A reader recently commented that she bought tickets to the WEG for herself and her daughter, and in exchange for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, her daughter will miss a day of school. We all know how time consuming horses are; we willingly choose to sacrifice school days, work holidays, parties and community events, etc. for the chance to spend time with horses.
I admit I missed a lot of school for horse shows. I was even known to sneak away and school cross-country while my classmates suffered through mid-week morning classes. Fortunately, I didn’t have trouble keeping up with grades, and thus the only challenge was getting class absences “excused.” The first time Mum and I tried to be honest about my whereabouts one Friday in junior high school, I was told by the principal that next time I would not be excused because it was not a school sponsored sport or church (yes, church) activity.
Throughout the rest of grade school until I reached college and no one cared whether I showed up to class or not, let’s just say I was, uh, “sick” an awful lot. My teachers weren’t stupid, they knew what I was doing. We just relaxed into the rhythm of “Hey Mr/Mrs Whatever, I’m gonna be sick this weekend. Any important school work I should be aware of before Monday? K, bye!”
I’ve encountered young riders that handle this conflict in various ways. Some attend schools for athletes and their riding counts as credit. Others are home-schooled, so they make their own schedules. Many of them are just “sick” all the time like me.
It has been several years since I’ve danced around attendance requirements. I had my way and it worked. How does it work now? Are you a Young Rider facing strict attendance policies? Or maybe as an adult you have to find clever ways to get days off work for your horses. Tell us your stories in the comments!
