Wednesday, December 27, 2017

2017 Year In Review

I love year in review posts. They're fun to read and putting them together reminds me just how much changed over the course of the year. This year changed more than most, but I think everyone is ending up in a better place. I know I am.

JANUARY


welcome to my personal hell
Hm a review of January postings reminds me it was a shit month full of post-car-accident recovery for me and lunging for Courage. 

There was definitely some epic-level shopping, including one of the more entertaining saddle-buying interludes I've ever had.

I did finally get back in the saddle at the end of the month. Mixed results (the SB code for "almost unmitigated failure).


FEBRUARY 




More of the same--recovery is a slow stupid bitch so I did a write up of vienna reins, which are actually pretty magical.

I also wrote a pretty in-depth defense of draw reins, which tells you exactly how shitty of a horseman I felt like every time I felt like every time I put them on. (Hint: very shitty. But also I am still alive. Trade offs.)

MARCH


I was totally going to post one of the last fabulous pictures of Courage jumping, but the most important post this month was talking about life lessons learned from pain and suffering and horses.

I didn't know it when I wrote the post, but it was the preamble to a lot of important events this year.

APRIL

It's funny--I wasn't blogging a lot this year, but the things I did write hold a lot more weight I think. In Trouble in Paradise, I talk about the challenge of dealing with a tempestuous horse like Courage and in Reality Bites, I try to come to terms with fitting him into my rapidly-evolving life.

I definitely took advantage of riding other horses and trying new things.

MAY




Well most importantly, May was my ROLEX WRAP UP BLOG POSTS.

In non-Rolex news, my life was in the shitter and every dime was going to exciting vet bills to see if we could find a physical reason for why Courage hated being a sporthorse so much. (Answer: ehhhhhh not really.)

BUT THEN THERE WAS A ROXIECORN

And a premonition rumination.

JUNE




This is possibly the least posts I've made in a month since starting this blog over eight years ago (!!). In Well This Sucks, I acknowledged the factoid that the year had been building towards: I couldn't keep up with Courage any more.

And then I took the best piece of advice I've received all year and wrote Ruthlessly Exclude: The Journey.

JULY


July was a month of transitions--Courage landed an upgrade with an amazing human whose goals are more aligned with his. I continued to Ruthless Exclude.

And I found my Zoebird. 

I've basically been gushing about her ever since.

AUGUST


So many new adventures! I had to get ZB all new things, because nothing I owned fit her. We went on her first trail ride and it was awesome. I contemplated the cool things about baby horses who don't have baggage.

Most importantly, I was having so much fun.

SEPTEMBER

Apparently I was quite dramatic--started the month by memorably calling Alyssa a tiny penguin, then gave blogland a scare. Then I got it out of my system by running 13.1 miles for no very good reason.

I definitely wrote some training posts about Zoebird, but the most important thing was realizing just how much she changed my goals.

OCTOBER

I can't look at posts from this month without thinking about everything else going on in my life. I wrote Perspectives to deal with that a little bit. I also asked what made a nice horse.

In quick succession, Zoe had her first canter, first clinic, and I had my first fall off of her.

NOVEMBER


November brought a lot of ammy problems but more interestingly, Zoebird's first real opinion.

I think the biggest (ha ha) realization this month was just how much a baby mare can grow in a short amount of time.

DECEMBER


This has been a mixed month--Zoe and I are putting in the hours to build a solid partnership. Some of that is what you'd think (riding) and some of it is just the day to day "getting to know you" stuff.

As we head into the new year, Zoe is rocking a saddle that fits, a regular program with a trainer, and hopefully an owner who can get (and keep!) her shit together.


2017 was (again) not the year I expected on any level. Any year that ends one Zoebird richer is not a year I can complain about though. I'd say "I'm coming for you, 2018", but the truth is that I'll be over here toodling bareback on my baby mare and anything after that is gravy.






32 comments:

  1. Love it. There were some ups and downs but overall you had an awesome 2017. So happy for you and ZB!

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  2. From the mid-year plot twist and the resulting Zoebird, your year has been so fun to follow along because your happiness is so contagious in every post. I am so excited for you and Zoe and can't wait to follow along in 2018 to see how much awesome you achieve together.

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    1. Aww thanks. I'm struggling with 2018 goals just because there are so many things to try together.

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  3. "If I look back, I am lost" is one of my favorite book quotes because in certain moments it's just so, incredible relevant. I so admire you for moving forward to find your happiness and I'm really looking forward to all the bareback toodling posts you can muster in 2018!!

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  4. Talk about a rollercoaster! Evidence that good things do happen after the bad. Congrats on making it thru

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    1. Well maybe evidence that if you have good people in your life and actively set yourself up for success, you have a better chance of ending up in a good place. ;-)

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  5. This is like the perfect post. Things started out rough (horrible, actually) and then ended on a high note! I love it!!

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    1. It's so much better than last year when I don't think I even wrote a review post. Yuck.

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  6. a year of many changes - so glad you have a ZB now who is more aligned with your own goals and methods for finding happiness with horses!

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  7. I'm glad that 2018 got so much better for you in the second half of the year. ☺️

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  8. You got a lot done! We’re all richer as readers getting to follow big Zs adventures!

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  9. That was quite the year. I always enjoy writing my year in review posts and readings others. Cheers to 2018!

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    1. It's such a cool way to look at a meta snapshot of what happened.

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  10. It has been a hell of a year! I'm glad I got to share bits of it with you.

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  11. It was quite the year. I think you were very wise in getting ZB.

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  12. Definitely a year with lots of changes (ugh, change can be the worst...) but ending with a Zoebird is the best reward for making it through!

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  13. year was brutal, but youre killing it. roxie is a dream.

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  14. Such a big year for you, and I'm so glad Zoe found her way to you in the process.

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    1. She's basically the entire reason 2017 wasn't a wash.

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  15. Mostly lurker here! The wave of my 2017 oddly followed yours... like to the month. After a single (what appeared to be) highlight at the beginning of January, it was one knock down after another until June. July was when things finally started settling - minus a thing in September/October, it's been pretty much uphill and I'm optimistic going into 2018 also :)

    And more important ;) - I've really enjoyed getting to learn about how amazing ZB is and I look forward to more of your guys' fabulousness next year.

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  16. A year of many changes, but I'm glad it ended on such a high note. I'm so excited to see what you and Zoe get up to next year.

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