Dear Younger Self,

Get up.

These two short words will be a refrain in your life. Sometimes these words are what you command yourself to do when you’ve hit rock bottom and are not sure where to go or what to do next. Sometimes they are what you say to the horses, softly and patiently, to let them know they can trust you and bad things won’t happen again. Other times you will say this to your clients when they don’t know if they can pull it together, but you know they can.

Get up.

You will say this to yourself in elementary school when you realize that you are strong and fast and that you like to compete. You will run the race. You will trip and fall. Your knees will be streaming blood. But nothing matters more than winning.

Get up.

You will say this to yourself when you sign on as a working student, straight out of high school. You will realize that by foregoing college for horses, you are missing the chance for a degree, and have questions of “what if” a career with horses doesn’t work out. You know you’re smart and could do it. But you will choose to follow your passion instead.

Get up.

So you will go to work at a big dressage and eventing barn. It’s grueling. Physically. And emotionally. It strains your friendships and family relationships. Your body suffers. But you learn and absorb.

Get up.

You will follow the professionals you admire. You will try to work for as many of them as you can, knowing that these experiences and knowledge will shape the way in which you’ll eventually run your own business. Even if it means packing your life up and driving it down to Florida for a job filled with unknowns.

Get up.

You will scream it inside when while working as an assistant trainer you suffer a painful stress fracture of your once-broken femur and are determined to go on working and riding even when you can not walk. You will have a rod implanted to repair the leg and resume riding and running right away.

Get up.

At almost 3:45 am each morning, your internal clock will signal that it is time to get out for your run. It will be your favorite time of the day. It’s quiet, it’s dark and it is all your own.

Get up.

You’re a perfectionist. You are driven by competition with yourself. And, so, you’re a little bit of a control freak. You will strive to do more and push your boundaries, but you will learn that some events are beyond your control, and you will need thick skin and deep grit to keep pushing forward when these things happen. So, move on, and

Get Up.

You will come to that fork in the road when you must decide whether to go out on your own. You will question if you’re ready, and will you be able to make it. But when you are offered an opportunity to move your growing business to a beautiful farm, you will go for it and never look back.

Get up.

You’ll work out hard every day in the year before your first-ever Spartan Race, only to fracture your ribs falling off a horse just days before the event.  You’ll scratch, heal, resume  your training regimen, and take Second Place in the ensuing year, qualifying for Elite competition status in your next one, so you’ll set your sights, and…

Get up.

You will assume a true trajectory. Your barn will fill with good clients and great horses in your training.  You’ll train your own horse, an OTTB through I-1. But he’ll sustain an unlucky long-term injury and the planned progress to the Grand Prix level will need to adjust to your new and even more demanding program of making him sound-  with all the time and patience that takes.

Get up.

Horses don’t know pandemics. They don’t know power outages. They don’t know holidays. They don’t know, or care, if yesterday you’ve won a national championship or if you’ve been bedridden with flu. Their routine is your constant and you’ll depend on it. But challenge yourself to break it every once and a while. It will ground you;  but, don’t let it define you.  Surprise yourself by sleeping in once in a blue moon, then

Get up.

So, as you continue on this journey, remember, you will plan your plans and you will dream your dreams but you will expect the unexpected,  and when it happens… Get up.

Love,

Emily