“Our jobs, our family commitments, our hobbies, and — perhaps most especially — our self-imposed high expectations of ourselves can seem like ‘just too much’ sometimes. Feeling overwhelmed? Read on.”
Healed from a nasty fall after her mustang Kaliwohi spooked, Esther Roberts is re-committed to improving her relationship with her horse, and heads to the round pen to find a new routine.
Weight and fitness are two separate entities: while the number on the scale might remain the same, Esther Roberts noticed some major differences over the course of a year.
“Another way of asking the question ‘do I enjoy riding’ is far more fear-filled: ‘What happens if I get injured so badly I can no longer fulfill my responsibilities and obligations?’ That, friends, is a question only a mature rider must face. Adulting is not for wimps!”
While Esther is grounded from riding to heal from a fall, she has three options: try to ride (bad idea), do absolutely nothing (also a bad idea) or come up with a creative Option C…
“If my painful, plodding, raw honest revelations can help even one of you have an easier time on your own journey, this will all be worth every moment of frustration and fear.” As Esther recovers from a fall, she takes a moment for some self-reflection.
“In order to ride him effectively and be the best rider/teacher I can be for Kiwi, I need to ride him like he belongs to someone else. Someone who has hired me to ride and train their mustang, not mine.” A post-fall analysis by Esther Roberts.
A road trip gave both Kaliwohi and Esther the opportunity to mark their progress as a team and as individuals — a long trailer ride for Kaliwohi, and a long drive for Esther to test her snacking resolve!
The inside rein (guidance) and the outside rein (boundaries) each have a job to perform while riding — and the same could be said for life outside of the saddle as well. Esther Roberts explains.
“Negative emotions are the equivalent of horse-eating dragons for those of us who hate conflict. Whenever I feel a negative emotion coming on, my first instinct is to flee – to the pantry.”
