Why Compete?

Two months ago we were well on our way to Kentucky to compete in Nutmeg’s first out of state event.  I expected the competition to be even tougher as we headed east, so when a co-worker asked if we were going to win, I laughed.  “This isn’t the kind of sport where winning matters.  Sure it would be nice to get a ribbon, but the chances are quite low.  We’re going because it’s fun.”

No doubt this confuses many people.  Heck, it occasionally confuses me.  Why do we get up at crazy hours, spend precious resources driving across the country, punish our bodies, brains and emotions all to occasionally come home with a ribbon?  Why do we compete?

Cliché, but for me the reasons are like an onion.  The reason I generally verbalize is to have something to work toward.  It really helps to have an event to look forward to where you can showcase the skills you’ve been honing.  Hand-in-hand with that is the chance to check our progress.  When the crows and the cows are the only thing watching you ride, it’s easy to become complacent and overly confident.  It’s also easy to miss the improvements you are making.  An event is a great place to check your progress, not by comparing with others (although, really, who doesn’t), but comparing your performance to past performances.

The next layer of my Eventing Onion I stole.  Sinead Halpin wrote a great Blog for The Chronicle of the Horse (read it here: http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/inspiration-so-much-more-warm-and-fuzzy-feelings) about Inspiration and where it comes from.  She made an excellent point in that when we watch our peers and our betters compete, we are inspired.  Hopefully we are inspired to raise the bar and to become better, to emulate the greats, but occasionally the inspiration comes in the form of, “I’m NEVER going to look like that.”  At least that form of inspiration offers a bit of comic relief.  Whatever the form, competitions are a great opportunity to open our eyes and get back in touch with what’s going on around us.

It’s selfish to some extent, but I also like competing because it’s a chance to see my friends!  We may not snuggle around cups of hot coco sharing feel good stories, but I cherish the time spent braiding or tack cleaning as the sunsets.  Its real and its comfortable and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  Which brings me to the final layer of my Eventing Onion, quiet.

The world is a hectic place.  Every day we have more “to do” then we can possible get done.  Demands are made of our every second.  Why take a needless stroll around the office when you can check Facebook one more time?  It’s hard to find solitude, a place away from computers, cell phones and people.  Whether its braiding in our stall, doing the late night check, hand grazing or riding cross country, eventing brings peace and solitude to my life.  Not that I don’t like having friends and family along, somehow even amongst the hustle and bustle of the show schedule the solitude is waiting.

I’m heading for that solitude now.  This weekend Nutmeg and I will go on a search for the predawn tranquility we find in a barn full of horses munching away before dressage.  We’ll seek out our own patch of grass to nibble on in silence.  We will leave the sound of the start box timer’s count down in the dust as we gallop into the stillness of cross country.  That’s why I compete.  I compete to find quiet in this chaotic world.