I am CHEERING! We are out the other side of that crazy cold spell. I carried 50-60 gallons of water a day. Pushed 200 pounds of hay a day in a wheelbarrow through 8 inches of snow. Pulled the flipping wheelbarrow back up the LONG hill to the barn after I had offloaded the hay. Unloaded a trailer of 100 bales of hay and stacked 6 high in the barn in 20 degree F. I would not trade this for anything. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was surprised myself by how hot I stayed! I just felt like I blossomed. I am stronger mentally and physically than I could have ever imagined. I know there are a bunch of you with way worse winters and I applaud you and cheer you on.
We can eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring, signaling the start of more comfortable riding conditions. However, before you saddle up and hit the trails, preparation can make it a successful riding season. Here are a few things I do:
1. Health Check for Your Horse: All our horses are looking forward to spring with us!! We have horses in all different conditions coming out of winter and I know we will all do a great job of looking at our horse’s health needs and get them ready for spring!
2. Gradual Exercise Routine: Reintroduce your horse (and you) to regular exercise gradually. My favorite is to start hiking with them. Play with flexibility and balance for both of you on your walks if you can. It is so much fun to see horses really blossom getting ready for spring. This helps us get into shape together.
3. Assess and Update Tack: Inspect all riding equipment for wear and tear. Check all your tack and saddle fit to ensure they are comfortable for your horse. Clean and condition leather items to maintain their longevity. Replace any damaged or unsafe equipment promptly. Make sure your helmet is less than 5 years old and if you don’t have a MIPS helmet, I highly recommend this one. I love it. (Click here to check it out.)
4. Rider Fitness and Skills: Just like your horse, it's essential to assess your own fitness level. Engage in exercises that improve core strength, balance, and flexibility. Consider taking refresher riding lessons to sharpen your skills and regain confidence in the saddle after the winter hiatus.
5. Spring Grooming Routine: Give your horse thorough grooming sessions to promote a healthy, shiny coat. Check for any skin issues, such as scratches, thrush, or dermatitis, and address them promptly. Regular grooming not only enhances your horse's appearance but also fosters a strong bond between you and your horse.
By addressing these key areas, you set the stage for a successful and enjoyable spring riding season.
Grab my spring checklist so you have it handy! (Click here and I will email it to you.)
Winter is a time to rest, recuperate, and rejuvenate to get ready for spring riding. I remember sitting there on the edge of the bed, struggling to put my socks on and it was like a slap in the face. I was becoming "that" person. The one that couldn't sit on the floor and play board games. The one that made the "oof" sound getting on my horse. The one that just didn't feel so good anymore, I was feeling old. Like many of you, this stuff creeps up slowly, inch by inch, to steel our joy.
I knew I wanted to go into my senior years enjoying riding and part of that was flexibility, balance, and energy but how?
I tried EVERYTHING. Some things helped, some things didn't help and some things were AMAZING.
Flexibility - this started with healthy eating. I got rid of grains and refined sugar and this helped some. I worked on doing things like lifting my knee to my chest, alternating this while I was doing dishes. I played with lunges and side lunges to stretch my inner thigh. I just played with flexibility and movement. I was actually shocked to find out that I could not move my arms like a bird flying but I could move them like a swimmer. It took me some time to get my bird flying shoulders going again. The more I moved, the more I could move.
Balance - this one again I play with. I will see how long I can stand on one leg (practicing with both legs) while brushing my teeth or folding clothes. Chores became a great time to play with balance. Could I load the dishwasher standing on one leg or the other without falling over. This also improved my strength.
Energy - this was by far the most challenging and the most recently solved. I didn't feel like working on balance, flexibility and riding again. It just seemed to take too much energy. The diet helped but wasn't the whole thing. I had to add in a coaching program (more information here if interested) that changed it all and put all the pieces together. The coaching linked the anti-inflammation, the dehydration, the energy, the brain fog, the balance, flexibility and boy do I feel AMAZING!!!! When all the pieces come together, just like a gorgeous jigsaw puzzle, You want to keep feeling better each day and the call to ride returns. It has been missing for me for a while. I love the horses but haven't been called to ride and now I am feeling like I want to get everything lined up and ready to start riding this spring.
I will be documenting my journey back to riding (I hope) with my new podcast starting episodes I am working on now. I will have more information coming soon!
As horse riders, we have a unique challenge with setting a timeline for our goals, there are two of us (or more if we have more than one horse). I believe it is still important to set a timeline and make adjustments as necessary.
What does the timeline look like? First of all, we need to know what steps we need to take (and I lay these out for my journey back to courage in my book if you are interested in seeing one laid out as an example: Book)
Think about the things that need work and the process to accomplish your goals. This is the easy part and really just looking at where you are at today and where you want to be and what does the journey look like between those two points. Here are some of mine:
- Get healthy
- Get horse healthy
- Develop a plan for safety and execute the plan
- Get on
- Ride to the edge of my comfort zone
- ENJOY RIDING AGAIN!
