Spring is officially official. We are expecting our first big thunderstorm tonight & I am forced inside. Along with green things growing & bad weather blowing, Spring also brings along another horse show season. This is the time of year I most look forward to, even more than Christmas! I've already been to a couple of shows so far. Miss Sugar-Boogars went to her 1st dressage schooling show &, last weekend, an all-breed show. Miss Sugar ( I now refer to her as "Miss" because she is currently my only show horse & therefore dubbed a diva! Ha! ) was entered in the dressage schooling show for shits & giggles. My favorite part in one of our tests was when we were trotting across the diagonal & had to arrive back to the rail between a pile of poo. Miss Sugar did not care for the closeness of the rail or getting close to the pile so she slammed on the brakes & stopped. Yeah... I had a little chuckle but the German-bred dressage judge did not. Oh well.
I know some may look at us, see that sometimes we really don't have it together, & that's fine to me. I am well aware of our problems & am constantly searching for the solutions. We both have huge flaws in our training & that would be confidence. I have my ups & downs like everyone but Sugar has just never had any. Miss Sugar was barely handled until she was seven & was severely neglected most of her life. Everything is a big deal to her because before it was so bleak.
No matter how uncertain she may be, I know my horse. I know what she is capable of that day, that moment, & in every step. I never ask for more than she can give & really try to keep a level head. I feel I am building a better horse every second I am in the saddle & that gives me courage.
One thing that I've learned is to always work toward a goal. Goals are so vital to training. Goals give structure to your riding. It keeps riders focused & horses from getting sour. I started keeping a goal sheet for my horses when I was eleven years old. I look back at my scribbling & laugh- Look up, breath, & smile. Fast forward 15 years later & I'm still working on them! I keep goals for my horses, for me, for shows, for everything! There is no better feeling then working towards a goal & achieving it.
Now, goals are one thing but expectations are another. When I ride, I throw all expectations away. One thing I've learned that nothing is worse for your confidence than dashed expectations. Riding young & green horses has really hit that realization home. At the dressage show I made a mistake of having some expectations of another horse I rode, Bambi. She warmed-up beautifully before our class but when we came to the show ring, they were running about 15 minutes behind. As we waited & walked around, I thought of our great warm-up & how we were going to nail this test. When our time came, our test was far less than I imagined. We were stiff, she was behind the leg, & it all fell apart in many of the movements. I slinked back to the trailer & felt the tears. How stupid was I to expect so much.
There's a saying to shoot for the moon & if you miss you'll be with the stars. Sounds glorious but what if you you've worked so hard & miss everything all together? Dashed hopes can set you so far back that everything loses it's spark. I saw some huge expectations this weekend, too. A woman went in to a class without properly schooling her her horse. She bragged earlier about how she hadn't ridden him since the summer in that certain discipline. She went in that class & guess what? The horse exploded so big I thought she was going to hit the roof! For whatever illogical reasons she reprimanded the horse & continued to push. Sometimes you can't solve the problem when it's your thinking that's wrong.
Now I'm not saying to lose hope or give up on dreams. I dream all the time as I'm sure many do. I like to imagine showing my girl Sunny at Nationals. Beating those big name trainers with their greased-up Gayrabs would be such a highlight! I would love to ride Bambi to FEI dressage levels. I dream of taking Miss Sugar to the Olympics ( Don't laugh or I'll spank you )& winning the gold against million dollar warmbloods. But I'm a realist &, like I said, know my girls. I also know my bank account & that these dreams are such. I'll dream on, set my little goals, & keep any expectations in check.
By the way, if any millionaire playboys are reading this, please feel free to contact me. :) Anyways...
Well, I hear the rumbling of thunder & my scaredy-cat dog is telling me we should take cover. Keep dreaming readers & happy riding!
No comments:
Post a Comment