OH YEAH IT'S TIME!! It's officially my most favorite blogging time of the year!! Year end wrap ups. I like to do a little write up for each month and link to the posts that really refined that month for me, with a goal of creating an overall picture of what we did and how the year went.
Here goes!
JANUARY
It was cold and horrible, but we were in our second month at a dressage barn with an indoor. I was catching the bug and accidentally bought one of the only dressage saddles I've ever ridden in that actually fits me in
Oops I Did it Again.
It fit me, it fit my horse. It was meant to be, right?
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| first time in black tack |
I also worked through the emotions of having Courage as my own horse without a lot of supervision. I've struggled bonding with him because I got him at a very difficult time and he isn't an easy guy, but I was starting to see what a cool horse he could be.
In
My Little Bay Horse, I hashed it out about as clearly as I ever have.
FEBRUARY
In February, the weather got mildly better, which was good. More importantly, I wrote one of my favorite TSB posts of all time:
The Ammy Manifesto.
It struck a nerve (in a good way) with riders and readers and bloggers. I was inundated with comments and messages and in-person thanks from horse people in all wa
lks of life.
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| so majestic |
I also accidentally kicked myself into novelty stirrup overdrive in the
Old Cripple Woman Here post wherein I discovered my complete inability to ride in regular fillis irons.
This is relevant because it marks possibly the only time I've had an actual justification for buying pretty shit.
I didn't make a lot of noise on the training front--things were trucking along the way only intro/training dressage horses do--slowly and painfully boring-ly.
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| flexy is almost novelty |
MARCH
March was such a mixed bag. We started the month with our first-ever dressage clinic, which was a stunning success. Courage was good for both days and we started to move towards "actually doing something like dressage" instead of "just trotting with his head down", so that's cool. Clinic write up was called "Dressage Fun" and it was nice and vanilla and peaceful, even if it marked ground breaking moments in my understanding of Courage and how to ride and train him.
Of course, it couldn't all be smooth sailing. That sped us right along to memorable posts like
Sunshine and Roses and LAUNCHING IN TO ORBIT and
Dressage By Memes, both of which pointed to some serious trouble in pony paradise. We tried bodywork and it helped, but Courage was having a serious case of the 'tudes and riding through it was possibly not the most fun I'd ever had.
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| of stolen internet fame |
As a confirmed tack ho, I medicated in all the best ways. Acquisitions are documented in
Friends are the Worst, which was a funny post to write and still makes me laugh to go back and read.
I maybe couldn't ride, but I was building a banging wardrobe.
APRIL
April started out with a bang. In
Failsauce, I chronicle yet another lesson-gone-bad (sorta forgot how many of those there were), complete with epic fail pictures. Courage was not convinced he had to horse and he was doing his best to talk me out of it.
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| moments we never forget |
I tried to keep myself motivated and focused with the
Ultimate Trotting Picture Progression Post, in which I did a trotting picture of every month of Courage's post-track career to that point.
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| old picture |
I also got myself into lessons (
Guess Who Can Still Jump) with a jump trainer to try and get another perspective on how to ride with Courage. Even now, looking at those pictures makes me REALLY want to jump.
And of course, I made the rash and impulsive decision to sign up for a fancy clinic with a $$$ clinician. What could possibly go wrong?
Ahem.
Don't answer that.
MAY
This month was not so good.
We canceled all our normal plans to do the big, fancy clinic. First Courage missed a schooling opportunity, then blew a leg up, then COMPLETELY DECLINED to get on the trailer to even go to the clinic at all. In
Disappointment, Tears, That Stuff, I talk about what pinning all my hopes on one day turned into.
The follow up post,
When in Doubt, Wine. Also Pie, was equally raw and emotional. Courage and I were capping off difficult months and bad rides with severe disappointment in ways I never expected.
I really don't even know how to condense down the events of May--there's a lot of gritty, hard stuff I had to sort through. In
Surprise! Dressage Clinic, we had a good ride and a terrible ride and made some progress. We started
hacking again. It was not fun. It was not even very safe. It was bad.
I seriously questioned
why I had Courage and I reflected that he is the sort of
horse that tests people. I had to figure out if I could pass the test and if I wanted to.
Finally, I made a plan and to take Courage to his first show of the year. It was a make-or-break moment for us, chronicled in
Here Goes Nothing.
