One-Week Resolutions

Okay, so I suck at New Year's resolutions. I have some kind of resolution ADD. I stick with them for about, oh, a week. Or less. So I have developed a system of "one-week resolutions" or "two-week resolutions" if I'm feeling particularly ambitious.

These are easier to swallow than an entire year. And really, in weight loss, just like in training horses, sometimes you just have to change your plan. Everyone has bad days. Sometimes you have to do the best you can with what you have.

So my "One-Week Resolution" is to use this cool Calorie Counter app I have on my new Droid. I need to get back in the habit of watching what I eat now that the holidays are over. My other "One-Week Resolution" is to get my dog in the habit of going for a walk in the mornings. My diabolical plan is that if he gets used to the idea, then after my week is over he will continue to bug me every morning. He's very convincing when he wants to be.

My "Two-Week Resolution" is to work my horses more consistently. That is open for interpretation, but in my mind, though I haven't formulated the details, it means that I will work all horses equally. No more focusing on one horse and letting the other 3 sit around. I rode Footloose the other day and realized that I hadn't ridden her in about a month. She's so easy that I tend to put her on the back burner. I don't even know why- she is so much fun to ride. I just feel the need to focus on the more green horses like Stretch.

I'm hoping that after this two-week resolution is over, I will still be motivated to try another two weeks. Then another. I believe that habits are built in increments.

Great Expectations

I have written about Biff here before. Cute, fun, but not really that good at anything that I like to do. Yes, he is a rockstar trail horse, but I'm just not a trail rider. I have higher ambitions for my riding career than trail riding (don't get me wrong- I love trails and I think they are a valuable training tool for EVERY horse. I just don't want to do it exclusively).

When I posted a photo of Biff with my 7-year-old niece on my Facebook page, I had no idea that my friend Chelsea would ask if I would ever consider parting with him, as she was looking for a solid, safe trail horse. I love Biff enough that I wouldn't mind keeping him forever if I had to, but Chelsea is such an amazing home that I wish I was a horse and could live with her. Who was I to deny Biff the chance to live the good life as Chelsea's trail horse?

Rewind to a few years ago. Chelsea was searching for an Arabian to show and came home with an Arabian/Dutch Warmblood cross. I had always wanted a WB/arab cross after meting a few at my local dressage shows, and the several arabs and arab crosses that my dressage trainer's other clients rode. I was also partial to Arabs since my very first lesson horse (who my parents ended up letting me lease) was also an Arabian. Plus, it didn't hurt that I learned to ride dressage and hunters on a Dutch WB mare (who I regretfully sold later so I could be a "responsible adult" and go to college). When Chelsea found an Arab/DWB (later named Stretch because he will not stop growing), I was in love with the idea of that particular cross, and have secretly coveted Stretch ever since.

Back to present times. When Chelsea asked how much I wanted for Biff, I told her that I would just give him to her, because it was the best home I could ever find for him. Plus, he was a $230 auction rescue who couldn't canter. Realistically, with today's horse market, he's not worth that much to begin with. Then she asked if I wanted Stretch in exchange. I almost fell out of my chair. I was sure that Chelsea had lost her mind. I mean, who trades a VERY nice Warmblood with loads of potential for a $230 auction rescue trail horse? I tried to remind her that it was NOT an equal trade, and that I couldn't afford to pay her the difference. Her response was the same "he's going to a great home" line that I gave her about Biff. (That's the weird thing about us horse folk. We'll willingly lose money on a horse just to rest assured that they are taken care of and loved.)

Chelsea is bringing Stretch down next Friday, and picking up Biff. When someone offers to trade you a Ferarri for a Volvo (as Fuglyhorseoftheday author Cathy put it in a not-so-subtle test message), you DON'T say no. I am thrilled and can't WAIT to see him in my pasture.

