REALITY CHECK, RTR RETIREMENT AND OTHER SUCH RAMBLINGS

Photo used with permission
www.yokinasphoto.com

Sometimes you need a head slap...  the kind you see in cartoons where the head completely spins around with stars and little birds flying around...  That kind - the reality check!  This post is my very own and very public HEAD SLAP!

It begins with a conversation with the Bestest Eventing Buddy where I hear myself lament/whine about all I have to do this weekend {{{What's a girl gonna do?}}}  Do I go fox hunting on Saturday?  Or should I take it easy Saturday and prepare for Sunday's Daniel Stewart Pressure Proof Your Riding clinic?  Then I heard these words come out of my mouth, "Just once I'd like to have a quiet weekend with nothing to do...  fox hunting Saturday, the clinic Sunday and then UNH Horse Trials next weekend....  Just once!"

OMG!  I have finally become my own clichéd "rich ,over-caffeinated, overbooked, unsatisfied white girl."  And for that I welcome all and frequent HEAD SLAPS (caps intended).

Photo used with
permission
 www.connecicutphoto.com

AND, for all of those folks who heard me say (frequently) that, as a team, Sugar and I are retiring from eventing.  I would like to add, that Sugar is, in fact, in a RTR Retirement phase.  Translated, I "Reserve The Right" to retire Sugar and I, as a team, from eventing.  This statement can be further translated to mean, that Sugar and I are going to compete at UNH Horse Trials next weekend AND will continue to event next season at Beginner Novice until I can afford to keep two horses.  Which again is loosely translated as we will compete at BN forever or until the second show next year in which I decide to move up to Novice which will be the highest level I will compete with her (unless I move up to training).

That entire paragraph can be translated once more to mean - never listen to me when I'm at a show or XC schooling.  It's all a fantasy.

BEB doing her Prelim thing

Final thoughts are about FUN!   My Bestest Eventing Buddy and I have determined that the best time eventing is the ride home.  It's not that we don't love the grace and beauty of Dressage, the prescison of Stadium Jumping or the kick butt thrill of XC... we LOVE all of that!   We get to relive the best moments over and over again all the way home.  Add a iced Dunkin and it's magical.

As hard as this sport is (a thousand ways to lose), I love it!  I love how hard it is.  And although I've grown to hate my nerves, getting it done anyway is priceless.  I don't envy my Eventing or Dressage Trainer (I wouldn't want to be in their shoes) but I thank god more often than not that I have these amazing instructors in my life.

And, don't get me started on you all out there Eventing...  yeah you!  That's what makes it fun!  And I'm glad I'm here to enjoy it!