My best year ever? (2013 wrap up)

Have I just had my best year ever?

In a nutshell - I went to 10 competitions, I had my first go at Intro, I got over issues with taking two horses to a competition, and I brought home some ribbons.  My daughter established herself as a worthy strapper and companion at competitions.

In addition to my horse riding outings I managed a week's family holiday and six family weekends away.  I also managed to take my daughter to 7 pony club rallies and one showjumping competition.  And let's not forget Tornado's visit at my daughter's birthday party, and her school!  Is there even that many weekends in a year?

But wait, that's not all.  We also had three different sets of family visitors from overseas.  They stayed either with my parents, or with my parents-in-law, but they were all here for an extended period of time, and while it was wonderful to see them and spend time with them, it did make schedules rather tight.

I also did some wonderful projects at work, and my health held up.

So, ok, it's definitely been a busy year.  But, success, is not measured by being busy.  Success is "the accomplishment of an aim or purpose".  Hmm.  It helps if the aim or purpose is easy to "measure".

My aim for the year was NOT "to be busy".  My equestrian goals were:

• compete successfully at Intro level on Dingo,
• get Lil upgraded to Level 4,
• get more professional at going to competitions,
• compete on two horses at the same competition,
• have more coaching sessions - with at least one lesson learnt per session,
• get my daughter walking and trotting independently on her pony.

The first goal has been a bit of a miss.  Yes, I did compete at Intro level on Dingo.  I competed three times, and I was eliminated on all occasions.  More about that another time.

All the other goals have been achieved.  In fact, the more I think about these goals, the more I realise that in some cases I have surpassed my wildest expectations.

Keep in mind, that life and all it's associated ups and downs got in the way many times - what with all those family visitors from overseas, a major car accident, health issues that almost made me quit my job, and family issues, stresses and disappointments.  When I look at the downs, the stops and the spills (yes, falls off my horse), 2013 is certainly a year I would rather forget.

When I look at the ups, the competitions that I attended, the ribbons I won, the scores that improved, the confidence I gained, the lessons I learnt, the way my riding has improved, the team that my daughter and I have become, then I feel that it has definitely been my best year so far.

Bring on 2014!

Dream Team wrap up

Last year I joined the Dream Team in a bid to take me to new heights (literrally) in my horse riding journey.  Participating in the Dream Team meant that I had far less time to update my blog, but, it was worth it.

For starters, I can honestly say that I have never felt so disorganised, and so organised at the same time.  You see, you "organise" your own success.  That's right.  Generally, I am a pretty organised sort of person.  To fully participate in the Dream Team journey, I had to learn how the people at the top of my game organise themselves.  Not only that, I had to model them - adopt their way of getting organised towards success.

Planning success was only part of it though.  I had to re-define success - or perhaps, "define" success.  Yes, that's right.  What does success really mean?  I had to define my goals.  I had to strip myself of all my excuses - yes, all of them, even the ones that seem genuine - and really understand where I was going, and what it would take to get there.  How much time it would take to get there?  How much money?

The Dream Team course also forced us to face our fears.  Isn't that a dark area where no one really wants to go?  Then the course gave us tools to deal with our fears.  To help us do what we feared to do the most.  It showed us how to break down our fear, and deal with it one step at a time.

To say that the Dream Team is a one year course is a total misconception.  It introduces you to a whole new paradigm of how to live your life.  It doesn't just apply to your horse riding.  It applies to your entire life.  Horse riding is just one aspect of it, as is your work, your relationships, your chores, and your fun time.  And should you choose to live the paradigm, you're in the Dream Team forever.

So, ok, I have obviously enjoyed the course, and got a lot out of it.  But what are the tangible improvements?  Has it taken me to new heights?  Well, to put it bluntly, YES!!!  At the beginning of last year, Dingo was graded level 5 in jumping, and I was warming-up over tiny cross rails, and sporting the look of fear as I jumped 45cm at the end of my session.  Since then, Dingo has done three horse trials - and that is a success in itself - and he has been re-graded to level 4.  I now warm up over 45cm straights, and by the end of the session we are clearing 80cm (which means we are ready to be re-graded to level 3).  Dingo is about to do his first Introductory event, and I am already looking forward to seeing him compete at Preliminary level (hopefully next year) - even though some of those jumps currently look huge to me.

I guess the sceptics would ask the question - but wouldn't you have got there anyway?  Well here is my answer ... remember that look of fear when jumping 45cm?  I had been graded level 4 in jumping for over 10 years!!!  For a while I had regular showjumping lessons with a proper showjumping coach.  Physically, my horse could easily do level 3 and level 2 jumps.  Physically, I had the skill to do level 3 and level 2 jumps.  It was my mindset that was letting me down, and the Dream Team gave me the tools to fix that.

Dingo clearing the last fence at Yarrambat PC Horse Trials, while I am sporting a smile on my face.

Dream Team

I have joined the Dream Team.  The thinking behind it is that I need some guidance how to achieve my goals, and how to achieve them fast.  So far we have had one workshop, and I think it's just FANTASTIC!!!

I would easily say, that it's the best thing I've done (towards achieving my riding goals) since buying a horse.

The down side of it, is that to do it, and do it properly (which is what I intend to do) is going to take up quite a lot of time.  And I just don't know how much time I will have left to maintain this blog.

I am not going to stop writing, but, at least for this year, Dream Team comes ahead of blog.