Pupped out

Bert was all pupped out earlier. He’d had a lovely day though. First up was Puppy School. We were working on sit and down again. Then loose lead walking. And finished with some recall practise.

He aced them all! Each week I am seeing improvements in him. He was so excited to be at Puppy School that he jumped out of the car and dragged me across to the door. Not quite the control I’d hoped for… Made me giggle as he was so keen to get to school. Reminded me of those kids who leave their Mum’s for dust in their haste.

He had a quick nap in the car on our way to Centre Paws. He was meeting Oreo there (and his owners). Oreo is a Sprocker too. He’s 3 and not that much bigger than Bert!

It was very busy in the field, so the perfect setting to check my recall. Gold star for my baby boy. He came back each time. Even when he was distracted by other dogs.

Getting him away from the Alpaca wool was a bit more of a challenge! He loved eating it! He loved eating his first ‘pup cake’ more though.

Next time I think he’s going to want a ‘puppuccino’ too. He has more of a social life than I do!!

Poles & puppies

Today has been about poles and puppies. Started the day taking Buddy to a pole clinic. He was exceptional. Well for Buddy and Poles! Think we were both a bit excited at being back out doing stuff.

And I suspect he was waiting for the poles to turn into jumps. Sadly he was out of luck there. Still lots of positives to take away.

This afternoon I headed down to Simon & Harry’s for a long overdue catch up. It’s been far too long since I visited them. Definitely got a very warm welcome.

I got to have cuddles with their puppies too. Oh my day, talk about scrumminess!! I’ve known almost all their dogs since they were puppies. So fitting that I got to meet these squigglings. They all have lovely homes lined up. Some people are going to be very lucky indeed.

New learning

I’m rather excited about this. It’s the workbook for the latest training course that I’ve signed up for. Tonight was the kick-off session. It was really interesting listening to the other people who are in my cohort. They’re all Equestrian Coaches. Unlike me, I’m a BHS 0. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve learnt a lot of the years.

I’ve always been very resistant to making horses my living. Horses are my passion and my hobby (more lifestyle than hobby). But I’ve always wanted to learn more and more. To improve myself to be the best rider for my horses.

Now I feel I want to give back to something that has given me so much. You see I’ve been the person standing on the mounting block terrified to get on their horse. It wasn’t until I had that experience that I really understood how crippling and debilitating fear could be. It broke my heart that something that brought me so much joy, was the source of so much pain and frustration. Slowly I rebuilt my confidence one ride at a time.

So I’m coming at this from a different angle. I think it’ll really help me to move my coaching business more towards working with riders.

Let’s get my little brain cells working…

Excited

While I was journaling today a memory stirred, so I took a moment to look at it. I remembered being criticised for my ‘child-like excitement’ of things. I was told in no uncertain terms that I shouldn’t be so overly-excited about things. At the time, I wasn’t sure how to respond. So I ended up toning down my reactions so I’d ‘fit in more’.

As I’ve got older, I realised that actually there’s nothing wrong with being excited about stuff. Big stuff, little stuff and everything in between. In fact, being excited about stuff shows it means something.

I was very excited yesterday before and after jumping. It’s something I love doing. This week I’m excited about going to Hickstead, catching up with good friends and making more memories.

If that’s childish, then guilty as charged. I’m good with being young at heart. Life can be bloody serious sometimes. I know so many people facing serious stuff. If I can lighten the mood and make someone laugh with my enthusiasm for life, that’s gotta be a good thing.

Connections

Today I headed to Brome to meet up with a new connection. We’re both doing the same course and connected via weekly zoom meeting. It was brilliant to meet in the flesh.

We were both a little bit excited about meeting. I love connecting with new people. I’ve made so many brilliant friends over the years this way.