2018 Year in Review

I'm going with a full, wordy, review of 2018 and I'm going to fit it all in one post. Never fear, I analyzed the year as a whole vs. recapping posts so there is some new information here and at least one picture I took for each month I'm recapping. Hopefully the media will get you through this long post!

Pretty weather but a really tough month for us

January:

In general this year was tough riding wise and it really all started last winter. January was a continuation on that and I only ended up with one lesson despite typically taking them weekly with Jane. I was dealing with SADD and anxiety and Katai was dealing with saddle fit, ulcers, and too much energy from not being able to work because of the other two. The happy things going on were that I was dating someone amazing, had an adorable baby puppy, and was looking forward to moving out of my grandma’s house and into my own apartment.

Pony was doubtful and I was enthusiastic. This was during the period of time where we were
 pretty much always at odds with each other

February:

I posted a grand total of 2 times and didn’t even get my saddle shipped out to be resized until early February. By the end of February I had my saddle back and had managed to fit in a couple of lessons but Katai was still full of energy and probably ulcery. I had also moved and was dealing with awful weather. Personal things remained awesome, other than some awful depression and anxiety that came from the move and living in chaos for a while, but pony things still weren’t going well.

Pretty tail, also one of my last photos at Jane's barn *sadface*

March:

March continued to be a struggle. The weather was awful, Katai was naughty and overly full of energy still. I also had my car break down and ended up replacing it which ate up my trailer savings. That was the final straw for me and I decided that I needed to move somewhere that could consistently trailer me to shows, having onsite clinics etc, so that I could have more opportunities. Plus I found out that Jane was selling her farm. I was also still dealing with the transition of moving into a major city that I wasn’t familiar with and was feeling a bit trapped (although I didn’t realize that until later) and needing to figure out how to manage my rescue dog who was having major anxiety and leash aggression issues that I didn’t post much about.

I did actually ride occasionally. You can also see in Katai's expression how much she hated this place.
This was her constant look whenever I had her in the barn.

April:

April was my highest posting month this year with a grand total of 8 posts. Less than half of the amount I was posting in 2017. I moved to the barn in WI and was, at the time, thinking I’d have a show in May which was exciting. The weather continued to do it’s best to defeat me and I was already struggling with figuring out how to get to the barn with all the snow and ice. I posted about my show plans for the year *sadface*, dealt with two fairly significant snow storms, and went to OH for work. Then I was very sick when I got back which just continued making it difficult to be consistent with rides.

 

Getting ready to interview for a new job. Thankfully my boss at the time found out and then changed up my work to make it more sustainable so I ended up staying.

May:

I almost entirely ended up missing May but posted three times right toward the end of the month. The weather had suddenly gotten unseasonably hot and because of pony behavior things we decided we needed to skip the May show. I then realized that I wasn’t going to be able to go to the June show because of previous plans to go to NC with my bf for a wedding. Unbeknownst to me at the time that caused a chain effect of the serious dressage crew at the barn, including my trainer at the time, to lose all faith in me and push me out of their clique. I was learning some great things from S2 especially around how to handle Katai on the ground when she checked out. Partially I was needing to learn this because Katai was ALWAYS checked out at this barn. I’m still not sure of the cause but she hasn’t had such consistently negative (anxious) behavior anywhere else which is suspicious in retrospect. I was also sick for a week or so again.

Pretty sure we make a weird perfect team

June:

The highlight of my riding year (accomplishment wise) was riding for Kristi Wysocki in a clinic and having her give me very little advice (based on riding and showing at 1^st level) when I knew going in that she’s really tough. It definitely gave me confidence that 2^nd level is in our grasp. I also got to bring Moshy to spectate at a dressage show and she was amazing! It was so much fun and I can’t wait to do more of this in 2019.

Riding blind, only a well trained dressage horse could
be so on the aids that they don't need to see right? *snorts*

July:

After only posting early in June I didn’t post again until late July and only got a few posts in. I had diagnosed many of the things that I had been struggling with so far this year and had a plan including moving to a new barn since I had realized that I had overextended myself commute time wise. Something I wasn’t posting about at the time is how much worse the people at the WI barn were making things for me since I was being actively pushed out. I wasn’t sharing because I hate adding in any way to barn drama. Plus my mental health was pretty fragile this year so I was having a tough time not feeling that it was deserved it despite literally doing nothing that should have caused ANY negative feelings from anyone at the barn.

