DE HONEY BADGER DOES NOT RIDE BACKWARDS

I can not get enough of this video on the delightful Honey Badger (PG rated for language).  Like the hyena, I laugh at it every time... that's right, everytime.  Still giving thanks for fellow blogger for putting my head on straight with her inspirational themed blog (salty language warning)...   My performance self will now clearly be the Bad A** Honey Badger (BAHB)...  'cause the BAHB don't give a sh** (not care)!



Used with permission
http://www.dexterpix.com/



My entry to King Oak Farms Spring Horse Trials has been sent and I am back in the game.  Now, let me be honest...  KOF has not ever been the best of our outings...  ever.  The atmosphere is electric, tight warmup areas and stadium jumping is within earshot of the dressage arenas.

My lil' girl often stays home and sends her evil twin Saccharin in her place.  Oh, we have a solid record there:

• Dressage scores that would make you proud if you were competing at a USEF or International competition. (Yes... once a 53.)
•  Elimination in stadium at the last jump in front of lots of spectators
• A stop on XC at the second jump in front of lots of spectators

Despite the actual Event being extremely well run, with beautiful jumps and great footing...  I decided several seasons ago to put my efforts into volunteering rather than in humiliating myself.



Used with permission
www.flatlandsfoto.com



But, guess what?  My Inner B A Honey Badger don't ride backwards!  'Cause the BAHB don't care!  This year... we do not give a sh**!  We'll ride like we don't care...  no matter what!  This year, KOF will be ours!  We do not ride backwards...

And, this past weekend, fully prepared to evoke the Inner BAHB at our weekend Jumping Intensive, Sugar and I only needed a moment and then we rode like the Hunter Princess.  We had the brains, the presence and the desire to be balanced, rythmic and forward... jumping strongly and calmly ... in stride.  My smile could be heard 'round-the-world!

Sugar and I are moving forward...  'cause we don't care no more about the past

FINE LINE BETWEEN ANTICIPATION AND ANXIETY

Mornings should be greeted with a burst of energy...  The day's start could very well be the stamp of its success.  I choose to savor the sunrise, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy my galloping pooches.  Time's a wastin' and life must be lived!

Used with permission
www.dexterpix.com

Special note - lest you think that I am overwhelmingly perky, most of those mornings start out with left arm curls, precisely hitting the snooze button every nine minutes.  And I kind of believe that if it weren't for bodily functions - dogs and human, I might not be such a morning person...  just sayin'!

Yippee, hip, hip hooray!  I'm heading out on an adventure with my Bestest Eventing Buddy for our first Jumping Intensive with the final returning Snowbird!  I can hear the birds sing, the trumpets blast...  we're going jumping, we're getting ready for the Season...  All will be well and the world is right again.  I am sooo excited.

Did you know that there is a fine line between eager anticipation and anxiety?  Where total happiness and excitement turn into the ...  "What was I thinking?!" apprehension and stress...  Yup, that is the energy that must be acknowledged and then placed aside to allow the joy and eagerness to flow easily through.

Used with permission
www.dexterpix.com

So I have seen and felt the return of my Grrrrr...  the PTSD work, the gentleness of the City Barn instructor's lessons and the return of Snowbirds are putting me back on track.  I'm jumping bigger jumps, added some Sugar-scary obstacles and I find that even if I have a panic attack, my brain and body are still functioning as a Novice Rider.   

And like a fellow blogger stated so eloquently in her last  Blog (warning Salty Language) today's adventure to our weekend jumping intensive needs to evoke the Inner Bad A** Honey Badger.

Let the games begin!!!!

SIGH, I HATE MARES

Forgive me father for I have sinned.  It's been "awhile" since my last confession.  You see, Father, I HATE MARES!

Poised... (used with permission)

Let's see, um...  the City Barn has 45+ horses, big paddocks and several huge pastures.  The activity is non-stop - accomplished riders taking lessons honing their skills for the big show, Eventers tuning up for Opening day and oh, the kids...  lessoning on the cutest ponies evah.  Again, 45+ horses, endless streams of horses and riders...

