How much does eventing prepare us to live in Africa? West coast eventer Amber Shevin has moved Africa for a year as the “Technology Facilitator, Site Manager and Teacher” for the “Youth Institute of Science and Technology.” Amber is living and working in the Ejisu-Abenase region of Ghana, near the village of Agogo, outside of the big city Kumasi. Being one of the largest cities in the country, you should be able to find Kumasi on a map, near the center of the country. The village of Agogo can also be found on slightly larger maps to the East and South of Kumasi. Amber and her mare Weltina competed at the 1* level and came 2nd in the CCI* at Galway last November. Amber has written about how life with horses prepared her for her time in Africa and she has kindly allowed us to republish her story below. Thanks for writing this amber, thanks to Char Eurick for putting us in touch with Amber, and thank you for reading.
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Amber with coach Debbie Rosin at Rebecca Farm 2009
From Amber:
After spending three fabulous, but at times trying, months in Abenase I am realizing more and more how a life time of horses, specifically eventing, has prepared me for living in the developing world. While this is no surprise to me, and I’m sure is no surprise to all my horse people out there, it is something that is proven to me again each and every day! So as a tribute to my amazing horse back at home, amazing horse people, and the best sport in the world, I want to share some of the ways that I think all my eventers out there are uniquely qualified for forays into the global south. Below are nine ways that eventing has more than adequately prepared me for surviving Africa!
1. Water Buckets
Lifting, lugging, filling, emptying, loading, unloading and dragging six gallon water buckets and tubs literally everywhere has severed me well in a land characterized by the daily ritual of fetching heavy buckets of water from streams or wells each and every day. I still can’t carry a topped off bucket on my head but I think I do a darn good job of hauling my fair share of water without spilling a drop!
2. Changing Tires
Thanks Deb for teaching me not only how to change a tire on a blazing hot roadside in the middle of nowhere, but thanks for teaching me how to do it in three minutes or less. To be honest this is something I never thought would come in handy. Turns out that when your tro tire blows in the middle of the night half way through a six hour haul in the outskirts of the Ashanti Region you can get a free ride for being the only one to capable of using a jack and switching out a tire. I’m pretty sure I broke innumerably many cultural norms doing this and I’m positive that I shocked more people than is right or necessary but we made it home safe and sound and in the end that’s what matters.
3. Fixing Vehicles
When it’s the engine that goes in the middle of that long ride, knowing how to troubleshoot and eventually restart the vehicle also comes in handy. If it weren’t for my “slightly more than the average Joe” mechanical skills I might still be stuck somewhere in the jungle off the road in the Western Region. Thanks eventing.
4. Long Drives on Questionable Roads
All those long hours hauling back and forth through California and around the country have paid off yet again. I can sit on an eight hour tro ride, squished into an unnatural position with no windows, no AC, and strange music blasting with the best of them! I think all eventers can relate to being somehow fit into a rig overloaded with tack, hay, and junk food, inevitably passing through an area too hot to allow for the AC to be on, for more hours than your doctor would say is either physically or mentally healthy. I can not only handle these never ending hauls but I tend to arrive generally unfazed and much less wrecked than even some of my fellow Ghanaian passengers.
5. Dirt
Before journeying into the Dark Continent for the first time nearly four years ago I learned what it was like to be dirty. A long day at the barn or at a show sent me home with a 7 layer cake of dirt, sweat, manure, horse snot, and other fabulous things across my body. I continuously feel bad for all the hotel maids out there who have to clean up all the hay, shavings, food scrapes, and dirt left behind by us eventers after a long weekend at a show. While Africa has redefined the concept of being filthy for me, if it weren’t for my introduction to the idea through horses, I would not have been able to adjust or adapt anywhere near as well and as quickly as I have each time. Without running water, consistent electricity, mirrors, or paved roads daily life here includes a lot of dirt! Luckily I am okay with this!
6. Early Mornings
In a world where electricity is as consistent as rain in Southern California in the summertime, daily life begins and ends with the sun. Fetching water from the river and sweeping the compound begins long before the sun rises over the fringes of the surrounding jungle. A life time of waking up at ungodly hours to ride before school or work, tack up and warm up for that dreaded 7:30am dressage time, or to haul out for the show that is an easy 6+ hours away has prepared me well for adjusting to a cycle of life that begins and ends when nearly all others would still be asleep.
7. Hard Work
Eventing and horses, above all else, teaches a person how to work hard, take responsibility for more than just themselves, and to persevere through the no so great times in order to eventually reach the better times. This is beyond a perfect metaphor for life here in the village. Days are long and often difficult. Challenges arise every minute that require attention and focus. The luxuries of first world living are distant fantasies. There is no going home or turning back. Once you’re here, you’re here; that’s it. If it was a sprint to the finish we all would have already won. Learning to work hard rain or shine, stay focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, and be confident handling responsibility that goes above and beyond just your individual self are all keys to success in this line of work.
8. Being out of Your Comfort Zone
No matter what level you are riding, running cross country doesn’t exactly inspire the warm fuzzys inside any of us. We love the adrenaline and we love the competition, but I know I personally would be lying if I said that I felt totally calm, relaxed, and chilled out as the timer counts down from 10 to 1 while I wait in the start box. From cross country and cross country alone, above all else, I have learned to expect the unexpected and to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Plan A almost never happens so you have to rely on plans B, C, and D. Just what you want to happen won’t, and just when you get comfortable and complacent you get screwed. Above all else, eventing has taught me to be most comfortable with what I am naturally most uncomfortable with.
Africa tests a person more than they ever thought they could be tested and then continues to push and push until you either adapt, break down, or give up and go home. Africa exposes you to it all. You see the harsh realities of life below the poverty line as you become part of the daily struggle for existence. This is a lesson I’ve learned in the past traveling across Southern Africa and Cameroon but that I am once again relearning here in Abenase. It’s what you do and how you act when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, have no money, don’t speak the language, don’t know anyone, and are surrounded by a culture and lifestyle that you lack even the faintest understanding of that counts. Thanks to eventing I have the skills to be flexible, adaptable, stay relaxed and thoughtful under any conditions, and be comfortable with being entirely out of my comfort zone.
9. Making The Most With What You Have
I think a common theme in eventing is a lack of funds. Being creative, reusing, repairing, sharing, and recycling any and everything possible is the name of the game. Eventers are a resourceful bunch! They have to be! When you have virtually no supplies and next to no money, having the creativity and resourceful no-how to fall back on is everything! Both at school and at home I throw literally nothing away. There is no such thing as trash. Using something once, twice, and even three times is just the beginning!
To all my eventers out there, give your horses an extra hug for me. Be grateful for it all!
Read more here.