Very few pony pictures were taken in August so enjoy a puppy instead

August:

August was a big transition month and when things actually started to slightly start to look up to me for the first time in over 9 months. I moved Katai in the middle of the month and cut my commute to the barn more than in half. Bf and I also decided moving in together was officially a thing and found an apartment at the end of August. Katai spent most of July and then August entirely off work which set us way back especially since I hadn’t been at all consistent prior to that since back in November/December.

Saying goodby to my cute little apartment
(and the amazing view lol)

Finally in the arena after all that time off even if we weren't riding much yet 

September: 

I didn’t post a single thing in September. Instead I spent the month moving myself and the bf into the new apartment, being really sick (again!), and starting to slowly work toward more time at the barn with Katai.

I can tell I was starting to feel better in October because I took way more pictures

She's perfected the mare glare

 October:

Things really started looking up this month which is funny since typically it’s October/November when I really start to suffer with seasonal depression. Kinda tells you how rough the rest of the year was for me. At any rate, I actually started to be consistent with barn time and was meeting my goals for October. I also posted a bit more about the apartment move and my new tack storage and shared new goals for the rest of the year, did some shopping, and got more media posted.

November:

Despite only posting two times I was doing so much better and averaged 5 times per week at the barn which was a combination mainly of lunging and riding. I was starting to get my position back a bit and Katai was starting to be more consistently cooperative for the first time in over a year. I shared a general update of stuff I hadn’t posted over the past year and reviewed my updated goals which were going well.

Starting to get better at our selfie game

December:

Things have officially been feeling way better and like the worst of whatever the universe was trying to throw at me is over. In December I pretty much posted about shopping (lol) but despite a real lack of any riding content I’ve continued to be really consistent up until this past week or so but I blame that on the holidays. Mainly I’m so looking forward to 2019 and having a way better year in every way.

I’m aware how quiet things have been this year and I apologize for the negative tone in the blog. It truly just has been a year where I kept getting kicked when I was down even with small things. To top that off I was really struggling with anxiety and depression in a way I never have. I’ve tried to keep some of that out of the blog since it’s just not helpful but to still be decently transparent. Saying this isn’t to diminish the amazing things that happened at the end of last year including my relationship with one of the most amazing people I’ve met, moving in with him, my amazing puppy, and my incredible pony. Thank goodness for my amazing bf and his ability to support me through this really tough year because I don’t quite know what would have happened this year without his support. Mostly though I’m looking forward to a fresh start this next year where we can have more fun together, I can accomplish more of my goals (which are mainly riding goals lets be honest) and where I just don’t have so much stress in my life.

Lesson(s) Recap

My, apparently doubtful, co-pilot for Christmas shopping this past week.

One thing I’m hoping to do in the new year is more lesson recaps. I started this blog to journal what happens with Katai and my journey and since not much has been happening over this past year I’m not too disappointed that I haven’t been blogging as much but I do still wish that I’d been documenting more of it. With that in mind I’m going to try to catch up a little on what’s going on now so that I can start the new year in a good place.

First, I don’t think I’ve talked much about my current lesson format or it was a long time ago and we’ve all forgotten so let’s start there. I’m currently taking e/o week lessons with the trainer that works at the barn and rents the house there. She has a lot of training horses (and a couple of her own) and teaches lessons to a good chunk of the people who board at my barn. We’ll call her K. She is also how I found this barn. I’d followed her on Instagram knowing that she was in MN and she has a fantastic account. I always drooled over the really cute arena and after commenting on one of her Instagram stories and having her respond I finally asked where she boarded and found out about my current barn.

The results of our labor. Lots of tasty things, a few gifts, and some yummy alcohol

 There were so many reasons why I moved but the ability to work with her as a coach was a big one and luckily it’s proving to be just as great as I’d hoped. K is so, so low key. She can get really intense when needed but she’s just much more relaxed than previous instructors I’ve worked with and I really love it. I’m an adult and I do this for fun but my fun is to work on it really intensely and take myself way too seriously so having a coach who just is a little more relaxed and not such a perfectionist (which I so am) is extremely refreshing and really helps me not stress or dread my lessons. She’s really great about pushing and asking for new things but also not pushing past a point of comfort and even better she’s really got Katai pegged (probably since she’s very like her own mare) and is very thoughtful about how we approach things so that we don’t push Katai so far past her comfort zone that she hates the work. She does this in her own work with her mare too sometimes doing just groundwork, taking her out on the trails, or riding in a side pull. I can’t even tell you how nice it is to work with someone that knows how much those sorts of things can still help progress with dressage and just building a relationship with your horse.

