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Andrea Wetzel is part of the Year of Youth blogging team and here she shares her thoughts on the importance of having the occasional break from her horses. She is a member of Canada’s 2007 Young Riders Dressage Team, and has spent the last 10 years training with Olympian Belinda Trussell at Oakcrest Farms, just outside of Toronto. Andrea divides her time between showing at the Grand Prix level, studying in the Honours BA program at York University, volunteering at her local dressage club and managing special projects and contests for the popular Barnmice social community.

Another summer (and show season) is winding down and I’m always nostalgic this time of year remembering how I used to feel when summer was over and I couldn’t spend all day, every day at the barn. I was not very happy that I had to return to school and only ride once or twice during the week. Luckily, now that school is much more flexible for me, I’m still spending every day at the barn! But it is an adjustment balancing all aspects of life when your training schedule is pretty intense.

Like with any other sport you need to give yourself enough time everyday to practice your craft and make it the best it can be. That’s not always so easy when you have other things hanging over your head, like deadlines for school or even work, and friends that want you to go out with them Friday night, even though you know you have to be up early Saturday morning to work at the barn. Out of all the things that horses teach us, it’s amazing the importance they put on responsibility.

I’ve known for a long time that riding professionally is what I want to do. No questions asked. With that in mind, I didn’t have too hard of a time juggling everything in my life. Yes, I’ve had to make some sacrifices for my horses but I don’t regret any of the decisions I’ve made. Each one has taught me so much about myself and has helped me to reach my goals. The sacrifices haven’t been major, life-altering ones by any means but it is hard when you’re younger to miss out on the school football game or a party because you want to be able to experience everything.

There is no doubt that you will have to make some sacrifices in your life if you are training and competing so you need to have a pretty good idea of what type of blanched life will work for you. My coach has always told me to make sure I have other things going on in my life other than the horses. Yes, the horses are my number one priority, but I balance them out with friends and family, school and work. It is very important to have some downtime from the horses. For example, my horses and I always get Sunday off (unless of course I’m at a show or in a clinic), for both of us to enjoy a relaxing day. I find that when I go to the barn on Monday to ride I’m always just that bit sharper with my own aids and reactions because not only has my body been able to rest for a day but my mind has had a chance to think about things and understand them. Even during a training session if I can’t seem to grasp a concept, I’ll take a short walk break, pick my horse up again, and usually 9 out of 10 times I’m then able to execute that exercise perfectly.

You can see how important down time is and knowing that you need to take it often takes some time to realize, but you’ll be happy that you did!

Till next time,

Andrea

Andrea can be contacted (and “friended”) on her Barnmice page

A member of Canada’s 2007 Young Riders Dressage Team, Andrea Wetzel has spent the last 10 years training with Olympian Belinda Trussell at Oakcrest Farms, just outside of Toronto. Andrea divides her time between showing at the Grand Prix level, studying in the Honours BA program at York University, volunteering at her local dressage club and managing special projects and contests for the popular Barnmice social community. Andrea can be contacted (and “friended”) on her Barnmice page.