I assume if you are tuning in here, there is a good chance you have a horse. Let me ask you this: Do you ride as much as you would like? If not, why not? Do you find yourself with only a half hour's worth of time and figure that is not enough to hassle with riding? And then tomorrow you have the time, but its hotter than hell now or you don't want to ride alone? That's called singing the same song, only a different verse.
If you think I'm harping at you personally, I'm not. I'm just thinking about a stat that someone once mentioned: 80% of new horse owners will be through with it in one year. Of the 20% that stay with it, 80% of those will be out of horses in 5 years. Without doing the math, that seems like a lot of people moving away from horses!
I have felt the loss as my family has ridden less and less. John would say that he is "just too busy; not home enough the way it is". The kids say they don't have fun "riding at home", but if I offer to take them to a trail, they decline, as well. I'm not sure any of them ever had the passion, but the more they are away from it, the more reasons they have not to ride today or tomorrow or the next day. And I miss riding with them; it was something we did together.
Riding took on a new meaning for me after I started taking lessons. I now had a reason to ride; to continue to practice what I learned and not let my horse get stale. I invested in training; I didn't want my investment to go to waste. And to go fetch my horse for a short ride -- when I didn't have time for anything longer -- didn't seem like quite as big of a chore when we had things to do & practice! And most of all, as Windy and I started to click even better, it ignited my passion even more.
Using the comments section (you can post anonymously), do you ride as much as you did when you first got your horse? If yes, what kind of riding do you do and what keeps you interested? Or if you ride less now than you did before, why? What do you think changed things for you? Are you as satisfied just "being" with horses as you would be actually riding? (I've always said if I couldn't ride any longer, I would still want horses in my life!) Or do you rarely see your horses anymore and if so, again, what changed?
I'm anxious to hear from you!
Hey Tammy, I've only own horses for 4 years and I love trailriding. I am riding more and more as my horses get experience and so do I. One of my goals this year was to be able to ride my horse down the gravel road by my house by myself and I have reached my goal! That has given me the ability to ride much more when I always had to wait to ride with someone else.
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ReplyDeleteI bet those 4 years have been fun for you!! Congrats on meeting your goal and I know exactly what you mean (I'm humming 'Independence Day' as I type). I had a terrible fear of that, too! I don't know if it was worrying about being hit by a car or bucked off! But once I accomplished that, I was no longer dependent on husband, kids or friends to go ride with me & got to enjoy the time with just my horse! -Tammy
I do find myself riding less and less, being a fair weather rider. (Live in Chicago). I work to support my horse, yet haven't the time to ride much. Even had the dreaded thought of "finding a good home" for my gelding. Where's the balance?
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