Then, the more challenging part is to put that into a timeline. I knew my health wasn't going to be overnight and I also knew I would do that in parallel to the rest so it wasn't part of the overall timeline. I started it and continues to this day as I feel better and better as I get older! Win!
Getting the horses healthy had its ups and downs. The good thing with having multiple horses is that it gives me options so I can keep working on me and my courage while a horse may need a break here and there. Really, this is true of any goals that involve others, there are times we are on our game and times we rest and rejuvenate.
Developing a plan and implementing I could do in 30 days.
GET ON was a big one. It only takes 20 minutes to prepare, tack up and actually mount. This could not be used as an excuse to not meet the goal.
From there on out, it was building my courage, a little bit at a time.
As I look back, it took me almost 6 months but I think it could have been done in 3 months maximum. That means I had 3 months of excuses and reasons from the fear that held me back.
This year, I will do it in three months! I have had challenges and let that become excuses. It really wasn't about the timeline but more about my willingness to just push through and do what needed to be done to ride.
Do you have a timeline for your goal? Do you feel comfortable with all your steps to reach your goal? I have a few openings for courage coaching if you would like help making that goal successful and maybe even in less time than you thought possible! Schedule a 30 minute call and let's see if we can get you on track for this year to be YOUR YEAR!
I was climbing down from the step stool in the rabbit area and just as I was stepping off, I panicked! My subconscious realized I would be stepping onto a snake. In the blink of an eye, my body was able to redirect my step to miss the snake. This triggered a number of thoughts for me.
1. My fear was subconscious. I didn't "think" there is a snake and jump, my body just did it and my mind caught up after the fact.
2. The fear was not in my mind. It turned out it was just a skin the snake had shed so I was not in real danger but my subconscious didn't know that.
3.. Fear doesn't take a vacation. I am not afraid of snakes, but I did jump at this to keep me safe. It happened on Thanksgiving day. My fear didn't take the day off for the holiday.
4.. Fear can take place anywhere, anytime. Fear doesn't care if you are sitting on the couch thinking about something that happened, or that it is really happening. Even now as I write about the snake I thought I saw, my heart rate and breathing rate go up. I am sitting on my couch.
Fear takes place in our subconscious first. It might be triggered by our thoughts, like me sitting on the couch writing this or it may be triggered by our senses but we don't think "I am going to be scared" and then be scared. Our subconscious takes over and keeps us safe, whether perceived, imaginary, or real fear.
This give us POWER. We get to choose to think about amazing, positive things so that at least the perceived and imaginary fear can leave us alone. We do have control of our mind and we can practice. Just like putting training wheels on a bicycle, we can practice courage and joy. We can change it around so that fear only takes place when it is actually keeping us safe. We don't want to ignore fear, but honor it, act if necessary, and move into courage and calm if we don't need to react.
Let's practice together!
1. Find a place to sit comfortably.
2.Think of the last thing that scared you that wasn't a big deal, just a little scare.
3. Observe your mind and body: Feel your breathing and your heart rate. Did they increase with the recall of the memory? Notice if how you feel changed. Did your anxiety increase?
4. Now, think about something calming for you or play some calming music.
5. Observe your mind and body as before.
6. Repeat until you can easily bring your feelings back to calm and courage. Then, you can increase the pressure from your memories or the "what if's" from the future.
7. Get really good and feeling the anxiety and fear, and calming back down.
If you would like to read my journey from fear to courage that is filled with ways to help you find your courage, grab my book now! CLICK HERE!
I was sitting there with my aunt to get our ears pierced, I was eleven years old and my aunt was too afraid to go alone so she gave me earrings for Christmas so we could go together. I am not a needle person. I didn't want pierced ears. I was terrified but I knew I had to buck up and be brave for her. And I did it! I got my ears pierced! I didn't die, I survived and it was a cherished memory.
Then disaster struck with the whole earring thing. What do you mean turn them every day? What do you mean take them out and put them back in? What do you mean change them out? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
I know this sound ridiculous, and often times fear seems ridiculous to everyone around us, they don't get it, they don't have our fear. This process, taught me how to find courage. How to take little steps, day after day to build courage. This taught me that yes, courage is a skill, that can be learned.
It took months. My dad had to turn my earrings and put the rubbing alcohol on them. After a few weeks, I was able to turn them, if I was laying down on the bed. My dad had to take them out and put them back in. After a few weeks, I could take the backs off. A few more weeks, I could pull them out. A few more months and I could put them back in and put the back on. Now, it is second nature.
Like many of you, we have areas of our life that are held back by fear. We can choose to learn how to have courage, or to let fear hold us back. We can choose to take the little tiny baby steps that are just out of our comfort zone, one little step at a time to learn courage. We get to overcome our fears, if we choose to. Think about courage as a learned skill. If you can learn anything, you can learn courage.
If you would like some help with learning courage, get my free guide, 6 Steps to Making Better Choices.
