Looking Back: 2014 Edition Part 1

Even though the year is not over we are done with our adventures (away from the barn atleast!) for the year so I figured since I had time I should recap what our year looked like. Overall it was a great year for us! Like most years, I would have liked to get out more but such is life when you no longer have your own trailer. The saying you dont know what you have till its gone? Makes me think of my trailer "Big Red" every time. She is dearly missed! As it goes I think we made the best out of the outing we were able to make and I am very thankful for friends who were willing to haul us there.

January

We spent half of our January continuing to do this:

A stubborn abscess took us out of the game for over a month (most frustrating thing ever!). Mid January he finally got to go back to work but obviously we had a lot of building of muscle and conditioning to do after a long break.

February

We began to crack down on our dressage and had our first lesson of the new year!

Pre lesson pic in early Feb.

March

We had our first outing in March at the NW hitse expo where we were chosen to be a demo pair for the Dolly Hannon clinic. Even better is we got to ride with our trainer and her mare in the same clinic slot. We had a great ride and got some great compliments from Dolly which definitely boosted my confidence for our upcoming recognized debut.

Post clinic picture with our trainer!

April

This makes nth marks our very first recognized dressage show, ever! Not only was it both of our first time there but it was also our first time doing 2nd level. I probably learned more at this show then I have at any other. I learned that if I wanted to play with the "big boys" I needed to learn to ride my horse better in the ring. Instead of demanding more from him I would accept mediocre because the judge was watching. It was SO nice to finally have a trainer at a show with us. A huge milestone for us was also that Pony had an ah ha moment with lengthenings! We won both our first level tests and got almost a 64 % on our first 2nd level test ever.

We also attended an open Welsh show with Alanna and Emi where Pony and I took Champion English pair :)

Keepin it classy as usual

May

Doing two recognized dressage shows just a month apart was so much fun! Time flew between the two but I felt like we had progressed so much after working in our "take homes" from the first show. We once again took 1st in both our first level tests and even topped the entire 1st level crowd (something like 15 riders)on one test! I feel like I rode way better and it reflected in our scores where we broke 70 % :) overall we improved all our scores and even earned a 66. Something % in our second level test, good enough for a red ribbon!

We also got to hit the bech for the first time of the year. It was SO windy and rainy, by far the worst weather we have encountered, but we sucked it up and had a blast anyways 

I don't always ride barefoot but when I do it's 35 degrees with a 30 mph wind!

And lastly we went XC schooling! It was so much fun to get out on the course for the first time since Inavale the year before. Pony was a star and jumped everything first time and trucked right into the water. I can't wait to event him more this year :)

June

In June got a call from my Aunt in Florida who basically said "I know a horse in a not so good situation and he is ready to ship to you from NC just give me the green light". Needless to say Mylo arrived on his 2nd birthday on June 14th. He needed food, love, and a bath!

It is always a little scary not knowing what is coming off the trailer (although I have had practice in agreeing sight unseen with the rescues) but this boy has exceeded all expectations! He is truely a wonderful boy.

And just like that there is our first 6 months of 2014 :)