Don’t get me wrong, I still miss Jane who was almost like a second mom, therapist, and friend. I’m not sure if I’ll work with an instructor who is so keyed in to what I need to do to improve and who holds me to such high standards again. Hopefully I’ll have that opportunity but if not, the skills she taught me are helping me in everything still so I’m incredibly appreciative.

 

One of the bf's extended family Christmases.
This was only about half of the gifts that showed up.

Back to the lesson recaps though! Our first couple of lessons were really allowing K to get used to me and Katai. Both of us were also incredibly unfit (and getting used to riding in a very small arena) so they were pretty messy and there were some mini meltdowns on Katai’s part. Fast forward to about 3 or 4 lessons in though and I had a HUGE breakthrough with the canter mechanic. Jane had been using the wording of keeping my body up and down which I think was making me shut down Katai’s stride and causing her to get sticky and pissy. I’m sure that Jane didn’t mean what I was doing but I couldn’t figure out how to do it differently. K had me concentrating on sitting up into the stride, without getting light in my seat, and half halting at the height of the stride. I had been thinking more of half halting on the down feeling and holding myself into her back. With K’s help calling out when I should be half halting I was able to feel it and it was such an amazing thing. Since then I’ve been able to replicate it and with that we’re finally getting Katai’s canter (and my canter mechanic) truly under control.

We’ve also had some nice breakthroughs with some of the items, or one main item really, that were getting us stuck in our 2^ndlevel progress. Basically Katai doesn’t listen to my halting cues or she gets so upset that she has a meltdown and we can’t continue. K has been so great about making it more light and playful and helping make the change without demanding it and then just moving on. We’re working on all halts and half halts. Everything from when I’m leading, to lunging, to riding at all gaits and in all movements. That leads us to my last lesson which was on the evening of my birthday.

 

So tough to choose exactly the right thing for Mimosa's. I decided to get bf's opinion

Unfortunately I’d had an awful day (really tough conversation with a staff person right at the end of the day) at work and my anxiety was high which I let K know when we walked in. K is really good at not babying anyone but I think she could tell that I was a little shaky and emotional so she let me know that we’d try to keep it pretty easy and just do stuff that I felt like handling. Recently there have been a couple of days where the canter wheels fell off the bus so we decided to work primarily on walk and trot since she knows I can handle the on my own as/if it comes up and it was unlikely we'd make progress with it that night.

To start we worked on getting her really through at the walk and really “oozing” forward on the bit at the walk. I did some leg yield to get her accepting the leg aids without dropping behind the contact and coming up. After a good long walk warm up with lots of lateral work we went to trot and really focused on keeping her down and forward. We worked on me pushing the contact forward like a wheelbarrow and really allowing her to find her balance at that lower place since her default is to come up. We actually got some really good work like that and did a few nice leg yield in either direction. We took a walk break and talked about what we were going to do next and we decided to work on her 2^nd level balance.

 

Sneak peek of some of my gifts. These were from K, my new trainer

The exercise was to do a shoulder in and then halt part way down the wall. Trot halts are pretty good but still a slight stretch so that goal wasn’t to get a perfect halt, just to introduce that it’s a thing we do and it’s ok to stop, with her weight balanced back, and then trot forward again still in SI. Once we started working on halt, while in a lateral movement, the wheels fell off a little so we did a lot of work accepting the try and making it into more of a game. By the end she was at least trying to understand the question rather than just getting tight and resisting. I’m really happy with how far we’ve come in such a short period of time with only e/o week lessons.

In addition, K is the first training I’ve worked with in a while who will ride her clients’ horses. Because of that and because of my goals for moving up to 2^nd level for at least one show at the end of the year this year I’ve asked if she could start putting a couple of rides on Katai. She’s going to ride for part of my next lesson and then we’ll talk about how many rides and when. I’m not going to be able to afford to do it on a really regular basis at this point but I do think it would help us break through this barrier that we’ve been facing and hopefully, at the least, help K know some of Katai’s quirks that much better as she’s teaching us from the ground.

