In my quest to become a better person this year I have done A LOT of things. In personal growth I have begun stretching, meditating, working out, eating healthier, cooking more, saving money, become less negative, and become more financially responsible. With the horses I have moved barns, competed at the Novice level, found Marvel a loving home, been to 3 new venues, taken some clinics, made new friends, started a small business selling hand painted brushes and hand made ear bonnets, and QUALIFIED FOR THE AECs!!!! It's been a busy year and it's not even halfway over. If I could pause for a moment and think over what I have already accomplished this year I would definitely be very proud of myself. All of that being said, blogging once a week is next on my personal growth list.
All of that is wonderful but has next to nothing to do with what I wanted to write about today. So let's get started.
My boyfriend plays softball. No offense to anyone on his team, they are all individually great players, but dang it if they cannot pull out a win by working together to save their lives this past season. They were literally in last place going into their tournament, had several weeks off with all this rain, and had to play a qualifying game to even make it into the real tournament. So when I decided I wanted to go watch the tournament, forgive me if I wasn't expecting to be sitting down to a consolation dinner mere hours after it had started.
So there I was. At the first game. 6:15. The boys have jerseys so they look like a team, but no one wears baseball pants, or batting gloves, or sweat bands, or a sticker that says, "I'm really awesome at softball and I'm gonna knock most of my hits to the fence between the 2 center fielders." So as our team took the field I was watching as all manner of guys strutted out to bat. Some were wearing under armor from head to foot, some had sweat bands on their arms, lots wore batting gloves, most had cleats on, several were wearing sunglasses, and a few had on baseball pants. My plans for dinner by 7:30 were looking more and more promising!
I watched as guy after guy popped fly balls straight to our outfielders. But it didn't matter, I was still impressed. "Must've just been a bad hit, everyone has those," I thought to myself. And then some skinny guy in basketball shorts and a college t-shirt comes out and hits 2 in and gets himself on second and I am thinking, "Lucky hit dude." Of course, this all got me thinking about my year, and my general philosophy on ponies, as well as my motivation to have all of the things.
I am a little over zealous in my perceived need to have what everyone else has. I think that stems from too much sharing as a young child (hahaha?) and the new found ability to save money for the things I want. There are 2 items in particular I can think about really wanting last year, that I got, and I am SO happy about. The first one was a 5-point breast plate. No, my saddle doesn't slide down Panda's back, yes a regular old running martingale would absolutely work, but I don't care. Everyone else has one. I MUST HAVE THE THING WITH THE FUZZ ON THE SHOULDERS!!! The second was a skull cap. I don't know why my beautiful (and expensive) IRH helmet wouldn't work for all 3 phases of an event, but by golly it would not. I want the helmet where the visor does literally no good in blocking out the sun and makes you look like your 7 and roller blading for the first time. PUT IT ON MY HEAD!
We could talk about the lists of things I decided I need for days. White breeches, a name plate for Panda's leather halter, OTTB saddle pad and matching fly bonnet, more fly bonnets, more saddle pads, a set of show brushes, a certain kind of shampoo, different splint boots than the ones I already have, leather half chaps, blah blah blah.
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| Hey! There are all those things I wanted! |
We can also discuss the real reason behind wanting those things, and my lack of self control or the ability to feel content with what I have but I think there is something to the reason I want some of those things. I don't care who you are, who you train with, how much you paid for your horse, or what kind of trailer you showed up in. But when I see a beautifully groomed horse, with clean tack, that fits properly, that is 100% appropriate for the phase of the event that we are in, with a rider that looks the part, I count them as competition. Or I pay extra attention to their round. Just like those guys wearing under armor and batting gloves. Both of them may still totally suck. You absolutely cannot buy the ability to ride or hit a ball well. But you've got the benefit of the doubt from me, and probably most other people. I want to look the part! I want people to see Panda and I, and take a small note in their head that I'm someone to watch out for. As much as I'd like to think they don't, appearances really do matter.
But on that note, thoughts don't count. You can't buy all that stuff and then just think about going out and possibly practicing your dressage test. Or think about putting up gymnastics and then just decide to jump a few crossrails. That won't get you anywhere. You can have all the money in the whole entire world and all the stuff to go along with it, but if all you do is half heartedly think about riding, you'll be one of those guys that pops a fly to right center every time he steps up to bat. You might get the benefit of the doubt a few times, but pretty soon we'll start counting you out the minute you step out of the dugout.
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| Panda and I after our best dressage round to date |
So in all my over zealous, misconstrued perception of need, I have to remember that nothing replaces hard work. No Treadstep Ireland boot is going to keep my heels down for me and no $5,000 saddle is going to keep me in the tack 100% of the time. Look the part, but also BE the part. Don't just think and wish and want, do.
PS. Our boys won the whole softball tournament. No batting gloves and all.
