For me, picking favorites has always been really hard. Remember those stupid "Get-to-know-your-classmates!" worksheets from the first few days of each grade in elementary school? They always had questions like "Whats your favorite color?" or "Whats your favorite class?" or "Whats your favorite song?". Well I'm pretty sure that all of the blanks following those questions always said "I don't have a favorite____", because really I liked no one color or class more than any of the others.
So when Mr. V assigned us to write about our favorite activity, naturally, nothing immediately popped into my mind. Even nearly a month after it has been assigned, I haven't decided what my favorite activity is. However, I have decided to blog about one thing that I enjoy quite a bit, which is horse shows.
About four years ago I got my horse,
Friday is the easy day. We (referring to my friends who are also showing that weekend) come into our barn around 9 and bathe all of our horses, load up the trailer and haul the horses to the showgrounds. Then we ride them around the grounds so they can look at all the scary stuff (*keep in mind our horses brains are only the size of a walnut) like puddles, scary banners and other flapping objects from the hated dog show people across the grounds (*horse show people and dogshow people have a long history of tensions; mainly because dog show people are rude and scare our horses all the time, and park in the parking lots that are clearly labeled "HORSE SHOW PARKING ONLY". Not to mention most of their dogs are insanely obnoxious.) and puddles. After settling the horses in for the night, we go home, memorize our tests (*in my sport, dressage, we ride patterns that are arranged in tests) and mentally prepare ourselves for the next two days, the two days of the actual showing.
Basically, Saturday and Sunday are pretty chaotic. I'm just going to list all the factors that contribute to the stress/unpleasant factor of Saturday and Sunday.
1)Often, you have to wake up 4 or 5 in the morning to get to the barn by 6 or seven, for your scheduled ride time of 8 or nine.
2)Even though your body might not be fully awake at these un-godly hours, your nerves are up and running full steam ahead. Most of the time, especially at big shows, the feeling like you have to puke doesn't even begin to go away until after noon, usually this is after you've already ridden one or two of your tests.
4)No matter how well you have planned your time, there's always something you forgot to account for. There's always someone running around frantically trying to get done last minute before they need to go show.
5)All of the girls who show PMS at the same time. And it's usually on show weekends. The level of crabbiness and irritability at times is so great, it's a wonder we don't all have mental/emotional breakdowns.
6)The stupid dog show people. This is a list within a list:
a. Their dogs get loose. Since they have no brains, the dogs think its a great idea to run around inbetween our horses legs while we're riding. Then, their equally brainless owners come running after them, in their big shiny outfits, arms waving like mad men and screaming for their dogs hysterically at the top of their lungs. This is enough to send even a sane horse into a nervous breakdown.
b. They park in our parking spaces. When you're already running late, not being able to find a place to park never helps in any case. Also, their cars are oh-so-conveniently placed right in the way of doors or water sources, which forces us to squeeze our 2,000 pound animals through 2 ft wide entrance, or not be able to get water for them.
c. They put up ridiculously shiny and large banners and flags. Which are half hidden behind thin trees. So while we're riding in our already-tense test, the horse see's some object moving violently in the wind and making loud noises, but isn't able to distinguish what it is. Since the fight-or-flight instinct is basically what horses base their lives on, the scary unknown flags could be a freakin Yeti coming to eat them, for all they know. So they run. And let me tell you, they run fast.
d. They come and visit the horses in the barn. This usually isn't a problem, but once, some genius stuck her hand into a stall of an unknown horse and it bit her, leaving a bruise on her hand. When the owner came back, the dog show lady complained about what a vicious, horrible horse it was, and that it should be put down because it was a danger to all people. The owner just looked at her and pointed to the sign on the front of the horses stall saying "WARNING: I BITE!"
That last one was a bit sidetracked, but my list continues:
7)My horse is very young, and he's an Arabian, so his energy level is (on a scale of 1-10) pretty much a 9 or ten all the time. And he occasionally has major spazzes. You try controlling a 1,200 lb. animal with the brain a size of a walnut at 7 in the morning when there a lots of scary things around you.
8) The weather is never ideal. It’s either chilly and raining buckets or scorching hot. (Keep in mind that my horse is black, and I have to wear black leather boots up to my knees and a long sleeved black show coat and a black helmet. Also, my horse is afraid of water)
I could go on and on about all the stressful little things that make showing horses so chaotic, but I think you get the idea. You're probably wondering why I chose this as my "favorite activity" by now. Sometimes, i seriously wonder that myself. However, it’s totally worth it.
For starters, in such a materialistic world, horses keep me grounded. Horses don’t care what you wear or who you hang out with or how successful you are. What they care about is how responsible you are (to take care of them) and how well you work with them or how fair you are.
Another thing is that it doesn’t matter how much money you have as a rider; you can’t buy talent or experience. Dressage is one of the few things where I am solely responsible for my success. (Obviously, I need a trainer and a horse to learn from, but what I mean here is that no one else can do the work for me to reap the benefits)Horse shows are the place where what I’ve learned/worked on is tested. The satisfaction of taking home a first place prize for something I worked hard towards is great.
Also, I’ve met my best friends through the barn, and they all have a positive influence on me in one way, shape or form. Some shows we go to are out of state. Road-tripping it around with the coolest people I know is enough to qualify showing as favorite activity in itself.
To put it in a nutshell, you could say that horse showing is one of my favorite activities because I get to show off what I’ve learned and compete with other people while spending time with my friends.
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