I Was Told My Job in the Horse World Doesn't Matter But Let Me Try to Give You a Laugh Anyway
On the importance of holding on to the things that bring meaning to your life, regardless of the neighsayers shouting from the fetid armpit of a society in bed with productivity
It had to be a tack trunk, didn’t it?
Our daily work influences how we see the world.
My office cubicles are horse stalls. My break rooms are steep Colorado trails and Kentucky pastures. My time on the clock, working with horses and the people who love them, has shaped how I see our culture. Horses are those things that makes me “tick”.
Dealing with horses isn’t just about the horses, after all. It concerns dealing with people, too. Human nature. Horse nature— psychology and physiology of both man and animal. We share nervous systems. We just want to survive without feeling like we’re being chased all the time. Is that too much to ask?
Horse life exposed me to varied raw emotions like the above, and below.
Love. Authority. Submission. Hate. Jealousy. Power. Companionship. Meaning.
Meaning? “Horse stuff doesn’t matter,” I was once informed. Apparently, anything horse related is frivolous and wasteful as a hobby, never mind a profession. Yes. I’m peeved to say that this was an actual back-and-forth. In a future post I can break down an argument against this stance that doesn’t have a singular hoof to stand on but, for now…
Being teased that your job doesn’t contribute to society in a meaningful way, while on that same day being told that guiding clients through the Rockies on horseback was their yearly highlight?
Those polar opposites make you feel a certain way about the culture brewing.
I’m sure if you’re an artist, or a writer, that dichotomy slaps you the same way it slaps me. It turns out that the silly stuff they say “doesn’t matter” is the secret sauce that ends up mattering the most. The emotion that our work creates is what helps get people through their day-to-day, or in my case as a trail guide, becomes the highlight of their year. That stoked emotion battles the zombification of apathy, and apathy is rising.
One thing is clear: apathy must have no horse in the race for meaning.
Horses mean something to me. That’s why my soapbox had to be a tack trunk.
What shape would your soapbox take?
Horseplay that’s not necessarily about horses in the end
While some of my tack trunk tales will dig into what makes humanity tick, or current events, others will aim to entertain with a countrified type of horseplay humor. Like the curious case of Pot-8-O’s.
His tale is one worth getting lost in. He’s culture, too.
The clever name of this 18th century English equine brought me joy two-hundred years later. I slurped my coffee and raised an eyebrow at the inspiration that cosmic-boomed his name into existence.
Like… you know the horse person who named Potoooooooo was having a fun day.
They probably ate a heavenly hash brown for breakfast, over a challenging crossword puzzle, and thought, “Yes. Let’s name the new horse after cryptic potatoes!” Either that or they had a much more British inspiration of the root in mind. “Po–ta–toes,” as Samwise Gamgee of Middle Earth explains to Sméagol. He spoke not of hash browns but of fish and chips, in Tolkien’s classic that needs no naming itself.
Potoooooooo was a British horse, so fish and chips seems more likely of an inspiration. And besides, how can you even pretend to entertain apathy at all, when penning a potato pun for your 18th century Pegasus?
Ahh, culture’s creations. They delight. They champion apathy’s kryptonite.
Some long buried horse might not “matter” to most, or hold mass-meaning that’s worth a fig—but it brightened my day and that’s a fig enough from where I stand. Words matter. Art matters. Emotion depends on it.
See? Not all of my horseplay is about the actual horse, in the end.
Everyone needs a good soapbox— a coffer to step up on then share experiences, viewpoints and occasional shit-takes. Boxes are also great for lid lifting and cheeky peeking into the cultural curiosities stored within. Like Pot-8-O’s and the story of a hobbit. We’re only human. We love those juicy dramas— those hidden relatabilities in gift wrapped boxes…
…unless you’re an ancient Greek and Pandora is your neighbor.
Not every box’s lid needs flipping. I generally won’t pull from the politics or gossip box here.
Legends aside, those folksy curiosities in my coffer want escape, and while they may not be as urgent as the doom that Pandora’s mythology holds, each sentence that builds emotion—relatability— can hit equally as hard.
Building emotion is apathy’s kryptonite just like fluttering plastic bags are horse kryptonite. We could do with a little less apathy in our world—plastic bags, too.
If there’s anything I want to hammer home today, to accompany the launch of this newsletter, it’s that those juicy pops of culture that seem insignificant, are often the warm hugs that welcome day-to-day emotion; they heal society’s strain. That’s certainly cause for a little hollerin’, don’t you think?
So I aim to offer a little relief, escape and entertainment that piques thought. I don’t have specific topics in mind but, know that if it involves culture, media and lifestyle—it’s fair game for my soapboxing.
Relatability is the goal. A uniting theme will accompany each post. Today’s theme was on the importance of sharing the things that give us meaning, regardless of neighsayers.
Uninformed, unfeeling words can’t take away the hard-fought meaning you’ve battled to embrace.
This whole newsletter thing took a while to figure out but, I’m finally unbridled on my tack trunk turned soapbox.
Welcome! There’s plenty of room for more muddy boots up here.
Extras…
Other amusing racehorse names
“My wife knows everything!” he shouted at his mistress as she burst through the front door.
“No, George. She doesn’t!” The woman flashed her phone screen in the man’s face. “I’ve been texting her and she thinks my number is one of those racey AI chat bot services!”
George took the phone then let out a deep breath. “The wife doesn’t know.”
Watch below for the punchline/context of the dueling wives. While apathy must have no horse in the race, here’s a few that definitely belong…
Sources:
About Potoooooooo— https://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Bios/Pot8os.htm
so many race horses in the uk are named after villages
Horse stuff is very important !!
Horse stuff matters so much, if you let it. Great article, Elle.