Don’t let the lows — in the saddle or otherwise — rob you of the great things you’ve already accomplished.
It’s easy to get discouraged.
Frustrated.
Feeling as though you’re running on empty and shouldn’t be.
As a human, this is normal. As an aspiring horseman, it can be devastating to second-guess, wonder and question the progress. I sometimes wonder what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, why I can’t do it better, and even more so, why anyone would bet on me as someone who can get the job done.
When I was going to school, I had a Toyota pickup with a dysfunctional fuel gauge. I was paying my own way and quite broke most days. I drove more than an hour each way from the ranch I lived on twice a week to get to my classes. As one can imagine, the first time I noticed that my fuel level plummeted, I panicked and called my dad (who just so happens to be an incredible mechanic). He reassured me that, as long as my needle was reading some sort of fuel in the tank, even intermittently, it meant I had gas in it. My fuel gauge was based on a float, so it couldn’t physically read a fake full.
He said, “Don’t worry too much. There’s no such thing as a false high.”
Well, that realization made me feel a lot better that day, and sure enough, I got to where I was going. And as I’ve grown older, I have carried my dad’s words with me and applied them to much more than just a fuel tank.
I sometimes relate to that quirky pickup, both in the saddle and in life. Sometimes it feels like that needle is wiggling all over the place, and it’s much more believable to see it drop down and panic rather than feel steady and comfortable when it does hit the ¾ and over level.
Things can’t stay at an all-time high. It’s not sustainable, and logically, it doesn’t work. There’s an ebb and a flow to things, and the world brings us blessings and hardships without pattern. But we’ve all peaked at times. We’ve all accomplished — maybe even exceeded — goals. That fast time on the barrel pattern? Yes, it really happened. The flawless lead change in a tough class and the big stop that followed? It was really there. The photographer captured it. That perfectly executed heel shot really won that beautiful buckle. That colt did get started, went left, right, stopped and eventually made a nice little mount.
What about that day in the mountains, when the sun burst through the clouds and shone a beam down on the green valley while you sat in your saddle and realized how lucky you are? No such thing as a false high.
Yes, reality sets in eventually. We can have a rally and a string of great things happen in the saddle, but no one keeps hitting highs day after day. It’s not realistic, and it would warp the wins, anyway. We all dip down. Hit the lows. We coast somewhere between a half a tank and empty a lot of the time. Just going through the motions. And when we dip, it’s easy to dilute and discount the best parts that got us there in the first place.
A bad show, a bad year, a bad experience, a tough horse, an unhappy customer, a poor ride — they happen to all the horsemen of the world.
When you’re feeling low or a little discouraged, don’t let your needle drop too far. Don’t let the dips rob you of the good stuff you’ve already accomplished. Wear that buckle proudly. Sign up for that clinic and embrace the struggle. Take a ride in the mountains. Frame the photos and tell the stories with your friends who were there.
And on an unrelated note, if you’re young, broke and driving a lot, ensure you’ve got a good mechanic you can call anytime.
Wonderful words of life wisdom💕