The Casual Exploitation of Ambitious Young Riders

Photo by totem photographics

While being encapsulated in the echo chamber that is the horse world, it is easy to become complacent. We fail to recognize reality outside of the “reality” within the confines of equestrianism. This phenomenon is likely the driving force behind much of the problematic practices and behaviours we justify in the horse world, for example the skewed idea that somehow rules like labour laws are “different” when horses are brought into the equation. Growing up in this atmosphere where there is a lot of pressure to conform with tradition; what is viewed to be normal in THIS world helps indoctrinate riders into believing that everything we see happening here is acceptable. It teaches us to refrain from questioning practices based on the belief “everyone does it” or “that’s just the way it is”. There is a whole rabbit hole of topics that are covered up in this matter but today’s focus is going to be specifically on how blatantly and commonly businesses in the horse world violate basic labour laws. They do so publicly and without remorse, often being applauded for their generosity in offering young, up and coming riders such great opportunities.

These basic lapses in respectable treatment to employees are even (or, arguably, more so) seen in the barns and business practices of upper level riders, well respected trainers with accomplishments miles long. Guilty of not providing their employees with fair wages, even on the bare minimum basis. The name attached to a person’s riding prowess is given far too much value in our niche, the horse world, to the point where people will work ridiculous hours while essentially receiving pennies in compensation (even if we take into consideration “experience” based compensation in the form of lessons), and the worst part is that they get away with it all of the time. In fact, you’re generally more of an outlier when you dare to question whether or not fair compensation exists across the ranks in the horse world. You’ll be called lazy, ungrateful, spoiled, not “driven” enough, all for daring to ask for fair compensation for work done. These tactics serve the purpose of dissuading people from questioning the status quo, to make them feel stupid for saying “Hold up, wait a second…. is this fair?”

Before we get into the train wreck that is people’s experiences of major labor violations, blatant abuse and dangerous circumstance whilst working in the horse world, let me first talk about elitism in the horse world and how readily people claim it doesn’t truly exist. This plays a role in how expertly people manage to exploit ambitious young riders. First and foremost, the horse world that is the Hunter/Jumper, Dressage or Eventing disciplines in North America, is absurdly expensive. Attending even a single A-rated show is a huge luxury here because we are talking a week of competition that can cost thousands. This cost does not even factor in the lease, owning, care and equipment costs of horses. They merely refer to the expenses of a single competition. On top of competition costs, we also have board and care of the horse, lessons, tack and equipment, show clothes and more. This all amasses to well above the limit the average person can often reasonably manage to put into a luxury sport. Unlike many other sports, the horse world also lacks the support to help average to lower income riders attend competitions. There is little in the way of scholarships, cost breaks and bursary funds for riders with competitive dreams while outfitted in breeches with shallow pockets. Despite these realities, the common ideology expressed by more privileged people on the circuit is: “If you work hard enough, you can make it happen.” This is inherently classist and condescending because it implies that if you have not or do not eventually achieve your riding goals, you simply haven’t worked hard enough. It also implies that everyone who has gotten somewhere on the show circuit and made something of themselves has done so with the exact same obstacles when in reality, many of them, come from a place of immense privilege.

5 year old me enjoying the privilege of showing, paid for by my parents.

Let me break down privilege. It does not mean you’re lazy, untalented or haven’t worked hard for where you’ve gotten in riding. It can mean your parents have entirely or even partially paid for your horse shows. It can be knowing you have the comfort of a trust fund or university fund to alleviate stresses about affording things like post secondary education, your first house, a car or other big ticket items. It can be working your butt off for your horsey expenses but having someone cover off your gas, car insurance, rent, food and so on and so forth. It can be you covering off your living expenses AND riding expenses now but having had your introduction to horses as a child covered by parents. There are many levels of privilege and if you’re a participant in the horse world, you’re essentially guaranteed to be privileged in SOME way.

