The Proud Horse Girl Podcast : Episode 8

Mar 26

In today’s episode, I chat with a good friend, Morgan Davies of @clyde.showjumping. I got to know Morgan this past year when I photographed her and her mare two horses, Oxford and Kahana. She is an impressive rider, with a large social media following who is positive and considerate of what content she puts out there on her social media. She has had some amazing experiences, from competing in an international show jumping competition in Guatemala to the grand Prix rings with both her horses and everything in between.

In our conversation, we chat about everything from social media presence and body positivity to riding with intention and pride. Morgan is open and authentic about her anxiety and challenges as a rider and how she hopes her social media platform can be used to help other riders feel more confident and positive, rather than set unrealistic expectations for others about what it means to be a rider. Though these conversations always start with simple questions, they often provoke deep and thoughtful answers, something that was clear in this case with Morgan. I think a lot of listeners will leave this episode with many positive takeaways to apply to their own riding journeys!

Show Notes

“I'm Morgan Davies. I am 19. I live in Alberta. I have three horses, Kahana, Oxford and Teagan.” (Morgan, 1:00)
“I took a few months off and then I was just leasing and kind of riding here and there.” (Morgan, 2:31)
“This is the one, like, I am obsessed with him.” (Morgan, 2:46)
“I feel like we're at that stage right now where we're kind of just finally connecting and really understanding each other.” (Morgan, 4:00)
“I really want to go to shows and just ride the way I can be proud of like, just go in and really be proud of how I'm riding and proud of how I'm riding every day and just feel really good about what I'm doing.” (Morgan, 4:35)
“Since I was like probably 12 and just got Instagram, I always just like, I really want to have one of these big accounts. Like the girls I follow on Instagram who are just always posting these awesome videos with their ponies and stuff.” (Morgan, 6:20)
“I think the biggest loss in riding has taught me is just to be resilient and not give up because I've definitely had quite a bumpy ride.” (Morgan, 8:27)
“So sometimes I'm like, I don't want to go. I don't want to see my horse today. I'm not in a good mood, but then I just go and he's perfect and I'm like, Oh, it was worth it.” (Morgan, 8:51)
“I do feel like I don't look like your average equestrian.” (Morgan, 9:43)
“I've felt a lot more confident in myself in the last little while and felt really good about myself and my body image and confidence.” (Morgan, 10:05)
“I feel like now I'm starting to see like, so much more like different people, like in pictures of people modelling breaches for a long time. I would see them like this person doesn't look like me.” (Morgan, 10:38.)
“It didn't feel like it was real the entire time, but it was such a cool experience and like such a different culture there.” (Morgan, 12:30)
“I think Kahana has actually been the most influential horse for me. Cause I've had her for almost eight years and it took almost all of those eight years to really get somewhere with her.” (Morgan, 13:45)
“I had a lot of people just kind of pass her off, including me.” (Morgan, 15:07)
“I don't really like saying that my horse is a hard horse, cause I know there's kind of a stigma around saying that, but it's definitely been a struggle.” (Morgan, 16:22)
“I went home crying some days. I was like, I made the wrong decision. This is not the right horse for me.” (Morgan, 16:40)
“Now I can just kind of walk into a ring and not feel like I'm going to lose my mind.” (Morgan, 17:13)
“It's pretty brave to be nervous about something, but do it anyways.” (Annakah, 17:46)
“It's tough that it's not talked about a lot.” (Morgan, 18:46)
“Why am I so nervous? Why do I feel like this? And now I understand it. And I'm getting better at kind of handling it.” (Morgan, 18:53)
“I hope that talking about this can maybe help someone that was like in the place I was where they weren't really sure and didn't really understand what was going on, when they were getting so nervous and maybe they can feel like, no, they're not alone in this.” (Morgan, 19:48)
“That's my goal with my platform is to really just talk about all of this and make sure that everyone knows that I'm not this perfect rider.” (morgan, 20:25)
“I can't look perfect all the time and it's not fair of me to create that expectation on myself and for other people to always think, Oh, that's just what she looks like.” (morgan, 20:51)
“There's not really such thing as a really good rider and a bad rider. It's just everyone on their journey at a different point.” (Morgan, 21:59)
“I think I deserve to be proud because that was where I was and I think everyone, no matter how high or what level they're doing should be proud and should be able to be openly proud of what they're doing.” (Morgan, 22:46)
“I think like the reason we're all doing this because it makes us happy and I think a lot of us lose that at some point and to me, the most important thing is just being able to enjoy it and be happy.” (23:34)
“I've kind of had to be able to be like, letting that go and be okay with maybe not getting something done that day, or maybe not even riding that day and just making sure I'm doing it for the right reasons” (Morgan, 24:40)