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The Perks of Being a Work Rider
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A work rider is someone who rides (mostly unruly) hairy animals for a living and often leave their job sandy, bruised, covered in poop, and not a whole lot richer than when they arrived. However, being a work rider does have its perks.
1. Free entries to shows. 9/10 times it will be an embarrassing show, but hey, at least you got to be a part of it. Rather crash through a jump than not get to see it at all, right? Right?
2. You can whine and moan about the saddle not fitting without being the one financially responsible for fixing the problem. I find this makes finding problems far easier – and less traumatic.
3. Instead of buying birthday presents for your clients, you can borrow their horses, win stuff, and give it to them. Hey, it’s the thought that counts, and chances are that for once you weren’t thinking that you wish their horse would jump out of the paddock overnight so you wouldn’t have to deal with it any more. You know, unless it was the only entry in the class and won by default after slopping you into the water jump.
4. If you fall off their horse, clients usually feel bad enough to buy you a coke and a chocolate. If you fall off enough, maybe you’ll get too fat for the horse, and they’ll make it someone else’s problem.
5. When you don’t feel like admitting that you had that stop because you took your leg off, you can just tell the client that the horse napped to them, because it loves them so much, and they should stop babying it.
6. Occasionally you get to ride a nice horse. Very occasionally.
7. Your client supplies the wine. They have to, if they want to get you into the saddle. It’s the only way.
8. Free food.
9. You get paid. Sometimes. If the client remembers.
10. As long as you didn’t start the horse, you can blame any gaps in its training on the owner or riders who came before you.
11. No matter how much you whine and moan, being a work rider is an incredibly rewarding experience. You get to help horses and their owners, and learn so much along the way with the number of different, quirky horses you encounter.
Jokes aside, I’m grateful to all the clients I’ve had for trusting me with their horses, and giving me the opportunity to learn to deal with all sorts of different rides, and hence learn to adjust my style accordingly. If you’re a competitive rider looking to make a profession out of your sport, there can be nothing better for you than the experience gained from a bit of work riding, no matter how harrowing it may sometimes be! |
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