All About The Marketing
This weekend was beautiful, not too hot, not too windy. We got out and enjoyed it little.
There was a mounted shooting going on nearby so we went to watch. Having never seen one in person I was impressed. Horses and riders galloped about. The balloons self inflated ( that part was REALLY cool!). The children climbed all over the nearly deserted bleachers like a jungle gym.
As the quiet well behaved horses walked back and forth behind us the children would ooh and ahh over them. Every time a child would say “what a pretty horse!” the rider would stop, bring their horse over and say hi. They rode their very well behaved horses right up to the back of the bleachers and let children reach down and pet them or climb out from under the bleachers and stroke a nose.
The riders took time out of their days to talk about their sport and introduce children to horses. Sure, our kids already have their own horses, the riders didn’t know that though. They loved it so much meeting all the different horses even having their own, think how much that would mean to a child who had never seen a horse up close.
As the world grows bigger and more children are raised without a chance to know animals at all, much less horses taking the time to introduce children to horses can make or break the future of riding.
When a child grows up only knowing what they see on tv and computers they are more susceptible to the influence of groups who are very actively working to spread misinformation and lies. It is up to us to introduce everyone we can to horses, let them know how much we love them, let them know that our horses are well cared for, and invite them to learn about and participate in our sports.
When we get annoyed by someone who doesn’t know any better acting in a way we perceive as rude or wanting to pet our horses, when we are impatient and rude ourselves, we are driving away the future of horse ownership. It doesn’t take long to take the time to smile and say hi. It isn’t hard to pause a moment and be kind. After all the future is at stake