No new Katai pictures, I've seen her a few times this week but didn't have much time for pictures.
I can't wait to work with her tomorrow!!

Because I've been taking e/o Tuesday lessons and Christmas and New Years are on Tuesday this year we haven't figured out when my next lesson will be yet but likely the week after New Years. I can't wait!

There are some other exciting things that are starting to materialize in my life so fingers crossed I'll have more to share soon :) Also, Merry Christmas!!!

Enforced Down Time

Well, after posting “all” of those posts there were even more life changes and a timeline that changed slightly so things have been really busy again away from the barn.

 Katai is still doing well but I’ve been maybe seeing her 1-2 times per week at this point. As July was coming to a close I decided that for a few reasons, during the month of August I was going to just coast and only go to the barn if I felt like it and/or to make sure she has everything she needs. Luckily with full care board at an amazing facility that’s ok and while I still feel guilty about it I don’t feel as guilty as I thought I might. I think I really needed this “vacation” from riding. It’s been something I’ve put my whole heart into for the past 5 years or so without really significant breaks so this has been nice and refreshing.

 Also, since Katai will be in quarantine for the second half of the month and I’ll be unable to ride or work her it seemed silly to try to get her back in shape for two weeks only to have her lose that conditioning while she’s standing around for two weeks. As of now Katai is at the new barn and in quarantine but that’s for a different post.

 The life changes are really exciting however :) As I mentioned previously other things were in the works to help with the overwhelmed feeling. One was moving Katai closer, another that happened to come up was the work change/promotion that significantly reduced my stress, the third is that my bf and I were starting to talk about moving in.

Tiny sleepy fox puppy

Initially it was going to occur next spring to coincide with the end of the lease I signed but the more we talked about it the more we felt that actually moving before winter was ideally the way to go. We moved up our plans to look at apartments while keeping in the back of our mind that we may still need to wait until next spring. We looked at a couple of meh places and then we saw two that we really liked that checked all of the boxes. After some debate we ended up with a favorite and went ahead and signed the lease to start moving in September!!

My bf will have until the end of October to move and I’m working to finalize a sub leaser who will likely want to move in mid-September. Talk about stressful with moving myself and pony twice this year! However, both moves are going to significantly reduce my bf and my stress and open up a bunch of time that we haven’t had which is much needed. I’m also just so thrilled and excited to move in with this amazing person I love.

Vegan tacos!!!!

At any rate moving for me will likely occur during the first week of September right as Katai gets out of quarantine. To help I did take the full week off instead of just Labor day so hopefully that allows me time for both getting Katai back into work and for moving. I will post a brief update of the move to the barn and I’m hoping to do a mini barn tour this week. Otherwise the blog will likely be pretty quiet until all of the moving is completed. Hopefully at that point I’ll be refreshed and rested from pony stuff and ready to start this blog back up in ernest!

All The Changes - Mindset

This is less a post about mindset and more of a post just listing some of the really positive things going on in my life right now since so many of my recent posts have been pretty overwhelmingly negative.

The BF

Not too surprisingly he's one of the shining beacons in my life right now. Being with him is everything I hoped a relationship would be (both the amazing and the tough) and more. He's supportive while also pushing me to be the best version of myself and he appreciates when I do the same for him as well.

Stopped at a light today I took this picture
of the place where we had our third date <3

New Barn

Not necessarily excited about the move but I am so, so, so excited to be closer which will help improve my motivation, and therefore how often I make it out there, and therefore how positive I feel about life :)

The Puppy

I've always loved and always will love Veggie but there's just something different about Moshy who's my little puppy soulmate. She is everything that I've ever wanted in a pet. She's just chill about everything and very calm, dainty, and sweet in a way that none of my other pets have been. I am all about rescuing animals and all of my other animals have always been rescues and I will absolutely rescue again but picking out the exact puppy, and breed I wanted means that she is just perfect for me.

Cleaning her tiny paws

 Media

I've still been watching through the Robert Dover clinics for tidbits to work on but in addition I discovered Oliva Tower's Dressage Youtube Channel. She's humble, funny, down to earth, and shares both the good and bad. She struggles/struggled with mindset so it's really enjoyable and motivating to watch her work to improve. I highly recommend all of her videos but the two below are some of my favorites.

