Ten Things I Learned Through Being a Camp Counselor

1. You’ll never regret having too much time with someone.
Life is short. Death comes out of nowhere sometimes. You will never regret having too much time with the people you love. Take the extra moments to tell people you love them, and put others before yourself. The relationships we have with people are much more important than any paycheck.

2. Ask for help when you need it.
Don’t try and do everything by yourself always. The people who love you want you to succeed, and will usually do everything in their power to make sure you do. If you don’t understand something, ask! 9 times out of 10, bosses and peers would much rather you ask a question instead of having you do it wrong

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3. The people who are hardest to love usually need it the most.

The most difficult people are usually the ones who need love and grace the most. Give them a little extra. It’s hard- especially when every bone in your body is telling you to punch them straight in the mouth. But give them some grace. They’re generally difficult for a reason, so set an example to everyone around. There will ALWAYS be difficult people to deal with in every stage of life, you might as well get into the habit of not wanting to sucker punch every idiot who is consistently rude/defiant/gossipy/loud/twofaced/lying/awful.

4. You get what you give.
You only get out of life what you put in. Live actively and you’ll receive actively. Throw yourself at every opportunity, be a little silly, give more than what you think you can. We’re stronger and have more than what we actually think, and to live a good life you’ve got to say “whatever, suckas” and do everything to the fullest. If that means swimming the mighty Tippecanoe river with a glorified pool noodle on your precious night off just to say you did it or skydiving/hangliding when you’re terrified of heights or even just throwing yourself into your work a little more, you get out of life what you give it. Give it good things and you’ll get good things back.

5. Be Third.
God is first, others are second, and I am third. I heard this motto all day, every day for the entirety of my summer and it’s such a good road map to living life. So dial it up to G-O-D, put your friends, family, and enemies before yourself, and don’t be selfish. Even if Jesus isn’t your thing, putting others before yourself is just a good general rule. People like being put first and it feels good to do it. #Jesushasyourback #JesustheOG

6. Friendship is all-important.
Be a good friend. Be a rock for the people around you and you’ll get amazing friendships out of it. Life is so much more fun if you have a good friend or two by your side to experience it with. Include everyone, don’t judge a book by it’s cover, and be open to new friendships. Those friendships will carry you through the roughest times and can help keep a smile on your face.

7. Stand up for yourself.
Sometimes, your only friend is yourself. Don’t let others walk all over you. Choose your battles but sometimes you’ll be the only one to fight them for yourself. You set your own standard for how people treat you so stick to it. Surround yourself with good people and give the respect you expect to receive.

8. Make every day special.
You set the tone for your day. If you wake up with the mindset of “this day sucks. I hate life and life hates me” that’s the day you’re going to have. Add some spice to your day and make it a day worth living. Sometimes you just have to chug a Red Bull, throw on a plastic tiara and call it Tiara Tuesday to make your day a little better. Sing for no reason, dance a little. Make every day the BEST DAY EVER.

9. Do what you love and you won’t work a day in your life.
Do what makes you happy. Find what that is, and center your life around it. You won’t work a single day if you’re doing what makes you the happiest. Again, surround yourself with good and you’ll get good out. We only have one life, make it worth it. #YOLO

10. Go out of your comfort zone.
If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re going to keep getting what you’ve gotten. Do something new, try a new skill, fail miserably and try again. Jump off the high dive when you’re afraid of going underwater, sing in front of a couple hundred people when you have stage fright, and trust others when you’re afraid.

 

My Life as an Equestrian Told Entirely By GIFs – Part 3 Y’all

1. Trying to break in a new pair of boots

2. When I talk big game before a class and completely bomb it

3. When the judge talks to everyone in the lineup but me

4. What my horse probably thinks when I spray paint his black tail black-er

5. My horse when I turn him out

6. When one person’s horse starts bucking and it starts a chain reaction in the warm up pen

7. Losing a stirrup halfway through my pattern

8. Trying to feed all of the horses at once

9. The time immediately after a meet wraps up

10. When my competition asks me whether I think I won the high point

 

11. When people spend thousands on tack and show clothes when they should be spending it on training and lessons

12. Me immediately when I get home from a show

13. When my favorite judge tells me I’m a fun rider to watch

14. When my trainer tells me to calm down before I go into a class

15. When my sister tells me I messed up my pattern but I still place well

16. When I’m riding with friends and they dare me to jump my western pleasure horse

17. My relationship with my horses 80% of the time

18. When a little kid tells me they want to ride just like me someday

19. My reaction when I go to a 4-H Leader’s Meeting

20. When my Quarter horse wins the Saddleseat High Point

21. How I feel after I get my hat shaped & cleaned

22. My gelding and I’s relationship

23. My feelings towards anyone who thinks riding is easy

24. When my sister/lesson kid takes my advice and it works

 

 

25. My feelings about the MSU Equestrian Team being the best in the region/nation/WORLD

 

26. My reaction to anyone who talks smack about my horse show friends

 

27. Whenever anyone says anything about a horse and the whole class/group looks back at me for confirmation

28. When non-horse people make horse jokes at my expense

29. When I win a class but the announcer says my name wrong (every. time.)

30. My thoughts for anyone who doesn’t believe that riding is the most fun you’ll ever have….ever

 

I’m an equestrian. I’m an athlete.

