Skybreaker stepping over the last fence at Huntington 2012
Considering we are currently in the crux of the Holiday season, materialism, consumerism, and instant gratification come to mind. The thought of receiving and purchasing an unlimited amount of gifts, only to forget about, lose, or misplace those items twenty-four, to forty-eight hours after the 25th of December isn’t exactly conducive to bettering human kind. Rather, this gift giving extravaganza routine has become more about quantity, and maxing out your credit cards, than it is about celebrating life.
Don’t get me wrong, Christmas happens to be one of my favorite holidays, but these are the reasons why: time spent with my family; thoughtful cooking; the smell of Christmas trees; wreath making parties, music and so much more. Gifts and spending money are my least favorite things about the holidays. Perhaps this idea of instant gratification is the reason why Christmas has a brief shelf life, and is forgotten about shortly after. Once the 26th, or the 27th rolls around, people are back to their desks and life resumes. Trees are burned, or dropped off in the backyard, ornaments, and other holiday trinkets are placed into the “Christmas Box,” and stored away until the next go around. Life as you knew it continues after the brief and expensive holiday week.
This sport called eventing that we all have come to know and love, doesn’t seem to have a shelf life at all. In other words, there’s some instant gratification within this sport, but there’s also an extreme amount of waiting and pursuing, which must account for some of its appeal. Of course there’s the childhood dreams of riding and owning your own pony. There’s the avid competitors who cannot wait until the next event. There’s the work ethic, the dedication, the love, the mental and physical devotion, and more. But there’s something to be said about the delayed gratification that corresponds with eventing.
valonia at Stoneleigh Burnham 2013
I never really understood those girls I grew up with that seemed like die hard event riders. They were at the barn seven days a week. They mucked stalls, took lessons, and competed every other weekend. They seemed as addicted as I was. Time passed, and some stuck with it, while others dropped off the face of the sport. For some, I suppose the thrill subsided, or there was a lack of funding, or real life interrupted their addiction. In other words, college redirected their focus, or husbands and babies became the focal point, or they quite simply lost interest, or never had the real interest to begin with. Whatever the reasons, some girls I grew up with are not at the stables, the events, hanging out by the trailers, or walking their courses anymore.
From my perspective, I cannot imagine leaving this world behind, for anything. This is the world I know, am familiar with and have worked so hard for. I may only be going Novice and Training, but I never gave up and never stopped, mostly because this sport has a way of hooking you in, and leaving you every day wanting more. I feel as though I have so much to learn still. I feel like I have an immense amount of practicing to do and there are competitions that I cannot wait to attend. There are literally years that have been put into my two horses, and I am just now starting to reap the benefits of my training and their fitness. If this sport were solely based on instant gratification, perhaps there would be fewer followers, competitors and the entire eventing world would drastically shrink. For me, the thrill and the challenges that correlate with this sport will never subside.
