40 Things for 40

The ponies having a little post breakfast nap yesterday morning!

I have tried not to do to much planning recently - mainly because if things don't happen when I've planned them to, I get quite down about it. However, I'm going to start doing some 'gentle' planning so that I can use my time more efficiently. The fact that I now have my little car means that I am more flexible with travelling. For example, when it is my turn to do the horses in the morning, I can get everything ready in the morning and have them down on the rota to be brought in at night so that I can spend a full day in the office and stay as long as I need, rather than having to rush out to do the horses again (which also saves on fuel and travel time). I can also work it with Simon on some other days that I go to the yard early, get everything ready, squeeze in a ride then head off to office or home office and he brings the horses in at night. This means I can spend more time in the office, even when Simon is out and about as I am not 'trapped' there w...

It's Friday afternoon, almost time to finish work, so I thought I'd do a little blog on my week. It has been a very good week so far :) On Monday, my Uncle Eugene brought my car over from Kent and since then I have been driving every day - most of my trips have been solo too! I've been quite good and only done journeys I've needed to do. The 'road trips' start next week :) I've also managed to get some riding done this week, 3 hacks on Mia. Yesterday one of the girls from the yard borrowed Matti for a hack too. I've also made progress with Mia and her 'reluctance' to cross the stream. Went out for a hack on Tuesday evening, headed out the normal way, got to the stream and she planted. Tried for a few minutes, then got off, hoping she might follow. Nope, not playing ball. She wasn't scared either, just said 'make me'. Sue and Misty came to the rescue and stood behind Mia to encourage her forwards until she was at the edge of the st...

After passing my driving test last year, I haven't been able to drive that much. My grandad and mum decided that I needed a car, so have been keeping an eye out for one for me. Grandad spotted one near his house around Christmas and asked mum and Eddie to have a look at it. Eddie decided it was suitable as a first car, so they picked it up a couple of weeks ago. Today, my Uncle brought it from Kent to Hook. I drove him to the yard as he wanted to see the horses, then I took him to the train station. After that, I was to go solo for the very first time. I was pretty nervous, but remembered to breathe and didn't go any faster than I felt happy with and was ok. Getting from the yard to home later on was a little more scary as it was dusk (something else I have not dealt with before), but I managed to get home safely. Tomorrow I will be driving to the office on my own. Hopefully the journeys will go as smoothly as they did today.

This was one of my #13things, but I realised that I never actually specified what the aim(s) of it was. So, seeing as everyone can always improve, I thought I would include it in this years goals. Of course, I am sure this list is far from exhaustive. Regain my confidence jumping This might take a while, but I am hoping that eventually I can complete a 2'3" course without having a meltdown. Hack alone confidently Not that I really have to do this very often, I think it might be useful to know that I can take the horses out on their own and not be worried by it. Improve my riding position I know what my faults are, I just need to spend some (ok, maybe a lot) of riding sessions working on correcting them Have regular riding lessons Mainly to improve my position and aids, but also to learn new exercises Do more groundwork training I enjoyed doing ground work with the horses in the summer, so when the round pen has dried out, I'm aiming to do some more. In addit...

Last summer, during a chat about fly spray (of all things) and that Avon have a body spray which is great for keeping flies and bugs away, the seed was sown for me to think about becoming an Avon rep. I looked into it and decided to give it a go, with the plan of just selling to friends and family. I have done quite well so far, so one of my aims is to see if I can push it further and earn some money from Avon. One of the ways to do this is to take on a street or two in the local area, which I still a little unsure about doing, so at the moment I am seeing what else I can do to get people interested in buying bits and bobs.

I was very brave on Monday and took Amber out for a hack. Alone. This is a very big thing for me as I don't really like hacking alone (says she who used to hack out down busy roads without batting an eyelid - the confidence/ idiocy of youth!). Amber is currently shoeless as a) she is not in much work, b) she has very good hooves and c) she is a tit for our farrier so have gone back to basics with handling her hooves until she behaves perfectly for him. She is a little sore at times, but its one of those I need to work her to get her hooves tougher situations now. Set off and she was rather wobbly to start, I wasn't sure if this was because she was alone or her feet were sore. She started to settle and was walking nicely, so I decided to try a little trot which went well. Got to one of the softer up hill tracks and we had a canter. I admit that I may not have been in as much control as I would have liked! Amber then spooked at a log and dropped back into trot, before try...

