By MARLEY LIEN-GONZALEZ
Mediocrity is one of the biggest growing trends in our society and our sport. In our society, we are free from expectations and sweatpants are suddenly acceptable almost everywhere. Culture has taken a moment where people seem less willing to push through the abrasion for the sake of excellence. We’re analyzing what it is and isn’t fair to do to our children and ourselves. Boundaries that never existed before suddenly exist.
In our sport it may be a reaction to the expensive and inaccessible climate, it might have something to do with lack of purposeful competence goals, a lack of coaching expertise, or the extreme quality of horses on the market. No matter the root cause, mediocrity is dangerous and damaging to our collective psyche. The rifts of our sport dwell deeper than ever–the haves and the have nots and then also the knows and the know nots.
While it can seem daunting, you can be a knower and not a haver in our sport. The road is difficult, repetitive, and takes decades… and not what everyone dreams of–it is the water bucket sloshing onto your calf at 10 pm when it is freezing outside, the repetitive nature of throwing hay, and the acne on your chin you just can’t seem to get rid of from all that sweating in your helmet.
There are those who can choose to pursue horses in ways that are mere fantasy to everyone else–showing weekly, moving up, owning or leasing two or three or more horses–and those who don’t financially or lifestyle wise have that choice.
Success–in any form–is a choice. No matter how well heeled you are (or not), it is easy for trainers to tell who wants it and wants to grow in this sport. Who is trying every minute of every lesson to grow and expand and who is talking when they should be listening. Who goes home and studies what they learned while polishing their boots and developing muscle memory for a lifetime of cleaning and who shows up in the same manner they left the night before. While they might be slow coming and take time to percolate, opportunities do have a way of showing up to those who strive. Trainers go the extra mile, they leverage connections, skill is recognized, and upward mobility, while unlikely, is possible with adequate desire and skill.
The skill is interesting to watch in the show ring because as overall skill seems to be on the decline in many advancement divisions, the horses are more talented and scopey than ever, more purpose-bred, and more able to cover mistakes. With more pressure and shows and classes than ever, trainers are able to prepare animals to perfection. Training horses is at the top of its game. Horse breeding and raw ability is at the top of its game. Meh or unserious riding is harder to spot, but an epidemic.
The most successful people at the top of our sport are privileged and a majority of them have already come from privileged backgrounds. Many are also talented and have capitalized off of their resources to become incredible athletes and wonderful representation of top-level riding.
But the mid-level range of riding hosts athletes just as well-resourced and with plenty of potential, but far less determination and much lower success rates. This is detrimental to our fan base and interest in our sport– at even the most top horse shows, many riders are simply being given too much room for error.
This sport is all pressure. Even when participating non-competitively, you still feel a pressure that you owe to your equine partner(s) a certain degree of effort. You can be a working student having your one shot in the ring or an Olympic rider showing for the fifth time in a week and feel very similar pressure. One is not greater than another, one is not more important than the other, one is definitely not less validated than the other–but regardless of experience or circumstance, any rider going into a show ring should not only be able, they should be capable.
What does this mean?
When trainers send their student through the in-gate, they should be confident that the rider has not only the skill, the knowledge, and the physicality to perform, but also the ability to utilize those things together in seeking a positive result.
Phrases like: “You tried,” “There’s always next time,” “You got lucky there,” excuse poor riding. Period. No matter how big the check is or how saintly the horses are, it’s not realistic–in the horse industry or in life–nor sustainable for our sport to continue to reward attempts over quantifiable action.
Those that are entitled to unlimited tries and take every one of them for granted without putting their very best effort forth are in the wrong sport. Not with so many people who would do anything to be in that position and do it better, not with the grotesque amount of money spent, and not when the consolation prize is injury to horse or rider.
Many riders have that opportunity, and coupled with hyper social media presence, they create a very stark divide for average income horse people and their reality versus their perception of the sport. It’s very discouraging for young riders to be exposed to negligence and inadequate effort. Do we want future generations of riders to aspire to be only halfway decent and complacent with 50% odds of chipping the first jump? Should we become accustomed to hearing a rail roll in the cups and thumping to the ground followed by whooping?
In the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, when world ranked number one rider, Henrik von Eckermann fell off his mount King Edward after a miscommunication, no one doubted his capability. Mistakes happen even at the highest level by the most accomplished, but Von Eckermann posted shortly after a statement on Instagram that while the incident was “A bitter pill to swallow,” he hoped that, “With time the wound and pain will heal and the scar that stays will hopefully make me a better rider and horseman.”
Von Eckermann showed the world what it means to be a world-class rider. It is alright to make mistakes, it’s perfectly acceptable to not come out of the gate as the greatest rider, it’s realistic to be over-talented and under-privileged or entitled and undeserving. It is not okay to normalize doing the same thing over and over and never learning how to be better–that is literally the definition of insanity, according to Albert Einstein.
Hold yourself and those around you to a higher standard, recognize this sport is selfless, and always remember–trainers, parents, owners, riders, and all horse industry members–the ultimate goal isn’t trying the best you can, it’s actually doing the best you can.
