The Proud Horse Girl Podcast : Episode 4

Feb 4

This is the second solo episode with me, your host Annakah Stadlwieser! While I am sure that solo episodes are less interesting to listen to than guest episodes, I really wanted all of you listening to know a bit more about me and what inspired this podcast before I got going with more interviews. I think it will be helpful going forward to have a bit of a deep dive with me, so that you understand why I am asking the questions I ask and what I am hoping to achieve with each and every interview!

Listen in to hear me chat about where I am at with my riding, some of my negative experiences in the horse community, the spark behind this podcast and what I think really needs to change within the equestrian world. I sure hope that at the end of this episode you feel like you know me and that going forward it will be like listening to conversations with a good friend. If you relate to something I said in this episode, I would love to hear about it! Leave a comment below or you can find me on Instagram @reversed_eye_photography or on Facebook as Annakah Stadlwieser.

Show Notes

“Obviously, I still own diesel, but for the past four years, I've taken a break from competitive riding and have stayed out of the show ring.” (Annakah, 00:58)
“And I just had a really great team as well, devoted to kind of his care, his bodywork, you know, getting a really great farrier and some good vet work, and really he's in better shape than he's ever been almost at 19 years old, which is, I mean, I'm so happy with that.” (Annakah, 01:39)
“And we actually have plans to enter the show ring again in the spring and to try dressage.” (Annakah, 01:57)
“And I was the kind of kid who I always thought the bigger, the better in terms of jumping. And I was always asking the jumps to be put higher.” (Annakah, 02:15)
“He will jump anything from any distance. Like he just has a heart of gold and he tries so hard and yeah, he was just an amazing jumper for me.” (Annakah, 03:28)
“I just kinda lost my nerve a bit, but also I just lost my love of that part of the sport.” (Annakah, 03:52)
“I'm really excited about dressage right now because it presents more of a challenge for us than jumping every did” (Annakah, 04:30)
“It's fun to kind of experience like clicking in different ways and having different challenges come after nine years of having him as my horse.” (Annakah, 05:03)
“So I would really just love for all our hard work to pay off, and just, just to be able to have one like red or blue ribbon” (Annakah, 05:40)
“I was very competitive and I had a horse who was also very competitive, so we did win a lot. And I took a lot of pride in that, but I think just taking the time off kind of had me reevaluate my priorities” (Annakah, 06:19)
“It shouldn't just be about winning. It should be really a demonstration of your skills and just trying to learn things, new things and connect with your horse in a new way.” (Annakah, 07:11)
“And so one question I ask all my interviewees is what, what is one thing you wish to change in the horse world or educate horse people about?” (Annakah, 08:27)
“I wanted to create a community where we could be comfortable talking about anything. And specifically the less talked about topics of the question community” (Annakah, 08:58)
“There's a lot of drama and there's a lot of that can be bullying and I just think that it can be a tough community.” (Annakah, 09:50)
“Frankly, I have had a lot of bad experiences in the horse world and struggled to connect with horse people because of some of those bad experiences.” (Annakah, 10:41)
“I was not immune from, you know, participating in the drama and some of the negative aspects of the horse community but now that I kind of am older and have a bit more like reflection on some of those experiences. I think that this could be a really positive way to kind of just further, more positive, open, kind horse community.” (Annakah, 10:58)
“So I think for me, the thing that I would wish to change in the horse community would be the exclusivity.” (Annakah, 11:38)
“You know, I think we're always learning as riders. I think that's really important. And I think you can get in a bit of a rut if you're stuck with one trainer for too long. And I mean, that's also why clinics are so important.” (Annakah, 13:10)
“But I think that there is this like negative connotation when you move to a different trainer or move to a different barn because people are so attached to their barns and their trainers.” (Annakah,13:32)
“And I've had a lot of like my best friendships in the horse world, like disintegrate and just completely end because someone so-and-so moved barns or I moved barns or so-and-so moved trainers and people just don't take it well” (Annakah,14:13)
“I wish that horse people would disconnect the idea of leaving a barn and barn, community or trainer from the idea that this like insinuates dislike or disrespect of that barn or that trainer, because nine times out of 10, we are not leaving for those reasons.” (Annakah,14:58)
“Of course we are there for the horses at the end of the day, but having a strong barn community and good barn friends is just such a benefit.” (Annakah,16:11)“And I just think we should all just do our little part to just make people feel more welcome and to just outreach to people a little bit more.” (Annakah,16:25)
“I think there's a lot of things that the rest of us would like to see change as well, because at the end of the day, this is a community that for most of us, we're going to be part of our whole lives.” (Annakah, 17:08)
“I hope that this podcast can just be a little bit more positivity in the horse world and can help build a little bit more of that community. And maybe over time, maybe we'll see that it will have a little bit of a changing impact, maybe all these things that we want to educate about and see done differently in the horse world, maybe they'll come to be” (Annakah,17:37)
“I think if we all thought a little bit more about that and listen to what other people have to say, and maybe try to enact their changes in our everyday life, we would have a really wonderful horse community that we could be proud to be a part of and we can be proud that we were making change within it to make it a better place.” (Annakah, 18:23)