To Finish is to Win

Much of how I move through life is because of the lessons horses have taught me. Early on, I realized the methods and philosophies of interacting with them were the same for healthy and productive relationships in all areas of my life. Gems of wisdom come to us in many forms if we are open to hearing. Mine often arrive through animals.

Once an endurance rider, always an endurance rider.

Here are some foundational mottos that are the backbone of the sport of Endurance Riding. Having competed for many years, they also have become the cornerstone of who I am because once an endurance rider, always an endurance rider.

No whining

We are all in the same boat. The unpredictable weather, the heat of the day, the cold of the night, the terrain with endless climbs, rocky descents, and seemingly unpassable trails, not to mention the bugs and personal aches and pains. Your troubles are no more significant than the rest. They are all part of the day, so stop the whining.

Endurance is hard. Hard has taught me to cowboy up. Whining won’t make the task at hand easier or go more quickly. It only serves to zap our precious energy, keeping us not in a place of hope but instead in a position of despair.

If you desire to whine, practice restraint, keep it to yourself, and find the silver lining. It’s remarkable how your world will change.

Never give up; you can always take one more step.

Tenacity is a trait that is both admirable and threatening. It gives me the strength and the confidence to know that I can always take one more step no matter what comes my way. I may have to rest, but I will get up and place one foot in front of the other.

When hitting a wall during a race, I play mind games to keep my spirits up. It starts by breaking down the course into segments, never looking at the total distance. Then, the game is to negotiate; I can rest if I take ten steps. Or when I make it to the next tree or rock, I can sip some water. The success of each negotiation keeps moving me forward.

A friend competing with me in his first 100 miles is a prime example of never giving up. With a fever climbing to over 100 degrees, he was miserable. At one point, one of our crew members looked at him and said, The next time you see me is 13 miles. You can quickly go 13 miles. And he did. Part of never giving up is mind over matter. If we put aside the can’t do it inner dialog; we can transcend what is holding us back.

Train to your weakness, ride to your strengths.

Every talented horse has a weakness. To find a horse without one is an impossibility. So the key is to find the weakness that you can work with.

If a horse is agile on the downhill but lacks the uphill, we train to build the necessary skills for the ascents. Then during a competition, we ride to the horse’s strengths, bombing down the hills while we take the uphills at a pace to maximize yet not compromise the horse’s being.

As in life, each of us has areas we excel in and areas we are weak. No one does everything well, but those who have learned to strengthen and capitalize on what is vital.

The horse always comes first.

A horse has a finite amount of energy and limitations on what it can do. Learning when to push and lay back on a race is crucial to success. They may need to slow down or even stop when we, their riders, want to keep going.

Race brain is a term to refer to those riders who have forgotten or perhaps were never aware that the horse’s welfare is the most crucial aspect of the sport. When the race brain kicks in, the rider’s perspective is warped, jeopardizing the horse’s wellbeing. When understanding the horse always comes first is ingrained, the race brain cannot exist. It is the state of being where we become selfless.

Ride your Ride

One of the most important things to learn early on is to do what you must for yourself and your horse, regardless of what others do. Unfortunately, rookies often get caught in this trap, trying to pace to another horse.

I fashioned my race strategy after the Tortoise and the Hare, me being the tortoise. My horses could not start fast and maintain the lead the entire race, so I learned how to pace them, maximizing their potential while minimizing their effort. Many times I would hear, where did you come from? When I passed someone at the finish line. As in life, the only journey we need to be concerned with is our own.

The motto of a lifetime. To be first over the finish line is fantastic; I am not arguing that point. Yet many of my most memorable and satisfying accomplishments have been to finish, regardless of the place. We face challenges and obstacles unique to who we are and the lessons life presents. Yet, where we cross the line holds no bearing on the personal growth we may have attained.

If challenges were easy, they wouldn’t be a challenge. But, to accomplish taking one more step, when it appears an impossibility, to elect to retire your horse from competition because something didn’t feel right, to discover a vulnerability you had has now become a strength, are all wins. To finish what you set out to do is the prize, even if that means not whining for the day.