The Secret Life of McKenna: Nobody gets me

This week, junior blogger McKenna Oxenden recounts some facepalm moments experienced while trying to explain her equestrian passions to classmates and teachers.

From McKenna:

Horse Nation, I’m back again for another round of stories about interactions with non-horsepeople. These tend to get especially interesting during an election year when one of the presidential candidates owns an Olympic dressage horse.

Picture this:

Classroom setting, the beginning of the school year. You’re doing the signature “Hi, my name is…” and I like [insert something].

“Hi, my name is McKenna and I ride horses.”

Just when you think the teacher is about to move on, they shoot back, “Oh what type of riding?” WAIT, WHAT?! SOMEBODY ACTUALLY CARES WHAT I’M DOING?!!!? Stop the press, call the president, people care about horses. “So do you do dressage?” WHOA. Hold up. Now we know fancy terms. “Wait can you like passage and piaffe?!” Please stop impressing me teacher. Honestly, like, why are you so cool? DING! The lightbulb goes off. Oh, Stephen Colbert. Mitt Romney and Rafalca. “No, I don’t piaffe nor do I know Mitt himself.” *sighs from both parties, moves on*

Setting: another classroom, my world history class. Except this one is a crappy portable. Oops, I mean villa.

My teacher asks us if any of us plan on being famous when we’re older. I raise my hand along with others and get asked why. “Because I’m going to win Olympic gold.” My teacher remarks, “Oh! For what?!” “Equestrian.” “Oh, they have that in the Olympics? Huh, I had no idea.” *face palm* “So explain this to me, explain these equestrian sports you speak of.” *attempts to explain what eventing is, ends in failure, face palm yet again.*

Our first Photography class of the year, we all just sat in a circle and talked about our summer. Of course I ecstatically informed my peers about my working student trials and tribulations. I got a few odd looks, and a lot of question-mark faces. “What was the point of what I was doing?”

“Well, you see, I worked for an Olympic-level rider in exchange for lessons and such.”

“So you got paid?”

“Basically my benefits were my pay.”

“So you didn’t get paid at all?”

“I mean, I earned $20 dog sitting.”

“That’s not earning money!”

“Unpaid slave-labor. What part don’t you get?”

As you can imagine, most people don’t think horses are as cool as they really are. My most recent photo project was action sequence and of course I used some model ponies as my subjects.
During our critique this one girl was so memorized because she “had no idea horses could go through water, let alone even jump!! I have got to get myself to one of these things!!”

Hopefully these provided you some laughs and giggles, I know it did for me!

In case you were wondering, Carrie Underwood’s tour name”Blown Away” is 200-percent justified because I was just that with her concert! Absolutely magnificent!!

You know what’s almost as magnificent? Seventh row, end zone seats at a Packers game.

I digress.

Deuces HN.

McKenna with her horsey pals at Rolex 2012.

Go Packers!

McKenna doing something that has nothing to do with horses for once in her life.