SHOWING AS A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL

Thanks so much for your continued support and confidence in this blog!

Recently, someone who saw me working at the Lake Placid horse show, asked how much showing I was doing as a young professional. As it is with many other careers, a professional rider must earn the confidence of an owner, sponsor or benefactor and, or their boss, in order to be asked to show a horse. When you are starting out, like I am now, you are competing for rides with other professionals who have many years of experience and with those who have vast achievements and accomplishments. Your new peer group is quite different from your peers in the junior ranks. Of course, I am not saying that there weren't fierce competitors in the junior ranks, but that the opportunity to ride and show as a young professional is diminished by the new peer group, in particular. So you might wonder how I am thinking about this, right?

So far, this year I have been very fortunate to have shown more than a half dozen pre-green hunters, a six and a seven year old jumper in the young jumper division and, at Lake Placid, I was given the opportunity to show a horse in the 1.35m and 1.40m classes. In addition to the rides that I have just mentioned, I have schooled hunters, jumpers and equitation horses in and out of the show ring. I am taking a long-term view about trying to get the best riding/showing opportunities possible and, in the process, I want to enhance and further develop my riding skills. I am committed to continue to work as hard as I can to attain my goals. So far, the experience has been great!

Catch up with me next time when I answer another one of your questions.
Talk to you later!
Maria Schaub