Work Right Now

Work certainly wasn't one of the things on this list for a long time but thanks to an amazing manager who honestly asked for my feedback which gave my the ability to share how I was feeling some changes have been made which resulted in a promotion for me as well as a change in workflow. That has removed one of the most repetitive parts of my job and freed up time for me and my coworkers to actually get all of our work done and work on improving projects vs. just constantly struggling to keep our heads above water.

She also really heard me on not wanting to travel as much with some of the stuff I have going on in my life right now which means I haven't traveled since early this year which has been a nice break. I enjoy the travel and am looking forward to getting out to WA again but it's been really nice having a quieter year this year.

A Fun Sunday

Not that I don't always have a fun time on the weekend but today was sort of a nice, horse filled, day of doing just the things I wanted to do since my bf was doing the thing he loves (cars) all day.

Picture from my last ride, today I rode outside!

First off, I got Moshy mainly so that I could have a dog that could go do things with me. I adore Veggie but he just wasn't socialized well enough so while I can do the things I need to do with him it certainly isn't fun or always safe to bring him places and the barn tops the list of places he shouldn't go. With Moshy I not only chose a breed that I knew could be a fairly decent barn dog but I've also worked with her a ton to socialize her to all the things she'll see at a barn. The toughest has been horses since I got her during a really long cold winter and she was just too tiny to spend much time at the barn.

While she's really well socialized I've been a bit nervous to bring her back to the barn since if she wasn't good with the horses it would be tough to manage her there without just bringing her back home and with the drive out 50+ minutes it wouldn't be nice to have to just turn around and bring her home.

Then yesterday I got an invite from H to go watch her ride at a really nice local show that was close to my house. Right away I thought of bringing Moshy with me but I knew it wasn't the best idea to test how well she'd do around horses there for the first time in a few months so I decided to start at my barn. I knew it would be quiet since most Sunday mornings there are a lot of people at church or sleeping in and I went for it.

Long story short, it went really well! I walked her a bit around the parking area and then carried her over towards the fence of a pasture with two quiet horses in it. I didn't get too close and she barked a couple times but they weren't spooked and when I gently scolded her she gave it up and just watched, interested to see what they would do. I eventually worked my way up to the fence and she was still calm and quiet. After that she never barked again! I walked her all over, introduced her to the old mostly blind barn dog, held her near the cross ties while a friend was grooming their horse and carried her while I walked Katai back to the pasture after my ride.

During my ride she hung out in her carrier in my car with all the windows open (it was in the low 70s and overcast so she stayed nice and cool) and I'm pretty sure she just slept. If I do this often I may get a plastic crate to keep in the back of my car just so that she has a nice secure place to stay while I ride if needed. If it's warm, I could put her in the air conditioned lounge instead. She was just so, so good and it felt so validating after all the work I've done.

My ride was pretty decent as well. Katai had her mare panties in a bundle and didn't want to pony appropriately but she let me help her loosen up and then we got some decent work and some of the best shallow serpentines at the canter that we've done where she really sat back and carried vs. just running. More on how we got there in a different post though!

After Katai was put away I stuck around and let Moshy run around a bit more and talked to friends. I didn't want to go home for an hour or two and then leave for the show but I also didn't want to get there too early. Eventually we left for the 1+ hour drive to the show grounds. I stopped for lunch, gas, and coffee along the way and Moshy mostly napped or watched me drive.

Once we got to the show grounds I crossed my fingers that she would remember and not bark and she came through! I carried her at first and we found the barn with H in it. She thought Moshy was adorable, as did many other people who stopped me to meet her, and gave her some pets while she was getting ready. We got there about an hour early so we had a chance to chat and for Moshy to meet a few dogs which she was a total lady about.

Eventually H was ready and we headed out to the arena to watch. Moshy made more friends and then sat quietly on my lap in the bleachers watching H put down a really good test that she ended up winning a blue for. After that we chatted a bit more and then I headed home with a nice sleepy puppy who immediately got a bath since her mop self had picked up most of the nasty things on the barn floor at that point.

I had so much fun and it was so nice to have a well behaved companion that I didn't need to worry about come with me and do all the things. I'm planning to make bringing her to the barn a regular thing!

