Young Riders week is upon us! Joanie Morris sent me an email the other day reminding me that our list of Olympic competitors is filled with successful Young Rider competitors. To name a few, Tiana (and Ringwood Magister!), Karen O’Connor, Will Coleman, Reed Kessler, and McLain Ward all won YR medals. The competition this weekend is a chance for North America’s best competitors to get the experience of a lifetime that will hopefully be full of many great eventing experiences. Jon Holling is coaching Area IV this week and was kind enough to send us a few of his thoughts for the competitors. Thanks for writing this Jon and thank you for reading.
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From Jon Holling:
One of the greatest things about the sport of Eventing is the passion that eventers bring to the table each and every day. This week the North American world of Eventing is descending on Lexington, Kentucky for the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships. Over the years I have been able to be a part of this great competition as a rider and a coach. I think one of the biggest struggles I go through every year, is how to communicate my feelings about this event without sounding like some old guy who is trying too hard to “teach the kids life lessons.” I am however hoping that at least of few of them will read what I have to say and think about what this week really means. I said last year that each and every competitor who arrives at the venue is already a winner. All one has to do is look at the qualifying criteria, and then ask one of the kids what they had to do to get to the championships. Because the competition happens in July, most of these competitors had to plan for this a full year ahead of time or more. Add to that the short season that several of the areas have, and the amount of dedication it takes is staggering. So when you competitors are sitting in one of the boring meetings and you hear one of the officials congratulate you on being at the Championships, be proud. It took a lot to even get here.
More than any event you will have been to, there are some fantastic distractions here at NAJYRC. Tear it up! Have fun, and enjoy every moment with your team. Some of you will go on to be lifelong friends whether you continue riding as a hobby or a profession. My teammate from years ago was some guy named Buck Davidson. I occasionally run into him at the events! The point is you will build friendships this week with people who have the same addiction to this sport as you, and that makes sustaining those relationships so much easier. So go ahead and enjoy the week, but don’t lose sight of the goal.
This is not a big love fest of mutual appreciation…it is a competition. Because it is a competition, each of you should already have a plan for how to best help your team win. Not only should you want the team gold but also the individual honor. From the moment you step foot in your irons to the moment you leave the arena or course, each and every one of you should be cold and calculating. Each and every step you take on your horse this week should be planned. You should know, down to the second, how long you need in the warm up to produce you personal best test. By Saturday morning you should know every blade of grass you will be running over. On Sunday, it will take complete control of your emotions to be good enough to best the others around what will be a very imposing show jumping course. It takes total focus and dedication to win this competition, and the best team will win. It is the team that can, as a group, best control their emotions that will walk away winners.
While in the moment things will feel very stressful and heavy, you will discover throughout the years many things that the week to come have taught you. The reality is that only one team is going to win. That is the way it should be. The cream rises and the rest will go home wondering what may have been. It is the way you deal with both of these situations that will define you, not your placing. To me that is the real lesson. How do you deal with winning? Are you able to celebrate and enjoy your moment without flaunting it in front of the other teams? Will you really appreciate what it took to win, or will you fall into the trap of thinking it was just supposed to happen? How do you deal with your disappointment? Are you able to show your respect for the winners while that burning disappointment in the pit of your stomach eats away at you? Will you take that disappointment home and let it continue to feast on your dream of riding and winning, or will you use it as motivation to return even better next time? That it is up to you.
