- First Solo Ride: I’ve went from riding when someone can hang-out with Kadima (not an easy thing to do consistently), to riding while she naps inside (which was a win in itself at one time), to finally, finally taking a ride while she neither naps nor is entertained by someone else. (Thanks, trampoline). While this may seem small, this was a HUGE victory in my world. It’s my heart to be able to involve her in my life and dream as much as possible, so she gets to experience her Ima (mama) following her dream and passion, and when she one day uncovers her own special calling, she will have this to look back on and be encouraged to say YES.
- Broken Saddle: A couple weeks ago, Rocki took a freestyle spin around our property -bridle, saddle and all – and unfortunately picked a path under a pine tree with a horizontal branch about the same height as she is. At a full run, she ducked enough for herself, but not enough for my saddle. I didn’t realize the impact, but when she decided she’d had her fun and let me be a part of her life again, I saw the dressage saddle that now looked like a kids saddle from being so bent up. Well, there are worse things that could have happened, but I was quite disappointed about this one as this was the only saddle I own at the moment that fits Rocki, and it also happens to be the only dressage saddle I own that fits Birdie… The two horses’ I’m focused on right now. I took a little walk and when I came back, Kadima said “Ima is sad, Rocki is sad.” With a little smile, I said yes then realized she said Rocki was sad too, so I took a look, and sure enough she had went from fire breathing to guilty as guilty could look. I appreciated her remorse and realized she didn’t mean to bust up my saddle. An “I forgive you Rocki” was offered, and it was time to move on. I had already been exploring new saddles that would be similar to the fit for both me and my horses to a dressage saddle, but would fly for barrel competition, so this just expedited it. As Kadima said: “Saddle broke? Oh, well, we’ll just have to get another one,” with a shrug of her shoulders.
- First Blog: A little obvious, this one, but still worth mentioning. My prior blog had some sort of glitch that wouldn’t deliver it to all but about 30 on my email list. Months later…er, a lot of months), I finally reached out to an expert to help me along (thanks, Charissa!). Success! But not without another dip, of course. Since my email list is a few years old and I didn’t send many emails out to begin with, I had a couple unsubscribes and my email platform didn’t like that so suspended my account and threatened removal. I suppose I appreciate their consciousness, but I didn’t appreciate the suspension. Carry on, I think everyone who wanted out, got out now and it should be smooth sailing from here… I hope!
- Somatics!: Have you heard of somatics? I came across an interview with Teresa Ojinma and was immediately intrigued. I wanted to dive in, but then realized that I have so many things on my plate right now that I’m learning, I thought I better get through some of them first. That seemingly responsible thing to do didn’t last long as I realized that Somatics was going to be a big key to my success in the arena (and life), and I really couldn’t afford the time of delaying it. I’ve had two sessions now, and there are parts in my body I didn’t know hurt, that hurt. The awareness is really amazing, but even more so was when I was told that I’d be able to touch my toes in the future (miracle, status)! I’ve been becoming aware of the connection to my riding and horses, and not surprising, my intuition was right: this is going to be colossal.
- Greenhouse: I have a passion for horses, Uriah has a passion for plants. The last two years, he’s planted an incredible garden. This year, he was determined to get our greenhouse up for him to really be able to press into this passion. Actually, it’s currently being put up now while I write. His dad, mom and brother came down on Sunday to help out and my dad came over to offer his assistance too. Everyone has put similar structures up before, so it seems to be going lightning fast. At least we thought. Turns out upon my “expert inspection” that they had the cover sideways, kind of like trying to make a bed and realizing you have the short end on the long. Oops. Well, we got to apply the “I’m in shame pain” lessons (Thanks Discovering Mercy & Brene Brown) and eventually laugh about it. Round 2 coming up soon.
5 Steps Closer,
Nicole & The Team,
Uriah, Kadima, Birdie, Blondie, Dean, Grace, Rocki, Salily, Shasta & Shmini