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| forgot how bad this month was. pic is still badass. |
JUNE
Can we have a round of applause for May finally being over? That month was SO BAD. June started out with our
first show of the year. I made good decisions, stayed on the horse, and didn't get disqualified. Then we did another show!
We even lightened the mood with my
Updated Guide to Showing on the Cheap. Showing as an adult has some critical difference from showing as a kid. This is an important thing to figure out in your adult show career.
We capped off the month with our first ever (locally) recognized dressage show. The post is called
A Series of Unfortunate Events for very good reasons, but the show itself was so critical. It taught me that even on our less-amazing days, Courage and I were turning in to a capable team.
What's more, we knew how to overcome obstacles. ALL OF THEM.
And yes. All my June pictures have satin in them. DEAL WITH IT.
JULY
July was a fun month. We putzed around after our pretty intense show schedule in June and I used the down time to think things through. Yup. That meant I came up with the wild and crazy goal of earning my Bronze medal on Courage in
Well Here Goes. It was quite a switch from our jumper pursuits, but I explain that in
Why Dressage.
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| just gotta trot |
The transition was complete (mostly). Halfway through the year, I threw most of my goals out the window and decided to pursue a whole new discipline. We certainly
didn't stop jumping, especially as we celebrated our two year anniversary together in
Two Years of Courage.
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| <3 |
AUGUST
My most favorite thing about August was this post:
A Fundamental Shift. Courage and I have always had such a weird hot/cold on/off relationship. It was one simple ride in August where I finally felt Courage start doing things to try and please me, and it was paradigm-altering. I followed it up with
Finding Our Way Together as we .
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| still love this |
Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and roses--I was
struggling with my position and riding and trying to tackle a whole new discipline FOR REALSIES.
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| story of my life |
Oh and Courage proved that he is also the perfect pony ride horse, as long as it isn't indoors in December.
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| um how cute is this? |
SEPTEMBER
September brought us dressage clinics and fall weather, which is a bit more motivating. In
Possibly the Best Dressage Clinic Recap Ever, I talk about some major breakthroughs we were having. There was also the
Ultimate Dressage Position Fix, which actually is a fantastic cross-discipline application device.
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| fix it |
More importantly, I wrote one of my favorite thinking training posts while I reasoned through some issues Courage and I were having in
Under Pressure--Language, Responsibility, and the Intelligent Animal.
Plus there's always the
awesome things blog hop, which just makes me happy to look at.
OCTOBER
October brought Epic Pony Weekend, with our first
course jumping of the year, some awesome
dressage-in-a-field pictures, our
last event derby of the year, and some kickass
free jumping pictures. I also got Courage's dressage saddle
professionally fitted (complete with
uber-professional sparkles) to start getting ready for next year.
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| so perfect |
On the training front, I started to buckle down and get serious about first level. Some of that was funny, like discovering my
European Princess Thoroughbred, and some of it was serious, like my
About Face on Video. I also had to work through feeling like I wasn't trying hard enough with my nice horse in
Not Confident, Not Proud.
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| GRASS SHARKS ALERT |
NOVEMBER
This month opened with one of my all-time favorite posts to write, EVER. W
hy Barn Friends are the Best Friends was me reflecting on the awesome women in my life and how grateful I am to have them.
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| the best |
There was a lot going on, though. Courage and I won our
first-ever tri-colored year-end champion ribbon and I love it in all it's gaudy over-the-top-ness.
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| ALSO BEST |
I talked about
Why I Kept Courage when things were hard this year (which was a lot). We also rode in an
absolutely fantastic clinic that majorly changed the way I ride and gave me visual media for
Socially Awkward Equestrians United.
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| yeah try to explain that to your non-horsey friends |
DECEMBER
December is not over yet (THERE ARE A FEW HOURS LEFT), but there's only so much we can do as we meticulously work our way through the beginnings of first level. We celebrated
One Year of Dressage early in the month. We also talked about
Spooking Theory and the Hot Horse and
Light. Bulb.
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| pictured: not ideal |
Our
2015 Goal Wrap Up showed surprising progress despite our many set backs,
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| plus adorable |
2015 was not the year I expected or thought I wanted, but it's the year I had. Courage and I are a stronger, better team with improved focus and increased confidence. I'm excited for what 2016 brings!
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| here we go! |