I am also a little freaked out. With Biff, there was no expectation. He was never going to be the dressage superstar of my dreams, so there was never pressure when I rode him. He was the horse I could ride when I didn't feel like schooling anything and I could putz around on him without worrying about ruining anything special, but he has an endless list of dressage-y things to work on, so he kept me occupied and amused.

Now, I will have a young horse with potential for upper-level dressage. I was worried that I wouldn't "do him justice." I can usually bring a horse up to 1st level dressage by myself, but as soon as we start getting into the greater collection and lateral work of 2nd level, I prefer to have eyes on the ground. Preferably the eyes of a trainer. I am also at a disadvantage because I cannot afford to keep a horse in full-time training with a dressage pro. I can afford lessons, but I also know that the learning curve for "lessons-only" training is much slower than the learning curve for "pro rides 5 days a week and the occasional owner lesson" training. It was stressing me out.

Key word: "was."

Then I had to be logical and reasonable:

1.) Stretch doesn't care if he makes Grand Prix. Stretch doesn't even know what Grand Prix means. He probably only cares about eating, pooping, and getting the occasional scritch. Stretch will not be disappointed if he never makes it to the FEI levels, or if he is "only" at 2d level by the time he's 15. It's silly for me to think I am somehow letting him down by not being able to progress as quickly as I'd like.

2.) The whole point of me wanting a horse with upper-level potential is for ME to learn how to bring a horse along up through the levels. If I hand off every talented horse I get to a professional trainer because I'm afraid I wont be able to get them to their highest level of performance, I will never learn how to do it myself. This is as much for me as it is for him. Oh, who am I kidding? This is MORE for me than it is for him (see point #1, above). It has been insanely frustrating to ride under gifted trainers and instructors on a less-than-suitable horse. Trying to advance my riding skills was like trying to wade through molasses; painfully slow.

So who cares if Stretch is only doing 2nd level 10 years from now? If that's where we're at in 10 years, that's where we're at. It's more about the journey, anyway. I just like having high goals. What's that saying about shooting for the moon and landing in the stars? That's generally what I go for...

When Stretch arrives on Friday, he is getting turned out in my 5-acre pasture with my small herd. He gets time to just be a horse while I finish my last 3 months of school. He earned it. Plus, Chelsea thinks he's *still* growing...

Update

So I enrolled myself in one of those "career colleges" to get a certificate in Surgical Technology. Then I found out it's an accelerated class and we are supposed to learn everything in one year as opposed to the usual two. Ergo, the Anatomy and Physiology class that I am taking is insanely intense, and we're cramming a year's worth of classes into about 2.5 months. Needless to say, I haven't been getting to the gym much. And usually when I do, I am armed with my Medical Terminology flashcards and study them while on the elliptical/treadmill/stationary bike. I'm pretty sure I am not getting the best workout ever, but I DO know that increased blood flow also increases cognitive abilities, so hopefully I am retaining things better... we'll find out.

Other than the excessive studying required, I am very excited about becoming a Surgical Technologist, and will love my future paycheck even more.

Now, back to the horses. ;-)

I am trying to not let my crazy schedule interfere with my horse-time. I NEED horse-time to function. I was concerned that being overly busy would cause me to forgo riding in exchange for even more study time, so I just filled out an entry for a local dressage schooling show for my OTTB. This will be her very first horse show ever, and so I'm keeping it low-key. We're just doing Intro A and B. Nothing too strenuous. The show is Oct 30, so I have a few things I'd like to work on before then:

1.) I'd like to get her more bendy to the right (yes, that's the technical term. LOL). Like all OTTBs, she was very one-sided when I got her, and she's much better now, but I'd like to improve it even more.

2.) Our centerlines and diagonals are more "squiggles" than "lines." Now that she understands what leg means, though, I have a feeling it will improve with repetition.

3.) I just want to get her a little more consistently on the bit. She is good about being on the bit about 75% of the time. I want to bump it up to about 90% of the time.

