Mr. Kipling
Under my bed is a huge tub stuffed full of horse show ribbons. If you dig deep enough, there are ribbons from when I rode at barns that I left years ago. On the top are the ribbons that I have won on my current horse Kip, and all of the ribbons in between tell the story of my riding career.
I have switched barns more than most riders do in their lives, and I have ridden at almost every barn in the Champaign area at some point. I was seven years old when I first started riding at my first barn and I was a natural. My confidence grew as I breezed through my weekly lessons and easily brought home blue ribbons at the local horse shows. My trainer at the time did not challenge me and always told me that I was great and didn’t need to change. I realized that this was not what I needed to progress as a rider, so I sought out a lesson at a new barn with the coach of the Illinois Equestrian Team.
Instantly, my talent paradigm blew up. The jumps were high and the courses were complex. The riders were way better than me and the horse I rode was spirited and athletic -- a completely different experience than what I had been used to. I could immediately see the truth about my former lesson program, and I was embarrassed at my own naiveté and false confidence. I knew I had to decide.
Should I return to my old barn and be the star pupil in a program of little substance or stay here and potentially be the bottom of a talented team? The answer was easy. I vowed to stay and work as hard as possible so that I could become as competent as the other riders. It wasn’t easy; I educated myself and got stronger all while learning to ride more difficult and skillful horses. I am also thankful that I switched barns because my new trainer is how I was able to find my horse, Mr. Kipling (also known as Kip). Kip is the center of my life and basically the subject of all the conversations I start. I have had him for three years now and we have progressed so much since we started. The first day I rode him three years ago, I fell off, and I continued to fall off a very concerning number of times for the first year. When I bought him, he was six years old and I was only 14, so we were both very inexperienced. The combination of both an inexperienced horse and rider is not ideal and almost every day I would think to myself how much easier it would have been to buy an experienced horse that I could have won on. Three years later, we are just now getting to a point where we can be competitive.
Should I return to my old barn and be the star pupil in a program of little substance or stay here and potentially be the bottom of a talented team? The answer was easy. I vowed to stay and work as hard as possible so that I could become as competent as the other riders. It wasn’t easy; I educated myself and got stronger all while learning to ride more difficult and skillful horses. I am also thankful that I switched barns because my new trainer is how I was able to find my horse, Mr. Kipling (also known as Kip). Kip is the center of my life and basically the subject of all the conversations I start. I have had him for three years now and we have progressed so much since we started. The first day I rode him three years ago, I fell off, and I continued to fall off a very concerning number of times for the first year. When I bought him, he was six years old and I was only 14, so we were both very inexperienced. The combination of both an inexperienced horse and rider is not ideal and almost every day I would think to myself how much easier it would have been to buy an experienced horse that I could have won on. Three years later, we are just now getting to a point where we can be competitive.
On the wall in my room, I have a few of my most memorable ribbons hanging up. I won the majority of those ribbons with Kip. Even though Kip has been really challenging, he has made me a much better rider than I would have been without him. One of the ribbons on my wall is a fifth place ribbon from end of year awards for the show circuit I did this summer. Being fifth place overall in my division was a really big deal for me, because it was out of thirty people who all have horses that are easier to ride than Kip. I was so happy to have proof that Kip has improved since I first got him because three years ago, it would have been impossible for us to place so well. I love Kip so much and if I could go back in time, I would not have done anything differently.
I really enjoyed reading this post. It is clear that you really love Mr. Kipling, and I like how you talked about your experiences growing as a rider with him. I think the piece flowed nicely, and was well-written. I was a little confused about you saying that you switched barns a lot but then only mentioned two. Do most riders stay with the same barn their whole career? Other than that, I found the piece interesting.
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ReplyDeleteI liked the beginning of the essay. The style of beginning with something small and tangible that represents a greater meaning is one that I like a lot. I think you do this well. I think that the length of the second and third paragraphs are perfect. You do a good job of explaining what we need to know and giving enough detail. I would suggest perhaps trying to be a bit more vulnerable. Did you make any mistakes? How did these things change who you are as a person beyond your skill level? I kind of feel like if you criticize your first barn you should also admit to something you did wrong yourself to balance it out. I love the end of your essay. I also feel like you did a great job explaining all of these things because while I already knew about most of them, I instantly knew which box you were talking about, etc. You're clearly very self aware in terms of how much you talk about Kipp and what decisions and moments changed you. This is something that's hard to do and super admirable. I like how your writing shows how thoughtful you really are. The only other thing I would add is like a sentence about how you fell in love with Kipp. You describe meeting him and falling off and then you say you're obsessed with him. I think that a sentence about why that changed would be helpful. Otherwise, I think that you have a really good handle on your voice and on how to use different scenes and descriptions to make this fun and easy to read.
ReplyDeleteReally cool post, I've never ridden a horse outside of those sad ponies who just walk in circles all day at those fairs, but the concept of both you and your horse growing and getting more experienced together sounds amazing. Also admirable that you made the decision to push yourself and get better when the easier option would be to stay complacent. And is it named after the lizard from Jessie or is that a coincidence.
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