My Weekly Riding Lesson
I was really looking forward to my riding lesson this week. I was a little nervous, but more excited than nervous. Because tonight I was going to canter on Ringo!
But, the weather was not cooperating, and the temperature at the time I should have been riding was forecasted to be about 15 degrees. This concerned me, because I know when it gets cold, it is hard on horses. So I emailed the barn owner to see if they had a contingency plan if it was too cold to ride. She said they were watching the weather too, and they weren’t sure if they were going to have my lesson, because of the temperature.
We decided to postpone my lesson for tonight, and hopefully on Sunday afternoon, it will be a little bit warmer. I am skeptical though, because right now the forecasted daytime temperature for Sunday is 35 degrees. But at least it’s warmer than 15, right?
Just Go With The Flow
Kind of like I had learned in my second lesson, sometimes you just need to go with the flow. We are in the end of winter in Colorado, which means winter is just about to get started. It snows a lot, and the temperature can be frigid. It will be short lived though In a few weeks, the day time highs will be around 50 degrees. Much better for riding, even in the indoor riding arena!
So even though I look forward to my lesson, I also understand the health of the horses is important. And if it is too cold to ride, it’s too cold to ride, end of story.
I’m also really happy with the barn owner. She puts the health and safety of her horses first. That’s great in my opinion. She treats her school horses just as well as she treats her own. I really like that.
And even though I didn’t get to ride tonight, I did get to spend some extra time with my own horses. Usually on Thursday nights, my husband will put them into their stalls and feed them. Then they have to wait for me to get home and put their blankets on. But tonight, I got to put them in. And even though it was snowing when I got home, I still got to spend some time with them in their stalls. They each got a little extra grooming time, which I think is more for my benefit, but they seem to enjoy it too.
Enjoying The Little Things
Sometimes things happen beyond our control, and we have to change our plans. And if you want to be happier in your life, you have to be accepting of when this happens. It doesn’t mean you have to like it, but you don’t have to dwell on it either.
So instead of getting disappointed when something happens, find something that you can do, and then enjoy it. I know this isn’t possible in all situations, but the more you try to find something that makes you happy, the happier you will be when faced with a disappointing situation.
Being happy is a lot more fun than being miserable, or sad. So I choose to be happy, and enjoy the little things like being able to spend a few extra minutes with my horses. And by not having my lesson tonight, I learned a little bit more about the barn owner, and I like her even more now, because I know she really is a great horse person.
Planning For My Next Lesson
Since I didn’t ride tonight, I am going to try very hard to ride my own horses this weekend. Even though there is still snow on the ground, my riding arena typically will melt first, and then I can ride. It may only be 35 degrees, but all I will be doing is walking anyway.
And then if I am able to ride for my makeup lesson on Sunday, I will still have gotten two rides in this week. See, focus on the positive! I will also continue to work on my stair balancing, I try to do this at least twice a day. And it really is helping my balance. So if you have balance issues, trust me, you should try this!
And of course I can always look through my photos from last summer, like the one above here, and get excited for when the summer, and warm weather will return so I can get even more photos of me and my horses. SO then next winter, I can do this again!
Staying positive, and staying happy are two things I strive to focus on, and having horses in my life makes this so much easier.