Like I said, there are varying levels of privilege, so implying that someone only needs to work hard to overcome the obstacles in front of them is negating how difficult said obstacles may be. To some, they may be reasonable feats equivalent to climbing a steep hill, crossing a quiet river or running a race that tests your athleticism but doesn’t push you to your max. To others, it may be scaling a cliff side or trying to swim across a raging current that threatens to pull you under. All struggle is not equal. The opportunities of hard work that landed you where you are aren’t necessarily going to apply to everyone, which is why ACCESSIBILITY is the most important factor of this so called “hard work” for success and to be frank, accessibility in the horse world is a bit of a fallacy right now. It isn’t accessible for the average person or anywhere close to it, and unless something changes cost-wise in competitions and compensation-wise in work positions, it never will be. So, at the bare minimum, cool it with the virtue signalling “we want diversity” BS if you’re going to be one of the people doing Olympic level gymnastics to try to silence anyone from discussing the cost and how much of a factor it is in the lack of diversity.

Anyways, before I go into the horrors of working student positions and how inherently problematic they are, let’s quickly break down the actual cost of showing. I just went to two days- yes only two days- of the week long schooling event at Thunderbird Show Park called the Rendezvous. I did not even stable at the property; I just hauled in, did my classes and left. With the exhibitor fee, paramedic fee, jumper ring nomination and lastly, the haul in fee of $125 for the week, I paid $220 before ever setting foot in the arena. After my 6 classes, the total for a schooling week that did not give ribbons or announce placings was $416.50. This was a “cheap” event at this show park; for their rated shows you’re easily looking at triple that amount or more for the week and that’s without factoring in trainer or hauling costs along with food, possible accommodations and more. I recently totaled only the necessary fees each rider must pay, with the assumption of one rider per horse, and came out to revenue of over one million dollars for a single week at Thunderbird Show Park. That is without factoring in total class prices, horses with two riders or any contributions by sponsors to lessen the total running costs. That is a low estimate of what these shows bring in, for ONE week, when on a regular season they’re running several weeks of shows year long. I’m telling you right now, unless the rider is sponsored, it is simply impossible for a family working on an average middle class income to fund $1,200+ weeks of showing several times a year, or even once a year, on top of all of the other costs that are necessary to be a part of the horse world outside of showing. As of 2019, the average income in Canada was around $52,600 a year. Please tell me, how on the average income, a family could fund their child’s entire show season when it would likely span over $10,000 if they were to participate at the extent of many riders who proclaim that all it takes is “hard work” to get to where they are? How can a family afford to put a fifth of their total income to a luxury for ONE child on top of all other living expenses? Answer: they can’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love Thunderbird: their staff is phenomenal and the facilities are beautiful, but to be honest, I don’t belong there. I’m an outsider in a world of privilege, even as someone who does well financially, especially for my age, and has privilege myself. I’ve never felt more poor or less worthy of respect than I do attending an A show with my 2005 Chevy Silverado with body damage and my cheap trailer.

My receipt from the Thunderbird Rendezvous schooling week, an unrated week of classes without ribbons or placings uploaded to showgrounds live.

The perceived solution to all of these woes for many is a working student position. Framed as an incredible, amazing opportunity that will help you achieve success in the horse world, set you up for big opportunities and fulfill your dreams of becoming a professional trainer or a big rider on the circuit. This is one of the most recommended options for less financially fortunate riders and the idea behind “hard work” getting someone anywhere they desire to be. But what is the reality of the vast majority of these positions, how hard is it to find one that actually provides the opportunities it claims to?

I recently conducted a survey of at least 70 working students. While this obviously cannot be held to the same validity as some sort of scholarly source or accredited study, let’s be real here, no one cares enough about their working students to conduct an accredited study or investigation into their well-being so unless you want to fund that, let’s all agree to cut the holier than thou “this can’t be legitimate” BS unless one of y’all wants to pay for me to do that. With that said, I feel I’ve inquired personally about enough working student positions, have friends who have worked in said positions, and have also seen the publicly posted remuneration rates for both working student and barn positions alike to see that the horse world believes that local labour laws apply to everyone except for them. Anyways, the responses I received to my survey are rather appalling.

