40 Things for 40

Here is my review of January. On the whole I feel like I did fairly well, but lots of room for improvement! Some goals went better than others. 1 Healthy Me I lost 1kg - yay. I put back on 0.5kg - not yay! Started running club. Failed at running club as having a virus for most of the month meant I have not been able to do anywhere near as much exercise as planned. So I have deffered until the next one starts. Started on Wii Fit again.  2 Slightly Less Poor Me Have set up larger payments on one credit card so it will be paid off completely by June.  As I can only set up minimum payments on the other card, I will make extra payments each month to help it along. Paid off Next account in full. Cancelled magazine subscriptions and online courses/ app subscriptions Have managed to not spend much on non-essentials. Have not managed to do meal planning or online food shop though and I am sure both of these would help to save money. 3 Academic Me Att...

Another weekend that could be said to be 'character building' and one for the f**kitbucket. Saturday, thought I had sussed out Matti's canter issues, not perfect but better. Correct lead more often than not and only changed behind a few times. We even nailed transitions at a marker rather than halfway around the school. Next up was Amber. Felt positive until we walked into the school then my confidence made a run for somewhere hot and sunny. I tensed up and apparently looked terrified. Amber was rather tense and felt like she was about to explode. Got off after 7 minutes. On the positive side, I decided to think of it as not our day, rather than my normal negative nellie talk. Sunday I had planned to take Matti to a polework clinic but he had other ideas and refused to load. At one point we could not even get him near the ramp. About half an hour after my lesson had started, I managed to get him to walk through the trailer. Attempted to tie him up and close up the tra...

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Also did a bit with Amber. Groomed first and we went for plum matchy. As I have not done much with her, I decided to play safe and give her a quick lunge before climbing on board. Literally did 2 minutes walk and trot on each rein, swapping over several times. She had a couple of Tigger moments but was really good. Her walk in particular is looking amazing! When walking her in hand I am struggling to keep up as it is so forward now! Not quite as amazing once I was on board, but a lot better from before she was treated. Did a couple of circuits on each rein in walk then finished. Hoping to start a bit of trot soon - just want someone on the ground at first just in case she finds it too exciting. from Team Solstice Wobbleberry Challenge http://ift.tt/2naeT55 via IFTTT

Had the morning off work so as the weather was nice for a change, I spent it at the yard. Matti had a groom and then I tacked up. I even went full on matchy! Love this petrol colour on him. First time for ages as normally I do not have enough time. Before I got on I decided to give him a quick lunge first. His trot is super at the moment, he is stretching down and working in a nice frame most of the time. Occasionally we have ears in my face moments - normally when he thinks it's time we had a canter! Left canter was lovely, just need him to transition down to trot when I ask, not halfway around the arena later. Right canter is still iffy - he either goes on the wrong lead, or changes behind if on the correct one. But if I give him a loose rein, he is better. So it is possible he is just having a rider issue, but I will probably get him checked out by his chiro for my own peace of mind. Everything else has been checked recently and although he could have tweaked himself the...

So Goal Setting. I've been working on this (and mulling it over when not) a lot recently. I am pretty good a setting goals, making plans, timetables, step by step guides, the lot. However, I'm not that great at actually having a goal come to fruition. Either the ball never gets rolling or I start making progress then get side swiped by something or other. Take last years Wobbleberry challenge for example, this was held up by lack of working transport, then Amber broke, then my personal life was turned upside down and my anxiety got so bad I could hardly leave the house. Perhaps some of this is what I call self-sabotage. Things start going well and I start worrying about what is going to go wrong, then something does. I do not seem to be able to believe that good things can actually happen to me and so I block them. But I still set goals. I have tried not having any goals or plans because someone once told me that I would only get frustrated if I did not achieve them. I gu...

