My face lit up, eyes sparkled, and stomach turned every time I stepped out of the car each time I arrived at the barn. My mother and sister both rode horses and as a child, I would always excitedly accompany them. The barn where I grew up required children to be at least nine years of age in order to enroll in lessons, therefore for many years I was stuck on the sidelines. Surprisingly, when I turned nine I was petrified of physically horseback riding. Therefore, what if the thing you were most passionate about was your biggest problem?
Throughout my childhood I was enthusiastic about horseback riding despite the fact whenever I was put on a horse I was paralyzed from fear. Back tracking to the cause of such intense fear, when I was about ten years old, a girl at my barn fell off a horse and in
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I was so excited to finally ride a privately owned horse and not a school horse that I couldn’t control my excitement. So, all day I was running around the barn cleaning Mackie to a sleek country night black and getting myself ready to finally get on at noon. But, when the time arrived to do more than walk around the ring boasting about accomplishing riding a fancier horse, I regretted accepting the offer. I found myself afraid to move forward but refusing to quit; I decided that this opportunity was a necessary tipping moment in my riding journey. Therefore, I gathered up my courage and kept going even though my muscles were rigid and my mind racing. Mackie turned out to be the most difficult horse I have ever ridden to this day (not only was he bouncy but he was bold in all of his gates, which for a scared rider is terrifying to try to control). Although, I overcame the childish mind set of allowing fear to hold me back and became driven to ride; I soon realized he and most other horses weren’t going to harm me. Riding was my passion and I finally realized that horses are not out to sabotage