As you have probably already read, barn/blogger friend Brandy of Auf der Autobahn and I joined the gym in December and have been hitting spin class hot and heavy. I used to spin all the time but haven’t in a year or so, and as I get back into it I’m starting to remember all the fun experiences you only get by partaking in spin. And since it’s the beginning of January, aka Gym Season, I figured now is the time to publicly explore all that spin has to offer.

The people:

 

Or even worse, the instructor who thinks he’s in the Tour de France. “C’mon team, who wants that yellow jersey? Let’s go get it!”. You have got to be freaking kidding me right? “Hill climb! The Alps are beautiful!”. I’m sure they are. Unfortunately we’re in a tiny stinky room in a semi-decrepit old gym in the middle of Austin. And no I do not want to high five you after class, I’m never coming back here again because you’re obviously a complete nutjob.

We had a lady in last Saturday’s class who looked like she walked straight out of an 80’s Jazzercize video… short hair with the sweatband around her head pushing the hair up, big bright white sneakers and a super colorful top. I think she considered herself Queen of Spin, because she WOOHOO’d just about every two minutes. At 10:00am. On a Saturday. I spent the entire class daydreaming about choking her out with that damn sweatband.

 

 

The experience:

 

Right before your heart explodes, when you’re on death’s doorstep, motivational exercise quotes start flashing before your eyes in rapid succession.

 

 

 

This is also when you think, “I’m not sure which is stupider – me or spin class. What a bunch of idiots we all are…”

The aftermath:

First you go home and whine about it. Bonus points if you also whine on facebook.

But the fun really begins when you wake up the next day

 

 

and you’re not so steady on your feet.

But hey… you can burn 400-800 calories in an hour long spin class. So get your butt to spin and have a few more donuts, it’ll all equal out in the end. And if you eat them right before class you’ll probably puke them up anyway.

I wish my weekend recap was filled with reports of riding and lessons and horsey things. Unfortunately Texas has decided to participate in winter this year and it rained boatloads so I haven’t been on my horse since last Tuesday. I have given up.

On Friday I went out to handwalk and deworm and give Henry his monthly Pentosan shot. The dogs were thrilled to tag along but they were really the only ones happy to be out. I stood there and let Henry graze until my hands went totally numb, then went home.

I also bought some winter riding gloves, because if anything has become obvious to me in the past month, it’s that I’m woefully unprepared for any weather below 60 degrees. I just bought the cheapie $10 Ovation gloves, hoping they’ll work for as (relatively) little as I need them. Of course… if it doesn’t stop raining I’ll never use them and they’ll last forever!

Saturday was spin class (worst ever due to ridiculously annoying people – but that’s a story for another day) then a field trip also to be discussed later, then our barn holiday party. The party was great fun although we discovered that Auf der Autobahn can’t have tacky nice things, because within seconds of opening her ever-so-classy white elephant gift of a horsey wine bottle holder, she dropped him and broke his head off. Then his head was relocated to a slightly different position. Personally I think it was an improvement.

Sunday morning SO and I got up early to go to the junkyard! Weird, I know. But last week when I was leaving the barn I kinda sorta killed the left front wheel on my car…

And because it’s a car that a) isn’t made anymore b) has weird parts, I couldn’t find any place in town that had a new wheel that would work. We could buy one online and ship it, but that would be expensive and take a week, so we decided to try our luck at the junkyard. And whaddya know – they had ONE car just like mine, so for $50 we took home the wheel, which had a pretty decent tire on it, slapped it on my car, and voila. The junkyard is magical.

I took a couple of hours in the morning to watch some of the GM clinic online, which I still haven’t really completely organized my feelings about. In some ways I love him, in some ways I don’t, but the videos are an education in themselves, regardless of whether or not it’s all applicable to you and your sport.

Then I was off to check out the place I’ll be barnsitting several times in the coming months. Such a cute little property – totally my dream place! And it’s full of gorgeous Trakehners, including this studmuffin. Taking care of a big gorgeous black stallion and earning money for the Belgium trip at the same time… such a tough life I have. Plus kitties and adorable dogs and a mini!

I’m sure I’ll get many candids of him during my time there, but that’s next week. For this week, hopefully it’ll just stay dry enough to ride Henry. We’re supposed to go XC schooling and to an eventing derby this weekend, weather permitting. I’m not holding my breath…

Is winter over yet? Apparently Texas isn’t far enough south to escape this one.

First of all – a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to make a logo (or many logos) and send them in. There was a total of 42 different logos submitted! I never expected that kind of participation. I also never expected to really like so many of them… picking a winner was no easy task. As you may have read in some follow-up posts after the original contest announcement, due to the level of quality and participation I decided to offer prizes to the top two runners-up as well.

When I tasked y’all with the job of creating a logo, I didn’t give you much direction. Really that was because to be honest I had no idea what I wanted. As they started to roll in and I paged through them, the criteria that I really found myself putting forth were:

Is it pretty? Meaning – is it clean, are the colors (if any) ones that I like, if it’s a picture do I like the picture.

Is it COOL? Does it look like something I could have done myself or is it totally beyond me.

Is it original? Did I get several more logos in almost the exact same style. Was it personalized or was it just generic clipart.

Is it us? Do you look at it and immediately get a sense of Henry, or me, or things that I like.

Did it speak to me? Of course this just has a lot to do with individual preference. Some things I immediately loved and some things I was more meh about.

Is it easy to use? How well/cleanly would it embroider, how easily could the shape of it be worked into the blog, etc.

So without further ado (and in reverse order pageant style for maximum suspense):

Second Runner up: Karen M of Bay with Chrome. This one really struck a chord with me because it’s my very favorite picture of me and Henry. You had me from hello when you used this picture. And it almost looks like a stamp, which I thought was really cool too. Karen wins the Ogilvy baby pad from Luxe Eq.

