When I watched the video from my lesson on Tuesday, my first thought was “I wish we had nailed that first jump.” And that was true… but my second thought was “Maybe I should edit out that first jump before posting it.”
Honestly, I hear a lot about other riders doing just that. I will reach out to someone, to comment on how much progress they have made, and I will get a response along the lines of “Thank you! That part of our course was really good! Just be glad you didn’t see the rest of it. 😉 ”
You know what? I am not glad. I am not glad because I see all this manicured social media everyday. (I am addicted to instagram… sorry not sorry.) You see stadium rounds of all perfect distances. Video stills that show the smile at the end of a ride. And you miss out on the chips, rails, run outs, scrappy distances etc etc etc.
One of the greatest breakthroughs in my riding career was stadium scribing at a horse trial. I saw WAY MORE scrappy rounds than flawless ones. I saw pros, ammies, and juniors alike all make mistakes. It became pretty apparent that our social media lives do not fully reflect our actual barn lives.
So, I left the chip in the video. I left the head flinging in the video. I post XC posts of me getting left behind and supermanning through the air. It’s all out there like dirty laundry, and I am proud of it. Because it means that I love this horse and this sport enough to keep trying, even when it’s hard.
So let’s air out those fails to the world. AND laugh while doing it!
I’m right there with ya! I learn way more from the fails than the flawless. 🙂
Same! If it was all perfect all the time, then how bored would we be?!
Yes, yes, a million times yes! Next time I fall off, I’ll snap a selfie in honor of #keepingitreal Unless I have to chase my horse across the XC course. Haha!
Always #KeepingItReal hahaha That sounds like a great show name for my next horse.
If I only posted the flawless I’d never post media at all. LOL
I mean. Ditto tho ?
Yep I agree! I love that you post the not-so-good, cause that’s horses! Nothing is always perfect <3
Yesss!
I have a few jumping photos on my insta of me getting left behind and pulling on my horses face. But guess what – who cares! I much prefer seeing the real side of people then just the “nice” stuff that people post /
Exactly! It’s not a perfect sport for anyone. Might as well laugh about it
I always laugh when I read those memes about people only posting the best of life on their social media because I’m the total opposite. Sure I post the good stuff, but I’m all about sharing the fails. I find them far more entertaining. I mean, that video I have of Jampy whirling around like a dervish? Best thing on my insta. Hands down.
My point is, I totally agree! We all eff up, might as well own it and share it!
I post all my videos good and bad on the blog since it’s not indexed and I don’t need to worry as much about dinging my horses future saleability. IG is for all the shiny happy people haha
Bahaha that’s a good point! May has never really been a sales prospect, and let’s face it, 95% of our fails are my fault ???