96 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2012
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
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A Girl Can Dream…
Iona Bielby and her Mr. TB Clyde (Cam)
Photo by Catie Gray
By Iona Bielby and Catie Gray
Every equestrian has a dream. In addition to that dream,
every rider knows that to really succeed in this sport you
need three things: talent, a good work ethic and money.
If you only have two of these three things, then you have
to go the extra mile to compensate for the third. Not
everybody can have a $100,000 dollar equitation horse, a
junior jumper and a junior hunter. This is when the fnancial
states of families start to clash with a rider’s personal goals.
The amount of money you have shouldn’t be something to
be discriminated against, but unfortunately it is.
Even though the odds for the low-budget rider to succeed
at a high competition level are rare, you can change your
mindset and look at it in a different way. You can rise above
the odds and work with what you are given. The amount of
working students in the AA circuit is surprising. Even with
limited funds, you can go just as far as the people who are
more fortunate than you, if not farther.
Working Students
For example, Zazou Hoffman was a working student
for Missy Clark, a big name trainer at North Run Farm in
Vermont. Zazou didn’t own her own big equitation horse but still
rode her way to victory in the 2009 Maclay Finals. Taking hold of
your own goals and clearing your own path should be something
more encouraged. If you have a dream, don’t give up.
We were inspired to write this because we know how it feels
to be at the bottom of the show world where no one knows your
name. That place where you would give anything, anything, to
become a big name junior rider! We know what it’s like to not be
able to afford a big fancy equitation horse, but instead a prospect,
which we have to work on ourselves. We take what we are given,
despite whatever obstacles may occur, and turn the worse into
the better.
Dreams Can Come True – Some Day
We have big dreams just like any other 15 year olds. To most
they may seem unrealistic and to others completely out of reach.
Yes, we’ve had our doubts, but we’re not giving up because to us,
quitters are cowards. We make sacrifces like boarding at smaller
barns and doing our own stalls in order to reach where we want to
be. Some people may not be as supportive as others, and some
people may doubt us entirely. But despite their petty words, there
is nothing that will get in our way.
If you have a dream, don’t give up. Dare to dream, and dream
big. Don’t let anyone stop you. Don’t take the easy way out and
be thankful for anything you’re given. Because at the end of
the road, it won’t matter where you’ll be or what you’ll be doing.
Instead, it’ll be the journey that got you there which you will truly
look back upon and realize that you can do anything.
Catie Gray and Catherine’s Grey, better known around the barn
as Goliath
Photo by Stuart Gray