22 years old today. Still my favorite thing in the whole universe. ❤

I’ve been thinking about this article from Eventing Nation on and off for a week now.

Chris Talley and Unmarked Bills: From Track To Three-Star in Two Years

He raced in California, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey before retiring in November of 2014 [at age 5].

[…] 

So Bills went with Chris to Florida in January 2015, and four months later he was entered in his first event at Training level. “I wanted to enter the Novice, but I entered late,” Chris says. “I contacted the organizers and they said all they had was a spot for Beginner Novice or for Training, so I figured we’d just give the Training a shot. He was a little unsure of things, but he has such a big heart, he just tried all weekend long.”

By August 2015, they had moved up to Prelim after completing three Training events; the next year, they came out at Intermediate and did three CIC** evenets over summer and fall 2016, and came in 15th at the Fair Hill CCI** in fall 2016.

The horse came back out at Intermediate in early February 2017, and did his first Advanced at Pine Top in late February. Last week, they came out at the Carolina CIC***.

When asked how he was able to move up the levels so quickly, Chris is quick to give all the credit to Bills and his incredible Thoroughbred heart. “Bills just never stops trying. The cross country has never been an issue for him,” Chris says. “He has struggled with connection issues on the flat, but he’s always been incredibly bold over jumps.”

So let’s do the math: first event ever at Training in January 15 after 2 months off the track. 25 months later, he ran his first Advanced; 26 months later, a three star. Their spring plans include another CIC*** and then the CCI*** at Bromont in June.

I will be the first one to say: I am not an upper level rider. I have never taken a horse beyond Beginner Novice; I have never retrained an OTTB. Arguably, I have done such a shitty job of training my own green horse that we’re still dealing with basic things after a decade.

But: 26 months from racing to three star? That can’t possibly be ok, right? Even if we assume the horse had a ridiculously high base of fitness from the track, even if we assume he is some kind of prodigy at cross country, does he still really and truly understand his job as a three star horse after barely two years? Even more, does he understand it well enough to handle all the challenges and complexities of some of these huge courses?

I’m genuinely curious. Is this a reasonable, if fast, timeline, or do you think there are dangerous training holes?

I’ve had the same credit card for many years – basically, since the first time I got a card. It’s served me well, but for a variety of reasons, I’m looking to get another one and let the old one sit empty. It’ll still be useful as a large credit pool, helping my overall credit score + history, but I’m not loving the rewards right now.

I’m looking at other credit cards and what benefits they offer, and I started to wonder: what are my options in a credit card that would give me horse-specific rewards?

Once upon a time, I had a Dovery Saddlery card. I signed up because it gave me a great signing bonus and I needed/wanted a backup card, just in case. I never really used it, even though it promised rewards. I see that credit card program is still active, but I’m just not sure it would be worth it for the things I can buy at Dover.

Now, if there were a SmartPak or Riding Warehouse card with good benefits, I’d be all over that! But alas, nothing yet.

Right now, I’m leaning toward an Amazon card, but I’m curious – do you use a credit card with benefits for horse purchases? Which one?

I’m seriously torn on these, in two ways. They looked so perfect in the store, but I am not in love with them in place. I think I want more beige or gray tones than cream.

I also can’t decide whether to leave them floor-length or hem them.

thoughts?

My parents visited this weekend, and I will have some house updates to share next week. We didn’t get as much work done as we might have: we had important things to do.

At a certain point, layers of plaster look the same in pictures. But here, have an update again, showing layer #2. Depending on how this week goes, we’ll be painting next week.

In other parts of the house, I spent some quality time organizing the basement. These pictures would be way more exciting if I showed you the before, but I am a failure as a blogger and didn’t take adequate pictures.

Basically, there was a lot more junk, and it was all in the way. Now things are redistributed so paths are clearer, and there’s more shelving for various tools. We’ve still got a ways to go, but the feel is already way better.

I’ve actually been drafting this post for a while, both in paper notes and then via draft blog post. Last year, I didn’t do goals. I am usually a goal-oriented person and thought it would help to be more laid back. Well, 2016 was a dumpster fire. I don’t know how much was correlation and how much was causation (surely my lack of goals didn’t elect Trump?) but I do know that being laid back does not work for me.

So here are some goals I’m setting for my equestrian-self in 2017.

1. Put hands on my horse 5x a week except when I am out of town.

This shouldn’t be hard, but in 2016 I let his semi-retirement and my house projects dictate to me. I told myself (not untruthfully) that he was happier just chilling out, and that I would be happier if I made progress in other areas of my life.

But you guys: I am 8 minutes away from my horse. I’ve timed it. There is ZERO reason I can’t spare 30 minutes just to go out and groom him even if I don’t have time to ride or do anything longer. I need to get back on this. It will have the added bonus of increasing my non-riding ratio, which will make him a happier pony.

2. Be less perfunctory, in all areas of my life.

Part of being too busy and too laid back simultaneously was that I let myself get away with too much. I didn’t groom thoroughly. I honestly can’t remember the last time I cleaned my tack. Probably early summer. I have nice tack, good tools, and there is no reason I can’t spend a little bit of extra time taking care of the details. If I am going to do something, I need to do it with intention.

3. Aim toward dressage schooling shows.

I’m not sure if the budget will allow off-property shows, but I need to make a commitment to both in-barn shows. I need to ask for the time off to make theme a success instead of winging it and hoping I can get away from work in the last two weeks.

4. Take more lessons

Even if it’s once a month, I need focus again. I am so stupid lucky to be at a place with great instruction. I need to make this a priority in my budget. Commitment to this will mean that I probably can’t justify any off-property showing (one show = 5 lessons).

5. Find a horse-specific income stream. Corollary: fully re-fund Tristan’s emergency fund.

I don’t know what this is. Maybe it’s something I make and sell. Maybe it’s a small part-time job. Maybe it’s looking at the ways I currently get extra sources of income. Whatever it is, I need to refill Tristan’s emergency fund, which functions more as a slush fund and less as a true emergency fund as this year I bought new breeches and other new riding equipment for the first time in a long time…and got a little carried away. That needs to swing back.

6. Do more thoughtful work.

This is something I’m putting into practice across my life. Less triviality, more deep thinking. More focus. More thinking about goals.

In my horse life, it means I want to be proactive instead of reactive when I write on this blog. I want to read more and digest that and share it with you all. I want to concentrate more on the slow and steady work in dressage rather than freaking out and changing course three times a week.

I’ve taken some steps in my personal life – I’ve deleted Facebook from my phone and am reading more, doing more hands-on creative projects, making a careful point to follow one thing through instead of multitasking.

7. Get more media.

I ride by myself 98% of the time, so not conducive to having current video or photographic evidence that I do, in fact, ride my horse instead of take pictures of him looking adorable in his stall, or take between the ears shots.

I need to work harder at bullying my husband into coming to the barn to take pictures of me, or always asking friends who visit to take some quick pictures of us, or teaming up with Emilie to do joint sessions. (That worked really well this year!)