The most commonly cited weekly hours requested of a working student were SEVENTY hours in my survey. The mean average still fell over the regular 40 hour work week, around 55 hours averaged the expected work day for these free labourers. While some were compensated fairly or at least slightly closer to what would be fair for their location, the vast majority of said workers were lured in with false promises about what they would receive in return for their work as well as being misled about the extent of the work they would be doing. For most, they were promised free training and lessons in exchange for work. Many were told they would work 5-6 day work weeks and ended up working everyday without days off, despite the promise of having days off. The vast majority of respondents claimed that they received a fraction of the lessons they were promised. Most were told they would receive at least one lesson weekly, and even if you factor in the rates of Olympic level riders- even charging $300 per lesson- this still doesn’t equate to fair compensation for a 40 hour + work week even if they did stick by their initial promises in terms of remuneration. Some students were also promised reduced show fees which either never happened or at least not on the consistent basis promised. Most were told that in working at these big barns, they would have the opportunity to sit in on lessons and clinics to soak up more knowledge, but their work expectations conflicted with these times, rendering them unable to sit and watch without being yelled at for doing so. In the survey, there is a clear trend of people saying that paying clients took precedence over their lessons, even though they were offering more free hours and arguably more “compensation” for their lessons in return.

One of the most troubling revelations I’ve had since surveying these riders is seeing how many of them were conned out of the promised compensation, weeks or months after arriving. To start with, much of the offered remuneration for these work positions was sorely lacking, even without the trainers offering said positions going back on what they promised to pay. More than half of survey respondents indicated that they were told one thing only to have it change once they actually started work. Some were robbed of the promised compensation entirely, others only receiving a handful of lessons in a lengthy stay as a worker at their farms, despite being promised daily, several times weekly, or weekly lessons.

For those who accepted live-in working positions, the vast majority did not receive fair compensation even when factoring in their rental costs. Out of all of the survey respondents, only a couple stated they felt the living conditions were fair and reasonable for the amount of work they were asked to do. Only a couple admitted to being allowed breaks and being encouraged to keep their physical and mental health in mind and not be overworked. The rest indicated the living positions were often shared living, which further reduces the actual “cost” of what the living situation they’re “working off” would be.

Work conditions were terrible. For example, the barn owner would pay her main hand only in cash and $100~ a week for over 60 hours of work a week. I was the only other worker, who actually had a deal for 20 hours a week part time. There were so much responsibilities that I had to do outside my agreed schedule that made me work 40 hours a week, but I was only compensated for the 20. I took a total of 2 lessons in 3 months.

She was a Grand Prix jumper and seemed to have a good reputation in the community if you made over a million. For anyone under her tax bracket, she wouldn’t talk to you. I had to be there at 5 am every day and again was treated like a slave, only this time in that I was told demeaning things if I did something slightly wrong, that I was too fat for this job (I was 5’9” and a size 6), and told I wasted money going to college because I came from a working class family and only the rich should go to college. I asked off 3 days in October (well before October) and was told that wouldn’t be possible. I gave her my two weeks notice but she kicked me off the property immediately because she “didn’t trust me”. The hours were fluid, you worked 6 days a week plus whenever she decided to tell you to come do night checks.

The biggest red flag from the respondents is the fact that the vast majority of them put in overtime hours without receiving overtime compensation, which is a requirement in the vast majority of areas in terms of labour laws. All of the people who participated in the survey were from Canada or the US, meaning that the labour laws in these areas are pretty standard and under no circumstances would it pass as being fair for someone to be compensated less than half of minimum wage for the work put in. It is commonplace in most areas to receive time and a half or double time once you’ve worked over 40 hours, which pretty much doesn’t exist in the horse world. Finding fair compensation in a job that actually respects local labour laws is like finding a needle in a haystack.

The worst part of all of this is that these types of barns and trainers make their living on the backs of young, ambitious riders who simply want more of a chance in the horse world without having the funds to buy or lease nice horses and show on the circuit the entire year. These riders have big dreams and shallow pockets and want nothing more than just a chance, and far too many trainers and barns exploit their desire to move up the ranks of the horse show world and become someone on the circuit. In fact, I would wager that these trainers and barns specifically seek out these types and the whole “if you work hard enough, opportunities will arise!” mindset is a manipulation tactic to fool these people into forgetting about what the labour regulations in their area construe as fair compensation. These riders are literally groomed for mistreatment by constantly being told that their lack of effort or “hard work” is the reason behind their lack of growth or success as a rider, instead of the absolutely devastatingly unrealistic costs and how deep pockets can help people quite easily navigate their way into the horse world, even at the highest levels.

