How Horses Hijacked My Life

Once upon a time, I was a very driven, ambitious, goal oriented little girl, who dreamed big dreams of becoming a lawyer, or a doctor, or a vet, or even all of the above. I worked hard, did my studies, and was very, very serious.

“Lighten up!” Everyone said “Enjoy life!”

“There’s more to life than books and school you know” Dad would say.

But no one was going to stop me from trying to take over the world. Until one day, someone said they would pay me to ride their horses. What?! Getting paid cash dollars to ride a horse?! Sweet!

I had no idea that there was an entire industry involving horse training and that professional riders got paid money to ride and train other people’s horses. I grew up riding, a crazy horse, in my back yard. I never had lessons or training or went to shows. I had no idea that a whole world of horses existed where people paid money to have someone else ride them.

It didn’t make sense to me. Why on earth would I pay money to have someone else do what I wanted to do? Apparently, not everyone can ride without lessons, let alone crazy off the track Thoroughbreds. So people pay trainers to train their horses and teach them how to ride. Had I known all of this as a kid, I can’t say for certain I would have spent a quarter of a million dollars going to college, and I for sure wouldn’t have wasted any time on my masters.

But such is life, and post-graduation, amid a tanking economy, a devastating relationship, health issues, and personal financial crisis, I find myself back at my parents’ to recover. My degree in economics wasn’t opening many doors for a girl who “looked like a teenager”. (True story: I was told that, after an interview, for why I wasn’t getting job offers.)

Beaten down and discouraged, I sought refuge in the one place I could always be sure to find some comfort: the barn. The friendly greeting of my horse was a sure fire trick to pick up my mood.

“Why can’t I find a job?! I went to a good school… I did well… I’m smart!”

“Because you spent all your summers working in barns and playing outside instead of getting an internship”, my wise spirit guide, aka my talking horse, Solar Storm, replied.

“Well maybe I’ll just get a part time job in a barn for now so that I can make some cash and then I’ll start law school in the fall.”

Little did I know that this decision would completely change my life forever.

I found a job at a barn, just north of Seattle, at apparently a very elite hunter/jumper facility. Still not knowing anything about this industry, I had no idea what I was walking into. I knew my way around horses and was on the equestrian team in college, so naturally I thought I was vastly over qualified…

I started off working in the back, sweeping, cleaning feed buckets, helping students tack up their horses; simple little tasks. Then one day I was asked if I could help ride some of the horses. Yay! So I started riding a couple horses 2 days a week, and then 4 days a week. As it turns out, there is a lot more to riding than just staying on (which is all I learned in my years of bareback riding in the woods) or just sitting there looking pretty (which is all I had to do to get blue ribbons in college). Luckily, I’m a quick learner, and 24 books on riding later I began to realise just how much there is to learn.

My hard work didn’t go unnoticed, and before you know it, I’m promoted to ‘Assistant Trainer’ and I’m riding 10 horses a day and giving lessons. I could not have been happier. This was just the medicine my soul needed. Not only were the people I worked for the best humans that I have ever known, the horses were lovely, the clients pleasant and I was making money from all this! It was like being at summer camp all year long and getting paid for having fun.

So come September, law school started to look a lot less appealing… I have a job where I am physically active, happy, intellectually stimulated, and I’m passionate. I can always go to law school later I thought, I’ll never get another opportunity like this. So that was that, my LSAT books found their way to the basement and were replaced by USHJA Trainer Certification manuals.

Slowly over time, my closet of stilettos and dresses faded to breeches and paddock boots. My idea of designer brands became Pikeur and Kingsland, and my scent, ‘Eau de Cheval’. Sometimes I wonder if it’s time to go back down the law school path, but then I think, 'life is about living'; and what better way to live than this?

And so begins, The Girl with Nine Lives...

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