Forgetting Barn Stuff

These past few months, since I moved into the city and away from my beautiful horses, I've been lessoning (is that a word?) at two different barns and riding various horses. And it has been a very good experience, as well as a steep learning curve.

But please tell me that I'm not the only one who forgets to bring stuff with me??

It's never been an issue before, because my horses lived in my backyard, all my tack was in its place, and if I forgot something of my own, I just had to run into the house to grab it.

Now I've managed to forget my boots, a proper jacket, gloves, etc.  Since I'm borrowing helmets from the barn, I haven't forgotten that yet, but since I'll be getting my own quite soon, I'm sure it will happen.

So tell me, do you all have a backpack or bag that you take with you to the barn? Do you leave all that stuff in your car/at the barn?  How do you manage?  Also, what do you bring with you?

Once I'm officially leasing, I suppose I'll start leaving my gloves, helmet, and stuff like half chaps at the barn, or at least in my trunk, but right now, when I'm only going in to ride someone else's horse? Different story.  It's driving me crazy.

In other bright and happy news, I will be meeting up with Missy's owner today or tomorrow to discuss a lease arrangement! And then I can start riding outside of lessons again, which will be fantastic!  As much as I enjoy lessons and getting the workout that Lindsey gives me every time, I miss the fun of planning out a schooling ride, making my own decisions about what we're going to do and when we're going to do it.  And I also really crave the chance to actually improve between lessons instead of just continuing on from where we left off.

I found this fantastic picture on FB today that my awesome-photographer-uncle took a few years back.

I miss this girl so much!

Favorite Goals

 I don't know if I've mentioned this or not, but I'm writing with prompts this month and its giving me a lot to think about. So when today the question was 'what are 5 current goals that you are working towards?' my  mind immediately began analyzing that.  After all, most of us - if we make goals at all - have more than just 5 of them, right?  And then my brain, which is mostly fried after writing fiction for four hours straight last night, brought up the idea about favorite goals. And isn't it the truth - we do have goals that we are more excited about than others, right?  So I challenged myself to look at my goals lists and pick 5 that were my favorite and 5 that I was less than excited about.

How hard can it be to get a nice pictures?

The favorite ones were easy to find.
1.  Take three riding lessons (January 2016 goal).  Who wouldn't be excited about this?!?
2.  Blog every week on both blogs (January 2016 goal).  With proper planning, this is a favorite of mine.
3.  Horse show for the first time ever (2016 year goal).  Obviously.
4.  Take a vacation (2016 year goal).  Because travel and pictures, of course.
5.  Bring Lady to West Texas (2016 year goal).  Who wouldn't want their horse in the same city with them?

The less exciting ones...
1. Be more fit (2016 year goal).  I'm always working on this. SO hard.  :|
2.  Get straight A's both semesters at TTU (2016 year goal).  I'm afraid of this goal. And nervous.
3.  Share a sketch of one of my characters with someone else (January 2016 goal).  My drawing is something that I don't share. This is a needed step in the right direction with my art, but it doesn't mean I'm not dreading it.
4.  Save $xxx in January 2016.  I'll like it when its done, but at the moment, with bills to pay? Not so easy.
5.  Find friends in West Texas (2016 year goal).  I am horrid at this, but again. Necessary.

The answer? Quite difficult.

It was an interesting exercise to look at my goals with this in mind. Before I started, I practically agreed with myself that if I found a goal that was just filling me with dread (or a similar emotion) I would consider scratching it out. But although I dread the process of some of them, the end result is definitely something that I want. So it will be worth it.

What do you think?

Musically Inclined

Sometimes I wonder why I don't talk about music more. After all, I'm a piano major in college, I can play three and a half instruments, and I listen to music more often than not when I possibly can.

Definitely a big part of my life.

I don't know.  Maybe it was some odd experiences in years past that just closed me off from talking about musical things, but its not something about myself that I divulge into without being asked.
Anyways, today I thought I would that I would give you all a peek into a few of my favorite songs.

1.  Brave, performed by Josh Groban

I've always enjoyed Josh Groban's music, and I found this song of his several months ago when I was first diving headfirst into this whole moving ordeal. It got me through quite a few days when I needed some extra encouragement that no person could give me.

2.  As Long As You're Mine, from the musical Wicked

I am not explaining this one.  It speaks to me, and I love it so much.

