WEG 2018 completed its first day today,
and I don’t know about you, but I had firmly plopped myself in front of the TV at 1:30 p.m. Central time (after re-organizing programs to get the Olympic Channel) and was ready to watch the first day of dressage. You can find me in this exact spot for as much coverage as I can coordinate around. Why? Because someday I hope to compete at this kind of level. So I ask you … What are YOUR goals with your horse?
This is always the first question I ask any new student who enters my arena. I always ask it twice, however, because I want to know the short term and the long term “dream”. The best thing is that everyone’s goals are different. You could be crazy like me and dream of riding on an international stage. You could be my kids, who I’m pretty sure all just want to know all my knowledge right away, or you can be any of my adult amateurs, who usually just want to ride without bobbling all over the place. I applaud anyone who has a goal, no matter what that goal is. I, as a trainer, am always out to help you achieve that goal and feel great success in the process of
getting there.
So the question is always, How do we get there? Every end goal has a different route, and then 20,000 different routes from there. First off, enjoy the journey. I learned LONG ago that making the Olympics in eventing by 18 – I’ve always been a smidgen of a big time dreamer – usually isn’t up to me, no matter how much tenacity you have. In my older years – I’m only 28 – but compared to my 11-year-old-self, I’ve matured, I’ve learned to enjoy whatever success I can find out of that day or clinic or show. Riding horses is a journey, and if you can’t find that successful moment in each day, you will literally drive yourself away from the sport.
You won’t find a flashy show record if you score-check my name, but, to me, having achieved all three of my USDF medals on underdog horses is a highlight of my career so far. I took horses that didn’t have that fire for dressage and I inspired them to give anything above what they’d normally offer. At the end of that journey, it was a delightful experience.
I could most certainly babble on about how hard it was between my Bronze and Silver medal, when a lot of riders around me achieved their Silver long before I did and how discouraged I could at times be. Instead, I told myself I’d get there. I’d find a horse and I’d ride with the right coach and I’d keep trying. That opportunity did present itself, and while the horse was no dream horse, she did get me my Silver, and she did lead me to the right coach. She then guided me through the Grand Prix, but not because that was my “goal”. Oh, no! She was semi-retired and semi for sale, and I just figured I’d play with the Grand Prix movements for myself to learn. I soon found that the less I focused my intensity on getting there and just focused on learning, the stronger that ultimate partnership in the level became. In the end, the Grand Prix was her best level.
I urge everyone to keep any goal burning. It doesn’t need to be the Olympics and it doesn’t have to stop at just surviving the ride. We all need to feel that success of achieving a goal and we must all fight to get there. Words I constantly find myself uttering are: Never give up, never stop trying, and find a way to get there!
**Danielle Vitosh is a USDF Bronze Silver and Gold medalist. With 21 years of riding experience, she specializes in dressage and eventing. Dressage Elegance by Vitosh is based out of Leland and Plainfield, IL.
