Nicole's Life:
Mid-November: BF came to visit (we are currently in a long-distance relationship of 800 miles. He is in NYC; I am not) and (finally!) proposed to me
Thanksgiving Time: My grandparents came to visit for a week
Early-ish December: House-sitting for a week
Mid-December: Very busy at work and various dental, etc appointments thrown in
Late December - Early January: Holiday Travel (home for Christmas, to NY through New Year's)
Early-Mid-January: Parents visiting to look at wedding venues
So it's only been mid-late last week that I have started to have my normal life back. Of course, "having my normal life back" is somewhat open to interpretation, now that I have more things to do!
There have been some IEA shows (Star has been great, and I've had a lot of fun warming up some other people's horses) and I've had some great rides at home on my own horses. Star only jumps at home now when the footing is really good - so only after it rains. A couple Sundays ago the footing was great, so I had some fun just raising the jump with Star. We finished at 3'7"... I don't think we've jumped that since we went to Oklahoma City in 2010.
Sparky is doing well, too, even if he looks like a burro right now. He's jumping everything I ask of him with no problem. Our dressage needs some work, but experience tells me this will improve once the burro loses some weight. Playing the same game with him that I did with Star, he jumped a 3'1" vertical a few weeks ago. This is the highest he's ever jumped over (he has jumped up a 3'0" bank). I'm optimistic that maybe we're finally getting someplace.
My plan for this week (now that the week is half over!) is to ride at least two evenings, depending on the weather and traffic. Next week, I'll ride Sunday and maybe Monday, and then Oren will be here Tuesday and Wednesday. I'll have to squeeze in some time going to the gym (ick!), so I'm not sure what things will look like after that.
There's a couple more IEA shows upcoming, but the schedule is not yet definite. Star will be going, and Sparky might also get to tag along (yay!). I'm really excited by the idea of Sparky going - he's come a long way in the past year, I think.
As for the new year, I'm not setting any "goals" or show schedule (we see how well that worked out last year!). It's going to be a year with a lot of other goings-on and changes, so I don't think I can reliably plan on anything. I would like to at least get to some smaller, local jumper stuff (with both horses), and maybe a schooling horse trial with Sparky, but I'm not planning on anything big. The Mid-A Morgan Horse Show is on hiatus this year, so I can't go to that one regardless. We'll see about the Dixie Cup. I would love to get to a Gigi Nutter clinic or two this year, and hopefully Greg Best will be coming back. Not sure if it will be in the cards, but I'd love to do another clinic with him. And I would really like to make some progress with Kellie this year.
Okay, so maybe I do have a list of "ideals" or "would like to's", if not really goals. We'll see how the year goes.
Belatedly, Happy New Year!
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