Accomplishing Goals

aim high

One of my goals from when I first brought ZB home was to canter bareback through the pasture with flowers braided in her mane. 

Which probably doesn't sound that hard. 

But. 

To make that happen, these things had to come together:

• Let baby zb grow up with enough proprioception to move across uneven ground safely
• Develop her canter to something balanced enough to do on uneven ground safely
• Learn to feel confident and relaxed enough riding bareback that I don't just slide off
• Show up to the barn when the sun is up

And maybe to most people, those things aren't insurmountable. 

tiny barn dog not stoked

Ms. Zoebird is a lovely trotting horse. It wasn't until she spent the better part of this year in pro training and can comfortably do a first level test that I actually felt confident enough with her canter that I wanted to take it out in the field regularly. Prior to this year, she required such a high level of fitness to do it that yeah I didn't make it happen. 

It still never felt like something I wanted to do tho. I'm not about forcing my hobbies anymore. I can have goals, but if I don't get on and immediately think "this is a good idea", I just don't do it. Let's just say that when I sat on my very round horse in exercise tights, cantering never seemed like a super great plan.

I'm a long ways out of the trendy horse world right now, but I have a fabulous group of friends who kept saying "brockamp pad" like it was some sort of voodoo that would help me. 

I'm all in favor of voodoo, but 0/10 do long lead times on non-custom items. 

And then I found this:

Relevant points: PURPLE, less than half the price of name brand, can be at my house in 3 days. Sure, it's not the "THE PAD" but let's be real. I've never seen a real one so I won't know the difference. Worst case scenario, I end up with a pretty purple bareback pad. 

So that happened.

O HAI MUM

Naturally, I dragged Alyssa out to the barn with me immediately. 

warm weather

Hopped on with zero prep and went straight to the field.

don't mind if we do

And rolled straight into the canter

<3

It was the most natural thing in the world. 

cold weather too

It's my new favorite thing. We have a long, dark, cold winter ahead with a cheery purple bareback pad and a whole new toolbox unlocked. 

i am a leaf on the wind
watch how i soar