Looking Back and Moving Forward

Hey everyone! I bet you all are getting excited about Christmas and the end of another year and the beginning of a new one. This time of year most people are getting excited about seeing family members they don’t see often, stuffing their faces with delicious food, and last but not least sitting around the Christmas tree opening gifts.

I look forward to all that fun stuff too, but this is also my time of year that I get to start planning a show and training schedule for 2013. 2012 was an up and down year. Hoosier showed how much heart he has and pulled off awesome showings at the American Eventing Championships and Plantation Field to end the year. He is back in work and has lots of spunk. Sometimes he forgets that the walk is a gait he has. Zeke exceeded all expectations and finished very strong at his first recognized show. He enjoyed some time off with lots of pouting and is doing light work right now.

When I plan, I do not set exact show dates and the exact levels I am going to do, but I do make goals. If this sport has taught me anything, it’s that things can change at the flip of a dime. Sometimes when you say specifically what you are going to do you can end up heartbroken. There have been many times that I was determined to do something and wasn’t able to because a horse lost a shoe at the last minute, went lame, got sick, or a family matter came up. So to spare the chance of me getting heartbroken over what I work so hard doing, I make general goals.

With these goals I only have a couple of rules: get there safely and make sure I’m 100% ready so I don’t push something on myself that I’m not prepared for. I don’t put a time limit on any specific goal. If I don’t put a time limit, I won’t rush myself into something I or my horse may not be ready for.

So here are some of my goals for 2013. First and foremost, my horses and I stay safe and healthy. Second, work toward a CIC** and CCI** on Hoosier. And last but not least move Zeke through the lower levels with tons of confidence.

As you can tell, I didn’t get too specific and didn’t put anything that is impossible. The boys and I will head to Florida at the beginning of January and start working toward our goals. Next time I’ll be blogging from sunny Ocala!

What are some of your goals for next year? Maybe we will be in some of the same places? No matter what your goals might be with your four-legged loved ones, my wish for you in 2013 is for all of you to have a blessed year full of fun and safe rides!

With this being my last blog of the year I would like to give a special thanks to KPP for all of their help and support this past year. It hasn’t been the easiest of journeys with Hoosier and me, but KPP has been there for me the whole time. I also want to thank them for their awesome products that have kept my horses at their peak between keeping their hooves strong with Ker-A-Form, guts happy with Neigh-Lox Advanced, coats shiny with Contribute, and joints strong with Joint Armor.

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone and a Blessed New Year!

Megan