Today I had 3 goals: 1) Stay on 2) Get 60% or over 3) Get correct canter leads Well, one out of three ain’t bad, although it was very nearly none! Arrived at the time I had planned, then suddenly I only had 20 minutes to get on and warm up! Busy warm up but Matti coped well, although he had left his right canter lead at home. Walked into the indoor school and spooked at the dressage boards. Bell rang and off we went. Both a bit tense but going ok until we had to do our first canter and it went a bit wonky. Ran over the dressage boards and I nearly ate dirt. The judge kindly stopped me so the arena could be rearranged and we set off again. To be honest I did think about retiring but decided to carry on. Made it through the rest of the test without incident. Plan was to load Matti, watch the last few in my class with a cup of tea and cake, then pick up my sheet and head back to the yard. What actually happened was Matti took nearly a hour and a half to load! Not quite sure why...

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Hmmm, I think I need more plaiting practice. Matti was left with strict instructions to not attempt to rearrange them! from Team Solstice Wobbleberry Challenge http://ift.tt/2mOn71Y via IFTTT

Exciting mail today. British Eventing Official membership pack and gorgeous planner from Leroy and Bongo. Now I can start officially planning for The Wobbleberries challenge! #rideforhannah #kickingcancersbutt from Team Solstice Wobbleberry Challenge http://ift.tt/2DTr25S via IFTTT

Last night saw me taking part in my first session of beginners running club. Yes I proably could just put on my trainers and go for a run myself, but joing a group will not only make me accountable but will also mean that I will meet new people and have conversations and things. It was good fun and I'm rather surprised that I'm fitter than I thought I was as I only struggled with the last two running intervals. I do not ache that much this morning either.

Managed a wee ride on both the gingers today. Amber was very good. She's still a little stiff on the right hock, but walking out much better than she was. I hoped Simon was going to video her to compare to last time, but he managed to just take a photo instead! Matti was also good even though by this time there was fencing being done next to the school - including the use of a chainsaw! from Team Solstice Wobbleberry Challenge http://ift.tt/2D9BGHy via IFTTT

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Our event calendar is starting to get full! By the way, I'm not intending to go to all of them. I have been checking out various websites and FB pages for competitions and writing them in. I have even colour coded all of the entries - red is for closing dates. Blue is for clinics, lessons etc. Green is for competitions and black is for online dressage, photo shows etc. Next step is to make a shortlist of events I'd like to do most and those that would be a stepping stone to my goal, then add those to my planner (making a note of the closing date). Final step is to start sending my entries in. I have already missed out on one as the entries closed earlier due to full classes, so will be making sure to get entries in extra early from now on! The Wobbleberries challenge Leroy and Bongo #rideforhannah #kickingcancersbutt from Team Solstice Wobbleberry Challenge http://ift.tt/2CTsjbx via IFTTT

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I have put off making a competition plan for a while now, as it normally seems to be that whenever I make one, things never happen quite how I planned. But rather tentatively, I have been doing a bit of planning for a few competitions and lessons/ clinics for this season. I have also joined up me, Amber and Matti to British Dressage and British Eventing, plus 3 riding clubs, so even more reason to get out and about.

So today this happened!!! 10 minutes walk in the school on board. Amber was a little unsure at first, but was actually very good once we got going. I toyed with the idea of walking her in hand first, then realised I was just making excuses and it was best to get it over with. Not going to lie, I was rather nervous, but more about her 'acting up' because of still being sore, rather than my normal worries that she is going to rear/ buck/ spook/ bog off etc. Which are just that - worries. In my head. Not real. from Team Solstice Wobbleberry Challenge http://ift.tt/2CF9hXk via IFTTT

First ride of the year on Matti and I survived. Just!  He was very spooky today and did a spin and bog off at some jump fillers which have been in the school forever. He only stopped because he spooked at a jump. He was rather spooky and unsettled the whole time, all of which is a bit unusual for him, so just kept things simple but keeping his brain busy. I put it down to him just having an off day (lots of fireworks going off at midnight may have contributed). Several positives though - I stayed on, didn't get off or make the session short, thought of a different aim for the session, and didn't feel I was a failure/ rubbish rider/ my horse hates me/ any of the other crap I normally think up! from Team Solstice Wobbleberry Challenge http://ift.tt/2CF9b1U via IFTTT