens. Classic.
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You can be an excellent rider and never want to be a professional.
Not everyone has the same goals for their riding.
Not everyone wants the same thing out of their riding.
Trying to say that someone (should or should not) have (done or not done) something with their riding or riding path is audacious and presumptuous.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you want to. Being an amateur rider doesn’t mean you are an amateur in your skill level, it specifically means you do not get paid for working in the equine industry. You can be a fabulous rider and still be an amateur. An excellent rider being an amateur doesn’t mean they’ve let anything slide or let anything go - they have decided, for some reason or another, to pursue a career that was not riding. Not my business, not your business, and it’s not a let-down to their riding skill or riding path at all.
It’s not worth making value judgements or assertions about people. You get caught with egg on your face more often than not.
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This poster is weird.
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Regular weird or very weird?
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That’s up for debate. She’s agreeing with chachie on her horsewomen are full of drama thread and then starts this one??? Leaning to very weird.
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Horsewomen weird level 2 amateur.
Not yet a Pro.
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This.
And furthermore, the equestrian world needs excellent amateurs just as it needs pros. They demonstrate the possibilities for aspiring amateur riders and model the kind of work and tact that goes into successful non-professional riding (and also often the kind of time management and dedication that it takes for a working person to pursue riding goals seriously). They bring money into the industry through training and horse purchases and showing and all of the other outlay associated with high performance equestrianism. They fill out entries at mid and high levels so that shows can offer a range of meaningful competition. Why would anyone think that doing these things, instead of hanging a shingle out and letting the chips fall where they may, is a waste?
I find it pretty distasteful for someone to say that all they ever wanted was their own little private equestrian life, and in the same breath to insinuate that an equestrian life without professional aspirations reflects some kind of failing in another rider. Especially when it involves speculation about a stranger’s finances and professional motivations.
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Amateurs such as SD are riding at a higher level than many pros. Many maybe even most pros numerically are probably teaching beginner children, never competed particularly high themselves, and don’t have time or resources to compete extensively now that they are pros, because their clients come first.
If what you want to do is compete on good horses at high levels, being able to fund that yourself is a huge bonus.
And my impression from the thread last year was that SD was still active in Eventing.
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OP’s question was written obviously by someone who never spent quality time with a true pro. Even pros that get a head start with family name and/or farm are always scrambling to hang onto that bottom line, while working to improve their riding, and worrying where their next horse is coming from. Because in that business, you are only as good as your horse is.
Meanwhile smiling at idiotic beginners, and mule riders.
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If OP is a lifelong resident of Shenandoah Co, this is likely an accurate assessment. I can’t think of a single decent pro out that way - English, western, whatever.
OP, i imagine Ms Daniels chose to stay ammy because she likes to have enough money to feed her family. Further, i can’t think of any reason for you to single her out other than pearl-clutching.
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I think a better question is to ask why you didn’t become a professional equestrian?
Sports, like the arts, are notoriously hard to make a living at, and some sports (including eventing) just don’t have a huge payoff even at the top levels. You certainly don’t make your money through the competition, you make it through the training for clients and coaching afterwards, and not everyone wants to do that. It’s certainly a different skill set than just training and riding your own horse, and it means putting your own riding on the back burner and getting good at dealing with people.
There are many disciplines in the arts that are similar in this regard. Even the best contemporary poets are not making a good living off book sales, though many find niches teaching university Creative Writing courses. Or take singing. There is a fairly low barrier to entry level singing (open mic nights, garage bands, choirs) but a very narrow bottleneck upwards to the point where you might make a good living from singing. Easy to do as a hobby, very hard to professionalize and monetize singing, and usually requires more than just a nice voice.
I’m not sure everyone out there realizes that equestrians don’t “go pro” the way that football or basketball or hockey players go pro. For those team sports, if you are good enough, then you get signed to outrageously high contracts to play for a team full time.
That’s not what it means in equestrian sports. Being a “pro” means you are a small business person making your income from coaching students or training horses for clients. Most horse pros are very small time, and very small income, and never get near the top levels of their discipline of choice. The only implication of being a “pro” is that they have to compete in Open classes against other pros, rather than in amateur classes.
The only horse disciplines that I can think of where people compete regularly for large enough cash prizes to affect your annual bottom line, are horse racing, rodeo, and the very top end of Grand Prix show jumping (but these jumpers are also running training and coaching barns as well). Not incidentally, these are also the disciplines that have higher percentages of men involved. Things that pay well tend to have higher percentages of men involved, and things that involve men tend to be higher paid, and this is true across the spectrum of arts, sports, and professions.
On the other hand, rich amateurs can and do participate up to the highest levels of equestrian sport, higher than most pros. The best pros tend to outrank the best amateurs only because the best pros tend to have even way more opportunity to ride more horses and learn more, and usually amateurs have some other demands on their time (if they don’t have to work, they probably have social demands, maybe ribbon cutting and personal appearances if they are a member of the Royal Family).
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