Equilutions 2018

Hello Dear Readers!

I hope you had a lovely holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.

As I reflect upon my 2017 goals and the year with Huck flashes by, I am grateful that I'm taking a break!!!  I put SOOOO much pressure on myself to have a good show season and my body, brain, and bank account suffered for it.  This year will be better...

So how did we do on our 2017 goals?

1: Congress - ACCOMPLISHED!  I'm sure you are caught up on that saga.  I am glad I did it and proud I took such a big risk, but I don't plan to ever do it again, at least not without a trainer! And of course, on our best days I had delusions of grandeur that we might have placed, but as soon as we got there I knew that there wasn't a chance.  Even if we'd had our very best ride ever we wouldn't have had a chance and I'm okay with that.  My goal was to show there, not to win there and we certainly did that.

2: Huck Injury-free - LOL NO.  The year was nowhere near as injury-filled as 2016 was.  Right away in March he went through four fences in the middle of the night and was found in the wrong field in the morning.  The fencing at the time was mesh panels stapled to wood posts so they were pretty easy for a horse to pop through.  My guess is that he was spooked by a coyote (they were very bold that spring) and he bolted.  All the horses were mixed up in the wrong fields, but Huck was the only on injured.  The incident solidified my decision to sell him after Congress.  I was just DONE with his crap.  All the horses had to be stalled for a few days while the fences were fixed and when we put him back out in his field he acted like he was terrified of something out there.  I didn't post the photos when it happened because I was too angry.  He eventually healed, though with some scars, and one spot on his white foot was still looking like Scratches when I sold him.  The only other incident was that he came up a little lame on his LF after our long trail ride (see #4) but the chiro said his ankle was just out and the farrier had me put front shoes on in case we went back to that trail.  And then I babied his front legs with ice after each ride and all was well.  I did have his SI joints injected but instead of waiting until he was really sore and in need of rehab, we did it early and didn't miss much work.  In the end we cut the number of injuries by half.  I on the other hand enjoyed the year with a broken finger and a banged-up foot but we don't need to count those....

3: Win Year-End Championship - KIND OF ACCOMPLISHED!  We ended up Reserve Champion for the year in the Amateur division of our Ranch Horse Show series so technically that counts as a championship, right?  I failed at saving the year-end results sheet or I'd check to see if we would have one a year-end champion in any of the classes.  They didn't do awards for each class, but I may have been up there for the Reining class, and we won the Conformation every time so those kind-of count too, just no awards to show for it.  But it looks like next year they are doing awards for each class so who knows!

4: Be Brave - ACCOMPLISHED!  This is admittedly a non-measurable goal.  BUT I did ride alone in the big field a few times and I did go out on the trails alone a few times and we didn't die or have any major issues.  I also went on the biggest and scariest trail I've ever been on up at Mohican State Park.  I don't think it would be considered scary to most trail riders, but it was steep and muddy and there were scrambly places and drop-offs and I was nervous the whole time, even though Huck was a champ.  I would also add showing at Congress to this goal, because it was WAY out of my comfort zone!


And for 2018:

1: REMEMBER WHY I LOVE HORSES.  This year kind of broke me.  People are still asking me "do you miss Huck?" and "are you shopping for a new horse?" and they are surprised when I answer NO to both questions.  I mean, I know he wasn't the right horse for me.  Our good days were few and far between and the majority of our days were frustration or tears or pain or all three!  I just hope he's doing alright wherever he is.

So in 2018 I want to put very little pressure on myself to accomplish big things.  I want to get to a place where showing is more FUN than aggravation, and riding feels like a privilege instead of a chore.  I'll see how this year goes to see if it'll be time for a new horse next fall.



So what are your goals for 2018?