3.  If The World Should End, performed by Jennifer Damiano

I cry every time I hear this. And I have no idea why.  And that's why I love it. And listen to it all the time.

4.  Stars and the Moon, performed by Jessica Molaskey

This is one of the songs that doesn't necessarily inspire you right off the bat. Instead, you feel guilty about it or something like that. But it makes me want to do better with my life, to give it a better purpose.  Worth a listen. I do quite regularly.

5.  Wild Child, by Enya

This expresses my thought processes and my life. That is all.

What irony that this posting lined up with the passing of David Bowie. RIP to a much loved artistic genius.

Ride 1.1

On Wednesday I took my second lesson on Missy and my first ride in 2016.
Because of all the snow and nasty weather we have been getting here, the horses haven't been able to go out like they normally do. So I had one very fidgety thoroughbred mare in the crossties!
In all honesty fidgety is an exaggerated word for it. Missy is actually a superbly well behaved horse and never worried me at all. She was very good for grooming and tacking up and mostly just looked for attention. Quite people oriented this girl is!
Lindsey lunged her for a few minutes before I got on, but it almost wasnt even needed.
So far the lessons have been about improving my strength. We started with a lap of walk to the left and then I had to pick up twopoint. Being off of a horse for two weeks nearly killed me here. I think I lasted two laps at the walk before my right leg was burning.
I will say here that I tend to be quite uneven in my body and it gets frustrating. Even though I feel straight and square in the saddle, I actually put a fair bit more weight in my right stirrup than in the left. But I have such a hard time feeling it except for the fact that my right side tires out faster. So I consciously make an effort to weight my left stirrup in the hope that it might help.
Anyways. After just murdering my calves at the walk, I had to pick up the posting trot and obviously my tired legs were not helping with the rhythm. Missy wasn't naughty about anything but she did tend to rush and slow down as she felt like it. For this we went back to the exercise that we did in my first lesson on her - using mt core muscles to control my posting in order to control her rhythm. I'm fairly good at posting but this is hard for me, especially when I'm relying solely on those core muscles and not adding any leg or rein to assist. But WOW, when it comes together and I can feel her trot smooth out and get so much more even, its fantastic!
Of course, I can usually only get that feeling for a few strides and then I lose the rhythm or my balance and have to start over.
We've also been doing twopoint at the trot but I'm slowly getting my hands off of Missy's neck and balancing properly. I know for some of you this is easy but not for me. Not yet! Lindsey keeps telling me to just move with her and I'm slowly getting the hang of absorbing the motion with my knees and ankles but I still end up falling forwards or backwards quite easily. Core muscles again, right? Someday I'll get it.
So basically after she turned my legs into jelly and gave me a few exercises to stretch out my hips (much needed!) we were done.
And then I had to halt Missy, drop my stirrups and just sit there for a few minutes before I could safely get off.
Ride 1 of 2016 is in the books!

Twenty Things

For whatever reason, this post seems to be in the vein of new year, fresh start posts. Or something along that line.
Anyways, today I'm going to do my ultimate best to lay out twenty things about me that have not been revealed on this blog before. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure I can make it through since I've talked about all sorts of things on this little corner of the blogosphere in the almost two years it has been live. So here goes!

1)  Way deep down inside, I really really want my equestrian discipline to be eventing. Mostly just because it terrifies me and that is enough to make me want it. Yes, I'm young and crazy.

2)  I actually have pretty decent hands while riding. I know how to keep them still and soft and quiet. (Is this bragging?) Holding them too low is about my only real fault here.

3)  I love Disney movies. Every. Single. One.

4)  I'm actually very intimidated by the bigger horses as well as the hotter types. 

5)  I am not capable of giving away/throwing away/removing from my possession any book, dvd, or other form of media. I collect them and no matter what, simply cannot get rid of them.

6)  I can sew. Not knit, crochet, or anything fancy, but I can sew my own clothes. Or wedding dresses, when required. *clears throat meaningfully*  Side hobby, I guess you could say.

7)  When I was younger, I wanted to have a equine breeding and training farm. It is possible that I still want this. I'm just a bit more reasonable with my dreams now.

8)  Even though I write on an almost daily basis and have done so for over ten years now, I am still very self-conscious about my writing. I get nervous whenever someone new discovers that I blog.

9)  I really really want to have a wedding, but I don't actually want to get married. I just love weddings!

