My point today is… we ride because it is fun! Even professionals, who get paid to ride, must have enjoyed riding to seek a profession in the field. One of the things I love about riding is the fact when I’m on my horse, I think about nothing else. For those few moments, my life is simpler. No work or to do list, just ride! I’m sure many of you feel the exact same way. If you are not feeling that way and riding is not fun to you anymore, maybe you should do something else. Noooo… I don’t mean quit riding. I mean maybe you should do something different with your riding. Possibly you have been in the ring too much and your horse has just been grumpy. Now you are now frustrated and your horse getting grumpier by the minute. What do you do? Get out of the ring! Do something different. Go on a trail ride with friends or take a lesson on one of your trainer’s horses… to just work on you. Don’t get me wrong, riding is hard work and there are sometimes when you need to work hard, but if you go months on end without having fun… you are not going to want to ride anymore. If you are not having fun there is a good possibility your horse is not having fun either. Change it up! On the topic of fun… I have this video I love of a dressage horse and a reining horse. Some of you may have seen it before. If you haven’t, check it! If you have, watch it again! You can tell they are having fun!

Maybe you could take a lesson on a western horse or go to a dude ranch for a vacation. I know you are thinking I have got to be crazy… I am a dressage rider why on earth would I ride western? I don’t know.. because just maybe you would have fun!!! Are you getting my point yet! Do you have a smile? Maybe you at least cracked one at the video. If you did, I have done my job for today. So I ask you? If you ride or used to ride, why do or did you? What do you do to find your joy in riding? When you get in a slump how to you get out of it? Ponder it for a moment… if you would like to share, which of course I would love you to do, type in a comment in the box. You do not have to use your own name if you don’t want to. You can make up name like “The Queen” or “Cool Cowboy” or whatever strikes your fancy. If you want to see replies from your comment, make sure to put in your email address (of course that is never displayed.) I will leave you with a quote by Emerson, “Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of Solitaire. It is a grand passion.”