The One for Thanksgiving

I can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving. While the weather definitely warrants this festive holiday, the time getting here seems to have flown. Both of my boys came to me on Thanksgiving of 2006, so this holiday is very special to me in many ways. With the economy in a constant state of flux, many are having a hard time to find just about anything for which to be thankful. I am however feeling blessed over and over again.

Something which I’ve been reflecting on lately is hardship and disappointment. I believe the general response is a rather bitter one. However, God has commanded us: “In Everything – give thanks.” Something that was recently brought to my attention is that the command is not “to be thankful FOR everything” but rather “IN everything.” This means hardship or not. Disappointment or not. Whatever you are going through: Give Thanks.

Everyone says it’s easy to be thankful for the Good in our lives, and yes, I would have to agree with this statement to a point. However, if it’s so easy – why don’t we do it enough? Why then is thankfulness for everything that we have so been blessed with not seeping out of us at every seam? Why is it we seem less thankful the more we have? While thankfulness is easier when life is going well rather than badly, actually being thankful on a constant basis is NOT easy. It’s a habit learned – a spiritual discipline. And it’s a discipline many of us are sorely lacking.

I have so many blessing to give thanks for, that I feel compelled to write them all down lest I forget them and miss thanking my Lord for blessing my life. But, as this blog is mainly about my horses, I will begin to explain my thankfulness for them.

First – I love their personalities. They surely light up my life. Their enthusiasm and joy in almost every aspect of their life is heart warming. I cannot count that laughs they have given me. They are also truly forgiving (especially if you have treats!) – and even forgiving of the vet! They don’t hold grudges, and they try so very hard to please.

For Sudi – While I’m not quite sure yet where exactly Sudi’s athletic talents lie, there is something deeper about him. He draws you towards him and surrounds you with peace. I really don’t know how to explain it any more than that. I can only say that it’s a gift God has given him. While he is ALL boy, he is incredibly sweet – towards everyone/everything. I’ve seen him interact with children, other horses, adults, cats, pig, goats – and he treats them all the same. Never mean or aggressive, but curious and will share whatever he has with them. And this is a HORSE that does this. The other day I stood back in amazement as one of the barn goats, Bailey, barged into his stall, moved Sudi away from his feed bucket, and dove right in to a mouthful of sweet feed. Sudi stepped back momentarily, and then very calmly stuck his nose back into his feed buck and continued eating – right next to the goat. If only more humans were so forgiving and willing to keep giving! Everything God has given us is not meant for us to hoard and store up for ourselves alone. Like Sudi, we should give freely what God has so graciously given us!

For Kehbir – He is so very unlike any horse I have ever owned. Such athleticism locked up in that coiled spring! I also really love the innocence about Kehbir. He is like a child that has been untouched by anything bad in life. He loves his life – he loves running – he loves his mom – he loves his feed – he loves playing with other horses – he loves Malibu (my friend Amber’s horse). Everything in life is something WONDERFUL to be exuberant over. Again – why can’t we as humans be so amazed and in love with the blessing we have?

Absolutely nothing about bringing along these boys has been easy. There have been so many points, setbacks and vet bills where I’ve stood back and asked, “Is this really worth it?” I have been disappointed by what others have pointed to as limitations in both my “children”, but I can only sit back and rely in confidence on the fact that God appointed me to have these horses. Specifically these horses. And most importantly, God alone knows the most intimate desires of my heart, and he also knows what great things are ahead in my future. He brings trials into our lives for a reason – and that reason is to bring us through them to make us shine as the stars. If it weren’t hard, the result would not be nearly as marvelous. So I give thanks to God for and IN everything. My life is in his hands – and HE is faithful -and he will do it.

I hope you enjoy your upcoming holiday season! Remember to reflect on everything good God is doing in and through your life! (Feel free to share some in the comments section below!)

The One with Our Weekend with the Hollings!

I have taken MANY, MANY, MANY countless private lessons in my lifetime. Granted, the majority come from the musical point of view (I used to be an avid clarinet player in my high school and college years), but I still feel like I’ve reached a point in my “lesson taking” where I can spell out the type of teacher I need.

If you talk to any teacher who’s been teaching a certain amount of time, they are sure to mention different types of “learners” they’ve encountered and various ways they’ve figured out to teach them.

I, however, have figured out the TYPE of teaching style I need to be the most effective type of learner. Here are my six *basic* requirements:

1.) The teacher needs to have a experience bringing up green horses through their current level successfully and healthfully – mentally and physically
2.) The teacher needs a sense of humor
3.) The teacher needs to be open to ANY horse if that particular horse has talent in their field
4.) The teacher needs to be open and HONEST (first and foremost), and give CONSTRUCTIVE criticism
5.) The teacher needs to push me beyond my comfort level
6.) The teacher needs to be able to give positive reinforcement and hope

I’m sure I’ll amend this with more lessons I have in my lifetime, but this is it as it stands.

All of this to say: I LOVED Jon Holling. Never have I been so humorously insulted and encouraged at the same time. If my riding was lacking in an area, he was not ashamed to say it. BUT, he also told me how to fix it and made absolutely SURE I got it right, and then he would follow up with the encouragement (Like a horse – go figure *grin*).

The weekend I spent in Ocala at the Holling’s farm was simply delightful. In fact, I can barely remember the horrific weather we drove through to get there, or the annoying agriculture inspection at the Florida borders. I came off the weekend flying HIGH (basically as if I were smoking something. hehe)

Tammy, Jazzy and I left Charleston moderately early on Friday morning and made the six hour drive to Ocala. Despite the torrential rain we experienced at first, we made GREAT time, and the weather was fantastic once we got there. Everyone on the farm was simply delightful to work with (Jenn Holling is incredibly nice as well!!) and made sure to afford us every comfort available on the farm.

