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Is the glass half empty?
Mar. 7th, 2007 08:20 amWhen a guy came to my trainer's barn, said he wanted to start riding dressage, and then spent $50k on a Grand Prix schoolmaster, I thought it was a fluke.
Then another lady came, started riding, leased a horse for about 6 months, and bought herself a schoolmaster for $85k. I thought "Wow, how unlikely."
So another guy started coming to the barn, took lessons for a few weeks, and bought a horse. She's lovely, but not an upper level dressage horse. So he's looking to buy himself an upper-level schoolmaster, to the tune of about $50k. I'm starting to think this is not so unusual.
When you are middle class, and your friends, family, and coworkers are too, it's easy to forget there is an upper class. You might meet someone occassionally, but not all that often (they are in the minority, after all). This is the first time I've been in a situation where there is such a high concentration of them. My first impulse is to be jealous. Here I've been wanting to ride Grand Prix for most of my life, and I've spent years working to improve, and ridden lots of crappy horses, with only 3 rides on a Grand Prix horse-- and here is someone who just started, getting what I've always wanted and may never have.
And then I think, so what? Didn't I love most of the time I've spent in the saddle? Haven't I learned a lot? Don't I still enjoy riding, even though I'm not on an upper level horse? I'm really excited about my new horse (if she ever gets here). I'm really lucky I could buy her. There's not much seperating her from these schoolmasters besides several years of training. And that's something I can give her. It's part of what I love- working with a horse, teaching it, coming to an understanding. The secret to happiness is not getting what you want- it's wanting what you get.
But make no mistake, I still plan to ride Grand Prix someday. I want to take my little mare and ROCK.
Step 1. Get the horse HERE.
Tomorrow, I hope.
Then another lady came, started riding, leased a horse for about 6 months, and bought herself a schoolmaster for $85k. I thought "Wow, how unlikely."
So another guy started coming to the barn, took lessons for a few weeks, and bought a horse. She's lovely, but not an upper level dressage horse. So he's looking to buy himself an upper-level schoolmaster, to the tune of about $50k. I'm starting to think this is not so unusual.
When you are middle class, and your friends, family, and coworkers are too, it's easy to forget there is an upper class. You might meet someone occassionally, but not all that often (they are in the minority, after all). This is the first time I've been in a situation where there is such a high concentration of them. My first impulse is to be jealous. Here I've been wanting to ride Grand Prix for most of my life, and I've spent years working to improve, and ridden lots of crappy horses, with only 3 rides on a Grand Prix horse-- and here is someone who just started, getting what I've always wanted and may never have.
And then I think, so what? Didn't I love most of the time I've spent in the saddle? Haven't I learned a lot? Don't I still enjoy riding, even though I'm not on an upper level horse? I'm really excited about my new horse (if she ever gets here). I'm really lucky I could buy her. There's not much seperating her from these schoolmasters besides several years of training. And that's something I can give her. It's part of what I love- working with a horse, teaching it, coming to an understanding. The secret to happiness is not getting what you want- it's wanting what you get.
But make no mistake, I still plan to ride Grand Prix someday. I want to take my little mare and ROCK.
Step 1. Get the horse HERE.
Tomorrow, I hope.
