Untacked

12 M AY/J U N E 2 015 UNTACKED EDITOR'S LETTER Where Nature Meets Nurture Some day in the distant future, when we finally unravel every mystery locked inside the human genome, I suspect scientists will find that our DNA predisposes some of us toward certain ath- letic pursuits. is would already seem to go without saying, but I'm not talking about just inheriting physical traits that make a person well suited to a sport— a child of two NCAA Division I basketball play- ers, for instance, will clearly have a good chance of being born with the same or better athletic attri- butes. Rather, I suspect that somewhere in that jumble of nucleotides there is a passion gene. A tiny piece of our DNA that, when turned on, gives us not just the physical ability to excel at something, but the mental desire to actually do so. is is a highly unscientific hypothesis, to be sure, but as far as I'm concerned, there doesn't seem to be any other explanation for why some of us turn out so ridiculously horse crazy. My suspicions are fueled by the stories of many of the riders we've featured in this Mother's Day- themed issue of Untacked. Bibby Farmer Hill, Jes- sica Ransehousen, DiAnn Langer and Marilyn Payne (p. 86) surely passed on many of their physi- cal talents to their children—all grown now and professional riders in their own right. But as we've all experienced with horses, natural ability usually amounts to a hill of beans unless it's coupled with a willingness to work. It's clear these four mothers passed on their passion as well. If there was one common theme shared between the parenting styles of these women, it was an emphasis on self-motivation. e nurtur- ing they provided—the privilege of owning a pony, the free lessons in the ring and out, the examples they set to emulate—was an undeniable jumpstart for their children's burgeoning careers. But Kel- ley Farmer, Missy Ransehousen, Kirsten Coe, and Doug and Holly Payne were also exposed to the harsh reality that an equine industry profession requires a lot of hard work far earlier than most young riders. Whether implicitly or explicitly, their mothers all impressed upon them that at a certain point, your passion has to be self-sustaining, and it has to come from within. is is a sentiment echoed loud and clear by cover story subject and new mother Courtney King Dye (p. 72) as well. It's too soon to tell whether her 1-year-old daughter River has inherited Courtney's archetypal dressage rider long legs, but what we all hope most, I think, is that she's been gifted with something much more important—her mother's zest for life and superhuman sense of determina- tion in the face of adversity. None of us here at the Chronicle are the chil- dren of equestrienne superstars the likes of Bibby, Jessica, DiAnn, Marilyn or Courtney, but most of us still have our moms to thank for our equestrian passions. Some of us were lucky to grow up riding alongside horse-crazy mothers, but just as many are first-generation horsewomen who begged, pleaded and worked to convince mom that riding lessons were a worthy expenditure or that hauling to horse shows six hours away was the best way to spend her precious week- ends. Like so many of you read- ers, we had the passion gene in our nature, and even if our moms didn't share our particular love, they were brave enough and self- less enough to nurture it. So perhaps one day we'll be able to pinpoint the origins of our equestrian obsessions, but for now we can just enjoy the unique jour- neys we all take to becoming self- professed "horse people." And this Mother's Day, we can celebrate the moms who helped us along those paths, but also made us work for it. —Kat Netzler, Editor

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