Don’t Quit

By Jamie Walters

A few weeks ago, I had the worst ride of my career. Yes, after six years of showing and thinking surely my worst rides were behind me as a green rider, I hit a dirt-eating, rock-crunching, graveling-licking show ride that makes me cringe to even think about it. It was a ride that made me reevaluate everything, made me wonder why … I was either going to crumble or double down.

I chose to double down.

Paste a smile on my face, put one foot in front of the other, show up and listen to my coach … and oh yeah, look for some humor while I’m down there … I promise there was plenty!

So I got to WORK …. I headed to my show EARLY and RODE every day. I PREPARED FOR THE DAY, KNEW MY PATTERN, LISTENED TO MY COACH and TRIED MY HARDEST. I SMILED and LAUGHED. I ENJOYED the BEAUTIFUL venue and weather. I was GRATEFUL for the OPPORTUNITY AND PRIVILEGE OF PURSUING MY PASSION, REMINDING myself OFTEN that plenty of people DON’T GET THE CHANCE TO DO WHAT I’M DOING. I AM SO BLESSED.

And things changed, they shifted.

A few days in, I had the BEST RIDE OF MY LIFE on my horse in the Non Pro - a legitimate 73!! We ended up being co-champions in the Non Pro and champion in the Prime Time Non Pro. (We would have been circuit champion if it weren’t for an amateur mistake on my part in the second go round - I won’t be making that mistake again.)

And just to back up a little - This show I started doing SOMETHING NEW … my coach always told me to spend time thinking about my “perfect run”, visualize it in my head and I’ve done that in the past. But this show, I decided to “UP MY GAME”! I decided to write down EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of my “perfect run”. The writing is slow and tedious and boring … but I think it REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE! My ride on my horse was different… it was fast and much more aggressive than I’ve ever been. AND THERE WAS STILL CONTROL. IT WAS LIKE I HAD DONE IT BEFORE, BECAUSE I HAD (in my head!)

We ended up DOING REALLY GREAT FOR US!! We were Top 20 overall in the Non Pro Derby and earned some money in our various levels. I even came out of the pen thinking, “WOWZA!! That was REALLY, REALLY FUN!

After the show, I was talking with one of my teammate’s mother, and I mentioned that it was interesting that I had just come off the very WORST show of my life, the soul searching, why-am-I-doing-this type of show, and the very next show was my VERY BEST RIDE. And she said, “Do YOU KNOW WHY, Jamie? It’s because YOU DIDN’T QUIT! YOU DID NOT QUIT.”

She’s right, I didn’t quit. It was right around the corner. Right there.

Moral: Don’t quit. Keep going.