Jumping jumping jumping!

 

 

 

Happy Monday to me!!! While all the normal people are getting ready for their weekend I am busting through my barn chores and paperwork so that I can kick off a 5 day work week.  I am very blessed to have a wonderful life going right now, and three amazing horses in my barn who show up and work hard every day, so going to my real job is even more difficult because I would much rather stay here and play.

 

Yesterday I enjoyed my single day off by doing morning chores and then coming in the house and being a bit lazy.  I played on the computer for awhile and ate a relaxing lunch while watching the USA/Germany soccer game.  Since it was my only day off I did not try and recruit a team of drinkers to hit the bar and watch the game, but I enjoyed it all the same.  Thankfully we are advancing so hopefully there will be more drinking and celebrating options in my future.  Then I wandered to the barn and rode the boys.  Big Lou is still for sale, and I have had requests for some cross country video of him, so I borrowed my neighbors for a few minutes and schooled him over his first proper ditch and half coffin.  Hopefully this video helps to get him sold!

 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrpa4UcWbB0&list=PLn3nFia-Gk667j1gHZIbD0Vv1cN5RhAFA&index=18

Then I went to Hobby Lobby and got some cool stuff to make a couple of shadow boxes with.  I got one made for Goose and one for Sunny, now I need one more for my trusty Bubba and I will be a happy camper!  I ended up throwing those together when I got back home, but it was a fun project to tackle as I am not a crafty person at all!  My friend Maggie and I went for a rockin' run- I am proud of myself!  While I did not wear a watch to see if I ran 8 minutes straight, I did run the whole first mile without stopping, and then we walked about 1/3 of a mile and ran the rest without stopping.  I am very proud of myself, and I hardly felt like I was dying.  Hopefully this is just a small step towards what I can accomplish before the summer is over.  Even though I am quite busy I want to keep running a couple of days a week along with all of my riding, and 2-3 days of squats and strength training.  Maybe I will have a rockin' body one day!

On that note though I am very happy with how things are going in my life.  I have applied to school for the fall and been in touch with some directors in my interested field of study- so that is a step in the right direction.  Now to just hope that I did not wait too long and I can get in for the fall semester and that all my finances work out properly so that I can afford to go back and keep riding.  But I am in a very good place, I have taken the correct steps forward, and I am not letting little things get me down.  I am confident and only getting better with myself :-)

Then today I had a wonderful, breakthrough jump school on the Goose man.  He is really starting to grow up and I am beginning to figure out how to ride him when times get a little tense.  We kept things small, as we have a proper jump lesson next week and a fitness day tomorrow, but I am very happy with how things went.  We finished it with jumping a proper Preliminary narrow (with wings for schooling purposes) and he locked on like he had seen it a million times.  I am feeling quite good about Champagne Run right now.  Woooo!  Also my mom got a new camera so it gave her a chance to play with that- and I am never going to complain about some pictures :-)  Sending out lots of good luck to everyone competing at Jersey this weekend-especially my girls Meghan and Hanna!  Kick butt!

Battling Back

I did it!  I did it!!!  Well, I did a couple of things- I made it through my insane work week (helloooooo 7 hours of overtime!), I got what some people may describe as a normal nights worth of sleep, and I took the plunge and applied to go back to school.

This is all a part of this 'new me' that I have begun to establish, where I have taken a look at the life I have, recognizing how great it is, and knowing that it can only get better from here.  So I am still sitting in my lounge clothes at 11am on my day off instead of in the barn already, but I took the time I needed to in order to fill out my applications, request transcripts, and even contact some advisors directly to try and get a plan in order.

I'm not going to lie, going back to school has been almost terrifying.  Do I want to take out student loans?  Do I want to try and keep working full time and only go to school part time?  What am I going to do about riding and my horses.  Well, I made some decisions, and am happy with how things will be if it all works out accordingly.

I am still planning on working hard and staying busy- but I also am going to try and set this up so that I have some free time to have a bit of a life as well.  I am only 23 still, and I don't want to be one of those people where life passes me by because I'm spending all of my time working to get by.

On a happier note- one of my friends is getting married this weekend, and I should be the first person off of work Saturday night, so I MAY actually make it to part of her wedding reception.  Now to figure out if I still fit into any of my clothes that would be acceptable?  I couldn't tell you the last time I put on something other than work or barn clothes......

