Just Ride Already

My bedroom is piled with clothes. My dog needs a bath and a haircut. I need to clean tack and sweep the tack room floor. And that’s just the beginning of the list. I don’t have time to ride.

But today, I rode River. After over a month, I finally managed to get enough mud off to saddle up and ride! I spent the last three days chiseling through clods of dried clay built up from the last several weeks of River finding the wettest place to roll. I used pliers to break the mud beads hanging from his mane. And my fingernails to scratch the crust from behind his ears.

Still pretty dirty, but at least I got to ride

Excuses, Excuses

Okay so some are legit. Like when there was two inches of snow covering the arena, and when the sky was dumping ice on everything. Some days, though, I didn’t think I had time to clean up a horse and ride. Other days, I felt like it was pointless, because even though today was okay for riding, tomorrow wouldn’t be. And those are the days I should have ridden anyway. It seemed pointless but it would have been therapeutic if nothing else.

Feed Your Soul

I started my ride today with no expectations, knowing that River could be feeling a little silly after so much time off. It could have been a horrible ride, and I still would be pleased just because I got on. But it was a good ride, and maybe that’s because I wasn’t expecting anything. And I came away inspired, ready to begin again. It’s late at night now, and I didn’t get enough done today, but I’m in a much better state of mind than I would be if I had skipped the ride and done more work. And you know what? I probably wouldn’t have gotten any work done anyway.

Go Ride Your Horse

Next time you feel like you have too much to do, ride anyway. When you think one ride won’t make a difference, tell yourself it might. It’s not always about training. It’s not always possible to get five or six rides in every week. But every ride counts for something. Every chance you get to sit in the saddle is a chance to do something for yourself, or a chance to connect with your horse. So just ride already!

Once upon a time, my horse was clean!