The Big Picture

At the beginning of 2017, I had a fluffy, opinionated pony that mostly could not even canter without telling me where I could stuff that nagging leg of mine. My hope was by the end of this year I would have a more obliging partner who could make it safely over the small sticks in a xc field. The verdict? Well, still so many opinions but sticks have definitely been jumped!

Sometimes horse training can feel like spinning wheels in mud. It is awesome when you can see real progress happen, but sometimes the improvement is too slow to see in real time. I admit to getting occasionally frustrated when I can't see the progress. For me, looking at one big goal compounds that frustration. I have to break things down into steps and I try not to look beyond each smaller goal until it is completed. This way I can enjoy small successes and stay motivated to keep on chugging along.

And so at the beginning of this year I set to work designing a realistic training plan for Savvy and I. Not only did Savvy have much to learn, but I wanted to push myself as well to ride more assertively and build up the courage bank account.

There were so many moments this year I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone and loved it!

I was starting out with a pretty awesome little horse and there was a working relationship already in place. Even though Savvy is quite a handful to negotiate with (omg SO many opinions and happy to tell me ALL of them) I still felt safe working with her and approaching work that she was not particularly designed for.

Really when it comes down to it, I would not recommend teaching a horse to do something they are not particularly talented at. But with that said, I am so glad I pursued teaching Savvy to jump and diving into very low-level cross country courses with her. Even though all of the work felt so much harder than it needed to be, at the end Savvy appeared to enjoy it and I had the time of my life!

Even our dressage improved, though I must admit little attention was paid to the importance of flat work...

With all the work I put into making this year happen, I felt it deserved a bit of reflection. So, I decided to piece together a few of the highs and lows of 2017 with Savvy and her training (please forgive my horrible video editing skills!) Enjoy!