THREE WEEKS!

Three weeks from today I will be in Georgia preparing for my dressage ride on Friday at the American Eventing Championships!!!!!!! Just saying that makes the pterodactyls in my stomach hit the runway and take flight. Whew! It's gettin' close!!! We had another really good jumping lesson yesterday. It was not by any means perfect. In fact, the Syd and I made quite a few mistakes, but they were really good, "learn from this" mistakes, so I'm glad they happened. We're finally getting to a point where I'm becoming a little bit more finessed in my riding, so now Syd has to become that way too. He's been so over-compensating for all my bad, "just stay on" habits, that now that I am starting to really RIDE, he's thinking, "But wait! Usually, I have to save your butt and do (fill in the blank...) You mean I don't have to do that anymore?!" The progression is really interesting!

Even more wonderful was my lack of nerves yesterday and my lack of feeling like I'd lost my mojo. Usually when I haven't jumped in over a week, it takes me a bit to get my jumping "mojo" back and really feel comfortable. (I'm usually thinking, "Where's that dressage saddle?") Yesterday was different. Last week I was really unmotivated and tired, and really and truly didn't get much accomplished where my riding is concerned. I know! It's sad and wrong, but it's very true! I wasn't sure how my jumping lesson would go. Would I have the mojo?! From the beginning, I felt comfortable and where I needed to be, so that in itself is HUGE!!!!! Dare I say it: Maybe I've actually turned another corner!

Today was actually my fifth day in a row to ride. I've kicked my butt back into high gear. Karen Hooks, DVM and horse chiropractor and acupuncturist, came out and did an adjustment on Syd after I rode, just so he'd have a bit of a tune up before the big dance. He'll get tomorrow off to let his muscles and joints recover. He's worked hard this week! He deserves it! And I am going to use my time off to get my hair cut and colored because I deserve it! Maybe I'll even do something shocking again, and go blonde! Hmmm....Stay tuned as the road to the AEC's gets shorter!