 

First Runner-up: Britt G from Our House on a Hill. Looove the splish splash and the fact that she used my second favorite picture ever. It looks like an eventer and I know it’s us. Unfortunately the embroidery people were less enthused about the splashes. Still, Britt… you win a gift certificate for a Firefly custom bonnet up to an $80 value!

Grand Prize Winner: Rachel R, who is not a blogger but a reader! Rachel took one of Henry’s pictures, drew it in a cool swoopy outline, and added two of my favorite accessories. My pony + my favorite things? That’s a done deal. I also really liked the soft colors she chose, the simplicity of the logo matches my personal style and will embroider well, and it’ll be easy to incorporate into the blog. Rachel wins the Firefly logo baby pad, a Mango Bay belt, a Kastel sunshirt from Luxe Eq, and snap-on rein stops from PS of Sweden.

Winners, keep an eye on your email inbox over the next few days so I can get in touch with you about your prizes. Congratulations and Happy New Year!

To give you guys an idea of the enormity of this task, here are most of the other entries. Not quite all, because some of them only had small variations like text or shape, but you get the idea. Thanks again for making it such a great contest.

To be honest I am really hesitant to write this post because generally I don’t like making yearly goals. I think life has a way of changing things a lot and sometimes just because we didn’t meet a goal doesn’t mean we weren’t successful. But, on the other hand, maybe if I have a list in writing and a bunch of people to help hold me accountable I will be more motivated to try harder in all respects, whether or not I actually meet the goals. So in the spirit of trying something new, here we go…

Qualify for AEC’s – This is the #1 goal. I feel like it IS attainable but it’s far from easy or guaranteed. We’ve got a lot of work to do.

Score below 35 in dressage AND finish on that score – I feel like we’re reaaaaally close to this, I just need to ride smarter.

Get an actual, honest to god stretchy trot circle from Henry – he is the chief of the Stiffasaboard tribe. There was that one time we got like 5 kinda stretchy steps. That one time.

Score a 7 or above on our free walk – so far we’re pretty darn consistent with our score of 5. Why? See above. We have a long way to go until we get to 7, but if we can bring that one score up we’d be in pretty decent shape.

Stop being such a pansy about the down banks – Seriously, I dunno why I’ll jump pretty much any stupid thing you tell me to, but point me at a little wussy down bank and I forget how to ride. That’s a mental issue for me and I need to get over it.

Be more fit – I put this as a horse goal because I really want to be more fit for my horse, but it’s a personal goal as well. I started at the gym a couple weeks ago and have done pretty well so far. I’d like to commit to at least 4 days a week of some kind of workout (mostly spinning or swimming) and 5 days a week of riding (weather permitting of course). It’s not about looks  – although that’s a perk – or a certain number on the scale, it’s about being a better more capable partner for my horse. It’s not fair to expect great acts of athleticism from him when I’m not strong and fit too, and making excuses or whining about it helps no one. You can’t call it a sport if you’re not in shape, and you can’t expect to get better if you don’t put in the effort. Time to get off my butt and DO WORK.

Keep Henry happy and healthy – There is some body work in store for him this year (maybe that’ll help downgrade his Stiffasaboard tribe status?), and I’m going to continue keeping him on the Pentosan. Also looking to weasel into getting him a turnout buddy so he can be ridiculous and come in with lots of bite marks, but have a good time playing. I think he misses having a turnout buddy.

Improve my attitude toward dressage – Ok this one might not be possible.

Get a 4-legged bun in the oven – C’mon Jezabel, get pregnant! Momma needs a 2015 Valentino Z baby. Preferably a filly. Preferably with a stripe or a star and a snip. Definitely bay or brown or black. Details.

 

Be more appreciative of my awesome SO – He’s great, and I should tell him that more often.

Be less selfish – I’ve gotten better as I’ve gotten older, but it’s always a work in progress.

Continue to always be as honest and transparent as possible while still being as kind as possible – There’s nothing I hate more than people who are fake, but sometimes my honesty can come across as meanness. Gain tact, keep honesty.

Travel more – come on, BELGIUM and FRANCE!

Get at least one more tattoo – It’s been a year and I still haven’t extended my quarter sleeve to a half sleeve. Time to get on that… and get another one added to the collection.

Compete in at least 2 triathlons and place in the top 3 – 2012 really was my “year of the triathlon”… I only did a few in 2013 and one in 2014. But I kinda miss it, and they keep me motivated to stay fit and active, so adding a couple to my list sounds like a good idea.

Move to my own domain name. – It’s happening sooner than you think. I hope.

Roll out a more polished, clean look. – No more basic template with blurry banner pictures. Make it end.

Keep staying true to my original intentions. – Be as forthright as possible, be reliable, and always speak what’s on my mind even if it’s a tough subject. People won’t always agree with you, and it’s just not possible for everyone to like you, but as long as you have integrity people will always respect you. I think one of the worst things we can do as bloggers is to censor ourselves to the point of becoming automatons. We have the luxury of a built in audience – something most people do not. We should use it as an opportunity to speak up when the situation arises. I want to do that more.

 

As far as specific shows, it never seems to go according to plan, but this is what the year is shaping up to look like so far:

January 11 – Candy Cane Eventing Derby

March 27-29 – USEA HT at Texas Rose

April 11 – USEA HT at Pine Hill

May 1-3 or May 16-17 – USEA HT at Greenwood or Circle T

June 6-7 – USEA HT at Texas Rose

If we haven’t qualified for AEC’s by then I will instead change focus and move up to Novice at schooling events. Plus I’ll be pretty much out of money anyway.

Here’s to a great 2015!