So sleepy

Another Update

Crabby looking sleepy puppies.
Their answer to dealing with the blizzard we're having is to sleep and cuddle

I'd like to be able post things other than just update posts but after taking such big breaks between posts it seems like it makes sense. Updates first and then I'm hopefully going to spend some time today writing more posts so that I have some prepared content for the next couple of weeks.

Plans for this week are to;
-schedule travel to new barn for Katai Doneish, I've received confirmation that travel will happen this next week, just not exactly when...
-make sure the vet visit for shots and coggins gets scheduled for before we leave  Scheduled and completed as of Friday
-drop off extra tack at the local tack swap this Friday - did not do
-finish “pulling” her mane 
-trim her beard and ear hairs as well as cleaning up her feather  I didn't get her ear floof trimmed but that's less important to me than the other stuff.
-bring home all the extra stuff I have at the barn and get it cleaned and organized for the move 
-ride at least 3 times  Yay!!
-try to reschedule several lesson make ups (at this point I’m certainly not going to get all of these made up but having a few more lessons before I leave would be great!) 
-make sure I get a new drawer from Smartpak since I tossed the other one and the new barn uses them

Plans for next week are to;
-clean all my tack including Katai’s leather turnout halter - partially done ahead of schedule
-post an update on the farrier/feet situation
-re-subscribe to feedxl since there’s a new ration balancer at the new barn that I need to figure out
-ride at least 4 times
-make sure I get at least one lesson in
-try to wash Katai’s legs (which should have happened when it was warmer but oh well, at least this way she won’t go back out to mud since it’s all ice again)
-wash blankets and make sure that all of Katai’s clothes are clean and ready to be used (moving to a more heated barn so we’re going to need different blankets than we do now)

 Plans for moving week (Week of April 15th):
-move pony to the new barn
-move stuff to the new barn
-confirm show plans for the summer/at least the next few months so that I can request PTO
-ride at least 3 times and make use of the move to practice for riding in a new space
-schedule lesson(s) with S2

Doing the Thing

Well that escalated quickly…

As I was looking at numbers about owning a trailer vs. moving to a different barn vs. trying to come up with other options I reached out to a couple of friends, H and we’ll call her M. Both are competitive pony riders and H has, of course, been talked about in this blog before. M I know more through social media but she’s in the same area that I’m in and I’ve seen her at shows before. She’s currently riding 4^th (?) level with her pony.

Cute fluffy puppy is cute and fluffy

I had become aware of where she boarded over the past year or so and the barn she’s at is one of the barns I’d mentioned that was within my budget as long as I dial back lessons slightly. I’d been really chewing over if that was something I wanted to do since I’m all about education first, fun later. However, I’m honestly at a place where I think I could do ok without weekly lessons. Definitely not without lessons completely since I am very much a beginning dressage rider but I’m confident that I could do ok with 1-2 lessons per month. In the past when I’ve missed lessons for up to a month I did fine at my following lesson and had been able to take action on almost all of my homework.

I was still hesitant since along with increased cost, fewer lessons, a smaller indoor arena, and a longer drive it meant moving Katai and myself and all of the stress and change that goes along with that. Despite my love of change and my, sort of, gypsy life style over the past several years I’m at a point where I don’t want to keep shifting. I’m tired of moving and I’m tired of change right now especially after the past several months and I really thought that I’d be with Jane until she retired.

 

Also had a boot spa day and unfortunately found that I'm going to need to
replace these. After 5 years of constant
use the leather on the foot cracked open

However, I had some text communication with M and email communication with the barn manager/owner who we’ll call S2. The barn was quite full but they have a small group that does consistent dressage shows during the year and they were looking for another dressage show participant. There were some changes coming up that might have left an opening so I scheduled time to see it earlier this week. I went to see it and felt like I was literally in heaven.

ALL of the things I’ve wanted since I’ve been owning horses were present at this barn including a dressage instructor, the ability to help trailer train, fantastic footing, indoor and outdoor arena, stalls, lots of turnout, FANTASTIC hay, fantastic care, very generously bedded stalls, amazing ventilation, four heated wash stalls, heat lamps over the grooming areas, TONS of trails as in miles and miles of trails through woods, meadows, hills, roads etc.  In addition, they routinely travel to some of the really big shows in our region, participate in regionals, and have a fantastically supportive show team that has all the infrastructure to make it fun.

