I Want!

I am blatantly stealing another post from Megan at A Enter Spooking.  Last week, she wrote about should be's.  I often think, "I should be doing this with Stinker."  Never mind the fact that I am comparing him to $50,000 horses with professional trainers that have not had any health issues.  He is never going to be a $50,000 horse, I have no desire to be a professional, and he has had significant health issues.  What I really liked was she decided to focus on the I want's instead of the I should be's.  I decided that I needed to make a list of I want, since I am also suffering from the should be's.

Alfalfa always makes things better.

I want a sound horse.  We are getting here, and I am hopeful that he will continue to improve as he builds muscle.

I want a happy horse.  Some where along the line, my horse became a bit of an asshole.  I don't know if it is because he is finally comfortable in his environment and he is letting his true colors fly or if something is actually causing it.  But I would love it if we could get him to stop remodeling.

Not so cute buddy...

I want to have fun with my horse.  This is happening.  I love my little Stinker and always look forward to seeing him.

I want to continue to learn.  This is also happening.  I am learning.  It may not be what I initially thought (I was hoping to working on first level stuff and starting to jump him at this point), but I am learning other things.

I want to continue to improve.  We are improving.  Sometimes I forget how bad we were to start with so I don't see the progress.  But I have video evidence that we are improving.

I love this face.

I want my horse to continue to improve.  See above, because one of us can't really improve without the other.

I want to be able to jump with him.  I am ok if I don't ever do this.  I want to do it, but his health and longevity take precedence.  Plus I have access to other horses if I want to jump something.

I want to do right by my horse.  This probably should have been the number one thing on the list.  I want to be able to put my own goals and desires aside and be able to make the best decisions for him.

I want to be able to take him places and have fun.  I think we are getting to this point.  When we went to Florida in December, he was a total rock star.  While the trip was over shadowed by me having to face reality, it was a very good experience.

Maybe we can ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

Now, I just need to remember the things I want when I starting thinking about what I "should be" doing.  And maybe stop trying to compete with the $50,000 horses and professional trainers.  :)