Wednesday, February 24, 2016

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.  :)

6 comments:

  1. I love this and may have to steal it myself! Lots of great "I wants" in there...I am guilty of the "should be" too. Its tough! But you and stinker are improving and youre doing right by him getting him healthy and he and you will be better for it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steal it! Meagan has the best posts. And thank you. We are trying. :)

      Delete
  2. love your list. esp the bit about improving together. esp for us adult ammys who are typically not riding a string of horses, it's important for me to remember that we're really building partnerships here, not individual efforts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is funny that you would say that because I've often admired the partnership you have built with Izzy.

      Delete
  3. Always good to have these in mind. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so good. Megan always has these timely posts that really hit home for me.

      Delete