12/ APRIL 2024 THE RIDER We Can Hustle:


By Shelby Olyschlager I don’t think I’ve sat


down and written a piece for a while. I think it was before a lot of things have hap- pened to me, to us. This topic stems from a few events that have occurred that makes me ponder life, ponder fear and ponder what we’re actually doing here. This article is in mem-


ory of a dear friend, barrel racer and someone I truly looked up to. A woman who was not afraid to show her true colors and not even show them, but belt them from the depths of her soul; usually into a microphone as she would occasionally do. When the world loses


someone so early in life, it’s hard not to feel the earth shake a little with the distur- bance of the missing void they left behind. Although we’re left with a missing piece, which we call Katie Marshall. Katie also left us, well me at least with this re- alization. One I already knew, one I think all of us know, we just don’t think about often enough - is that we all inevitably leave this earth. Some of us go sooner,


for reasons we cannot com- prehend and some of us live life to a ripe old age. But, I ask, who lived the fullest? Does age really determine the quality of your exis- tence? After so many sto- ries, Katies included, I say no. I say their impact was not based on age, their love was not determined by years and they surely did not live small even though it was short lived. I think about Katie so


often as I’m sure a lot of readers who know her do


too. The title of this post is


“Live like you were dying”. The song by Tim McGraw rings so true and it needs to be talked about a little bit more. What does living like you were dying mean? Should only the ones who are near death feel this or should we all realize, with time or not, that we can choose to live now. We can choose to live fully now! Are you afraid to go? I


am not. My beliefs give me comfort and help me not fear or worry about leaving earth. That’s just me, and I’m not here to preach in that way and give any sense of pushing religious/spiri- tual views. Although when you think of it, all of life is spiritual so I’m not sure why we seperate the two. Any- ways. I wonder though, why do we fear death, when we also fear life itself? Is it fair to fear both? Is it fair to yourself to fear death but also fear living fully, living large? Like, you will pass at


Live like you were dying


some point, but while you’re here, what are you doing with the time given to you? Are you living fully and without fear? Is it truly fair to fear both? You are here now, live it! Live it fully. There is a concept I was


told about us humans think- ing and staying in a short or long game. We seem to play the short game and forget about the long one. Mean- ing, we aren’t willing to have a short term sacrifice for long term abundance. We aren’t naturally able to focus on the long term, therefore we stay in short term “satisfaction”. Satis- faction is hyphenated be- cause I think even that is a stretch sometimes to how some of us choose to use our lives. We are just barely sat- isfied. We can’t imagine going maybe 1-5-10 years in uncomfortable


growing


pains, so we don’t grow. We stay at a slow and soul suck- ing reality because the risk of leaving or changing is


Breathwork 4


Equestrians Your Breath Can


Change Your Ride With Holly Barnett, REMT, CSF


“Don’t Forget to


Breathe” is something you’ve likely heard from your coach at some point. When you hold your breath, you become rigid and lose your connection with your body. Try swaying your body and then again as you hold your breath and see what you notice. The difference may surprise you! So why may you hold


your breath in the saddle? Sometimes when you intently focus on something it can be a default to hold your breath. During challenging rides emotions may often into play and breath holds and breath- ing pattern dysfunctions may arise. Many factors affect your breath. To explore this further


try playing with your breath- ing patterns while you ride and see what you notice from your horse. This is an excel- lent way to ‘spice up’ your warmup if you find your mind wanders or feel impatient to ‘get to the fun part’. Next time you hop on,


notice your breathing pattern as it is and monitor how your horse is moving to create a baseline. After 2 minutes or so go ahead and speed up your


breathing, maybe hold your breath and see what you no- tice. Once you feel the evi- dence that your breath is affecting your ride, I recom- mend spending the rest of your warmup staying mindful of your breath and keeping it in a gentle rhythm. Try bal- anced breathing where your inhales equal your exhales and find out what feels best for you. When you stay con- nected with your breath you stay connected to the present moment which – from experi- ence – is something horses


truly appreciate.


Enjoy the ride! Holly


Holly Barnett – Breath Club 4 Equestrians, Founder of Intero Breath, @holly_barnett_wellness / in- terobreath.com


Holly Barnett – Breathwork Facilitator, Founder of Intero Breath, Equine Bodywork & Saddle Fit Expert www.inter- obreath.com


well that, a risk. So we stay. We stay. But for what? If you were to live like


you were dying, would it be worth it? Better yet, ask yourself- What would be worth it? What is worth the risks? What is worth fight- ing for? What is worth going against the grain for? Only you have the answer to that as we all were given a little glimmer of specialness inside us all. I believe our job is to let that shine the brightest throughout our lives. Sometimes that takes playing the long game. That is believing in yourself and your potential. That is risk- ing your current comfort now for a life far greater in the future. It is singing and dancing to our own beat drums and not being afraid to show it and live it. The fear is real. I get it.


We are comfortable(ish) and that’s ok. Fear makes us not move, we become stagnant and then life is repetitive. Nothing exciting or new happens, nothing makes us


exceed our comfort zone. And by the way, this could be as simple as signing up to a dance class you thought about but pushed it to the side. It could be entering a new rodeo far away from home. It could be anything that stretches you and makes you feel alive, full of so many emotions; worry, fear, excitement, joy. That is to be ALIVE. This topic is heavy, I get


it. Sometimes we don’t want to come face to face with “scary” truths of nature. But to ignore it is not bliss. To face it is. Face your fears. Face your future, look at it


deeply, see it and fight for it. Fight through the discom- fort now to live your fullest life imaginable.Push the boundaries. Explore your potential and don’t be afraid because life is meant to live like you were dying.


Shelby Olyschlager Bio: Shelby Olyschlager shares her insights on life and the relation to performance in the saddle. Visit wecanhus- tle.com for more riding and personal development re- sources.To have a glimpse inside of her personal writ- ing adventure, check out shelbyolyschlager.com.


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