“us equestrians, we have to stick together. because nobody else understands that one miss is all it takes. they simply don’t get that the thousand pound animal beneath is in fact a thousand pound animal with a mind of it’s own. they don’t get that we see getting thrown into walls as ‘just another day’. they don’t get why we take ‘no pain no gain’ to a whole different level. and most of all they don’t get why after all this we get up the next day and do it all over again- without complaining.”

“In my sport, we don’t have breaks or timeouts, there’s no off season and no one sits out on the bench. We don’t postpone because of weather and we don’t quit on account of injury. I don’t ever talk to my teammate but we communicate without words. We don’t practice 5 hours a week, more like 5 hours a day, 6 days a week. All my sport really is, is galloping full speed, finding distances, swapping leads, counting strides, spinning, doing the required pattern EXACTLY how it is written, and looking good doing it. If you think that running, jumping, shooting, throwing a ball, or anything else is more difficult than sitting on an animal that weighs 10 times as much as you with a mind of its own… while riding full speed towards a solid stationary object that stands taller than you do is harder? Prove it to me. I dare you to get on my horse and do what I do. We’re dedicated and gutsy. We fall, and get right back up there and do it until it’s right.” –Unknown”

“the best equestrians have been sick but tacked up anyways, have been unable to walk but did no stirrup work. they’ve had plans but cancelled them to ride, they’ve had blisters but refused to stop and get a band aid. they’ve been in so much pain their eyes were watering but they had perfect equitation anyways. the best equestrians are the ones the got up and rode when everyone else stayed home.”