There goes another month

I really thought I'd be a lot better at updating this than I am. Well let's see how I can condense a month into a few gripping paragraphs...


Steph came down the 23rd of last month through the 26th and we had Christmas together which was great- work was slow as everyone else was basically gone so all the horses had a few days off. We got to road trip to Middleburg for Sharon, but Steph, Alyssa and I made an afternoon out of it instead and I have to say Middleburg might be one of the most picturesque towns ever. I brought all my riding stuff with me the week I was home over New Years but I didn't end up riding at all, I should've guessed my motivation would peter out. Oops should be here in about 3 weeks now! I can't wait to get him going again and to get him into shape for show season, I have high hopes for us this summer as long as I can stay on my game and keep pushing myself (he does whatever I ask; he's that fantastic. It's me that needs to keep going). My rides have been going in and out here at the barn- now that we've added another rider to the mix, my rides dwindle more than I'd like them too, which is part of the reason it will be nice to have Oops here, so I have at least my horse every day that I know I'll be riding.

It's crazy the way my days have completely flipped though since arriving here. Last week I rode 3-6 horses a day, including one of Kristin Bachmans' little prelim mares who is a little trickier but I loved riding while she was away for the week. Today Linda Zang came and did a dressage clinic at the barn for most of the day; I got to watch a bunch of great riders while I was 'working'. How great is that? It's been a bit cold lately and I think my toes got frostbitten today while I was watching but they warmed right back up when it was time to do dinner chores. 

My riding has improved in LEAPS and BOUNDS but is obviously still not where I'd like it to be. Riding so many more horses a day gives me such an opportunity to practice more and more but I wish I could just ride all day every day. I want to be so good and watching all these great riders at the barn daily motivates me so much and I just wish I had all the free time in the world to keep working at it. I almost feel bad for my horses this summer because they don't really know what they have coming yet, they're going to be working so much harder than they have ever had to prior. I need to make sure I stay up on getting lots of lessons too this summer, I never set up jumping lessons for myself but am now realizing just how much that handicapped me for all my previous years. How typical, to learn and gain the wisdom after you needed it the most.

Peace out girl scouts