A Success Story

By: Natalya Gryson

While I 100% completely get it, I still have to chuckle every time it happens. 

Scenario 1: You have a flawless ride. You walk out of the arena and people around you say, “Great ride.” “Beautiful.” Etc . These are nice sentiments. . 

Scenario 2: You have a less-than-smooth ride, full of let’s-just-call-them learning moments . You walk out of the arena and people around you say, “That was such an inspiring ride!” “I got so much out of watching you!” “Thank you so much for sharing your ride with me!” Etc . These statements are meaningful.

The fact is people connect more to imperfection than they do to flawless form. Why? Because it’s real . There is no such thing as perfect! There is just training , learning, trying your best. Do you have enough courage to do your very best , work your very hardest, in front of God and everyone, and still fail to execute whatever it is that the end polished product is supposed to be? 

Your horse will teach you how

For me, the most important thing I can never lose sight of is that at the end of every day, we can say we did it as partners. When things get tough, we work together on it, hold each other accountable for giving our best effort, and never lose sight of our partnership.

The truth is, tough rides motivate me a lot more than “successful“ ones. I put successful in quotes because what qualifies as success really is based on your perspective. 

Give me a task that is difficult to accomplish. One which requires finesse and clarity from myself, athletic prowess from my horse. One that inspires me to run thru my Rolodex of techniques and explore all the feels for 45min to an hour. One that is so challenging that at the end of that time, I know I have eliminated some possible wrong answers and am still in search of one that’s right. One that leaves me thirsty for tomorrow’s ride. One that I will work on for the next week, the next month, the next 6 months, the next 6-10 years. And if I’m lucky, somewhere within that 6-10 year mark, I will find myself working on this same difficult ask amongst the Grand Prix work. 

If I’m really lucky, my horse and I will be better partners than ever, and our mistakes will be more inspiring to others than ever. 

And if I’m really really lucky, I will honestly be able to say to my horse, even if you weren’t my Grand Prix partner I would still want to know you . And that she could say to me, even if you weren’t my rider I would still like to dance with you. 

That’s a story of true success.