You are...

You walk almost 10,000 steps around the arena eyeballing every little movement between horse and rider. The grit under your boots shape to your sole, leaving behind their brand stamped in the footing. Your knees ache even though you’re way too young to say that. Head tilted slightly and hands shoved in your pockets unless you’re demonstrating how to release or repeating for the 100thtime, “Hands closed and forward. Stop pulling.”

You are teaching.

You wake up early and go to bed late. You communicate without saying a word. You repeat and try again. You give and take. You ask the right questions even if they aren’t received well. You nip bad behavior in the butt and always end on a good note.

You are unwavering.

You stand by the in-gate and you have them repeat the course over and over. You tell them to visualize. You give their horse a treat and a ‘good boy’ pat. You tell them to keep their chin up, to be confident. You tell them, “walk in that ring like you own it, because you do. You’ve practiced long and hard for this. Take a deep breath, focus, and come back out a champion. But most importantly, have fun!”

You are cheerleading.

You go over the horses’ nutritional needs. You look over the feed chart. You talk with the farrier. You stand with the vet. You look at this, “little nick over his hock,” or this “bump on her shoulder that wasn’t there yesterday.” You check the hay quality. You mentally body score the herd weekly.

You are nurturing.

You plan events, call caterers, create signup pages, book hotels, arrange hauling, submit entries, and create schedules.

You are organizing.

You network and spend hours watching videos. You email, call, text, and follow up. You coordinate schedules, you drive, you observe, you ask all the important questions and then you answer all the curious questions.

You are match-making.

You laugh hysterically with them. You pray for them through cancer. You tease them because they always lose one glove. You hug them so tight when it’s time to let a loved one cross the rainbow bridge. You have wine nights and poke fun at each other. You make plans for the future. You make them ride without their stirrups. You share recipes, ideas, milestones, memories, hopes, and responsibility.

You are a horse trainer. You are so incredibly blessed!