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| My own self in the 3' medal with Jampy |
Now that I'm older and a lot of life has happened both in my horse life and not, it makes more sense to me. Most of that group didn't own their own horses. So moving up wasn't that simple. And they weren't eligible to compete horses they didn't own at 3'3" or 3'6" unless they wanted to compete with the pros (in the hunters, these were not jumper riders). But also? 3' seems to get bigger the older I get, so perhaps that phenomenon just started earlier for them.
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| Currently maxing out at 2'3" with Shiny |
When I was a young amateur shopping for horses (Rio and then Jampy) I was looking for jumpers to move back up to the larger tracks. I wanted so badly to compete regularly in the A/O jumpers at 1.20 to 1.35. (I never had delusions of jumping the highs. I know my limits!) But now? My REACH goal is the high adults at 1.15. Likely, I'll be content to walk into the low adult jumper ring someday. Maybe I'll find myself doing the 3' medals for the rest of my riding days.
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| Once upon a time showing the low A/O's at 1.3M with Rio |
I really have no idea what competitive riding life will look like in my future. I do know I want to get back in the show ring. Will it definitely be in the jumper ring? Nope, not definitely. Maybe though! It really depends on what I have to ride when the time finally comes. But I do know, whenever I do get back to a horse show, I certainly won't be judging any fellow amateurs that choose to show over smaller fences. With age came wisdom in that department! Who knows, you may see me competing in the 2' hunters for awhile. Or maybe forever. I'll be having a blast though, no matter what height the fences are.
Obviously not a jumper, but I definitely agree with goals changing over the course of our riding lives. Excited to see you get back in the show ring too! 😁
ReplyDeleteRight? Things that seemed so important back then, just aren't anymore.
Deleteit's interesting how much perception on riding goals differs by individual barn communities. i've been at barns (including my current one), where there are riders who.... uh, barely ride, or rarely ride inside an arena (vs trails). or who don't canter. most don't jump at all, and if they do, it's very small single jumps. and only a few barn mates ever actually travel off farm to horse shows, let alone participate in the shows we host onsite. even among those who do jump, the vast majority will never jump above 3'. and if they DO have aspirations/ambitions for more, there are additional obstacles like access to coaching or horses trained and/or sound enough. realistically, it's crazy hard (and statistically rare) to actually get to do those things, and super easy to get demoralized when it's what you want, but never really works out. or at least, that's been my experience haha.
ReplyDeleteso... yea, longwinded observations aside, i'm with ya on reevaluating what the goals / ambitions landscape should actually look like -- aside from ya know: just trying to have the most fun with our ponies as humanly possible!
Exactly! The trainer where I winter board has zero understanding of people who don't want to show. It makes no sense to her. But at the end of the day, isn't enjoying our horses why we have them? How we do that might look different to all of us, but that should be the common goal!
DeleteI totally feel this and actually just had a similar conversation with a friend riding at the UL the other day. I remarked how as a kid, I was all about competing, showing, moving up, winning and these days, I just want to have a good time. Sure, I want to keep improving, but the 'win at all costs' mentality is gone. Probably in part knowing I will never be able to afford to do that, but also that's not why I ride anymore. I don't have the drive to ride rain/sleet/snow/ice/115 degrees and that's perfectly okay. I love going around BN and having fun with my horse and I also know 16 year old me would be horrified to hear that LOL. When I hear about the stress my friend puts on herself to achieve her goals, it just doesn't sound appealing to me. But to her, that drives everything she does in life and I have so much respect for that. She's still having fun, but in a very different way than I am.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY! Life is too short to focus that hard on a goal that might in fact be unattainable. I agree, I always want to be a better rider. I just don't think the height of the fence dictates how good or not good I am as a rider anymore. I sure thought that when I was younger though!
DeleteThat insight was one I got when I went to sell Ramone. I had thought while putting him together that being a 3'6" horse was where it was at. But truly the market for the 2'6"-3' horse is HUGE, a lot of riders will say they aspire for higher but never make it, or make it briefly. Life, finances, and then the fragile mental state of the amateur all get in the way lol And it's all ok, just like Emma said.
ReplyDeleteYep! I think the lower level horses are the most sellable, honestly. And in the current market they absolutely bring enough money into the equation.
DeleteI struggle sometimes because I started showing at 3'6" when I was showing as a 12 year old and stayed there (and/or jumped bigger) for so many years. Sometimes it feels like I've failed since I jump so tiny now. But what you're sitting on plays the biggest role in jump height. I think I'm a better rider now than I was back in high school. Maybe smarter too, and that's why I jump smaller... Lol!