10)  If you present me with a chestnut mare, there is a 0% chance I will turn her down, no matter what. My first horse was a chestnut mare and I'm still very much in love with the combination.

Not chestnut, definitely mare. :)

11)  I discovered 1.5 years ago, that I actually really love dying my hair. Since then I've been three different shades of red, blue (which faded to green), and brunette. I'm a natural blonde. 

12)  I don't voice it very often, but I'm a big advocate for bitless riding. Yes, I ride with a bit, but I wholeheartedly approve of every option.

13)  In spite of #12, I love bits and would like to collect every variety in existence, even if I never use them.  Is that weird?  I just have an obsession with bits, whether they are on or off a horse.

14)  I am majorly scatterbrained. In just about every aspect of life.

15)  Every since I moved out on my own, I have eaten nearly exclusively organic food. Obsession of mine, if you must know.

16)  I work in food service and can actually be a really good server. The work just makes it difficult to support a horse habit, sadly.

17)  My wonderful mare, Lady, made me realize not too long ago that it is possible to have fun with horses without having a long term goal. It only took her 6ish years to teach me that.

18)  Unlike a lot of equestrians, I do not indulge in expensive riding clothes or boots because in my mind, that is still something for me, not for my horse. The horse doesn't care what I wear. That doesn't mean I don't want the nice things though!

19)  I've started three different horses under saddle, and restarted two(?).

20)  Ever since visiting the Spanish Riding School, I've fantasized about working super hard at my riding skills and then applying. I mean, wouldn't it be awesome? 

Ouch. I'm not even going to re-read everything I've written here. I'm just going to publish it and hope it isn't as awful as it seems.
Tomorrow, I'll do a lesson recap.

Bad at Titles

Its nearing two years since I started this blog and I was thinking about how I came up with my title a few days ago.

When you first get to know me I'm a very quiet and reserved person. You get to know me further and you'll find out that I'm majority scatterbrained. I always have some new project or goal that I need to work on and I rarely finish what I start  (but I'm fiercely proud of what I do finish). I remember the strangest things and forget important details.

If you get past that part of knowing me then you'll see that I like to dream exceptionally big. I don't mind if I don't reach those dreams but I need to have them as part of who I am.
Because deep down inside I'm a child-like soul who sees everything in romanticized, whimsical, fairy like way. I need to have room to experiment, try new things.  I need room to grow, to fly. Flying Free was a phrase that made me happy and created a sense of home.
You'll notice that my actual web address is jumpthestars. Another phrase that I formulated that I liked and felt described me.
Both phrases could be used in reference to my love for jumping, which directly ties it into thr horse side of things.
And there you have it. A random look into why I chose this blog's name.

Side note: I have a lot of these random posts planned.

Happy New Year!

     Technically, I'm a few days late on this post, but after working late on New Year's Eve and being super stressed out from driving in the snow and ice that is all over the place right now, I decided to postpone it until after the weekend.
     2015 was a fantastic year, it really was. I did a lot of things that I never thought I would actually do in my life, and came out the other side a totally different person. At least I think so. You may want to check with some of the people that knew me the whole time though.
     I'm a little terrified and also really excited about 2016. There are the big scary things like starting university, making ends meet all on my own while attending school, etc.  There are the exciting things, like going back to school, having so many more equestrian opportunities at my fingertips, and being more independent.
     I've put up most of my 2016 goals on their own page, so you can go read them there if you want to.  I don't feel the desire to write up a whole post about them right now, but maybe later on in the month I will expand on a few of them in their own posts. Maybe.
     When it came to making monthly goals this time around, I ended up with more of what seemed like a checklist than goals to achieve.  And that was okay with me, for whatever reason.  I think this year, I'm going to focus more on writing about what I achieved, instead of what I want to achieve.            Although both sides are important, of course.
     But, here are a few items from my January list:
- Pounce on the first week and a half of school and own it!
- Take at least three riding lessons.
- Start volunteering at the animal shelter.
- Do a sketch of one of my story characters and actually show it off.
- Finish two books that I have already started reading.

     There are several others, a few financial related, or just next steps to projects that are already started, but you get the idea.
     I also have ideas for blog posts for at least the next month, but they don't all involve horses since they aren't exactly something I do every day now, but I'll try to tie things into horse matters somehow as often as I can.
     One of these days I'll get caught up on everyone else's blogs and start commenting here and there again. Until then, I'll try to write as often as I can get to a computer with internet access.