Thirty One Days of Dublin

Well, this blog has gone nowhere as I have become some sort of accounting drone in the last few months. The silver lining is that Dublin has had a lovely few months of absolutely no pressure, growing new hooves, and learning how to be a horse again. His cranky attitude has largely turned around and he is learning how to be playful.

My attitude, on the other hand, has become grim and inflexible, to the point where I completely melted down. All work and no play makes Joanie a dull girl. But the Universe tends to intervene in seemingly mundane ways to refocus you.

I'm a Parelli follower, and the organization threw down the gauntlet in their 31-day challenge. Spend 30 minutes a day improving your horsemanship for the next 31 days. Work with your horse, watch a video, etc, just do something to further your horsemanship journey.

So spending 30 minutes a day helping Dublin move along in his journey to his new destiny seems like a no-brainer.

Then Parelli asked for submissions to their Fall issue of Savvy Times. Hey--how about documenting Dublin's 31 day journey? And I can get published!

And to wrap things up, I really really need to spend some time focusing on something besides work. Regaining some balance in my life can only help, not hinder, my work journey.

So I have spent a bit of time figuring how to make this work in an integrated sort of fashion. First, what is it, exactly, I hope to achieve with Dublin in the next 31 days?

Goal:  Get on the horse! Now, Dublin, being an ex-race-horse, has been ridden. I'm not entirely familiar with his history, but he was raced three times so obviously somebody has been on his back. However, the objective was to get on his back and go like *#(^#. That is not my objective. The slower the better.

So, following the Parelli philosophy, the next 31 days are going to be about getting the horse ready to ride. I have a lot of steps to follow as in the PreFlight Checkup, Saddling etc, and he has actually passed all those tests with flying colors. BUT, he did freak out about our local turkey population in a very sobering fashion, and I am not taking his mild attitude for granted any more. When that horse takes flight, "Flight" is really the word.

So first, thinking about what I am worried about when contemplating getting on Dublin, the worry is that he is going to blow up and be out of control. So, before getting on him, let's try to see exactly what is likely to blow this horse up.  I'll be trying out a myriad of horse-unfriendly items on him for the next 31 days. Today was an umbrella. He was interested and a bit intimidated, but he certainly did not blow up.

My age and fitness level are also a concern. So the 31 days will also consist of the 31-day Rider Fitness Challenge, where I change my slovenly ways to try to become fit enough to get a foot in the stirrup and swing up confidently and effortlessly, and to be able to do a really fast dismount if need be.

But what happens if, at the end of the 31 days, Dublin is not ready to ride? Is the project going to be a failure?

No. It will only be a failure if I decide to get on him anyway, even if he is not ready, because I have imposed some sort of deadline on this. Success will occur if I take the appropriate action to further the horse's progress at whatever stage he is at.