Sudi and Willa were neighbors in their barn, and Indy was stationed across the aisle from Willa. Sudi, however, was not at ALL thrilled with being thrown in a stall upon arrival (what three year old is though, right?). We unloaded all our gear and then decided to take the horses on a tour of the property.

Indy started out quite stiff from her trip down, so Jazzy took her for a quick lounge in the round pen to work out some kinks, but Sudi, Willa, Tammy and I set out for the XC course!

Wow. That’s about all I can say for their property. It was perfect. Gentle hills, inviting jumps, ponds with fountains, LOTS of old oaks scattered everywhere, trails, galloping tracks, large covered dressage arena, beautiful stadium jumps – and the list just goes on. Sudi thought the cross country fields were absolutely fantastic play grounds and proceeded to drag me around for his investigation.

After a lengthy graze period, we put the horses up for the night with dinner and hay (Sudi still VERY indignant about this), and left to go find some dinner. Jenn sent us to this fantastic little pub around the corner. The whole dining experience was great – they had a pub menu as well as really NICE food…I bet you can’t guess what Tammy and I went for. :-D Jazzy was content with a burger though (I told her it’s times like that that her Teenager-ness makes itself very apparent hehe).

Our hotel was not terribly far, and we all collapsed early and exhausted, but REALLY excited about the clinic the next day.

Jazzy and Tammy were in the first group to go (at 8 am!!!), so we had to be at the farm by 6:30 (that even still sounds horrific for vacation!) We fed the horses by flashlight, as no one really seemed up at that unearthly hour, but eventually the sun came up, warm and inviting. Only to be followed by clouds and drizzles. I was a bit bummed. However, as it never really downpoured, everything ended up turning out ok in the end.

I was on camera duty for Jazzy and Tammy’s group. Jon started them out warming up on a large circle as a group to get a handle on their basic skills. Once that wrapped up, he proceeded to work them through grids of trot poles, cavalettis and cross bars.

This was lots of fun for me to watch and just soak in as much information as I could handle. Jazzy and Tammy looked like they were having a blast the entire way through.

After the gridwork was done, all the horses were introduced to a *new* type of XC jump made strictly of Styrofoam – pretty cool! The horses thought this was, at first, very scary, but all ended up accepting it in the end, despite quite a few OVER jumps. There were three of these types of jumps laid out, and Jon made all the group members do a small course over them in the end.

Next was working on going up and down banks. Willa and Indy were absolute PRO’s!! I was so proud of them!! The banks were such non-issues for them.

After the bank work, the group proceeded to working over a ditch! Wow. This was no baby ditch either. Everyone had a tad bit of trouble with the ditch, but everyone made it over! Again – SO proud!!

Jon ended their session very positively giving them lots of feedback.

My group was next, and my pony (a Teddy sister!!) had just arrived, so I had to rush to make my start time! I helped Dr Norman unload all of her gear and tack up Cliché. Cliché is a fiery red head mare with lots of .. “mare-ish tendencies.” She was quite the ride, and I have to say – taught me a LOT.

As we were running late (and Jon ever so adamantly reminded me that we would have been disqualified if we were late to dressage), I didn’t really have a good warm up. I did however, find that Cliché, while EXTREMELY atheletic, has a tendency to buck on the right lead. Hmm. ;-)

Our clinic was very similar to the first groups except for the fact that we did not really end with the ditch. Cliché gave me a few problems going over the Styrofoam, but Jon was able to talk me through them and I got her over them!! Jon told me I had to learn how to turn on my inner Witch with a “B!”

To end our day, we had a mini-course to tackle that included the Styrofoam jumps, banks, logs, a mini-ditch and traveling through the water complex. Cliché and I had a BLAST. I was whipped from not being in shape (tsk tsk!), but it was a GREAT whipped feeling. I couldn’t have been happier.

The following day, Tammy, Jazzy, and I all had private lessons (this is what I took Sudi for!). I opted to ride first thing since I hadn’t had to ride super early for my clinic. Sudi was VERY excited to be out and about riding through the farm property. Our lesson, however, was dressage, and we had to go to the VERY scary indoor arena. I made sure we had adequate time to walk around and get him used to the idea before Jon got there. (I wasn’t about to be yelled at again!)

Sudi was a bit of a handful to start with (most likely from not having any time to just run around his pasture) but overall I could tell he was trying to try (if that makes sense?). Jon couldn’t believe how well behaved he was for a 3 year old Arabian *HUGE grin*. He worked with us on our sitting trot and canter work on the 20meter circle (tough for a baby!) and I was told repeatedly that I need to be a bit tougher on him. Jenn told me I’m not allowed to just be “his mommy” any more (sadness). He has a job to do and he needs very consistent FOCUSED work.

Overall though, Jon said that although he was prepared NOT to like him, he actually did and thought Sudi had quite a bit of potential and could take me to my goal “Training level” and possibly higher – depending on his jump. YAY :-D Jenn even said she thought he was quite a nice horse. I was elated.

So that was basically our trip. I am a bit sad now that I don’t have the clinic to look forward to anymore, but I keep reliving it in my head and trying to remember everything I was taught over the weekend.

Coming up: Me trying to save money L (what’s THAT mean?!?!)
We’re also going trail riding at Mullet Hall with some friends this weekend, and then Sudi and I are off to Southern Pines to train with Will Faudree for a weekend! Yay :-)