Sometimes we have to make our own luck

20 Sep Sometimes we have to make our own luck

“You are so lucky to get to work with horses and make a living out of what you love. I wish I could do something like that.”

I don’t know how many times people have told me that and how many times I have told them that I don’t think it has anything to do with luck. I get to do that because of the choices I have made in life. It hasn’t been easy as I’ve had to give up a lot to be here and worked very hard.

“Have you got any plans for the weekend?” Since I finished school I have never had weekends and even while I was at school most of the weekends I spent at the stables helping out to get to ride more. Once school was finished and I started working I have never had weekends off.

How many Friday nights have I spent cleaning tack for other people and eventually for myself to compete the next day. Or just being tired from the week and staying in reading books and watching videos etc anything I can find to learn more about horses and their behaviour and why they do the things they do. I have always been very interested in how horses think and how to get into their heads. The best teachers have been the horses themselves though. Every horse is different and they all teach you more than you might think.

No one in my family is into horses. I never had my own pony when I was a child and I didn’t even know anyone who had horses. I didn’t get my very own horse till about 5 years ago as I was just never able to afford it. But somehow I always knew I would get my very own horse if I worked hard enough and wanted it bad enough.

Now I have a few horses of my own even though my first horse Portia that I had big hopes for didn’t quite turn out the way I hoped. I always dreamed of competing and producing my own horse and taking her up the levels either showjumping or eventing.

After years and years always competing and producing other people’s horses she was meant to be the one that will never get sold and I will get to do this with her for a long time.

Unfortunately I only got to ride and train her for about a year before she developed some health issues and I had to retire her from ridden work when she was only 5 years old. I love her very, very much and she will always stay with me.

Last summer she gave birth to a lovely colt by Billy Congo and I couldn’t be happier with him. He is called Banquo and he will also always have a home with me and hopefully he will be the horse I can take up the levels and have a wonderful journey together with him and never have to worry about him being sold. Portia is now in foal again and I’m really looking forward to meeting the new baby foal in the spring.

People ask me quite often how do I deal with it when it’s time for the horse to go to their new home. After all the training and spending a lot of time with them every day, getting them out competing, getting good results and then they get sold and go to their new homes. I did find it hard at first but I guess people can get used to most things. If I have it in my head straight away when a new horse arrives that they are with me only temporarily then it’s not too bad and it’s something that I have learned to deal with. I just won’t let them in.

Don’t get me wrong I still care about them and it’s always sad when they go but it’s something I’ve learned how to do. It always makes me really happy to get updates on how the horses are doing in their new homes and sometimes just one little message saying how happy they are with their new horse makes it all worth it. The new owners often keep in touch with me long after they have bought one of my horses I have produced.

I’ve gone a bit off-topic now but what I wanted to say in this blog is that nothing comes easy in life unless you are an extremely lucky person and win a lottery or something and even then you have to make a choice to buy the lottery ticket and believe that there is a chance to win so in some ways you still have to make your own luck.

Long days, doing all the shitty jobs at first, very early mornings, late nights, thinking about horses day and night, how to get better at training them and get better results, giving up most other things in life what normal people do is what has gotten me to this point and being able to do it as a profession and not just a hobby. Couldn’t really call it luck, could you?

Even when you train your horse it takes some patience, commitment, hard work and consistency. Horses don’t wake up thinking that I want to be better behaved for my owner today and this is on you to teach them how and train them to want to do it for you!