Picking Up the Reins

No, actually I did not pick up the reins today.  :-(
But I made it home from Worlds, managed to snag a few fancy medals for my effort, and had fun at the same time. So that was fun. :)

Lady had more of last week off than I meant for her to have. We did several longer walks together, but I did not do as much grooming as I had planned and she did not get bathed. So... I intended to bathe her today and get back in the saddle tomorrow.

And I got sick. Nasty cold/allergy thing means I feel like I have coughed up more than could possibly fit inside me.  O.o

So I have been in bed most of today, catching up on my word count for my novel, and being sad about not getting to pamper Lady. I did get out there to fill up their water and loved on them for a few minutes, but that was all.

*insert teary-eyed sad face*  I miss riding.  :'(

Doggie pic to break up this flow of text.  :)

Now that I have told my woes, I guess I should say what I had planned to say in this post.

I did do one thing I had planned to do last week, and that was contemplate what my goals with Lady are. Not my overall horse goals, but the goals I have specifically with my lovely mare, especially since she has been unable to work five or six days out of the week with discomfort. I set high goals unconsciously sometimes and I do not want to expect more of her than she can give me. So here are the highest goals I am setting for Lady and myself together.

• Stay mostly comfortable and happy enough to remain in light-medium work for the next 5-8 years.
• Be able to perform all USDF Introductory tests well enough for competition.
• Keep her happy enough where if she wants to pop over a jump, I can let her. She does this every so often, even though I have slowly stopped asking for jumps in the past weeks. If she offers, I will just be super happy.  :)
• Remain fit enough to do several hour long trail rides at the walk and trot.

She has her bad days where trotting is painful and she has her good days where she can buck and gallop to her heart's content. I just want her to stay happy and I want to keep her even just as a light riding horse throughout the rest of my time in college (another 3-5 years) before I look at retiring her permanently.

I feel a lot more relaxed about going out to ride her now, having set these "parameters" up in my mind, because I can't be upset if she isn't as limber as a 4 year old and we aren't jumping everything in sight.

It's always the the horse's health and safety first. If not, you shouldn't own a horse.