True Confessions

My house is a mess. It almost always is. I don't have any trouble prioritizing riding ahead of house work. Always. Or ahead of cleaning my car. Or often ahead of socializing. It isn't even that I'm a very good rider, or that I have lofty aspirations. I just like being with the horses and riding more than almost anything else and I don't seem to suffer from too much guilt (make that none) when I do it.
I'm pretty sure my family and friends don't mind - I'm a nicer person when I spend a lot of time with horses.
Having said all that, I find myself getting more and more rushed to fit riding in with work. I'm so lucky that I work for myself so I can set my own hours, but it's still a crunch.  
Today I didn't ride - I started to get ready to go, calculating, as usual, exactly how long I could work before leaving, when I had to be back, rushed at either end, and then I just didn't go. I NEVER do this, but maybe it isn't a bad thing occasionally. I thought I'd get lots of work done, but here's what I did ~
I researched new trends in my line of work (instead of putting together the power point presentation that's due) and then I napped under the sky light with the rain lulling me to sleep. I dreamed I was riding beautiful, perfect canter lengthening and shortening, back and forth :) Life is good.
(Just so I don't sound too lazy, I did my work tonight)
I'd better write a little bit about training, just to keep me on track :) Rogo did his first ever counter canter to the quarter line and back last Sat. He ACED it, first ask, to the right and then repeated it several times. It was easy and effortless for him. He broke to a trot on the left lead on the three times I tried it. I'm going to be very careful to note my riding the next time I try, to see if I'm doing things differently on the different sides. He usually does things better to the right, but that may be because of the way I ride.
My next few rides I need to get back to focusing on my bending, contact and  halts, while incorporating some of the new work.

Comments

Hurricanes12 said…
rogo is such a superstar, and i totally agree with those confessions. my car resembles a hay truck these days :)
Unknown said…
Life is too short for housework.....I always say, when you die no one is going to write on your tombstone, "she kept a clean house"...these things are not important in the long run. I struggle with them everyday for different reasons because of physical limitations and pain so I have had to learn to calm myself when people enter my house and tell myself that they are just passerbys in my life and do not see the bigger picture. You really need to do today what you need to do today....we cannot take tomorrow for granted. So ride Carol, ride. Do less work and ride. I know you feel like you have to work but your heart and soul is in your riding and don't take it so seriously all the time.....take more days to just enjoy your horses and trail ride....or give you and them days off and just groom them....sometimes we forget how touch and touch for a longer period of time makes them feel good just like it makes us feel good!!! I often just massage my minis and you can see them just totally enter the "relax"zone!!! Sometimes, you are too driven and try to do too much. I worry about you...love ya. Lynn
Carol said…
Thanks for the comments you guys. Appreciated.
Lynn you're so right re taking time to just enjoy them. I was thinking yesterday, if I go ride I'm barely going to have time to groom, etc. That's okay once in a while, but Rogo loves the interaction of grooming (like most horses). It's a very good reminder to me to remember to spend non riding time with them, for both our sakes. I'm good at doing that when they're in the back yard (I often go read beside them, etc.), but when I drive for 40 minutes to get to them I'm all business when I get there :) Gotta go for fun too.
Anyway, thanks for the wonderful feedback and your house is one of the most warm and welcoming I've ever entered.
Unknown said…
Thanks Carol...this is why you and I are such good friends...we always have something to give each other...you just made my day. love ya.
Unknown said…
And by the way, I have always found your home(s), each place you have lived to be very inviting and warm. People who care about us never look beyond that anyway so who cares.....that is my motto anyway.
Carol said…
Right back at ya Lynn! Thanks.
Jeni said…
what is house work??? hahahahahaha

I prefer to muck stalls then do dishes. I prefer to wash rain sheets, turn out blankets and wraps then do my own laundry. I prefer to hang at the barn all day (every day) from sunrise to sunset (and beyond).

I also prefer to lay down and nap under warm sunlight and listen to the rain with one or more of my dogs curled around me.

There is NOTHING wrong with you at all =)

~Jeni
Carol said…
Jeni I love your comments. I always tell people that I sweep my barn more than my house (and it's true). Why is it we feel this way?
I also have a dog or three wrapped around me when I nap :)