08/01/2021
Drill team!!
Putting myself out there was hard. I never want to be under scrutiny. I cringe at judgment. One harsh word can send me into a spiral of depression.
Bringing joy to others keeps me joyful.
A few years ago I sponsored several gals to do drill. I provided horses and transported them to practice. Every horse I brought was deemed unfit for drill. Yet I still continued to try for the girls. Until 3 out of four lost interest because of the constant badgering from the drill captain.
I was asked to help build Lexi's confidence so she could do drill. We worked through a lot of issues. And went through a lot of horses. She was getting better every day.
I like to be available, but watch the relationship grow between the horse and child. Lexi excelled.
I would bring her to drill regularly and provide horses for her to ride. Once again my horses were deemed unfit. And I was asked not to come to drill anymore. I felt defeated. What did I do?
Lexi continues with drill and I would just drop her off or try to get her rides with others.(that was impossible as well. Even though they were a team they had many excuses not to.)
I went to a drill performance at Highlands Springs Equestrian center and as I pulled in with Lexi, a woman looked at me and shook her head. I wasn't allowed there. I wanted to die. I did not understand why I was being singled out.
I pushed on. Made sure to stay away from places that may or may not be friendly.
I put on a brave face and tried to be positive.
While rumors spread about me. Other ranches slandered what I do. Meanwhile I tried to promote them, kill them with kindness per se.
Our own drill team! "We should do it. I will help you." Having many Sanctuary horses and a few rescues, I saw an opportunity to build beautiful relationships. My friend and I started a drill team. Mind you my confidence in this venture was minimal. I had no idea what I was doing. But it was worth a try.
At first it was so very hard to even do the simplest things. But the girls were loving it and the horses were being loved. Win, win.
I put my all into it. I made a routine, mixed songs, bought shirts, decorated them, made sure we had the perfect horse for every girl.
All we needed was commitment.
That is where we failed. I'm takng time to do this. It may not seem like much, but to me it was important to come together at least once a week and practice. Despite me providing everything it was huge ordeal getting them here to practice. Every practice we were minus a child or horse. The aftermath of practice was a mess of halters, fly masks, helmets, tack, not put away. Manure pick up was an argument and the attitudes sucked the life out of me.
Lack of commitment became the number one problem. I lost my own nieces from the team because of it.
We had meetings, suggested contracts, I tried and tried, yet the problem continued.
My friend, that talked me into doing the drill team and said she'd help, left and took her horses. Down another essential player on the team.
Parents bickered about stupid s**t and I was always seen as Cruella Deville.
Needless to say, my drill team failed.
Maybe some other time we can try again.