Happy Thursday all! (and the only day to my weekend!)

Running on my own 2 Feet

Hey!  It's Wednesday for all the normal working folk!

I am surviving- head is above water, and I actually feel like I am swimming upstream for once in my life! I made a huge life change over the weekend, can't remember if I covered that in my last post or not but still- YAY me!  I am one, 9 hour shift of madness away from a day off, and 2 weeks away from my next event.

I got the go ahead this morning from my wonderful trainer to print (PRINT!) the entries for my next two events- and they are both in the Preliminary division!  We had a wonderful flat lesson, and Goose is really just coming into his own and figuring out how to let go in his back. Hurray for hard work paying off!

As for me I am still plugging along, trying to get some work outs in amongst all this crazy heat and riding/working.  I missed yesterday due to crazy down pours (2 in of rain in less than 3 hours) which led to me catching up on some sleep, reading, and paperwork before going to clean my stalls and trot my horse.  Today has been a bit more productive, with some calf raises and push-ups, but tomorrow I have a real workout planned with a good friend, which will include running!  My goal, assuming I can breathe in the humidity, is to try and run for 8 minutes straight.  I used to run a sub-8 min mile, so I am going for just running the full 8 minutes and seeing how far this gets me.  Maggie is a huge fitness nut, so she is in wonderful shape and it is a great push for me.  Then we are going to properly do some squat sets, maybe some real push-ups (not the weird ones I do to try and save my wrists), planks, and who knows what else she will throw at me.

I have decided to try and shoot for a 5k mud (dirt) run in August.  It will be a nice change for me to have something to work towards that is not horse related, and I think doing a mini-tough mudder could be a lot of fun!  There is a full tough mudder in October in St. Louis that I would LOVE to run in, but I think realistically I may go to the one in Chicago next spring.  Who knows though- October is still a long ways away, I may be able to buckle down and be ready by then!

Until next time peeps- hey its my FRIDAY!!!!!

Sweat is just Fat Crying

Happy Monday!!!!

Well- happy Thur-nes-day for those of us in the food service industry who sometimes have to work 6 days a week.  I drew that lucky straw this week, so while yesterday SHOULD have been my hump-day, I guess I'm in the small valley of a double peaked hump this week.  But I will continue to trek on because my awesome one day weekend of a real Thursday is in sight!

I enjoyed a bit of a low key weekend that involved a lot of score stalking while all of my friends competed in all corners of the country along with working.  I even got off of work early enough Saturday night to run home and put on regular clothes before going out to meet some old friends and have a couple of drinks- I couldn't tell you the last time that happened!

There isn't much else that exciting going on in my life right now, other than the massive jump in heat- Helloooooo summer in the Midwest- and the humidity is just about killing me.  My mom's lovely little horse moved back into the barn today so one more for me to mess with, and I re-listed my horses that are for sale, so if you read my blog and are looking they are both fab and need new homes!

I was good and kicked the Monday blues in order to work out really quickly before sitting down to write this, cram some chicken down my throat, and drink a protein shake.  I finished my 90 day challenge over the weekend and I am determined to keep kicking forward. Thinking of doing a 5k mud run in August and shooting to do a tough mudder in October- anyone want to run with me? It's in St. Louis!!!!

Anywho- off to work I go, just had to check in and say hey!

Hay, hay, more hay, and less walking

Hello all!

So since my last post (geeze how long ago was that?!?) I have fallen off the wagon, laid in self-pity on the ground, realized that hitting rock bottom isn't loosing (but sitting there is), and drug my ass back up.  Now I am back on schedule, until my work week begins again, I am feeling refreshed, and I am hopefully recovering from my two steps back throughout last week.

I have this terrible habit of running myself into the ground because I bite off more than I can chew and then getting myself so physically exhausted that I shut down mentally and emotionally.  Granted I cannot help it that my manager needs me to work 6 days a week, and that 4 out of those 6 days are until midnight or later.  But I can help that I actually DON'T have to be in the barn 10 hours a day before getting ready and driving over for my shift.  This takes a lot of self control, and sometimes standing up for myself in order to get the rest I need in order to be at my best.  I unfortunately fell victim to my own weakness and took on too much last week, resulting in a very embarrassing Facebook message to my ex, and then lots of apologizing the next day, followed with a "and please don't message me" attached at the end of it, oops!

