I've had been sidelined until recently.
Two days before Thanksgiving, Fahrenheit, showed how athletic he could be, and cow kicked my upper thigh.
It
wasn't his fault, he became scared over a noise and as young horses
are, reacted. I was also at his shoulder, so for him to plant one
solidly on my leg took some talent; I'm not only reminded of this from
the lump but also from the increasing pile of dead bellboots from when
he's having a '10' day.
It hasn't been my year for
injuries. I went to keuring with a black eye, and I remember doing a few
naughty things to myself in Germany. I'm a klutz of the first order for
2015.
So, I was temporarily sidelined with a
sleeve of black and blue bruises and an Easter Egg sized lump. The lump
has gone down, but for the first few weeks I was miserable.
I
was cleared to ride again about two weeks after that, at the walk and
the trot, I was still doing yoga and I went through the repetitive
motions of lunging everyone as much as possible.
But
honestly, when you're used to walking a half marathon everyday, five
miles is boring. It wasn't until a week ago did I feel honestly
comfortable enough to canter, and strong enough to really do good work.
As boring as my rides have been- they've been more productive and I've been able to address Flair's trot more and little habits.
Flair has been roughly under saddle for close to eight months.
She has vastly changed from the Alberta broodmare to a sport horse who keeps on developing day in and day out.
At
first, we were just focused on getting through all the physicality that
she had to process, and now, my main focus has been developing her
carrying capacity and balance. It's a tricky line to walk with her. She
gives as good as she gets. If she's feeling physically great, she gives
you everything, if she feels less than stellar then you have to discuss
things and keep her mentally fresh.
This is a
mare who finds all the upper level movements easy and without question,
fun. There's not a day that goes by that I don't feel that she will be a
very competitive FEI horse, but apart of the entire lifestyle change
that she underwent is keeping up and ahead of the physical upkeep, she's
doing well.
Winter is going to be full of refining basics, which is a welcome relief versus gearing in for spring.
Fahrenheit
continues to progress, he currently has nine rides under saddle and is
solidly walk/trot/canter with a smidge of lateral work and lengthening.
Outside the arena, he hacks. Alone. He's a great combination of
sensitive, forward but with a brain firmly between the ears. He's just a
neat horse.
Sinari continues to work well for her AA
rider. I'm really pleased with how this pairing has turned out. She
spoils her more than I do. She's not fully accepting that she's not the
FEI horse anymore but I think she's much more comfortable in her roll.
I'm
ending my year at home, something I rarely do these days, as my current
schedule is fairly booked. Something I didn't expect. But at the same
time, it seems to be the theme of the year; not quite what I expected.
I ended up in Europe (subsequently I was invited back but had to defer this year due to obligations at
home), I met amazing people, I developed riders to their first medals,
coached riders to the FEI, sold horses world wide, I have two regular
clinics in Ohio and in Virginia, I developed horses to the top 10 and
number one spots for the KWPN NA, we took two green (and I mean out of
the field unbroke) and won, a lot, with scores breaking in to the 80's. I
started importing my own horses from my source in Germany, and my
investors and partnerships continue to expand.
My team and I did it. We were on the books successful.
But for every success there was a setback. There were untimely deaths, there were friends who contracted crappy diseases,
there were accidents (both personal and from friends), political
backbiting and unprofessional antics; some from the usual sources and
many from unexpected sources, there were unexpected bills, there was
heartbreak for both myself and friends, lots of proverbial slamming
doors and lots of tears.
But like time, I and my team, kept going and will continue on.
2015 Goals:
1.
Expand clients, horses in training and investments that are capable, at
minimum, of shining on the national stage and continue to be fiscally
solvent.
Done and continuing. Haiku, Flair, Fahrenheit were wonderful additions to the 2015 herd. The herd is also set to temporarily grow again with two more training horses for winter. Still working on growing fiscally.
2. Continue to increase fitness (human and horse).
Done.
My average walking distance (according to iPhone) is 10 miles. A day. I
conservatively burn 1,500 calories from just walking.
3.
Pursue the young horse track. Develop horses for the USEF Young Horse
Championships alongside the USDF Breeders Championships with the aim of
looking toward Verden.
Done
in a big way. Flair is pursuing the Developing Horse track, we need
more time. Fahrenheit is working towards the four year olds, and if
someone doesn't buy him by the end of the four year old year, he will be
my Verden bid.
4. Dedicate personal educational opportunities once a quarter with my coaches (in a non-clinic capacity) to keep developing.
Kinda
done. My first quarter and my second quarters were booked with Germany.
By third quarter, we were hitting our stride and four quarter was a
flop.
2016 Goals:
1. Pursue young horse track. Get into the observation sessions.
2. Continue to increase fitness (human and horse).
3. Continue to sell and source horses world wide.
4. Continue to create and dedicate personal educational opportunities once a quarter.
5. Continue to develop Flair.
2 comments:
You are such an inspiration, I hope that next time you get back to Europe i can better organise myself and hopefully our oaths can cross.
I am keeping everything crossed that all the good of 2015 spills over and increases this year. *hugs*
congratulations on a wonderful year - so many incredible accomplishments despite the setbacks! wishing you a wonderful 2016 (and hoping that your leg is fully recovered from the kick asap!) :)
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