I’ve seen comments from people recently that have been bugging me a bit. It’s this idea of letting your horse down by not being a good enough rider or not being committed enough.
I recently had a week where I rode a grand total of three times. One of those rides lasted less than 10minutes.
Do I feel like a bad person? Nope.
Do I feel like this makes a worse rider? Not so much.
Do I feel like I let my horse down? No way!
Do I think my horse cared? Hell No!
And sure its pretty likely that Nonie would be competing at a higher level far more successfully if she were with a better, more talented rider. But do I think this is something that keeps her up at night? You guessed it, definitely not!
Your horse doesn’t know that they are talented.
Your horse doesn’t care how talented you are as a rider.
Your horse doesn’t care if they get ridden once in a week or six times or even if they don’t get ridden.
What your horse does care about is that they are fed enough and have access to clean water. They care that they are well looked after.
Your horse cares that you you are kind to them. They care that you don’t jab them in the mouth when you become frustrated. And yes they probably appreciate you being the best load possible to carry.
And sure if you have big goals that you are working towards then a certain amount of time in the saddle is necessary. But that is almost a seperate issue becuase guess what, your horse does not care about your goals.
So if you find yourself struggling to ride as often as you like or you feel like your letting your horse down remember all of the things that you horse cares about. Then go back to the things that you are stressing about, are they related at all? There is a good ccahnce they probably aren’t. Cut yourself some slack and go hug your horse.
