Some Inspiration and Goal Defining

In another life, I think I should have made horses my job, or at least picked a more lucrative career that allowed me a lot of barn time.

I just had 10 days off work and I think at least half of each of those days were spent at the barn or out with the horses, and as the days passed, the further down the rabbit hole I went! I like to consider myself good at my job and my career is well suited to my strengths. I have a ton of hobbies and interests too. But horses are the only thing where I'm completely myself and where time gets lost!

Taking photos of my horses...also a time trap I'm enjoying.

Despite having a million other things I should have been doing,  I ended up spending pretty much all of Saturday and Sunday auditing a clinic and taking pictures for friends. I really enjoyed it and was wishing I'd known I'd be free further in advance so I could have booked a lesson for myself.

I like auditing clinics and lessons because along with the obvious riding and training tips you pick up, watching others and paying attention to the clinician's overall program and outlook gives a lot of inspiration for myself. I've been getting a little hung up on waiting for outside things (building a barn, buying a trailer, new saddles and saddle fitting, plus most importantly, saving the money for it all so as to not be debt stressed!)

This horse was SO cool.

I feel like I've got so much on my plate right now, and not in a good way. Kind of a 'what fire do I put out first?' way. I know what my big goals are, it's the getting there and prioritizing and setting the smaller progress markers that seem to be where I lose clarity....the bigger stuff seems so far away at this point.

In the absence of lessons and having my awesome coach EC at my disposal on the regular, spending time looking outside my own little world and the limitations I set on myself is so, so helpful in regaining inspiration and focus. I saw a lot of people working towards a lot of goals and overcoming a lot of different challenges to do so.

How cute is this guy? He loves this barrel :)  Seriously, I was having so much fun taking pictures for people despite feeling a little weird initially because I am obviously not a pro!

I've been reminded this weekend that there is never a perfect time to do the thing. The best time is usually right now!

We've got some fun stuff on the agenda for October, including the return of the Spooky Trail Course and some group trail rides. I'm pretty guilty of just doing my own thing, so October should be a nice change with a slightly bigger emphasis on more social outings and events.

Are you ready for some adventures, Sophie?

My hope is to get Sophie ready for some lessons and small shows and clinics next year. It's so far away but I'm eyeing up the dressage series in my coach's town - it would be a good opportunity to do a couple of overnight trips and ride some baby dressage tests in a relaxed environment with lots of support and help built in!

In the meantime in between time though, it's going to be all about keeping those tiny progress markers coming. Every walk on the trail and local event attended is a great experience for her. As we were reminded this weekend, every day brings an opportunity to take a step towards your goals.