Setting time aside for my own horses has become a priority this year, one that has seen marginal success, so it will be hoisted up and over into the New Year. Last Sunday, a close friend and I sat down and shared past goals achieved and not, and set fresh ones out for our next year. I started doing this a few years ago, and get a bigger kick out of it the the Ole Resolution thingy….and has become a marvelous way to actually track my behavior over the previous years and see if I am managing to learn anything…:)
So riding my own horses like they were in Full-time training is a major goal. Treat yourself like the way you treat others…….wait, no. That’s backwards….!
Anyway, in light of that, I saddled up Indy, and ponied Ivy out to the field, and worked one while I tied the other to a very nice Fir tree that volunteered its services. Worked on some walk/canter transitions, backing at greater distances ( 50′ plus), and counter bending. Counter bends! Ah! Poor Indy, he had to think on that one! We are using a new Bosal, a nice 1/2 ” that is actually big enough for his schnozzle….different feel again for both of us. I swap horses around and spend the next 1/2 hour laughing at Ivy, as she stamps her pretty little foot, tosses her hair and says potty words…. In the end, she has earned her Big Girl Badge, and gets to pony Indy home. Of course we take the long way over hill and dale, with the regulation three dogs in tow, and Indy snatching delectable dead weeds as we go…………….
I leave you with these words, from a very wise Shira Tehrani
“You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.”