Reading · Musings of a Very Average Equestrian

This week is the first week in over a month that I sat at my desk to work.

And, no, I haven’t been playing hooky, or taking PTO (although a month off sounds AMAZING!). I’ve been traveling to and from conferences to finish out the last bit of airtime before being done with travel for the remainder of the year.

During my travels this week, I had a lot of time with my thoughts (scary…….) and I started to reflect on how lucky I am to have my current workplace and job, but also on the realities of what progressing in this sport actually means for me.

I am extremely fortunate to work remotely, and with the exception of 1 company, I’ve also had a generous amount of flexibility. So, for example, if my first meeting isn’t until 9, as long as there isn’t anything that needs to get done for the meeting (that isn’t already), no one cares if I’m logging in at 9.

This has allowed me flexibility to ride in the mornings or earlier in the afternoon than I would otherwise. Which is something that I’m extremely grateful for.

However, the reason I have this flexibility is because, for one, I don’t abuse it; On the days I have no meetings, I’m not at the barn all day long and/or disconnected. But also, it is because my job requires a bit of travel.

Now coming from my last job, where I was on the road every ~20 days, the travel is not painful. I am supposed to travel (for between 2-4 weekdays at a time) twice a quarter with extremely fair flexibility in that.

Ok.. So then what’s the problem? Sounds like a pretty good set up?

Since coming back into riding 3 years ago, I’ve continually ran into similar conversations with the trainers I’ve been with that, in my opinion, make me a less desirable student/client:

Yes, I do work remotely, however, I cannot be out for the entire morning or afternoon for a lesson. This does not mean I don’t want to progress in my riding! I just can’t hangout in a lesson for 2+ hours chatting…
1. Similarly, just because I work at home/have flexibility does not mean that I am not working.
What I do during my workday is legitimately different every single day. What this means is that if we need to reschedule a lesson to a different mid-day time during the week, I may not be available even if I’ve been available at the time in the past.
I understand it isn’t convenient that, because I travel for work, I’m basically on the road at least every other month (or like this month, for a month straight (which isn’t the norm)). Yes, I also know that this is going to hamper my goals to progress as quickly as I’d like. Which sucks.

So if I have ambitious goals to grow as a professional and grow as a more capable rider, where does that leave me? Do I have to choose? Will programs even look at me knowing I have a full-time job that requires some travel (+ a young family)?

In my opinion - no, you don’t have to choose, nor will being a working amateur disqualify you from riding programs.

However, I think that splitting ambition between two (or more!) things is a delicate balance between prioritizing & communicating effectively and burning yourself out. It also takes an extreme level of self-awareness and a grasp on reality to recognize what is reasonable to expect of yourself vs what you want to expect of yourself (your trainer can also help bring you back down to earth too - which is why I think having an open line of communication is critical).

And to be honest, I’m struggling profoundly with this.

My problem is that I’m an all or nothing kind of person. I’m either 100% in, or 100% out. But - breaking news!!! It is literally impossible to be 100% “in” everything. Shocking, I know. It’s taking a while to get through my thick skull, too.

But something has to change. This year was the hardest year of my life so far for many reasons, and if I’m being extremely honest with myself and taking accountability (for the parts I can/could have controlled), I didn’t do a good job setting myself up for success. At all. In fact, I unknowingly set myself up for disappointment more often than not.

As I plan for 2026, I’m working to work more collaboratively with the horse people in my circle to get that vibe check on if my goals are reasonable vs not. Similarly, but separately, I’m really looking at my life with horses and asking some hard questions of myself. Happy to get into this and where my head is at, but it’s just not this post (but let me know in the comments if you do want that post).

If you are a working ammy as well, how are you prioritizing where to put your ambition between working and your equestrian proclivities? What are you looking to adjust in 2026?

Splitting Ambition Between a Career & Riding as a Working Adult Amateur Equestrian

Comments