Moday's Weekly Goals

Okay last week:
1) Lose 1 -2 lbs. a1 lb.
2) Along those lines, do the body test on Wii fit and exercise every day for at least 30 min. aMostly meet. I did a lot of extra hard work outside and I am including that.
3) Read That Winning Feeling by Jane Savoie for at least 20 min at night. Over all goal to finish book by the end of the month. aWell on my way to being done.
4) See Kinsey 3 times this week. I have a hard time getting out there because she is so far away, which make getting anything done with her difficult. Failed miserably. I didn't go see her at all this week. I was too damn cold! I also really had to stuff I had to do, like get hay for the horses here. Still this reminds me of a quote from Ellen DeGeneres:
I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words.

So for this week.
1) Lose 2 lbs. by drinking h2o and tracking my WW points.
2) Finish That Winning Feeling
3) Try some different exercises this week.
4) See Kinsey and ride CJ. I want to ride Kinsey next month. . . mostly so she'll be a little more fit and I will be a little more thin!

"Do or Do not, there is no try"

Master Jedi Yoda wisely told young Luke Skywalker that in Return of the Jedi of the Star Wars movies. I was young at the time. I did not get it. I had always believe that trying was a good thing. We should try. Right?

It is not for lack of trying that has kept me off my horses. I tried a lot. I tried ground work and tried getting ready for a ride. Heck, I even got on Abby and tried to ride her. I was trying my heart out. Same could be said for weight loss. I know all about different diets and why so many of them don't work. I understand the role that exercise plays in weight loss. In fact a lot of my goals in life go unmet, even though I try so hard. I didn't understand Yoda.

Then thanks again to Jane Savoie, I learned that I should not try. Just as Master Yoda says, I should do it. If you tell yourself that you will try, what you are really doing is giving yourself an excuse to fail. "Well I tried and I couldn't." "Well at least you tried." Perfect, I tried and I'm off the hook now. My conscience is free because I did my best. . . well at least I tried to do my best.

Luke: I can't believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail.

Why did I try? Because I didn't think I could succeed. I don't say I am going to try to drive to work. I know the way and I know how to drive a car. I don't have to try and drive to work, I just do it. A few weeks ago was a different story though, we got a lot of snow. The roads were bad. As I was leaving I was asked, "Are you going to work?" I replied, "I'm going to try." I did not know what the roads were going to be like or if I would succeed in getting to work or end up in a ditch.

All this goes back to positive thinking. If I try I am admitting I might fail but if I just do it, I am assuming I will succeed.
I am not going to try and see Kinsey this week. Nope. I am going to see her.
I am not going to try and trot on CJ this month. Nope. I am going to trot CJ this month.

Even saying, "I am going to trot CJ," my stomach gave a little lurch. I didn't feel anything when I said I would try. "I am going to trot CJ," is a much more powerful a statement. I don't have the out of saying, "Well I tried." It is assumed that if I say I am going to do it that I will. Even my brain realizes this and frankly the more I say and write, "I will trot CJ." The less my stomach lurches and the more confident I feel that I can.

"Try" has been put on my naughty word list from now on and we learned that Yoda really was wise.

May the force be with you.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all my fellow equestrians from the crew:

Abby is a 7 year old percheron x paint mare. She stands 16.1 and and is truly a character. I bought Abby expecting to trail ride and do a little dressage. All she would do is spin around on the trails and after being used in a therapy program she lack her basic training to leg and rein aids. Very sensitive to imbalance though, it makes her nervous. This is the girl I came off of and broke my wrist. Abby may be a substantial girl, but she lacks confident. That is the problem, big horse and big girl and either has confidence. That will change though!


Next we have Kinsey. This is my newest charge and she is my "confidence" builder horse. Kinsey is a diamond in the rough. She was a lucky find by a friend who pointed me to her. Kinsey is a stock type horse who is about 10 years old. She had a baby and done trail rides. I am at least her 4th owner and she has developed some trust issues from the ground along the way. Undersaddle she is as steady as they come, although I admit only my friends are riding her as yet. My time will come.


This final horse is CJ. He is a friends horse and is another steady eddy. This handsome quarter horse gelding has navicular, but is still ridable and seems to really enjoy his job for the most part. CJ is just a good ol' boy who really does know his job and tries to do it the best he can. CJ will let me just walk around on him, but listens through my nervous. I look forward to being a better rider to CJ.

As a side note, I am sure his owner wishes I would use a better picture of him. He really is a handsome fellow and this one does not do him justice.







I have also have three mini and two mini donkeys. I may talk about them too, and will introduce them when I do.

So from all of us to all of you and your equine friends. . . Have a very Merry Christmas!