I got to meet S2 who I’ve only met in passing at shows before. I also got to meet the guy who works at the barn (we chatted for a while about my Smartcar), S2’s spouse, and some other people at the barn. I was there for over 2 hours chatting with M and company and getting two tours J. Honestly while I love where I’m at this was an easy decision considering all of the factors. Plus, it could completely eliminate the need for me to get a trailer in which case I can use my trailer savings to pay for shows and replacing a couple of key pieces of equipment.

I went ahead and let both of them know (M sort of co-manages show schedules and the show group stuff and has been there for a long time so I know the right people ;) and found out that I actually could move in as soon as 4/6. Cue total panic. I, of course, need to give Jane a month notice and I need to figure out travel over there. In addition, they’d like me to come with them to a large show out of state at the end of May. Cue more panic haha. I haven’t shown since last July was it? This will be my first real rated show (not opportunity classes) and I haven’t even ridden very consistently all winter with everything going on. However, I have just about two months and all of the buttons are still there so I’m confident that with consistent rides we’ll be very capable of doing a couple of first level tests at that show.

As of right now I’m aiming to move middle of April (of course still paying Jane through the end of the month) and will plan to take at least a couple of lessons with S2 prior to the show in May. I’ll do a few seperate posts on the details soon but for now I’m completely over the moon and sooooooooo excited to move!

Personal Updates

I’m starting here because while this is really a horse blog and also I don’t need to explain my absence. However, I personally kind of like getting to know all of you and try to strike a balance of only posting horse things but also sharing enough for this to not feel too impersonal. I'm also going to post a pony update on the same day so if you're only interested in that feel free to skip this post.

As mentioned previously there’s a lot going on in my life right now but this past month or so really took the cake as the craziest month I’ve had in a long time. To start off with, I moved into that new apartment I mentioned which not only meant moving all my stuff but also getting everything situated and starting to feel like I know where everything is again. Luckily I don’t have much stuff both because it makes moving easier and because the new apartment is tiny. However, I LOVE it. This is definitely my first real adult apartment and the first that really feels the way I’ve wanted it to. I still have a few more things to add or switch around but it’s getting close.

Then there is the bf who I’m head over heels about. He’s amazing and while he’s extremely supportive of me riding and spending lots of time at the barn, I’m also trying to strike a balance of spending enough time with him especially since this is still quite new. For the past few months I’ve been onboard for all of the plans which has really limited my availability to go to the barn. I’ve stayed away from the evenings that I typically ride but recently we’ll get a big snow storm on one of those evenings or my car will break down (more on that later) and suddenly I go from having 4-5 evenings to ride to 2 evenings to ride. This past week I let him know that I wasn’t going to make evening plans during the week for the next few months and was only going to do limited weekend things. He was completely on board and so far, for this past week or so, it’s been working out great. We’re still spending lots of time together just the two of us but aren’t doing the planned, set stuff so we have more flexibility to do the things we’re passionate about.

I even have a whole tack room closet!

Then there is the car. A couple of weekends ago now I was driving home from work on Friday evening and the steering wheel very strongly and mechanically turned right sharply twice. This was on top of a whole host of other minor electronic issues but was the final straw. I limped it home in stop and go traffic and then tearfully called the bf. He completely dropped all weekend plans and drove me around to several dealerships to shop for cars. I was emotional about spending money on something I didn’t really want (a car) when what I REALLY wanted this year was a trailer but I just couldn’t justify buying a truck with the amount of driving I do and my down payment savings needed to go to the car instead of a trailer. However, after much discussion (he’s a car guy and has a BMW M2) I ended up with a SmartCar. I LOVE this car so much and it’s probably the first time I’ve ever loved a car. I even got it WeatherTech mats so that it stays pretty and survives my mucky barn boots.

 

bf teased me that since it's a rear engine, rear wheel drive car,
that's branded from a german company (Mercedes-Benz)
that it's basically a Porsche.
Then I was behind this one at a stop light so needed a picture 

Finally there is puppy who actually has been easy compared to Veggie who’s struggling with some separation anxiety in the new place. Since I got him as a 2 year old he’s also always been fairly dog and kid aggressive which means that walks, that are now a necessity since I don’t have a back yard, have been tough as well. It’s been sad to see him struggle but we’re about 80% of the way there at this point. I don’t think that he’ll ever not be dog and kid aggressive but we’ve come up with some good management solutions and thank goodness he’s little so I can scoop him up if he’s really freaking out.