Poor Sugar, not a lover in the bunch!

Being single myself, you would think I would feel some sympathy or at least, some compassion for her longing.  As beautiful as she is, she has never experienced the touch of a lover.  And what must it be like for her, to hear her biology ticking surrounded by so many "men".  I do not yield to Ms Sugar, for she does not suffer in silence - no she does not!

Spring is in the air and the HEAT is high...

And we begin, the dance of the Spring Hussy.  No ride is without its high stepping, body twisting, big spooking antics.  Hers is a body filled with power and high tension that only a mother could love...  It is immensely beautiful!  And, yes...  equally as dangerous!

I can see my ad for Sugar now:

Feeling like a rock star!
Used with permission
 (www.connecticutphoto.com)

• 16.3+H Bay and White Pinto Mare...  MARE-ISH!  (Caps intended!).  Will dance you out of the tack in a huge spook, drop, prop and spin.  Canter is the naughty gait and can reach some serious "airs above ground"!  Is wicked agreeable (kind of) three seasons of the year...  Watch out for Spring!

Yeah...  that would be my ad.  And, after a Spring rides or one of  my dressage tests, I fantasize down to choosing the font in that ad.

But, you know...  when you get through the Spring Hijinx, and forget the warm-ups from hell, there is something kind of special about a hormonal mare...  nothing quite like them...  

'Cause after a ride like that, ending with a powerful canter, light on her forehand and gentle in my own hands...  I think...  she makes me feel like a rock star...  

And that is pretty ok!

SPRING PEEPERS RETURN

Love struck... sigh!
Used with permission (iStockphoto.com)

Forget Daylight Savings Time, the sweet song of the winter flock or that hint of color peeking through the gray landscape...  Really? 

There is nothing that says Spring more than the loud boisterous croaking from a love struck Spring Peeper.  Almost like flipping a switch, one night it's a quiet calm with just a rustling here and there of a woodland creature avoiding a night hunter and then the next night....  Woooooo  hooooo!  Let the partying begin!  Call out to everyone SPRING IS HERE!

And the Snowbirds begin their trek north... posting their last sunsets with palm trees, silhouettes against the darkening sky.  We've lived vicariously through their pics, posts and videos... smiling with the Great Ones, jumping the course at Red Hills, watching Grand Prix in Wellington and cross country schooling at Longwood.

Yup, that's our ears...
OUTSIDE in February!

Ha, guess what Snowbirds?  It's been pretty good up here in New England.  Dat's right!  We've been outside more than we've been in...  the footing's been so good that we've even jumped in the Outdoor.  While we may not be tanned, we are fitter, we are acclimated to the outdoors and we're so ready for you to do some serious butt whuppin'!

So, I listen to the chorus, the croaks, chirps and squeaks...  I luf the Spring Peeper! 

Opening Day is next Tuesday and we're about to begin our own series of croaks, chirps and squeaks...  Let the games begin!

WHO AM I?

A struggle for identity is just that...  a struggle.  Sometimes you put yourself in a situation and let the situation define you and sometimes you try to define the situation...  making it more like you.  And as you become aware of your definition, however sneaky that definition is, you now have the ability to mold it into what it was meant to be...

Photo used with permission
http://www.dexterpix.com/

Today the Princess/Diva and I now belong to the City Barn...  The thoughts and feelings run wild.  Happy, sad, excited, worried swirl about in my brain until finally resting and flipping about on Happy/Sad.  The New Barn Girl texted "You've broken up the Berlin Gang!" and my heart sank... tears welled up.  "I luf the NBG, the Barn Owner, the Chief Operating Officer and all the residents at FBF!  I am only 2 miles away!!!"

Who am I now?  Can I truly let go of the perfectly cleaned stall where one must pick out, ever so delicately, perfectly shaped pelleted bedding so as not to waste?  Can I still sneak over to the barn bra less and in my baggy sweats and still fit in?  (UM, if any of my family members are reading this...  I DO NOT WANT TO BE ON "What Not to Wear"! OK?)  And what of those late night discussions about Eventing and Fox Hunting with my FBF peeps?   Will they still love me just two miles away?

