Winter is terrible and beautiful. I love the quiet, and the landscapes of snow and ice formations are stunning to look at… for a time, however when this frozen landscape drags on for “too” long it becomes the winter of my discontent!
This year our endurance activities are coming back into focus alongside the community that has been forming around horsemanship clinics and whole horse approach to having powerful partners in whatever we do. After a long winding journey to get through a single-day 100 mile ride, I took some time off and this winter finally, after a little space, have gone back to revisit the long-running blog greento100 from the beginning.
The upside is being able to recognize growth. Growth in my writing (the early blogs were hard even for me to slog through), growth in my approach to both the horses and the people around me, growth in my understanding of how to help a horse develop and prepare for a goal… the downside is looking back to the 10-year-ago me and seeing the view before the growth! I’m exhausted from spending so much time with her lately… she was hard to be around. I’m grateful for the ones who saw the potential of who I could be, and gave me the space to develop, and stuck with me through the process.
This year, as the future path comes into focus, I’m both excited and much more relaxed about the journey. I saw my desperation as an early endurance rider to find the commonly accepted riding calendars and mileage and speed goals to preparing a horse and the constant pressure I felt to do my part. I feel much less pressure now- even after almost a year between my last competition event and our first one to come, with much less riding in between. I am picking up in the most challenging time to add fitness in the mountains: Winter. To add a layer, it’s a particularly tough winter due to lingering snow that has meant a lot of ice and really hard snow crust that can irritate a horse’s lower legs if too much time is spent crunching through it. The risk versus reward equation looks different to me now than it did ten years ago.
This year I look outside when the temps are below zero and the ice layer is thickening and I add a log to the fire, go back over more old blog posts in order to understand where I’ve been, and figure we will get out there, when it’s time. I’m far less worried about miles and miles per hour today. I have learned that over training is a thing, and as I review my endurance beginnings, I see it’s a thing I once did too well!
Still, not getting any exercise is an equally poor plan, so I take a day here and there when the weather cooperates enough to make the risks less adverse and we either go for an in-hand hike up the hollow or if it’s favorable enough saddle up to get into the woods from home. I am very fortunate to have options right from my doorstep and am grateful for them because my trailer is snowed in for going on three weeks now.
While there is less happening externally, I’m focused on some internal things. I am looking for a framework over which to tell the Green to 100 story- if there is one – in a way that entertains and enlightens. It has also timely for me as I begin a new adventure to visit how the old one began, and remember the things I would not do again. I am living proof that Ronnie Moyer is right when he says: Change IS possible!
I am pretty excited about the year to come. The community around PowerfulHorse is organically beginning to form and I truly enjoy the family that is coming together around this approach to horse life. We will be sharing time this year around some horsemanship clinics as usual, but I am working on some fun bonus days to meet with other professionals such as Stephanie from Indigo Ancestral Health, Deb from Optimal Posture, Dr. Hancock (Osteopathy) from True North Equine, and USDF Dressage Bronze Medalist Mattalyn Rogers who has shifted from a very successful dressage career to exploring how to do better for the horse combining her dressage experience with the horsemanship experience that aligns with our approach based on more thought and freedom and less force and pressure.
So as January turns (a bit too) slowly toward a close, I greet you dear reader with a warm spirit, for those who have journeyed long and far with me- a thank you for your grace and patience. For those who are newer- an energetic welcome and my own expectation that this connection should require slightly less grace and patience than some of the long timers. I am also excited that our local newspaper has invited me to share our current journey to the Vermont 100 with the local community in a print series, so I’ll be doing a bit more writing than usual!
And so I am spending more time by the wood stove, with my new favorite camping blanket and my laptop, but also ramping up my gym time because I have lost fitness in the last year that I spent falling in love, getting married, and dealing with some personal health challenges along the way. It was a good year for rest and celebration! Now we have work to do and the gym seems a good place to start while the world around me is iced over.
Meanwhile I look for the few days above freezing and where the terrain is less crusty or slick or deep and get a little riding in. I’ve been posting some videos of us out in the wild on our YouTube channel so you can check those out if you’re also frozen in the house this January!
Stay tuned, and invite some friends to the party! I love the family that is coming together – everyone on their own adventure – finding a place to share the stories and learn from each other. Currently we are an in-person ragtag bunch that come together around horses, clinics and good food, but I foresee an online group will be hatched as well to help us stay connected during the “in between” times, and include some who cannot get to in person events. I will keep events updated on the PowerfulHorse.com site and we invite new friends to come, even without a horse, to enjoy the camaraderie and discussions of ideas and approaches.
Now… to get off the couch and get outside, it’s one of those above freezing days, and I have to get to work later!
Hope Horsemanship 