The Proud Horse Girl Podcast : Episode 3
I am sure that most of you will know Becky Knickle if you are in the Edmonton equestrian community! Becky is an infectiously positive person, with a constant smile on her face and the kind of person who is always looking for ways to uplift others and to make the world a kinder and positive place. She is an inspiration for me to put more positivity and kindness out into the world and I knew that she would be a delightful, and honest guest to have on the podcast!
Listen to our chat below, where we delve into what spurs and inspires Becky’s positivity and her belief on how the equestrian community can strive to be more positive and kind in general. She also openly and candidly discusses her anxiety in this episode, something that I’m sure a lot of equestrians, myself included, will be able to relate to! Becky is not shy in sharing her journey honestly and openly and it is a breath of fresh air. Chatting with her opened my eyes to even more ways that I can strive to be a better member of my equestrian community and to put more positivity out there!
Lastly, Becky announces something very exciting on the podcast! I’m not going to give it away, you’ll have to listen in to find out the exciting news, but trust me, this isn’t something you’ll want to miss!
Show Notes
“Becky, it's so great to have you on. I think of you as being kind of one of the most positive and kind of kind people in our local question community. You're always putting out a really positive message.” (00:27, Annakah)
“I'm an adult amateur Hunter Rider. I've been riding in hunters mostly all my life. You know, we started off as hunters, as kids, and I just never left it.” (1:03, Becky)
“I just put my show budget, my like food budget for like five years towards purchasing a new horse to work with.” (2:25, Becky)
“Leasors can be a real blessing I think” (3:45, Annakah)
“so I started out whitemud when I was about seven and had a horrible experience.” (4:25, Becky)
“I always somehow had my toes dipped in with horses and with the second ride that I had with that terrible fall, the experience I did have a lot of anxiety instilled in me and a lot of negative connotations to riding.” (6:15, Becky)
“Anxiety wise, it's always been a fight to get in the saddle. I feel like sometimes I battle a different person inside of me with my anxiety.” (6:20, Becky)
“Yeah, that's smart. I've I've learnt definitely you have to plan stuff out, even if it's hour by hour just to fit everything in.” (9:22, Annakah)
“And to be honest, that's really how I feel about horses, that I'm just lucky to be able to participate in horseback riding.” (10:02, Becky)
“And what to do was kind of amazing about the horse community is any age of rider could sympathize with me during my struggles and during that time, like a seven year old rider knew exactly how I felt and a 90 year old rider knew exactly how I felt.” (10:10, Becky)
“it was important for me to realize that the only person that I can guarantee to change is myself.” (11:25, Becky)
“You know, you could be the rider that this person in the ring looks up to and you could absolutely, entirely make their day. I don't think it's it's hard to be the change in that way.” (12:00, Becky)
“I ride for myself and for my coach and to enjoy the sport.” (14:23, Becky)
“If I show up to the barn and I'm riding alone, I'm going to be more anxious. But, you know, if I have someone, even just a friend there to watch me, I'm a lot better.” (16:26, Becky)
“I find to my anxiety. It kind of debilitates me in that I'll be going around a course and I won't think of anything at all really, which is extremely terrible.” (17:06, Becky)
“I'm in the process of learning how to set my feelings aside more.” (18:01, Becky)
“You know, another thing I've learned recently is laughing at my mistakes. You know, it's just I just can't take the sport too seriously.” (18:40, Becky)
“Yeah, I'm not giving up and not giving in to the anxiety of horses have really helped me along with that.” (19:56, Becky)
“Basically, I am just looking to be a little bit better every day. My goal right now is to just be one step better than yesterday.” (20:28, Becky)
“This spring I'm going to open up a small mobile boutique, not necessarily a tack shop, but I'm going to carry some equestrian clothing and giftware.” (20:50, Becky)
“The shop, it's called On the Hunt EQ” (21:28, Becky)
“So my advice would be that if you can learn to manage and navigate around people that maybe you don't get along with, but, you know, if you can just learn to navigate it, life will be a lot easier in general.” (23:32, Becky)
“But we have to deal with people, regardless of whether they're horses or not. It's so much easier to have people on your side, as friends, as people that want to help you get better with riding.” (23:49, Becky)
