Why don’t horse riders look after themselves?
www.theeverydayequestrian.co.uk
I can honestly say that I look after my horses better than myself. It’s true! They have all their needs met; they have the very best diet, a structured exercise & work plan, they are groomed & pampered regularly, they have friends they can socialise with, the vet is called at any sign of pain or injury, and they pretty much have the best life that I can give them. It’s what I love doing!
However, on the flip side I’m frequently exhausted, frantically running round like a headless chicken, poorly groomed & presented, often late, rarely socialise, mostly eat utter rubbish, I’m nowhere near as fit as I should be, if I’m poorly or broken I rarely go to the doctor to get fixed, and I’m generally a bit of a mess!
How does that work!? When and how did this situation happen? My non-horsey hubby moans at me for being like this, and to ‘normal humans’ it must seem bonkers, but this obsession (addiction according to hubby) is just what I do.
I do wonder about how to look after myself better, but I guess I just don’t make enough time for it. Maybe I should do more than just get dressed & brush my hair when I leave the house in the morning, but anything more seems a little pointless when I have to get to the yard in the dark & mud to turn out & do jobs etc. I suspect my lack of preparation & planning re food and presentation is the main challenge. Maybe if I planned my time better to include things which would improve my quality of life, then I’d feel and ride better. If my diet improved and I got fitter, then that would definitely happen. I need a balancer though if I’m going to do the calorie controlled diet… Do they do human balancers? And a joint supplement… And maybe some bute… right that’s it, I’m off to Boots to get stocked up!
On a serious note, why do we treat our horses better than ourselves? How much better would we be able to care for them & how much more fun would we have if we took care of our own health & wellbeing? Rider fitness is becoming much more of a ‘thing’ now, and there are lots of resources out there, but I suspect for many horse people, there needs to be a shift in thinking to making themselves a priority too. Otherwise we’re ultimately letting our horses down, aren’t we? How can the partnership between horse and rider be at its best, when one party doesn’t feel happy/strong/fit enough? That’s where the issues lie, not in simply asking more of our horses but in asking more of ourselves.
Think about it. Should this change in thinking be a part of your New Year Resolutions? It will be on my list for 2018.
