Diary of the Overanxious Horse Owner: 2020 Recap

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

2020 Recap

"So, what about 2020? Gosh that's a nice round number. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come: balance, solidity, and clarity. 2020-Vision, you know?"

Ugh. That was me, in my first post of 2020. Oh, sweet summer child... If we'd only known what a dumpster fire of a year this would be!

As I sat down to write this post, the first things that came to mind were all the things we didn't get to do. The many shows and events (Equine Affaire AND Congress!) that were cancelled, all the things that went wrong, and the general anxiety of living with the effects of a pandemic. It was challenging to remember all the GOOD that happened in 2020 when compared to so much bad, but I do believe in the power of focusing on the positive. So that is what I want to do for this post, our re-cap of 2020. We'll cover some of the bad things from 2020 in other posts. Maybe.

In February I bought my first horse trailer!

After much looking and much fretting about whether or not I should even get a trailer, should I spend the money on new or buy used, slant or straight, etc., I settled on a '95 Sooner 2-Horse slant load with a generous tack room. It's a "starter trailer" but it's in really good shape and once I got over most of the terror and hauled myself to a few shows, I'm really glad I took the leap!

We did a Mounted Archery Clinic and Kevin was a superstar!

We did get to show a little this year and won two High Points! Two virtual shows, and 3 in-person shows over two weekends.

Virtual Buckeye Open Show (May):

2nd Ranch Pleasure, 3rd Ranch Riding, 2nd Ranch Horsemanship

Local Open Show (August):

1st Ranch Riding, 1st Ranch Pleasure Walk/trot, 1st Ranch Pleasure, High-Point Ranch Horse

Buckeye Western Dressage Show (Sept)

High Point Open Division-Basic Level, 1st Basic 4, 2nd Basic 1

Buckeye Ranch Show (Sept)

2nd Halter, 2nd Jackpot Western Pleasure, 1st Adult Western Pleasure, Trail, RR, and HMS were not so good.

Virtual Western Dressage World Show (WDAA) (Oct): 29th out of 71 in Amateur Basic 1, 34th out of 59 in Amateur Basic 4 - This really deserves it's own post, but here is a teaser for now:

We decided to go all-out for Halloween this year. As a professional costume designer I dream up a LOT of costumes for horse/human, but rarely do I have the energy/time/budget to make them a reality. This year, with most of my theatre shows cancelled or streamlined I felt a bit of pent-up creative energy and I decided just do it.

I present to you An Autumn Fairy Tale. Photos by the incomparable Kate Bowser.