On Being Serious About This Riding Thing

Kind of a spin off on some experiences I've had recently where I've been around people who are taking life and horses very seriously, and for whatever reason I'm all over here laughing at myself and my horses and being the palomino pony black sheep of the group. It kind of got me wondering what has changed? I used to fit in well with the group!

Maybe it's her lady beard? :)

I can be SUPER hard on myself, but over the years, I've learned I kind of need to tone myself down if this hobby is going to be an enjoyable one for me. As time goes on, I am less and less bothered when things don't go the way I hope or expect, and am definitely way less worried about what anyone thinks (a really cool feature of getting older, lol). I feel like even in the time I've been writing this blog, there have been some big changes. I was super motivated with Ginger, laser focused and serious about my daily goals with Bridget, but now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction with Sophie and my outlook is more day by day, let's just see what happens.

Poor Bridget, the older sister always has to grow up with more rules.

With Sophie, I have a definite big picture idea of what I'd like to accomplish with her. Baby horses being baby horses, who knows what will really happen, but my goals are pretty solid in my mind: I want a fun pony to compete up the levels in dressage, potentially with some lower level eventing to keep it interesting. Typically, I don't enjoy high maintenance or overly quirky horses to own, and S would like to be a bit of both, so I am aware that there will need to be a certain level of seriousness and dedication required to create the well rounded horse of  my dreams.

Quirky. Now with extra hair.

Right now I am putting in the time to do everything possible to ensure she sees as much of the world as possible and has as many positive, low key experiences as I can provide while her brain is a baby learning sponge. In short, at this point in her life I am only serious about creating a happy, healthy pony who wants to work with me and sees our interactions as fun and interesting. I keep a regular schedule of outings with her. I am serious about having her be a good member of equine society (bathing, clipping, picking up feet, leading, tying, standing, comfortable in different surroundings, etc), but there are plenty of days where we just go for a walk in the forest. Sometimes, I just put her in a new field and leave her to figure out that change (and the new grass that goes with it) is a good thing.

The small stuff, like the many, many mistakes I'm sure we both make on a day to day basis...meh not going to get caught up in that. I'm certainly not trying to follow any 'program' or training plan. If I do, it's too easy to get caught up in the failures and the "I suck, what's the point, I'll never be good at this" dialogue. Much better to just keep one foot in front of the other, make corrections in the moment and move right on forward again. No looking in the rear view!

This isn't to say I don't want to learn new things or be better version of ourselves, or that I don't take Sophie's education seriously. I do. But I also think there needs to be room for this to be fun, and that both myself and my horses are happier when the crazy owner who makes mistakes but is happy and positive and not discouraged by them shows up, rather than when the 'taking it all very seriously, hang on while I check what this book says, better not mess this up' version of myself appears. We learn through mistakes, and horses are pretty forgiving and accommodating creatures. With my two, I am definitely noticing a difference in them when I am a less rule and structure oriented and more "let's see what happens". Both WAN(T to be good ponies so in my mind there is not a lot to be gained by focusing on 'fixing' anything or what's hard for them or not working that well this week. I think I just need to keep moving forward and trust in the bigger picture - it seems to be working for me so far!

Not to say the odd visit to pony jail won't happen.

It's kind of a luxury having a Bridget pony that does it all - there is very little pressure to bring Sophie along quickly, so my current mindset is perhaps influenced by that. I'm also finding Sophie to be very intelligent, so the "less is more" approach is working well for her.

Thus concludes your Ferry Ride Deep Thoughts for this week.

How about you? Has your mental approach to training and riding shifted as time has gone on? Do you find you're more productive following a schedule with goals, or are you less structured and just take it day by day? Maybe it just depends on the horse?