2017 Goal Review

I pretty much never write about my goals for fear of jinxing them. This year was no different. That doesn't mean I didn't have goals though! Now that things have played out however they were going to play out, I can talk about them. Basically, I pretty much failed at all my goals for the year, and I'm totally fine with that. In general, I am not a very goal-oriented person. I'm more go-with-the-flow. This year in particular reinforced that. However, I am planning to actually write down my 2018 goals in a physical notebook so I can hold myself more accountable for them at the end of the next year!

2017 Goals

X Complete three 50's to earn my 1000 AERC miles. This was an epic fail. I only started one 50 for the year, and I got pulled at 45 miles. In fact, my whole season was sort of a bust. As it turns out, though, that wasn't the end of the world. I rode three LD's, and completed all of them. On the plus side, it was the most LD miles I've ever done in one season, haha. I truly enjoyed the "Luxury Distance". Being done by one without a hint of soreness was also enjoyable. In fact, it made me toy with the idea of getting an endurance horse of my own again.  I also did a lot of crewing and photographing rides, which was a really good way to enjoy the sport and build my friendships. I had some really good times at ride camps all over the east coast, and I wouldn't trade my time spent crewing for saddle time. Going to Maine for a week to crew for people who went from strangers on Monday to good friends on Sunday was exactly what I needed to put my life in perspective. In total, I attended ten rides, many of which were multi-days.

Rainbow over the away hold at Vermont.

Year in Review 2017

Where does the time go? As we get ready to wrap up 2017 and ring in 2018, I find myself  going through blog posts from the last year, and being surprised at how much stuff I'd forgotten about already. This year did not pan out the way I pictured it in so many ways, but boy did a lot of things change for the positive! I'm sticking with my annual tradition and doing my month-by-month breakdown of 2017!

Last Photo Post of the Year

I cannot believe the year is wrapping up already! I feel like we were just sitting around the bonfire ringing in 2017. I'll do a post about 2017 goals and accomplishments when the time is right, but one of the things I aimed to do was keep the blog current by periodically posting pictures that didn't make it into full blown posts of their own. I am pretty proud of the fact that I've managed to do that! Even though I'm blogging less frequently than I used to (mostly because I'm starting to think that I'm not as interesting as I find myself to be), I managed not to fall behind on life events this year. The only major subject that I still have leftover photos about is Angel at her worst (and I'm not sure those will actually see the light of day). Since I do my annual Year in Review post on Christmas Eve, I figured I'd take this opportunity to do one last photo post and purge the folder on my computer.

This year brought me a lot of great sunrises, and this one is no exception!

Flower and Flame

Another photo dump. I took some racehorse photos at the end of November and never got around to sharing them. Flower is the chestnut filly with Juli up and Flame is the bay colt with Christine.

Monthly Photo Post

It's that time!! (The only way I keep blogging.)

I have a bunch of new thoroughbreds on the roster. I like to stalk them after I meet them. This is Huey. He is being leased by a 14 year old girl who wants to do dressage and hunters with him. He's a big dude, and a fancy mover. I can't wait to see them progress together (and take photos of them along the way!)

Guest Appearance by Tucker the Wunderkind

Since I think it's pretty safe to say that Marissa has officially fallen off the blogging train, I am going to post about her horse for her. You see, while you guys are missing out on her awesomeness, I'm lucky because I get to see her IRL on a regular basis. In fact, we're now basically neighbors, and I look forward to future shenanigans.

(Have I told you guys about the time we rode Oreo around the yard... bareback, double, and bridle-less after a few too many drinks? No? I should. It's an awesome story.)

I'm also lucky because sometimes, if I'm good, and Marissa is away, I get the honor of riding Tucker. I always jump at the chance because Tucker is a Good Boy and also very fancy. He has all his buttons installed and is a nice mover with this huge, gorgeous canter. It's such a nice change of pace for me to be able to get on a horse of this quality and just play.

So when Marissa messaged me after Thanksgiving to ask if I'd like to ride Tucker on Sunday, I eagerly agreed. "You can say no," she texted me. As if!

Of course, I dragged Mike along in the cold and wind so he could take pictures for me. I wanted photos of me with my handsome nephew!

In hopes of getting good lighting and a nice backdrop for aforementioned pictures, I chose to brave the cold and the blustery wind and ride outside. It wasn't until after the fact that I learned that Tucker hadn't been ridden outside in about two weeks. Whoops! I sort of figured since he was a little up and a touch spooky when I first got on, which is very unlike him.

Still, we wandered down to the jump ring and warmed up, gradually working our way up to a shorter rein.

Adventures in Riding Racehorses

My goal for this year was to take lessons and attend clinics at least once a month to improve my riding. That has... erm... not happened. Instead, I decided to pick up an entirely new "discipline". When I first got this job, I signed up for barn work, chores, and grooming, but when my bosses asked if I'd be interested in riding, I jumped right on board. Well, I've officially found something that scares the crap out of me, but for some reason, I'm determined to overcome my fear and learn to be better. It's going to be an interesting journey. In fact, it already is.

I was lucky and got to sit on Helen a handful of times before she left for the track. Helen was as honest as they come, and it was cool to get to sit on an active racehorse and go through the motions. I'd be kidding myself if I thought that made me an exercise rider, though! Helen was easy, and we were confined to the indoor, where you can only go so fast (not very). Still, it was a good chance to learn about shorter stirrups, grabbing the yoke, and juggling bridged reins with carrying a stick. Oh yeah, and working on leaning my body forward on purpose; something I've spent my entire riding career avoiding.

Basically, everything I've ever learned about proper riding posture is the exact opposite of what you need to know to ride racehorses. You hunch forward, drop your hands way down, pinch with your knee, and grab the "oh s**t handle". Steering, contact, and keeping four feet on the ground? All optional.

The unfortunate thing is that I chose the wrong time to start learning this. I don't just mean that I really should have gotten this job ten years ago, when I was young, fit, and fearless; when my body had no hardware; before I had any bad accidents to make me hesitant; and when I wasn't so damn old. It's just that all the racehorses we have in the barn right now are not ideal for learning on. Some of them are rehabbing from injuries. Some are a bit much for a new rider to handle. Others are super fit and I want to learn to gallop slowly before I get on anything that's actually fast.

Funny side note... I thought I'd seen horses run fast before I got in the TB industry. All those preconceptions went out the window when I started watching the horses go at work, but it wasn't until my boss informed me that this wasn't fast either that I got some real perspective. To be honest, I was peeing my pants just watching Juli and Christine gallop on The Hill.

Still, I wanted to learn, and we hatched a plan.

Introducing, Percy:

Percy is one of the coming-two year-olds we have in training right now. He belongs to the bosses, which means that if I screw him up, it's not that big of a deal. (Haha?) Right now, we have two babies that we're working with. Percy was born and raised on the farm, and has had a lot of handling since birth, especially since his mom died  during foaling, leaving him to be raised by a nurse mare. He's basically a big lap dog.

Baby Percy. D'aww!