 

Going for big girl walks now that it's warmer out

With all of this going on I’ve only recently started to find a good balance and as part of that right now I’m happy when I’m getting to the barn 4 days a week. Of course a part of that is also just not feeling very motivated to spend even more time in the indoor arena right now and with our horrible weather this winter I just feel like I've taken a real beating motivation wise. I'm working on it though and hope to continue to do better over the next few weeks. 

That Can't Be!

I'm posting again!!

I'm also riding again because MY SADDLE IS BACK!

First though, some updates!

I'm now pretty much fully moved into my new apartment and I love it so much. Anything I was worried about hasn't been an issue, such as street parking, and there are so many amazing things that I hadn't planned on being able to take advantage of. It's also definitely my first adult apartment which is pretty cool.

A small piece of the city skyline

The dogs are adjusting pretty well with just a little separation anxiety from Veggie. Moshy is being a happy puppy superstar! We've even visited the local pet store who's sharing a picture of her on their instagram haha. She's going to be famous :)

Moshy had a fun time with moving in and enjoyed
using my Tipperary bag as a sleeping bag ;)

Pony updates wise there isn't much to report. I've had two lessons since I got my saddle back and both have been primarily about gettin Katai loosened up and moving forward off my legs. She's pretty determined to stew in all her excess energy and not listen and we're pretty determined that if she just moves forward and we can keep her loose and flexible she'll actually feel better.

Right now we're not exactly sure who's going to "win" the battle but I'm feeling pretty good about our progress so far ;)

Also, look at how much more full this tack room is!
I'm down to two saddle racks and a pile of stuff underneath haha
I also love how there are more pink saddle pads at the barn now.
Pretty sure we're driving Jane crazy ;)

Unfortunately the weather has not been cooperating. This past Monday we got a snow storm and now we're supposed to get 3-5" tonight and snow again on Saturday. In addition I'm still getting used to the rush hour traffic so between that and doing some chores on Wednesday I wasn't able to get out on Wednesday either. It's so frustrating and I hate the cold and snow anyway so I'm really sick and tired of winter especially this year. Luckily our weather is warming up and is going to be in the 30s consistently this next 10 days or so. Unfortunately that also likely means more snow. At least it's end of February so this is on it's way out and can't just last forever.

Not So Super

My parent's road after one of the recent snow storms

Whelp, the Super Bowl is happening in Minneapolis today and me and all of my friends have been whining about it for at least a month now. It's not only causing there to be crazy traffic and limiting the places that I want to, or am able to, go this weekend it's also caused my boyfriend to leave town for the weekend and it's delaying my move to my new apartment which is right in downtown Minneapolis not that far from the new stadium.

I'm going to try to go to the barn later but with the traffic, the snow that got dumped on us last night, and the worry about more drunk drivers on the roads I'm still feeling a little hesitant. Plus the high today is only 6* if you don't count the windchill.

Saddle on the way to VTO, I just want it back!!

I've been spending the weekend cleaning and packing for my move which will start on Tuesday. I've also been enjoying spending lots of time with Moshy who's gotten the short end of the stick recently as far as my time goes.

Riding wise I'm still failing at making any progress. My saddle did finally get to VTO last week but I haven't heard anything about paying to ship it back which means that it likely won't be on it's way back until mid week next week. In the meantime I've been doing my absolute best to get to the barn to do spa days and lunge Katai but it's just been one thing after another including spending time with Jame's family since his grandfather is dying, crazy snowy/cold weather (we have gotten SO MUCH SNOW recently), still dealing with some SAD emotional things (although thankfully it's been better for this past week or so), and apartment things. I'm also still doing puppy class with Moshy on Wednesday evenings which makes that night tough.

My little squirrel trying to hide her bone in her pile of toys.
Also, yes that is a huge avocado toy, we're true millennials over here.

I'm going to do better with that and with blogging soon I promise! It's February so the worst month of the year is over and now we just have one more really cold month but it's a short one :) I'll get my saddle back soon too and that will be really helpful and much more motivation to get to the barn. Our weather/personal situation enforced break is almost over and I'm getting so pumped to get back to this again!