I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but I do make a year-end list of personal reflections. It includes lessons I’ve learned as well as rhetorical questions I continue to ponder. As I look back on 2009, my list goes something like this:
- Before hitching up the trailer and heading out for a relaxing ride on a public trail system, check the site’s activities calendar. If it’s going to be hosting a mountain bike derby, a run/walk for the cure of anything, or the annual gathering of Birdwatchers of America, it’s best to ride someplace else.
- Never participate in an online equestrian chat group with a bunch of horsewomen around dinner time. Your husband will end up feeling ignored and cooking for himself and that never ends well.
- As I get older, my horses are getting smaller.
- Someone needs to manufacture a decent therapeutic western saddle pad that looks stylish and doesn’t cost more than my monthly hay bill.
- That pungent aroma of horse urine and equine sweat? That’s coming from my shoes.
- When in doubt, longe.
- No one can ever convince me that my geldings would look respectable wearing tack that’s blinged out with sparkling colored crystals.
- Years ago I was able to body clip a horse to perfection in less than an hour. Now I spend twice as much time and the poor creature ends up looking like a four-legged patchwork quilt.
- Why won’t my husband buy me horsey print flannel pajamas? I ask for them every Christmas and he never gets them for me.
- If a cracked leather rein looks like it might break, it will. And it’ll break at the most inopportune time, like when I’m pulling back to stop a bolting horse.
- Every scary uphill trail eventually leads to a scary downhill trail. For some reason I can’t seem to remember that.
- My horses have a psychic gift combined with uncanny fiduciary skills. Virtually every time I’m able to amass a small fortune in my savings account, they injure themselves so I have to pay a vet bill that drains the aforementioned savings account.
- It’s nearly impossible to completely remove Neatsfoot oil stains from a nylon jacket.
- I admit that I have a thing for heart-shaped silver conchos. In fact, I believe I’ve collected enough to outfit a parade horse.
- At some point during 2010 I’ll discover the perfect pair of riding jeans. They’ll fit my body and they won’t end up leaving abraded areas on certain parts of my anatomy. A horsewoman can dream, right?
I hope you have fun creating your own year-end list. I truly wish you a new year full of great horses and great rides. If you’d like to leave a comment, just click on Submit a Comment below.