Trainer Confessions: Cliché Love
This is an anonymous post from a guest writer. We asked Trainers what they would write if they could share whatever they wanted without worrying about social media backlash or stereotyping. This article does not (necessarily) represent the beliefs of Austin Eventing. Here are their thoughts. Thank you for the outpouring of support for this blog idea.
I do what I do for the love of the sport, the horses, and students. Sounds cliche, doesn’t it? I guess it is a bit. That sentence is what I tell people when they ask why I train. The ironic thing is that is not how they ask me, it’s usually something like, “So, do you have a degree?”
Yes. I can read good. I can right too.
The truth is most trainers I know are highly educated individuals. The truth is I chose to do this. I continue to choose to do this and I will continue to do so.
What the average person doesn’t understand is not that you choose this lifestyle, but what you choose to give up to do it.
This sport is physically, emotionally, and financially demanding. Those demands are placed on you, your family, and your loved ones. Words like: savings, vacations, and health care are similar to a foreign language. We understand them, but on a very vague conceptual level, somehow seeming to miss their actual application. Relationships within the industry are elusive and relationships with someone outside the industry have their serious challenges. Not many women like to be left at home on a Friday night while you are out at a Horse Trial across the country.
It’s ironic that a person so educated would do this, isn’t it?
It all started as a kid with a demon pony. That pony beat the crap out of me and must have set the stage for my future tenacity. I wanted to go to the Olympics more than anything. I haven’t yet but have been “lucky” enough to ride at some amazing venues with other professionals I never thought I would compete against.
I’ve given up damn near everything. I mean that. I continue to give up everything with the belief that I am good enough, strong enough, and dedicated enough to stay at the top levels of this sport. I better be because there is no turning back now, degree or not.
Quite honestly, I don’t even know what I would do with myself if I wasn’t doing this. There’s no step back into normalcy from here. I think the actual cliche is that there becomes no choice, the further down the rabbit hole you go.
-Anonymous
