(“That’s not wimping out.”)

“Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes it rains.” That’s Annie Savoy’s (Susan Sarandon) summation of Life in the baseball movie Bull Durham. Would that it be so easy when, as an amateur, you’re trying to train your own horse!

It’s the “rain” you have to watch out for, but not the kind that gets you wet. It’s the real life distractions which are so hard not to bring to your horse and your riding at the end of one of those enervating, to say nothing of brutal, days.

My point is: When you feel like this, don’t even try it! If you are strong enough to block the rest of the world out— to compartmentalize— you’re okay. But if sucky real life can’t be shoved aside, don’t take it out on your horse or let the external distractions ruin your ride and mire you down further.

“There’ll be days like this,” Mama said! A walk on the trail or around the pasture, even just a long currying and a few carrots are a better solution than a ride which you go into with an untenable focus. That’s not wimping out. It’s giving your brain a chance to triumph over your emotions. And your horse will come out the winner. From an outsider’s (me as instructor) perspective, nothing is more frustrating and painful than a rider projecting her own unhappiness onto her unwitting horse. Everyone’s better off to call it a rainout when that’s happening.