For every community we involve ourselves in, we develop vastly different lexicons, languages that sound totally foreign to all but a select few. Most of the time this brings us closer to each other, but problems occur when we attempt to mix them. As horse people, but especially as eventers, our language can be taken as absurd, and sometimes even out right rude when showcased in, well… questionable situations. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way many times being an eventer, pony clubber, and full IB (a different version on advanced studies) high school student, as I am sure many of you have.
I go to a public high school smack dab in the middle of a major DC suburb, with the closest horses being 20+ minutes away minimum, so my peers and teachers are not super well acclimated to the fact that an ‘outdoors’ where you can’t see a building in every direction, and horses, even still exists. Hence, showing up five minutes late with your hands smelling like magic cushion from wrapping an abcess at 6 in the morning ain’t gonna cut it for a late pass. The looks only get weirder as you describe your science fair project as looking at worms in horse poop, or explain that you wrote the essay on the SAT about Boyd Martin, or when you are on the Smart Pak website instead of looking at prom dresses like all the other girls. It is especially not advised to bring any sort of Pony Club study materials on school grounds at all, as explaining why you are studying the conformation of a horse butt, or why the he** you would ever clean its sheath, is not an enjoyable conversation to have with ANY teacher. Worst of all, I live in fear of the moment I leave the thermometer in my cup holder while driving a non-horsey friend, or leaving supplements or extra SMZs in the passenger seat when driving by an administrator (remember, I go to public school…).
We all expect those embarrassing moments when you have to change into britches at school or work then make the oh so much longer trek then when you are wearing “normal clothes” to your F-150 parked on the opposite side of a 4 lane highway in a space designed for a Mini Cooper, but what about when you accidentally let school or work cross over into the horse world? No, nobody will understand you when you compare how your horse feels today to Nixon’s goodwill visit to Latin America. No one cares that you got more time to ride today than then you did to write a double essay. You will NOT fail your rating if your conditioning schedule is not MLA format with correct in text citations. And don’t even try to talk about the project you are doing on the flavnoid content in the hay your friend just threw to their horse.
I end with a word from the (obviously not so) wise: If a thought passes through your head about horses at school, or school at the barn, I’d advise you leave it there.
