If you have the guts - do it! No time like the present!
I’m sitting here trying to figure out how I’ll have the time and money to have a horse and show and be an Investment Banker in NY at the same time. I know people can do it, I don’t know who they are, but I know they exist … and I’m feeling like if I don’t take the plunge and do it now, it will get harder and harder to do in the future … so I say go for it!!
Sarah
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by devildog20:
Oh, and I forgot to mention that he works from 3:30 in the morning till about 5:00 and is totally understanding of my horse craze and does not mind me spending my days at the barn!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Devildog20-I can honestly say that nothing negative was meant by my post…I also married someone who supported my horse craziness…before we were married. 
Someday I will tell you about Divorce Acres Farm…a haven where us married folk can go when our spouses threaten us for things like spending too much money or time with the horses.
Oh yes, and I HAVE been a working student 3 different times. I did not work on Sudays, and I won’t because of religious reasons, and I did not work late into the evening. There are different degrees of working students, and I will be on the lighter side of that.
And yes, I did do the one where I cleaned a bunch of stalls, 6 paddocks and even a half acre pony pasture 5 days a week, and let me tell you, it was NOT the hardest thing and work I have ever done. I am not a Princess who has never worked hard, I am a Marine that knows what real physical work is, and what real tired is as well, so please, again, do not make assumptions about me. I am fully prepared for “reality” I have lived it before. And I am prepared to live it again.
CAH - let me send you my rent for my room at Divorce Acres Farm! Things were so bad, with horses the symbol of it all, that I started fantasizing about vanishing. Things are better, but I’m now left with an idea about writing a novel - if I just spent less time reading this BB I’d have half of it written!
I’m closing in on a big birthday soon, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it is that we can’t forecast what the outcome of a decision might be. So, 3eme (and DD), do what you think is best for you, don’t be surprised if it turns out differently than you thought, learn from whatever happens, don’t have regrets because what you are regretting is your fantasy of what the other choice MIGHT have been, not really how it WOULD have been. Remember, you can always make a different choice later and change again.
I think that the only thing that makes it impossible to become something else is a physical inability to do so. At my age, I will never be a dancer, or a gymnast. But, in my medical school class 25 years ago, there was one guy who was 50. So, if you really want to do it, go for it. You CAN change your mind.
Good luck!! (I’m still planning to visit you and your horses in Paris).
This is a topic I feel I can discuss, because I did ot in my 20’s. I was working for NBC and bringing in big bucks for a 26 year old (house in SF, Porsche, show horse).
Then I got sick and had to take time off. Doctors thought that the stress of my job contributed. So I QUIT! I moved east from SF and took my horse on the road with Nimrod Farm (Ronnie and Sue Mutch/Timmy Kees), then Joe and Conrad, then Linda Hough. I bought a pull behind camper and became a year round rider/show person. For a couple of years it was WONDERFUL. And my riding got better (slowly but surely) until I qualified for indoors and won a A/O class at Wash Int’l and was res. champion there.
But, even Nirvana can get old after a while (plus saving run out quickly when showing). So after 3 years I went to Law School and became a lawyer (talk about stressful jobs!)
Anyway, I would have a more comfortable life now if I had kept savings in the stock market for the last 20 years instead of “frittering them away” on entry fees and training. But I would not change a thing. When the National moved out of MSG, I could say “I got to ride in the real Garden” and those memories are still wonderful.
I got to find out just how good I could get at something if I devoted 100% of my time to it. And it was a satisfying experience (we all know the frustrations of being a weekend rider-- on Sat you feel loose and not in sync with the horse. On Sun you start to feel like things are going better, then back to work for 5 days…)
I will never be a professional rider. I will never again even be a really good A/O, since my peak involved 100% commitment (and I had the horse of a lifetime…). I am now in my 50’s and am an A/A rider, having a good time. But I am an A/A rider with a ton of memories and experiences to draw on.
Go for it! You will not regret doing something which you really want to do.
There is a great book out there somewhere entitled; “Do What You Love and The Money Will Follow.” I wish I could recall the author’s name. It may be worth a read for you.
I regret terribly that I didnt bum around Europe for a year after school or become a ski bum, I was just so driven to get my career going. Now with student loan debt up to my eyeballs from graduate school, a mortgage, two horses and a boyfirend, its just too late. GO FOR IT!!! (p.s. do you have the security of knowing that your job would take you back in a few months if you changed your mind OR could you find another position readily?)
Oh CAH tell us about Divorce Acres Farm - I’m in need of a good bedtime story
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