Another alarming trend in the survey I put out was how many people were asked to participate in dangerous tasks for their experience level, or dangerous tasks in general, without any healthcare or injury insurance should they be injured from said task. They were also asked to do these things while being compensated virtually nothing. Many young riders were brought into programs that promised to teach them how to be better riders and handlers but essentially “thrown to the wolves” in terms of the types of horses they were asked to deal with. These riders show up lacking experience but are then asked to handle young, high strung and dangerous horses with inadequate training and preparation to do so. Some were even forced to be involved in veterinary procedures well above their pay grade and experience level and had to participate or risk being fired. Many also mentioned having to ride horses who were known to be difficult and dangerous while their employers got to ride the safer, more predictable ones. They were given the bottom of the barrel, dangerous jobs to get these horses going under saddle or on the ground fairly safety and THEN and only then, would the trainer who was supposed to be helping them along, get on the horse.

While a fair amount of the respondents did admit they didn’t feel endangered, the vast majority at minimum stated that they were overworked and lacked sleep, and these factors likely made their jobs more dangerous even if they weren’t being overfaced in terms of the tasks being asked. This meant that while the jobs themselves weren’t too much to ask for their experience level, the hours demanded were entirely unrealistic for any person, let alone someone working for free or extremely cheap just for the experience. The vast majority of riders who participated in this survey also referenced extremely high employee turnaround rates, something I’ve also noticed personally at a lot of big boarding and training operations. They’re always looking for new help and have a hard time hanging onto employees long term. This is often (but not always) an indicator of poor treatment to employees as businesses who appreciate and fairly compensate employees tend to hang onto them and hold loyalty.

Every single participant in the survey was under 25 years old with the majority being 18 or under. This rather aptly exemplifies the target age demographic for the types of trainers who exploit their students. They want the young, naive and ambitious. They want to utilize people’s desire to become better riders on a dime to their own benefit= free work. These barns want to operate with extremely low labour costs to allow them more of a revenue gain, and they clearly know where to find the types of people that will continue to take these jobs again and again. The high turnaround rate for employees doesn’t even seem to matter because there will always be some new fresh face who desperately wants to become like the many upper level riders they idolize and will do anything to achieve it. There will always be someone who will be easily fooled into accepting an abusive work position because the entire horse world works off this premise to a large extent. Like I said, riders are groomed to accept mistreatment. We perpetuate it by equating hard work with success whilst completely ignoring how even outside of the horse world, often times the hardest workers are not compensated to the extent of those on top who often do less hourly work or at minimum, less physically taxing work. We’ve created a world where people are shamed for their lack of success and presumed to be lazy, all while most people refuse to acknowledge how financially exclusive the horse world is.

I’m sure many will try to argue that operating boarding and training facilities is expensive and that trainers can’t afford to pay more, offer more, yadda yadda. My answer to those of you who think that is this: If a facility cannot pay their employees a fair wage or offer fair compensation in terms of training, lessons etc in return, then their business model is shit. If you cannot fairly compensate your employees because you cannot afford to do so, your business is a failure. If you cannot provide the minimum livable wage or services that equate to such in value, then you cannot afford your business. It is not other people’s job to be willfully exploited so you can continue to run a business that exists due to you labour code violations. Become a better business person or don’t be a business person. No one deserves to continue to run a business if it succeeds on the backs of poorly treated and under compensated employees. People shouldn’t have to accept mistreatment so that you can pocket a heftier check, and anyone who is okay with this needs to take a deep look at their own morals and ethics.

