The Ups and the Downs -OR- It’s Only Normal

To begin with, I received a lovely gift and card from L. Williams over the weekend.

Viva Carlos - 2-point-ober Results

I squeezed into the upper ranks of the 2-point challenge (barely) with my last ditch effort of ten and a half minutes of 2-point. My coach was giving another lesson at the time, and the young girls were in awe of my feat. Coach would periodically glance at me and say, “You’re still at it?” and left me with a final “Your position looks nice and solid!”

The card was lovely! I displayed my prize and card on the kitchen island all weekend! I made my husband read the card. It made my weekend! Thank you so much!!

This would be the most recent of my “ups” (of which there can never be to many). I advise you: Put yourself out there! You will be surprised at how much fortune comes your way!

I’ll let you guys in on a little secret… I didn’t get a chance to take a final time at the very end of the month… I could have gone a little bit longer by then… The stakes have definitely been raised for next year!

Those of you who have been following along may have noticed the constant rise and fall in my rate of progress with the Psycho Mare Fancy Pony.

you want me to do what?

It began with the installation of a work ethic… She didn’t have one. Then she started to develop one!

I think she started to become the Psycho Mare to me when the steering would randomly fail. Not an uncommon thing in the young/green horse. However, it did mean that I had to warn everyone I was riding with… New gait = steering loss. *shrug*

When I introduced her to jumps, she proved herself to be very brave and willing! Once she discovered that jumps come in sets of “more than one”, she really started getting into it!

That was when we hit our first major plateau that would last for months. My enthusiasm tempered as the canter failed to improve. Some days it felt like we were going backwards. I rode with anyone who was available to share their knowledge with me. I tried adjusting my saddle fit. I tried a bunch of different exercises. I tried making her tired first.

Finally, I tried a massage, which proved to be a first step in a better direction!

August



September



October

But this is not intended to be a “year in review” post. What I’m really trying to explore is the emotional roller coaster that goes along with these inevitable challenges. I’ve flipped so many times, it makes my own head spin:

This pony is so fancy! She will be amazing!

This pony is such a challenge! She is ridiculously sensitive.

This pony is so brave! She is made for eventing!

This pony is so athletic! She is made for jumping!

Why can’t this pony balance in the canter? What is wrong with my riding?

This pony is so frustrated. Why can’t we communicate more clearly?

This pony is so relaxed! She is going to be amazing!

This pony is so easy! We are on the right track!

This pony is getting stronger, but we’re not improving. What is wrong with my riding?

This pony will pack kids! She’s so perfect!

This pony will pack me! She is so amazing!

exploring western, too - fuzzy horse show, here we come!

You get the idea. The downs are purely based on perspective and expectations. Expectations are important. I don’t expect the entire learning process to be all rainbows and unicorns! And when I look at it all in retrospect, she has been amazing all along!

I'll take unicorns when I have them, though!

Every little set back, the decreasing daylight hours, the lack of major milestone accomplishments… These things can make us feel like we are not performing, or even like we are failing! The fact is, we are still riding. We are still training. We are still questioning, and we are not settling. That, in itself, is its own kind of progress. The ups and the downs are normal, but with a slight shift in perspective, we can see that there aren’t nearly as many ‘downs’ as we thought.



Yeah.  We did this!