Blogs

Question: I am a junior rider boarding at a show barn that has many junior and adult riders. I own two horses and show much of the year. I know that I am fortunate to have parents that can support my riding, but I often get asked questions by other riders—adults and juniors—that I’m not comfortable answering. I’ve been asked: “How do you afford to show so much?” “What do your parents do for a living that they can pay for two horses?” “How much did you pay for that horse?” and more. I think this is rude. How should I respond?

Let’s play a game.

I’m thinking of a thing. It’s white and big and horse related, and you can find it by putting the following code into Google: 51.57753, -1.56668. Make sure you click on Satellite when you get there.

See it yet? Zoom in.

Anything yet? No? Keep zooming!

Turn your head to the right, and... Hey! That looks like…

A horse! The Uffington White Horse, to be precise, one of the most famous chalk figures on the hills of England. We’ll call him Uffy.

Having read over several of my recent posts, I realize I’ve become quite good at making fun of myself. No surprise really, as I have so much material to work with. However, today I’m going to turn the lens on someone else. It’s time to make fun of Dad. She rides, he pays too.

Have you ever noticed the phenomenon called foolish man pride? In some families, it’s hereditary. I’ve noticed that it’s a particularly strong trait in the Howell line. What is foolish man pride, you ask? Let me explain by example.

Question: There’s a new boarder in our barn. I’ve met her twice, and we’ve chatted about our horses, etc. Yesterday, I was introducing her to one of the trainers, and I completely blanked on her name. It was so embarrassing! What should you do when you’ve made yourself look like a complete goofball?