The saddest part about all of this is that these unfair working positions that overwork their employees suck the love of horses out of what were once ambitious, passionate riders. There is an extremely high burnout rate and for as many people who may achieve success from these working positions, there are so many more who leave the horse world entirely and are demoralized because of it.. For every trainer who offers a fair return when it comes to the work they ask of their employees, there are many more who have no qualms about taking whatever they can get and then replacing their employees when the work becomes too much for them. So, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter if these positions work for “some” people or if “some” trainers and barns are kind and fair to their students. It needs to be more than some. As it stands, it is way too accepted for trainers to take advantage of the young and naive and use their free labour as a means of earning more money themselves without having to offer much of their time for “free” in return for said work. It is way too common to see patronizing middle-aged and successful equestrians talking about how lazy and complainy the youth is and imply that if they only worked harder, their wildest dreams would remarkably come to fruition. Even younger generations (generally, the more financially fortunate demographic) will parrot the idea that all you need is hard work for success, all while failing to acknowledge where they may have had a head start.

The racing industry, in contrast to show jumping, gave me paid opportunity go grow as a rider and learn the industry.

The fact of the matter is that there is a deep seated, insidious toxicity in the horse world that will never be cured if we don’t start to acknowledge the existence of it and reframe our thinking and discussion. Everywhere in the world, hard work is often not compensated fairly. If becoming successful was as easy as working hard and putting your mind to it, there would be a lot more people in the income bracket to readily access university. There are an awful lot of extremely driven and passionate people who never get a chance to properly demonstrate the extent of their work because they don’t have the finances to climb the rungs of the ladder that would allow them to really show what they can do. Telling them that the only reason they’ve not achieved their goals is because they’re just not working hard enough is just a manipulative way of trying to keep the spirits of the less fortunate down and put all blame onto them so they don’t question the status quo and how much of a deterrent lack of finances are in a number of industries, especially the horse world.

To the passionate young riders who lack the finances to be a part of the horse world in the way they want: Do not be afraid to demand fair compensation for your worth. You do not need to sell your soul to a job that will suck the life out of you, demand far too many hours and offer little in return. If these positions were the key into the horse world that people claim them to be, we wouldn’t be seeing predominately wealthy people at the top levels. While there are riders from less fortunate backgrounds who have “made it”, the fact of the matter is that they are few and far between in North America. If these positions were the huge opportunity everyone claims them to be, there wouldn’t be such a discrepancy in terms of privilege at horse shows. We would see more diversity resulting from these so called “amazing” opportunities. But, most of these positions are not what they claim to be and the trainers who offer these opportunities in the right way are not as common as they need to be in order to increase the level of access in the horse world. Expect fair pay and fair treatment. Do not be afraid to speak out on the problems in the horse world and talk over the out of touch people, even if they are older than you. Age doesn’t always bring wisdom, especially if someone has grown up privileged and been so out of touch that they don’t even know where to start with educating themselves on the reality of things. Unfortunately, it is true that ignorance is bliss and way too many people do not want to let go of said bliss and come to terms with reality because reality is uncomfortable.

Lastly, to the trainers who really do offer great opportunities and fair compensation: We appreciate you! You are offering something very special to some very deserving people and you are changing lives. While it may not be as lucrative as exploiting students like many others do, you’re making a difference in a way that matters so much more than money. To any ambitious riders hoping to land under a trainer who will offer you a fair opportunity, consider putting less weight on the prestige of a big name. Big name trainers can use their names to add weight to what they offer, thereby depriving people further of fair compensation because they’re doing you a solid of letting you work for them. In fact, some of these trainers charge exorbitant daily boarding fees to have you live in cheap, group housing while you are literally PAYING to work for them. Now, in some cases, maybe these fees are fair, but it is up to you to decide. Look up your local labour laws: after factoring in your room and board costs, what are you really getting in return? Even if you’re working for a prestigious name, you still deserve the bare minimum of fair compensation.

