Changing Up My Challenge

Thankfully after Sunday, Frisby is doing great. No gut issues, and he is back to his original self. Yay! Happy days right? And Plezant is doing wonderful as well. And probably a little more so, because Monday’s are a day off for all of us. So Plezant, Frisby, and myself all take Monday’s off. Well, I still have to go to work at my day job, but when I get home, I love on the horses for a bit, pick out their stalls and then they get tucked in with their dinner for the night.

And for the first time since the whole COVID started way back in February/March, I went to a restaurant and did drive up take out. Have you done that yet? I went to Olive Garden for their buy one take one deal they have. And it was so good! And fast. I placed an online order to be ready when I got off from work, drove up and parked, and waited for them to bring our food. It was awesome. Now we have dinner for at least 3 days. Not too bad right?

And now that I have dinner for the next couple of nights, when I get home I can work with Plezant without feeling guilty about my husband not having dinner.

So here we are, Tuesday, May 5th (Cinco de Mayo – and Taco Tuesday) And it’s back to work for Plezant and I. And while my challenge is going well, I think I am going to be changing up my goal a little bit.

Changing Up My Challenge

As you can see by the delay in this post, I am starting to get a little behind with everything I am trying to do. So before I get to the point where I am completely behind, and feeling overwhelmed, I decided to change my challenge a bit.

While working on the ground, and going for walks with Plezant (and Frisby) I have been focusing so much on the actual miles, that I am not focusing on what is important, working with my horses. As an example, I was working with Plezant for over an hour yesterday, but we only walked a half a mile. But I got so much out of that hour with him.

We did so much! But it wasn’t reflected in how far we walked. And I don’t want to get so focused on the miles that I don’t spend the time with my horse and focus on what is important, the little things are far more valuable than the actual mileage. In my opinion.

So instead of trying to walk 100 miles in a month, I’ve decided to work 100 hours in a month between my two boys. Because for me, actually getting out and working with consistently is more important than the actual miles walked. Especially from the ground. It could change when I start focusing on the saddle work. But we shall see.

Choosing What is Important to YOU

Now I am really glad that I didn’t plunk down $100 for that challenge! But who knows what I could be missing. Maybe that’s why it seems so difficult to walk 100 miles with my horse. But I also think choosing what is important to you, and your horse is far more valuable than hitting a milestone in a month.

For myself, working with my horses, and seeing small improvements is far more valuable than walking 5 or even 1 mile. I’m just happy that I am moving in the right direction with Plezant.

Last night I played dress up with him. After grooming him, I dressed him up with my Arena saddle (which fits him perfectly) ad we walked around the pasture.

And once we did that for a bit, I got him to stand quietly by the mounting block. I made it a place he could relax in between laps around the pasture. At first he wasn’t to keen on standing quietly. But after a few rounds of walking, and then being able to stand still and relax, he was perfect.

THIS is what is important to me. I want him to be quiet, calm, and happy to do his job. I don’t want to feel rushed, because I have some magic number to hit. There doesn’t have to be a goal of how far we walked, and trying to increase my mileage with him each day. We got more accomplished by not having a set goal of miles to achieve in one day.

Now I may change my mind once I am riding him. But for now I feel happy to just get out there and work with him, every day. It’s fun! And isn’t that what having a horse is all about?