Time will tell...  I luf them lots...  I've had four beautiful years and one Chandler Bing as a take home "prize"...

This weekend, Sug and I were Dressage Queens at the Niall Quirk Clinic.  You know, its really, really hard to watch the fancy, dancy, butt swishing, liquid moving dressage horses thinking that when your lil' Eventer shows up, the clinician will yawn at the dullness of your gaits and the tightness of your locked bodies.  Those fancy, dancy, butt swishing ponies make my head swim in the beauty of their movement... even if one of them is young just finding its balance.

The Wee Folk and Sug
"More Adventures, Please!"

And, my little pinto pony really showed up...  This weekend we put our jumping aside and rocked the 20 meter circle.  The mark of a gifted clinician is not the person who radically changes what you're doing but gives you enough bits to take what you have and make it more...  He uses metaphors to give you a lasting image to keep the results of the ride working for you.

Ok, there is something really sexy having a man with an accent pushing you for more bend, to flex more and to go deeper bringing her body up into yours and then flowing through...  Horsey girls really get that!  And non-horsey girls...  take it for what its worth and smile! 

And he loves a girl with a big arse...  (Sug's, not mine...)  I have video proof of our two days thanks to the hardworking Don.  I get to watch and learn more each time if I promise not to get lost in Sug's fancy, dancy butt swishing movement...  Yes it did happen for us... 

This weekend, we defined ourselves as Dressage Queens... and we both liked it.

IT'S ALL GOOD...

There is a saying out there that I pay particular attention to...  it goes something like this...  "When you have a strong negative reaction towards someone, it often is about that something in yourself that you don't like - a mirror into your soul."

Let the games begin!!!

So, um, I hate perky people...  well, I did hate perky people.  You know the type...  "Hi, how are you!  Isn't the day beautiful!  What a lovely outfit you have one!  OMG!  I just stubbed my toe and oh, how it hurt but on a positive note, I stubbed it on a box of quarters!  I know it's raining but think of how beautiful the grass will be and the flowers...  oh my!"  

Yup!  I hated those folks...  Until, one day, I actually heard myself.  Please don't hate me, I'm one of them!  Or, if you do... embrace your own perky self!  Woot!  Woot!

There is sooo much going on and I am sooo filled with good energy that I feel like I'm high...  Ok, if my family members read this, I don't really know what that feeling is like and, if they don't...  remember I grew up at a time...  well...  best leave this unstated, if you know what I mean.  So, let me get these perky thoughts out before I explode:

Sugar, GHF 2009 -
Stephie Baer - Rider
Me one day!

• City Barn life is fabulous!  Sugar is enjoying her vacation as just one of the many fancy dancy ponies.  And when I say many...  we went from three barn mates to 45.  I believe that the "competition for attention" has made her even more puffed up which has given me some beautiful lengthenings and more cowbell in her trot.
• Grrrrr is coming back!  Riding with the kind, patient City Barn Instructor in a group lesson is really helping with my head issue.  And my new co-lessoner has a beautiful, rhythmic, no-fuss event horse that helps me calm the savage beast within. Alone, waiting for my Snowbird Trainers to return would not have produced the same results.
• Cursing like a sailor does not work as well in the City Barn!  (Yes, mom...  I do need work in this area... you raised me right-environment changed me.)  My mantra when Sugar was naughty jumping was, "You will jump this effen jump!"  Note to self - a big NO NO in a barn with a kids program. 
• Watching other fancy, dancy ponies go ups my game.  I see, I learn!  Simple as that!  (Poor Sugar!)
• My Bestest Eventing Buddy - a full member of the Dunkin' Donuts Event Team, just bought a new pony and she's coming to the City Barn.  The 2012 Eventing Season has so much hope and promise that I can not stop smiling!
• Today, I ride in a dressage clinic with a BIG NAME TRAINER.  I am psyched!  

On this Sunday morning, I am fully embracing my perky self!  It's all good and I am so glad to be a part of that!