What I’m saying is this: there are an awful lot of extremely knowledgeable, kind trainers who will give you opportunities but they’re often lesser known. They don’t have the mile long show records or Olympic gold medals, but they’ll offer you way more in terms of learning and knowledge. I learned how to start horses under saddle when I was taken under the wing of a woman who ran the boarding operation I boarded at for several years. She set her board costs so cheap, she couldn’t have made anything and she also gave me many many hours of free riding and advice along with free trailering to shows and many more opportunities. She operated (and still does) a smaller, not-fancy boarding barn that mainly served the purpose of helping to provide a soft landing to horses who needed it and finding them new, safe homes to go to. The facilities were simple but were all about the health and wellbeing of the horses rather than trying to put on a show for riders and boarders coming in. I’m not the only one she’s offered such opportunities to; she does so for many, offering cheap board and leases and most of all, the support and expertise to help riders to grow. She did not show on the circuit where my interests lay and her desires as a rider were more applicable to enjoying the horses rather than having her name in the limelight as a big rider on the circuit, but she taught me more than any other working student position could have at the time, especially for the time she expected me to put in (which was on my terms). She never made me feel stupid, she treated me as an equal and while she is a blunt and honest person, she was never unkind to me. I think many local riders can say the same about Tara Nicholson of Hayburner Haven because she has been a light in the lives of many less fortunate riders who just needed a chance and a role model to give them one.

Riders, I implore you to demand more. We need to start putting on the pressure for fair treatment of employees and exposing how often basic labour regulations are entirely disregarded in our industry. We cannot keep letting people get away with this just because they claim to offer a good opportunity or have a big name in the industry. Everyone needs to be held accountable, or we will never find change. There are zero good reasons why fair compensation should be deprived to the extent it is. There are zero good reasons to not care about diversifying and increasing accessibility. There are far too many exceptionally talented riders with little ability to showcase said talent due to the lack of money to do so and the worst part is, showing and show records are so valued in this world that you’re taken less seriously if you don’t have one, or lack a lengthy one. It’s stupid because all of our development as riders occurs outside of the show ring. Shows mainly provide a means of tracking your progress and letting other people see it. There are a lot of riders out there who could ride circles around the big names we see in the spotlight on the circuit but never get the opportunity to do so and are completely unknown, all because they don’t have the deep pockets to attend these shows.

Diversifying will allow these people access. It will also create more range in the horse breeds we see competing considering many of these less financially fortunate riders have to be crafty and take on the cheap “throwaway” types of horses that most people with money wouldn’t dare take the risk on since they can afford a more “sure” thing. It will then help to increase the desirability of these horses by showing what they can do, instead of the financially fortunate constantly discounting the abilities of Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, rescue horses, grade horses and so on and so forth, all because they don’t care to try to produce them themselves and haven’t seen them meet success due to who they surround themselves with. By increasing the representation of these types of horses and riders on the circuit, we will help keep passionate riders in the sport by showing them that they actually belong here and can reasonably achieve their goals instead of them constantly being disheartened by seeing that “making it” as a competitive rider is a pipe dream unless you have money and that if you don’t have that “fancy” horse, people will constantly remind you about how your horse is the exception or how it will “never make it” to your intended goals.

I’ve been riding for the last 20 years and many of the opportunities I have been offered by generous people would have never been there if my family couldn’t have afforded to get me lessons as a child to the extent that they did. I’ve been on both sides of the equation, one side being the kid with a wealthy family and the other being a hard working adolescent with a family who could no longer support my participation in the horse world. I can tell you from experience that participating at shows when my parents could easily afford it was as easy as blinking. It just happened. I didn’t have to work hard for it outside of trying in lessons and being passionate, something the vast majority of serious riders have regardless of money. I had even more energy to be present in lessons when they were paid for because they just happened, even if I wasn’t working.