With the weather recently, it has been very difficult to ride. I don't mind heading out in a bit of light rain, but sheets of rain and strong winds does not make for a relaxing hack. The weekend was better so I managed to go for a hack on Mia with Louise on Saturday and then out with Lisa and Sue on Sunday with Matti. I think everyone else was making the most of it too as we saw lots of other riders, joggers and dog walkers out and about in the forest. Mia was a little looky as when I have taken her out before, we have not really seen anyone else. She stopped as two joggers ran towards us, but didn't do anything else and she stopped to watch the horse and dog canter towards us, but again didn't spook or do anything else. Matti was much better than the last time I hacked him out. He got a bit silly once when he was at the back, and decided that canter was the new trot for a bit, but other than that he was fine, even when he was behind the others. Daft horse! However, I...

I have managed to think of a couple more ideas. Well, ok, two. But it means I now have over half of my #14things for the year! Be a better me Amber Matti Mia/ Project Horses Blue Huskies Career Avon Be a better horsewoman - - - - -

I guess this could have gone under the "be a better me" category, but I wanted this to be so epic, that it would need its own #14things label. Firstly, I am not really looking for a new job. However, to be able to do my current one even better than my best, I do want to invest some time and money in developing my skills and learning new ones. Of course this also means that if I need/ want to find another job, I have a good base of skills and knowledge to help me on my way. I can split this into a couple of sections, one is increasing my responsibilities in my current job. Another is useful skills/ qualifications to learn. Responsibilities Accounts - taking full responsibility of the accounts will mean it's easier for just me to make payments, chase outstanding payments and pester for receipts! Website - I have done most of the work on this myself, but feel that it needs a bit of an overhaul to attract more customers. Quotes - although I do not expect anyone els...

Aims for the puppies are listed below, not a huge amount right now, but I will be back to add to this one very soon. Some of the aims will be broken down into smaller sections, which I will detail later. Get fit Buy harnesses Get used to wearing harness Take to a dog show (or two)

Well, I can't really have goals for the horses and not have any for Blue can I? So far, I only have a few, but am sure that I will think of plenty more as time goes on! Not jump up at people Perfect recall Accompany me on hacks

Back in the dim and distant past, when I first set up my blog and tried to achieve #31things, one of them was to get a project horse, work with them and then find them a new home. Originally I thought of getting a youngster from the New Forest Pony sales, or an ex-racer. However, due to one thing and another, this never happened. Until the end of last year, when I saw an ad on FB for a horse who sounded like the ideal project for me and so far, all is going well. So, the aim of the project horse is to get them working at a good consistent level and make sure that they are good to handle and do everything with. These include the following: Good to catch Good to lead Stand quietly at the post Can be handled by anybody Good for farrier Good for vet/ dentist Easy to worm/ administer medicine Load into a box/ trailer confidently Easy to tack up Stand still to be mounted/ adjust stirrups/ tighten girth Hack alone - walk, trot and canter Hack in company - walk, trot and canter ...

As with Amber's list, I thought that I would start with a recap of Matti's goals for 2013. Put bridle on without taking apart Hack alone Be able to wear a fly fringe Be happy to be clipped Load confidently Dressage to Prelim level Learn flying changes Learn canter pirouettes Learn Spanish Walk Learn Passage/ Piaffe Ride on the beach Go drag hunting Get Simon to ride him Enter a dressage comp Complete a clear round class Enter a show jumping comp Enter a showing class Be fit enough to do two hour fast hack Be able to wear a browband Jump out on a hack Ride bareback Ride in the snow Be able to ride without needing to lunge first Be able to take off bridle without taking apart Hack in company Jump small course In hindsight, perhaps one or two of those were a little bit ambitious, but I am very happy with what we achieved. So here are a few of my aims for 2014: Get ODE fit Riding more consistently Be schooling consistently at Novice level To be...

Before I begin with my plans for the year ahead, I want to recap my list for last year. Anything that I didn't complete last year, I will aim to do this year, along with a few more challenges. So here is my list from last year - all those that we did achieve I have crossed out. Groundwork Learn to behave for farrier Load Be bridled happily Improve lunging Improve long reining Hack alone - canter Schooling - canter Schooling to Novice level Get clipped Ride in the snow Ride on the beach Enter a showing class Enter a dressage comp Ride bareback Be stabled happily Hack in company - walk and trot Be able to ride without Simon leading Be able to ride without Simon Schooling - walk and trot Hack in company - canter Hack alone - walk and trot Start pole work Introduce jumping Jump out hacking As you can see, I actually achieved almost all of my goals from 2013 (I've even surprised myself with how well we did), and some we almost did, they just need a bit mor...