Lacking in Focus

Potential new pony has a pre-purchase exam scheduled for early next week! I'm so nervous/excited  about it, and all the changes a young horse will bring, that it's pretty much all I can think about if I let myself.

I have no idea how some of you are all casually,"Oh yeah, by the way, here's New Horse that I got last week. I have been shopping for a while and this one was my choice."

I am still operating at toddler level when it comes to containing my emotions regarding shopping for a new pony :) My nervousness about the upcoming vet check shows that despite me trying very hard to remain mature, I'm already pretty emotionally invested in the concept of this particular pony. 

I am so happy with Bridget that it seems a bit weird to be shopping, even though I know future self (and Bridget) will thank me for finding something a little more inclined to be a sport pony:)

Luckily, I have plenty of other things I should be focusing on. Or first show of the year is upcoming in 3 weeks and EC wants me to try 1-3. I give those counter canter loops a 50% chance of happening in any kind of balanced fashion, so we might want to practice that.

I've been a little all over the map with regular schooling of late - we've had a lot more snow than usual the last couple of months and the outdoor arena has been unavailable more often than not. I'm also noticing my horsey friend social circle here is larger and more varied than at the barn on the south coast, so we get invited on a lot more non dressage/jumping related adventures. Nice 'problem' to have, I know, but my inability to say no to fun adventures does cut in to our already limited practice time. In short: progress has slowed to a crawl, but I'm happy :)

Trail lunch break

Bridget has been lacking in focus lately too. She's been consistently VERY spicy, and VERY opinionated lately. So funny, but it might be less funny if  Wild Racehorse Bridget makes an appearance on show day!

In the vein of continuing to tame Wild Racehorse Bridget and redefining my focus, I'm hoping to find enough people for a dressage clinic with EC mid month. We've got a few regulars already, then a few who seem to come and go. Sadly, there hasn't been as much regular participation as I had hoped, over the winter we have had just enough riders to make the clinic a go each month. It's a very western and trail riding focused community here so a dressage/eventing coach is a bit of a tough sell :)