On the flip side, when my family lost all of our money after it was embezzled, I started working at barns prior to being a legal age to work at a legitimate job in my area. As soon as I was old enough to get a real job, I did. I stopped riding as much because between work and trying to be a normal teenager, it was exceptionally draining. I grew sour seeing my friends achieving the things I used to be able to do with ease whereas even with working hard and saving, I couldn’t afford to attend the same shows as them. I gave up what had been a lifelong dream of becoming a horse trainer, for several years, all because of finances. What was the point? I thought. It was far too much risk with little reward, especially since I knew I’d be having to fund my entire university education. If my goals as a trainer flopped, I’d be screwed with no fall back option. My passion for becoming a trainer was reignited when someone just gave me a chance, helped me learn, and offered me opportunities that got my foot in the door of the racing world by giving me my first OTTB. From there, my passion snowballed and I started looking for every loophole I could to try and land myself in success. Many of these opportunities, though, were reliant on my ability to ride that was built over many years of parents funding my lessons. My show horse that I ride now never could have existed without said experience because he was so damaged and difficult, coming from an abusive background and being barely halter broke when I got him. Even with my mom having horse experience and me having the experience I did at the time, producing him was extremely challenging. It definitely went slower than it would have if I’d had more access at that point and was able to take more lessons with good trainers and learn more. Now, I’m sure that I could have produced him faster than I did, but it’s taken 6 years of patience and hard work to get him to the point of going around .90m rounds clear.

One of Milo’s many showstopping (pun intended) refusals

Many viewed this as a fault of my training and many have stated this and while it is in part true, I’d say it’s mostly a fault of the system considering my talent is valued based on how often or how high I show, without factoring in the types of horses I train and ride and how much work they entail. The entire mindset of the horse world completely discredits and discourages people like me and especially people who have even more obstacles than I have. Acknowledging that other people have more obstacles to overcome than you is not a criticism on the work you’ve put in; it is simply an acknowledgement you’ve had help. Help that has solved problems that you’ve never had to consider because of the privilege of said help. You can work hard and be talented all while still acknowledging that having support with your show fees, tuition, car payments, living, tack purchases etc gives you an ease of living that wouldn’t be there if you were having to find ways to cover this entirely on your own. Admit where you’re fortunate, acknowledge the obstacles others have to overcome that you don’t and please, just be understanding. We can all make the horse world a kinder, more accessible place if we just learn to listen, hold people accountable and remember that it isn’t a criticism of our own lives to point out how we’ve only come across certain opportunities and successes due to pure privilege and circumstance.

I want more diversity. I want to see more people like myself, who work full time, haul ass to the show and make it just in time for their classes. People who can’t afford living accommodations, stabling, living off of the show venue food and taking weeks off to attend shows. I want to see more people who understand what it’s like to try to navigate the horse world on a budget and who know what it feels like to be one of the odd people out on the circuit. I want more people to acknowledge the out of touch nature of the horse world and how it is wrought with privilege and how that lack of realization of said privilege is what enables the exploitation of those who lack many of the same privileges. It’s time for us to open our eyes and start openly talking about all of the problems in our world in an attempt to fix them. It’s time for all of us to stop being so selfish and to realize that there are plenty of riders who would cut off a limb to be in our shoes and that they’re not whiny or lazy for being disappointed or discouraged by how hard or impossible it is to try to participate in the horse world. It’s time for us to quit with the self absorbed nature and become empathetic towards others instead of trying to label them as lazy or ungrateful for being sad about having to forego on what may be lifelong dreams simply because they’re a middle class or lower rider.

It is time for us to acknowledge the immense amount of privilege in the horse world and use our access to said privilege to offer more incentives to those who lack the same access. We have the money and the means to make things more accessible. If people can afford 6 figure horses and tens of thousands of dollars in show fees each year, they sure as shit can afford to contribute to bursaries, sponsorships, scholarships and more. The big names or icons of our industry could consider doing sponsorships or at least advocating for the idea of them being offered to people not already able to actively show on the circuit. Equestrian companies can afford to sponsor lesser known riders and offer incentive programs to get talented riders into the show ring, thereby allowing them to “prove” themselves. Show venues can definitely afford, especially by way of benefactors or sponsors, to offer incentives for riders below certain income brackets or offer yearly scholarships like free show vouchers. It’ll get more riders into their arenas, more interest and thereby more entries. They can even guarantee the opportunities they offer are only used at their showgrounds, all by giving away things like a simple piece of paper that allows a lucky person a reduction, or complete write off, of their show fees. Even one show a year would make a difference to one rider, but I’m sure we can do better than that. There is enough money and privilege in this world to go around and make things more accessible, we just have to bloody care enough to push for it and offer it.