I did have successful schooling show with the baby horses though- funny considering they are both older than Goose haha.  Cullen was a rock star after freaking out in warm-up and finished with two clear rounds and two red ribbons!  Then Louis came out and after only getting to jump one fence WON his hunter class!  Could not be more proud of my two black ponies.  Goose was his usual bad-a$$ self, I just checked out for those rounds.  Whoops

This week started off with me getting my mind back in the right spot, and then moving forward from there.  I had a nice long talk with my riding coach about how I psyche myself out and self destruct in the ring, hellooooooo no confidence!, and then I followed that up with a stellar jump lesson on my fabulous little horse, all at proper training height.  I then realized that I am sitting right at the 90 day mark for my protein/kick this fat ass into shape diet and while I have lost quite a bit of weight, I have plateaued from where I was the last time I took some pictures of myself.  Alrighty, back to the old grind of working my butt off and taking no prisoners or excuses.  I then proceeded to jump right back into my workout routine of squats, calf raises, push ups, and ab work every other day.  Great idea, right?  Right!  Until I was left unable to walk at work the next evening- haha whoops again!

From there it seems that my week has actually been moving forward though, with a great flat ride on my horse early this morning, 210 square bales unloaded and stacked (Thank you Maggie and your big (wo)manly muscles for the help!), all of my horses ridden the last four days, and two full exercises in the books.  While I wish I had found time to run on my two days off I also feel like I took the appropriate down time and did myself a favor by sitting on the deck, enjoying the evening, a beer, and relaxing a bit before my next 6 day work week kicks off tomorrow.

Finally- A HUGE shoutout to the girl who has worked harder than anyone I know to achieve her dreams.  Miss Meghan O'Donoghue and her kick-ass TB Pirate are named as alternates for the US WEG squad.  At only 25 she is the youngest competitor named this year from the US. Way to go guys! Now to fund a plane ticket......

Until next time kids!

Destressing at its Finest

I have found that as humans we tend to carry too much stress on ourselves and worry about too many things that are out of our control.  Last night (well, early this morning) I found myself driving home from work worrying about everything I had to do today before returning to work for another night.  My mom is currently out of town and my stress level triples with having to have everything set up for my non-horse neighbors to come up and help, along with the dogs, house, etc. plus being properly dressed for work.

I woke up this morning after a whopping 3 hours of sleep feeling like death had come over me.  I drug my feet to get the horses in and fed, all while still in my pj's, then wandered back to the kitchen in a fog to get my protein shake going to try and jump start my day.  When that still didn't help I broke down all the things I HAD to do today vs. all the things I NEEDED to do.  Yes, there is a difference in this list.  I have to do things such as:

Feed horses and dogs
Clean stalls
Doctor hoof of the horse on stall rest
Shower
Have grain, fly sheets, and boots set up for neighbors along with specific instructions

Things I need to do include:

Riding Goose
Riding Louis
Cleaning my tack
Dishes
Laundry
Eating (just kidding this is on my have to list)

Needless to say my day is filled before it even begins, and then you throw in this crud I've been fighting off for a week and my day just goes to hell.  So I make the executive decision to take some medicine, something that did not work out well for me the other day, and see what happened after 30 minutes.  Wrong decision, as exhaustion caught up with me and I passed out for about an hour, and was awoken by the neighbors kid running into the house away from his parents (have I mentioned that I don't want children?!?!).  I jumped up and ran to the barn, immediately feeling the pressure of a time crunch and anxiety that I would not get everything done before I had to leave.

I busted through my stalls, doctored the horse, and was grooming Goose to ride when the heavens opened up and it was pouring buckets.  I grabbed my phone to look at the radar, only to see that it would stop raining about the time I was getting to work.  My mood went even further south and I was about to put him into his stall and call it a day when my awesome, inspiring puppy went running through the rain jumping and playing.  I walked out and looked around, realized that I was not in fact melting, and decided the hell with it.  I threw boots on Goose and out we went on the lunge line.  After five-ten minutes of warm up I set up a couple one foot jumps and ran with him as he jumped through the lines.  I ended up soaking wet, boots disgusting from the mud and tall grass, but I got a workout and so did my horse.  It honestly probably ended up being more productive than if I had gotten on him.

