This year it finally felt like things were coming together - I managed to tick off a few of my pre-generated goals, as well as surpass some of my own expectations. Truthfully, the year was chocked full and I don't really remember a time where I got to sit idle. As with all things in life, some ideas didn't go as planned and I had to make changes... but with adaptation, comes great memories - right?
Last year, I truthfully must admit I made some pretty random goals - none of which I was truly certain would come to fruition. However, with the placement of the goals and the way the year played out, I am much more attuned to what some realistic expectations are and what is actually acheivable. Interestingly enough, the things we set out to do last minute were the things that surprised me and made my aspirations reach even higher.
Recapping on last year, I started off January with driving Spud,
purchasing a kiddie saddle, and freaking out my mare had
ulcers. I also planned my
event schedule with the horses - which ironically enough did not go to plan.
February brought about the re-installment of goals, but the impending doom of
Snowmageddon (
also this post too) made that pretty much impossible. Instead of pouting about not being able to ride due to the massive dump of snow, I decided to drown my sorrows in purchasing some
horsey stuff from Riding Warehouse. Towards the middle of the month I was able to drive Spud and ride Suzie - and Suzie also decided to become a complete
drama llama. I also changed the way I
feed my horses to save on the hay wastage that had been occuring all year.
I had more issues with
Suzie's shoe back in March - continuing from February. And as if the weather Gods were wanting to tempt me, they threw
hundreds of inches of rain down into our little town. Admittedly, I did fall off the blogging wagon due to visiting my parents on the island, but I redeemed myself by posting a
Happy 2 Year Anniversary to my mare. And after some successful rides on Suzie and ground-drives with Spud, I hit a bit of a
road-block with the little shit-head.
Hitting off April with a
ride on Suzie seemed like the best way to begin the month. I partook in lots of bloghops, photo sharing opportunities and spa-days for the horses. I continued to have a
shitty time with Spud, and my
red-mare ended up falling during one of our rides. Thankfully, we started to get somewhere and Suz was able to help me
get over my frustrations with Spud. Towards the end of April, we had a little case of NQR-ness in Suzie, I started the
Probiotic treatment for Miss Mare, and both horses saw the
Vet.
Once I got the all-clear from the Vet in May, I climbed back up
into the saddle. I blogged an entire weeks worth of fun - including
cantering in harness and trail riding. The end of May had a sad closing, as my little
rattum passed away.
June: the
introduction of clipping for Spud among other things. I trailered Spud into town to take my Grandma for a ride, rode Suzie, and took my nephew riding - all found
here. Perhaps in the most exciting of news, both horses were taken to a town a few hours away for a
driving clinic where Spud was a superstar. This was also the debut of my brand new harness I bought for Spud. Let's not forget when the
tire blew up on the horse trailer on our way home from the driving clinic. I also whined about how I
needed lessons, and then promptly booked some.
Tail end of June and beginning of July brought on some
riding lessons on my main squeeze. And as if I didn't complain enough about the snowfall and rainfall, I complained some more about the amount of heat we were receiving. I also re-told the tale of how
my mare almost sunk when a friend and I tried to take the horse's swimming. Suzie came out OK, although a bit sore and stiff. I blogged about the
myths behind owning old horses and what the real "truths" are. And I also began my
flip-flopping between Western and English riding with my poor, tolerant mare.
August set off with a
horse show, which I decided to blog about later, after I wrote about how
hot my mare gets in the show pen. After the some-what disasterous show, I came up with a
game plan for the BVX show, to make it a positive outing. But before I took Suzie away to a show, I
hitched Spud back up after a 1.5 month hiatus and
practice drills were initiated. Oh, and I disclosed that I bought a very expensive
Dressage saddle. And then...
ready or not, we were off.
The BVX recap dominated my first posts for September -
here,
here and
here. And before I even had time to breathe, I posted yet another recap from a
Fall Schooling Show where Suzie and I played English pony and LOVED it. I also gave a long-overdue
update on the property we purchased last October. Spud celebrated his
gotcha day/birthday all in one. I also reviewed my
favorite blanket ever. The end of September brought about a friend's wedding and lastly, I talked about another
life lesson I learnt courtesy of my mare.
Ah, October. It started the best way ever - with a
birthday montage of my dog. And ironically enough, I also posted about
how often my goals changed and why I chose to not keep so much "track" of them, like I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post. I posted (I'm sure a few times) about how Spud is a huge asshole and
escaped his pen. Flooding came and went with the crazy weather, and a good friend's mare passed away. To bring some happiness back to the blog, I announced I had finally bought a
horse trailer. And Suzie went back to her heritage and we
chased some cans. My last post of October showcased that the
trailer restoration began.
At the start of November, I recapped the fun
Halloween Jackpot I had entered both horses into. I also shared the
tricks I had began teaching Spud. My
second ever bloghop went off without a hitch and reached a few hundred readers! I also blogged about
riding another red-head - more specifically a gelding. The
second installment of the trailer restoration also came out.
Which brings us to December, where the days are short and the nights are long. Wherein I recounted the
Lights Festival I took Spud to. And I also blogged a pity-party for one and shared my
AQHA award. I reminisced
one one whole year of Spud.
Part 3 and
4 of the horse trailer restoration was blogged about. Some sporadic bareback rides have happened, but nothing too crazy.
All in all, it was a busy, crazy year and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I learned a lot and grew even more as a person - here's to another year just as crazy and fun as the last.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my readers.
