Pure Horse Sense

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In The Spotlight- Olivia Towers

Ashley Ward

Today, I decided that I would start a new series of blog posts called In The Spotlight. I thought that it would be fun to feature some of the amazing equestrians that I follow and maybe even introduce you to some of them. With the internet being as big as it is, it can be difficult to stand out and be seen. (Hopefully, I’m not the only one that feels this way!)

So, let’s start with the first equestrian to ever be featured on the In The Spotlight series; Olivia Towers.

Photographer credit: Sophie Callahan

Okay, I’ll start by being completely honest. Olivia’s YouTube videos popped up on my recommended page about 3 or 4 months before I ever watched any of her videos. I’m not exactly sure why I never bothered to click on her videos. I just felt like I wasn’t her intended audience. It might have something to do with her being a dressage rider. I’m not sure. But one day, I decided to watch one of her videos and then I was hooked.

Olivia shares the realities of the equestrian world. She shares her ups and downs. Her frustrations and victories. The meltdowns and first-place finishes. Something that I think the equestrian world needs to share more of.

I think that in our disciplines (whether it be dressage or jumping) riders strive for perfection. We want to make our tasks look effortless and be the best equestrians we can be. We aim for those smooth jump courses where we hit the perfect distance every time. We aim for those perfect movements while keeping the horse in the correct frame. The reality is, we have more imperfect rides than we have perfect ones. But we won’t post the videos and pictures where we have a rail down. We’ll only post the ones where everything goes smoothly.

I appreciate Olivia sharing her struggles as she grows as a rider. It takes a lot of courage to do so.

Photographer credit: Sophie Callahan

Another big part of Olivia Tower’s brand is talking about mindset. She is always commenting on the voices of doubt and mental frustrations she has as a rider. How she is constantly fighting to not let her mindset take over her ride in a negative way. Sometimes this leads to her sharing her mini victories that day while other times she shares her breakdowns after her ride.

This is something I can completely relate to! I can’t even begin to count the times I’m bawling while driving home from the barn completely frustrated with how I rode during my lesson. How I’ll beat myself up because my thoughts took over and prevented me from riding the way I know I can. That I had to spend my lesson working on circles or straightness instead of increasing the height of the jumps and moving up the levels. So, while Olivia may not ride the same discipline that I do, I certainly relate to her inner monologues and her mindset chats. Being an equestrian isn’t easy. It’s stressful physically, mentally, financially and emotionally. But we keep working at it because we are passionate about our sport. It’s nice to know that you’re not alone when people like Olivia Towers share those struggles. And by being vulnerable like that, it opens the doors to growing a supportive community that will be there cheering you on through all of the ups and downs.

Photographer credit: Sophie Callahan

If you’d like to follow Oliva Towers’, you can click the links below:

Olivia Towers’ website
Olivia Towers’ YouTube channel
Olivia Towers’ Instagram
Olivia Towers' Facebook
Olivia Towers’ podcast

I hope that you enjoyed this first post of the ‘In The Spotlight’ series. If you there is an equestrian that you think should be featured, let me know in the comments below.

Until next time, happy riding!

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