Though The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

Spring fever is really starting to set in! I am so tired of this snow, so tired of the cold, and I'm sure everyone who reads this feels the same!! At night I dream of giving Amber a bath and riding her in the outdoor arena and galloping through one of the empty fields, just the 2 of us! I love having an indoor to ride in, much better then not being able to ride at all through the entire winter! But I can feel that both Amber and I are getting tired of the repetitiveness of the whole thing. Walk, trot, canter... Circle, circle, circle, Big circle, little circle, whole ring, half ring, jump in a circle, jump a line... then circle!! And there's nothing that can be done about it, because the ring is... well... a circle... or really more of an oval, but still a type of circle!

So to try and not think about my extreme desire to ride, at a gallop, in a straight line, through a field, I have been working a lot on my own confidence while riding Amber. And by working on my confidence I mean forcing myself to do something that freaks me out, and trying not to think about it, trying to trust my horse to take care of me! And you know what? It's actually working!!

Now when I have a lesson and Nina says "Jump the diamonds (it's like 2'3 but jumping anything bigger then a freaking crossrail usually freaks me out)" I jump the diamonds without going "but, but, but... it's SCARY!" and when Nina says "Jump the pillars" I jump the pillars... Nina has yet to say "Jump the Narrow" or "Jump the wall" which are the 2 jumps that freak me out the most, but Im confident that when that day comes (probably soon, especially after she reads this) I will face my fears and jump the narrow and the wall, because I am learning to trust myself and trust my horse!

Speaking of scary jumps and trusting my horse, I have decided to take Amber in the beginner hunter division at our next show, which is set at 2'. There is no penalty for trotting in corners, but we need to canter between the fences, something we are still working on. But you know what? Even if we trot the whole dang course and place dead last, who the heck cares? Getting around a 2' course in a show will be a HUGE achievement for both me and Amber!!

Here is a video of me and Amber from our last lesson. You can see us jumping the scary diamonds that I mentioned above!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrBio7D3fBM

In other news, I started a new diet this week called Medifast! I've heard some good things about it, but I know it's going to be hard, especially for someone like me who loves food!! But I've been told that after the first couple weeks it gets a lot easier, so I'm hoping that's true!! My goal is to lost 40-50lbs by the time I go to Chincoteague the first week in August! I think thats totally doable as long as I force myself to have the willpower to follow this diet!

It shouldn't be too bad, I tend to eat the most when I'm bored... so if I just try and keep myself busy I should be fine, and that shouldn't be too hard between school, horses, homework, cleaning, and spending time with the boyfriend and friends. I know if I just keep myself busy I'll be fine! No more sitting around on a saturday and hanging out on the computer!! Gotta go the gym and the barn instead!!

Anyway... Im done rambling, have class in 20 minutes (Math... Oh Joy)