I finished up by letting him graze in the clover while I spun like a fool letting the rain pelt me in the face as we cooled off.  I decided then that I am going to continue to get better at not letting little things get to me, and at the end of the day I am doing the best I can by myself and my horses.  Not everything is in my hands, and I have to be ok with rolling with it.  I am still sitting here drenched as I write this, but I was able to make some downtime for myself now and I feel better already.  Now to try and keep this cool at work this evening! Haha

Until next time-
Court

Small Changes for a Bigger Life

I love my life, and almost everything about it.  I am very blessed to have a barn and a farm filled with wonderful horses, the means to take care of them, a great group of friends, a loving family, a job, and my health.  I have been very fortunate to never really want for much in my life, which in turn has left me a bit spoiled in some aspects of my day to day life.

I have never been a skinny person, but it has always been something that I have been fairly ok with.  Neither of my parents are post-and-rail type people, and I just always knew that I would never be a size 2, hell I'd be lucky to be a size 8!  I then let this become an excuse for my weight, and even though I was packing on the pounds between turning 21 and changing some things, I found I was suddenly the size of a whale, and no one was saying anything to me.  I would look in the mirror and be a bit disgusted, but then tell myself that it was ok, it was just a part of my body type, and go on about my day.

Finally, after going through a difficult breakup this spring (you know, the one where you're with the person you thought you would actually marry, and then come to find out it all just gets ripped out from under you? Yeah that one) I decided that I had to live my life for me, and I was going to be damn proud of myself!  I had just come back from a trip to Aiken, where my riding was well below par, even for me, and knew that I needed to start by looking at my weight and get serious about loosing it.  Here I was sitting on this fabulous horse, who all of a sudden I could not ride because, and lets face it, I was too fat to stay with him.  No one was going to voice this opinion, but I could hear it on the tip of their tongues when we would talk about my lessons.  So I came home and buckled down.

I'm not going to sit here and feed you a line of crap about how I work out every day, or run 5 miles, and only eat healthy.  I am still human, and I am a very picky eater.  I love chips and cheese dip, ice cream, and definitely a beer or margarita from time to time.  But I have worked very hard to change some small things day to day and I have seen massive results.  I have cut out white bread, introduced things like oatmeal into my diet, and I drink way more water than I ever thought was possible for someone.  I have also added a protein shake into my daily routine, trying to do 2 on the days I can.  I know that I still have a long way to go, but these little changes have all slowly added up and I can feel myself getting stronger.

I may not have time to go and run every day, or even once a week sometimes, but I do manage to carve out 10 minutes for some ab work and squats 4-5 times a week.  I finally have room in my jeans, I have dropped almost 2 whole pant sizes, and I am back into clothes I wore in high school! Most importantly, I feel much better than I have in a long time.  I know I am still not skinny, and I may never be, but I feel like if the girls want to go out onto the lake I can wear a swim suit and not feel like I need to hide the entire day.  I can go and run 2 miles now without stopping, something I have not been able to do for years, I can squat 150 times without stopping (even though I want to kill myself by the end haha), and I ran a full-format event without even having the wind taken out of my sails.

I did not make these changes for my ex, for the public, for my parents, for anyone other than myself.  I feel like as a whole I am a happier and healthier person, and I can still enjoy dinner out with my friends without feeling guilty about what I eat.  I just hope that for anyone who is feeling down on themselves, all it takes is one little change. There is no need to go on the latest diet fad, because I feel like this works way better than all of those.  Just cut out small things, or cut down to 1 soda a day, and before long you'll find you don't even want the one.  I never thought I'd be back to where I am today, and I hope that I can continue forward from here.  Always remember, but never go back!  And just know that it is ok to have a bad weekend or a bad week even, but don't give up because you ate fast food one day, or pasta for dinner.  You didn't put on all the weight overnight, and loosing it is most definitely a marathon.  I'm still training for the big race, but I feel myself getting stronger every day.

Now off to enjoy the weekend!!! If this just inspires one person to get a bit healthier then I've done my job :-)