Back in the saddle

You poor, neglected Blog. I fell off the bloggy band wagon and now we have a lot of catching up to do! First, I want to tell you about my adventures over the weekend.
It began at about 5:00 Saturday morning with a flat tire on the Interstate. In the rain. Thank God for my hero (aka my husband) who came and changed it for me! 

And where, you might ask, was I going at such an ungodly hour of the morning? 

To a horse show! That's right, I went with Jess my trainer, 6 friends and "my" horse Chocolate

where we earned these :)

All my friends were super nice- they shared tack and hair stuff, donuts and advice and lots of laughs. It was my first show in almost 10 years and I had a lot more fun this time than I did as a kid. I think my perspective has changed... it doesn't matter so much whether I place first or last. I went there to have fun and learn. And it was SO. MUCH. FUN! My one regret is that I didn't take any photos of Choc. I'm so glad my sweet husband took one with his phone :)

The sun peeked out from behind the clouds about half way through the day so I got to do some fun photography after my classes were finished... here are just a few of my favorites!

This is Meghan and Mikey- Meghan is a photographer too. I took this, she edited it, don't you love it?!

This is the board where the jumping courses are posted.

At the end of the day I brought home an extra pink ribbon. 

My family was there for me when I was in the ring and my little girl was delighted with the horses but especially the ribbons! When I handed her the pink ribbon she pretended to read the gold writing on it: to Mommy, from Jess.

And now I'm thinking that I have my trainer, Jess to thank for that different perspective. It's the perspective that I want to have through life: do your best, and don't forget to have fun :)

Horse Sense

Remember Chocolate? We are having a good time. Well, I don't know about the horse but I'm having the time of my life! I'm also learning a lot as I pick up riding again. 

"Your horse can only be as brave as you are."

I'm learning that Choc hesitates the very moment I feel doubt. I have to tell myself that we can and we will. I'm talking about little stuff like picking up the canter from a walk 

or going through a puddle, 

nothing awesome like a 6' oxer.

This mental exercise is really good for me because I'm not the most confident... 

...maybe I shouldn't admit that. Agh, see what I mean??

"There are only two emotions that belong in the saddle; one is a sense of humor and the other is patience." -John Lyons

My awesome trainer Jess with one of her horses, Fancy. 

One of my trainer's other horses, Frankie :)

Here he is jumping a pole on the ground!

Are you familiar with the fight or flight instinct? Well, in Choc it expresses itself in sorta freaking out at anything new! Perfect example: a pile of rocks "appeared" outside the ring a couple weeks ago. Jess let Choc run around before our lesson to get comfortable with the change and even though she had seen them earlier in the week she still snorted and ran as if she was being chased by a lion. Apparently that was the scariest pile of rocks she had ever seen and she refused to go near that side of the ring. Jess ended up leading her around slowly and patiently, closer and closer, talking and patting her until they were standing beside the 

Dreaded Killer Rocks. 

And believe it or not, they didn't attack her!

Jess says that Chocolate has gotten a lot better over the years...

wow.

Fear of the unknown. I feel it sometimes, and it doesn't make sense.
God holds the universe in his hand, he made me and takes care of me.
Why should I fear?