I’m an equestrian. Yes, I am an athlete.

Growing up, I played plenty of sports. I dabbled in plenty of team sports and dance classes and figure skating and all that jazz. Obviously the only sport that stuck was riding.

This is the point in the conversation that some beefy guy that played second string football in high school says “That’s not a sport. You just sit there.”

Conversations like these make me shake my head and pray for restraint as I respond. Having your passion cut down regularly by people who have never even seen a real horse gets old, and fast. Riding can be a hobby for some, but for most it’s a lifestyle. I haven’t worked my ass off for over 15 years trying to improve as a rider for a ‘hobby’. This is my sport and I live and breathe it.

Being a rider takes more than ‘just sitting there’. Riding takes guts- one misstep from your horse and you’re plummeting to the ground at a high rate of speed. One wrong move and you’re getting trampled or flying at the jump that your horse refused. I’ve broken more bones than I can count and I can count on one finger the amount of times I didn’t get back on. I mean, come on. Turn on any college basketball game and you see guys barely getting touched, flopping around and being carried off the court for a stubbed toe or a little nosebleed. Every rider knows that if you fall off, you get back on unless you’re physically unable- and physically unable is something like a broken leg or an arterial bleed. It’s a norm that few sports hold standard. Other sports communicate with their teammates by yelling across the field or strategizing in a huddle. My teammate can kill me as easily as I breathe. We communicate with shifts of weight and pressure- a 1200 lb. animal vs an 120 lb. girl. And that bond can run deeper than any human can. In my sport there’s no time out. There’s no way to guarantee my safety. There’s no bench and there’s no penalty shots. I have one chance to prove that I’m the best in the ring and I take full advantage. You don’t know what power is until you’ve got 1200 pounds of it running beneath you.

Some tell me that the horse does all the work. I just laugh. As a rider, I use muscles that most people don’t even know they have. I’d literally pay money to see those people try and keep themselves sitting properly on a horse going over a 3’9” fence. 10 times out of 10 they’d fall off and injure themselves. Equestrians have thighs and calves of steel without ever setting foot in a gym. We need a strong core to keep ourselves sitting in the correct position while simultaneously driving our horse with our seat and legs. Have they ever seen a jockey before? Those guys may be small, but they’re ripped. That goes for most professionals. The point is to actively ride strong while looking effortless and perfect.

Other athletes have to focus on themselves. I have to focus on myself and an animal that’s 10 times stronger than me. You can never be a perfect rider. Ever. There’s always ways to improve. I don’t care if you’re a world champion. There’s never a perfect rider but we all strive to get as close as possible. I train as often as possible with a variety of trainers. Before I came to college I rode nearly every day for multiple hours to get better. I practice as often as possible but I’d rather be riding all day, every day. I don’t know many people who could say that about their sport.

Sometimes I get the “anyone can do it. It’s so easy, you just let the horse do the work”. Sure! If you’d like to hop on and try to compare to my 15+ years of experience and talent, go right ahead. I mean, you just sit there, right? I’m sorry. If it was that easy, EVERYONE would do it. But not everyone can do it, because it takes so much more than just thinking horses are pretty. It takes a fearless attitude that knows that this ride could be your last if you fall and break your neck. It takes trust knowing that even the most trained horse could go beserk at any second and put you in danger. It takes mental strength because no matter what discipline you’re riding, you have to analyze and problem solve as the obstacles come. I don’t care if you’re a jumper, reiner, or all arounder- you constantly have to strategize and change your plans and adjust your game plan accordingly.

The foundation of sports is passion, dedication, and perseverance. NFL players have it and so do equestrians.  The actual definition for a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” So at even the most basic sense, riding is a sport.

I spend thousands and thousands of dollars per year riding. I pay hundreds per show to win a ribbon or medal or buckle and it’s so worth it. Because while I may be competing against the 50 other people in my class, my only real competition is myself. And when I win a tough class, I can feel good about the win knowing that I’m the one that worked hard and got me and my horse there. I don’t know of any other sports that would be able to give me that satisfaction.

I mean, how many people would go nuts if I claimed that soccer isn’t a sport? (It totally is but just bear with me for argument’s sake) All you gotta do is kick a ball into a net! How hard is that?Just because the specifics of my sport aren’t as well known, doesn’t mean that there’s no merit in it.Riding is one of the oldest forms of competition. I’m sorry, I can’t picture any Roman soldier looking cool playing baseball. Think about knights jousting. Those guys were too badass to throw a ball around; they skipped straight to the dangerous and thrilling sports.

I’m not trying to detract from other sports- I won’t stoop down to that level. I just hate getting less respect as an athlete just because not many people have the drive, dedication, finances, and talent to do what we do.

Honestly, I probably can’t get too mad at the idiots telling me that riding isn’t a sport. They don’t know any better. They don’t realize that there’s more to it than pony rides at the county fair. They don’t realize that people fly their $175,000+ German imported horse across the country to face off against the best equestrians in the world. I mean,  it’s not their fault that the only horse experience they have is with Sandy the Penny Pony at Meijer. It’s cool, I’ll leave them to that while I continue kicking ass in the best sport that has ever existed.