Clearly, we do not have lofty goals. I am not planning on going to the show to win a ribbon, I am planning on going to the show to, well, get my mare to a show. I want to see how she does away from home in a show environment. And, I wont lie, I also needed motivation to keep riding her consistently while I am trying to avoid pulling my hair out from the excess studying. It's good for me; I NEED my horse-time.

Goals

I figure that every good program should start with some goal-setting. Obviously, my biggest goal is to improve my riding. My secondary goal is to look hot in a cute little dress. What can I say? I'm vain. Or I'm honest. Or both. I want to be able to show up to a rated hunter show in my Tailored Sportsman breeches and NOT feel awkward and totally out of place.

So, in no particular order, here is what I am hoping to accomplish with my new exercise obsession:

1.) Improve my flexibility
2.) Tone shoulders and upper arms
3.) Increase upper-body strength (I have terrible upper-body strength. Terrible.)
4.) Increase my endurance.
5.) Lose (or at least reduce) some of these love-handles.

Of course, I'm somewhat certain that focusing on 1-4 will certainly help 5, but I just wanted to make sure it's up there. ;-)

Introduction

After the vet told me to put one of my equine charges on a diet, I hauled an old bathroom scale out to the barn to start weighing her hay. The easy process of weighing hay (that doesn't involve a hay net or special feed scale) is to weigh oneself, then pick up the hay, and whatever the difference is equals the weight of the hay. The process that I went through was as follows:

1.) Step on scale.

2.) Gasp in astonishment

3.) Realize the scale is telling me that I am the heaviest that I have ever been in my life.

4.) Begin denial process: This is an old scale. It's been in my parents' garage for years. I have no way of knowing if it's accurate. Very likely it's not.

5.) Pick up hay and pout while calculating the difference.

After I completed feeding, and went home, I fearfully climbed onto my own bathroom scale, which I unfortunately know is accurate. For that reason, I don't climb on said scale often. But when I did, I was aghasted to find that the scale at the barn did in fact match my accurate scale at home.

For the next week, I convinced myself that I felt fine. I am still wearing the same sized clothing. I voiced my fears to The Boy, who dutifully consoled me and reassured me that he still, indeed, found me attractive.

Then, a few days later after I put thoughts of diabetes and heart attacks (which run in my family) out of mind, I decided that the pony needed to be trained and sold. It was completely unrelated to the weight issue. I hated riding the pony. I always felt awkwardly huge on the 13.2h dainty, feminine, and somewhat squirrel-y pony. She was sitting in her stall taking up space, and she needs to be sold. Okay, maybe it's not entirely unrelated to my weight; I do feel like I am squishing her.

So, in order to force myself to become more comfortable on the pony, I quit riding my big horses all together and only permitted myself to ride the pony. Within two weeks I was comfortable riding the itty bitty pony, since she was my only mount and I no longer had the "big horses" to compare her to. Her training began progressing very quickly. She learned how to go on the bit and become nice and round. She is getting stronger and stronger and can hold a nice collected frame for longer now. We started working on her canter under saddle as well, since that was lacking from all of her prior education. She canters around lovely as can be, and we are currently polishing up her canter cues. She is a joy to ride- a very naturally talented and athletic pony.

Last week I drove to the Equestrian Center to watch a rated hunter/jumper show. After an hour of watching supreme 5- and 6-figure horses, I was feeling especially motivated, so I drove out to the barn and set up a small (12") vertical fence for the pony and I to negotiate. We hopped over the fence a few times at the trot and once at the canter. When I went home afterwards and reviewed the schooling session in my mind, I decided that I could, indeed, stand to drastically improve my riding by getting more fit. I know I didn't do poorly. But I know that I can do better. It didn't FEEL the same as it used to. And the pony is so talented, that she deserves a rider who is physically fit enough to help her become the best athlete she can be.

I came to the conclusion that it is hardly fair for me to expect my horses to all be athletes, and to turn around and let myself fall apart. I have a gym membership; it is time that I use it.