My morning view.
Now that the majority of maddening and yet enthralling consumerism has almost reached it’s fill, it’s time to take a deep breath and truly think about the meaning of Christmas. This holiday isn’t about stuff or things, or even delicious foods (although I admit that’s a huge bonus for me). Christmas, in it’s simplest form, is about love. And who knows about love better than Eventers? We love our horses and our sport more than we should, despite obvious evidence of insanity and delusion. We love our horse families, the guys and girls we know from the barn, who share our passion and our lifestyle. This year, I suggest that we forego physical gifts and focus instead on the essence that brings us all together as Eventers. I suggest we pay it forward.
One of the most precious and important thing about Eventing is the community that comes with it. Never before have you experienced such a feeling of warmth and group effort as you will when you go to an Eventing competition. There are people willing to help you unload your heavy wheelbarrow from your truck, or waiting to help you pull hind shipping boots off a twirling horse. When you go into the warm up arena, everybody is courteous and certainly nobody hogs a practice fence and prevents you from using it for yourself. As you walk to cross country, a fellow competitor coming back from the course will always wish you good luck, and more than often offer a few words of advice about a tricky combination.
So, for this Christmas, I am hoping to encourage all of you to move in the spirit of Eventing and pay it forward. For every time that a fellow horseman has offered you a hand, a word of welcome advice, or perhaps a pair of spurs when you’ve forgotten yours, I want you to do the same for another rider. We all have memories of early mentors who let us ride their private horse, took us on amazing trail rides and spoke to us like adults when we were twelve, and that favor can easily be re-payed. We’ve all been with a naughty or nervous horse that requires consideration, and grateful when others offer it. If you see an opportunity to improve the life of another, if only for a few seconds, take it with both hands.
I fully believe in the idea that good things will come back to you as you send them into the universe, and there is no better way to express it than helping your fellow humans. It doesn’t have to mean spending money, or donating time, it just means everyday kindness, and the offer of a hand when you see someone in need. Christmas is about love, and the more you give, the more you get, especially in the Eventing community.
