Monday, December 28, 2015

2015: The Year That Was

'Tis the season for retrospectives, and I've really enjoyed reading everyone's recaps and summaries of what 2015 brought.

So I'm sharing my own version too, with all our many experiences synthesized into brief bullet points, with pictures summarizing each month. Enjoy!

January


original wintec top left; various crushed hopes and dreams top right, and bottom row

February
  • We continued schooling at indoors, making FV our weekly destination of choice. This coincided with me getting serious about challenging my jump height comfort zone.
  • I bought a saddle!! And proceeded to jump 3' for the first time ever in it :)
  • We started playing the game of ever-postponed dressage shows, and actually never made it to a single one...

not 3', but still pushing our comfort level

March

do we look like hunters?!?

April

left to right: quarantine....; practically the same thing as horse showing anyway; xc with Peanut!!

May

clockwise from top left: jump judging prelim @ MCTA; xc schooling @ Tranquility; BN @ MDHT Spring Starter #3; and BBN @ MCTA Jenny camp

June

clockwise from top left: Waredaca stadium; xc schooling @ tranquility; lattice gate!!; after dressage @ Tranquility; boooo Bates; dressage @ Fair Hill

July

pictured: mare flies like nbd

August
  • I had the pleasure of spending time with Austen and Alli at a David O'Connor clinic at Waredaca
  • We put our xc pedal to the metal - first schooling at OF with trainer P, then with Dan at AOPF, all with novice twinkling on the horizon. I tested the move-up waters with a 3' jumper round at Tranquility. We had a rail, but our confidence and execution were exactly what I hoped. 
  • Izzy saw her favorite chiro/acupuncturist again and we were poised for an incredibly fun return to eventing by romping around BN at our home-away-from-home turf OF's starter trials. This was easily our strongest xc outing yet, and we had zero jumping penalties to finish 2nd on our dressage score.
  • Then Novice at Olde Hope! The jumping was actually not very strong, with the mare stuck behind my leg and tentative about the increased technicality on xc (up and down banks, ditch, big jump immediately preceding a drop into water...), but a solid dressage test helped us cling to victory. 

clockwise from top left: meeting Austen and Alli at the DOC clinic; dressage lesson w/C @ TM; 3' jumper class @ Tranquility; xc school w/Dan @ AOPF; OF Starter HT; winning Novice @ Olde Hope

September

these two should need no introduction by now <3

October

clockwise from top left: Milagro; Bali's blue ribbon; me and Alli and Max at Fair Hill; Isabel proving she can clear a novice stadium jump when I give her the chance at Loch Moy

November

if you're fancy and you know it, shake your head!

December

perhaps a favorite picture from the year (even if the reason behind it still makes me sad)

So. There ya have it: 2015 in all it's glory. As always, thank you so much for reading and taking time to comment! I'm looking forward to seeing what 2016 has in store for us :)

33 comments:

  1. Wow you really did get up to a lot this year! Can't wait to see what you get up to in the next year :)

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  2. It's been a busy year! I've enjoyed following all of your adventures.

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  3. A huge year regardless of the tib/fib mishap! Cheers to 2016

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  4. You really did have quite a year! And looking back I can't believe how much you fit in especially considering your season was bookended by catastrophies! You and Izzy recovered so well after the flu ordeal and I think you'll come back just as strong/ stronger after you leg is all better. Can't wait to ride along again in 2016!

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  5. What a hear you've had! I'm still playing catch up from the summer - cannot wait to see where 2016 takes you

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  6. Love the recap! Its amazing what can happen in a year!

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  7. You had such an exciting year and I'm so glad we met and I got to be a small part of it! :)

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  8. Oh boy! So busy! And so much progress! BBN to N in a summer! Congrats!

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  9. What an incredible year! Love your positive spirit no matter what comes your way and can't wait to see what 2016 brings!

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  10. you had a pretty awesome year!.... except for the leg! But you'll be back and kicking butt next summer!

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  11. Congrats on all the many accomplishments, they're even more impressive considering you had a few (big!) obstacles to overcome! Fingers crossed 2016 is exciting for good reasons only :)

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  12. There were some downs in there, but way more ups than downs! You accomplished so much this year and experienced so many fun things.

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  13. What a year! Cheers to another one

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  14. You crammed a huge amount of stuff into your year. Did you get more days than the rest of us? :)

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  15. Love the year in review! Now onto 2016 to see what it has in store for you guys!!!

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  16. Wow! What a year! And just writing this post was a feat I'm sure. All those pics and links. I'd love to read a compare contrast blog about learning from David O'Conner v. Boyds Martin. You had awesome opportunities this year. Happy New Year!

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  17. Wow! What a year! And just writing this post was a feat I'm sure. All those pics and links. I'd love to read a compare contrast blog about learning from David O'Conner v. Boyds Martin. You had awesome opportunities this year. Happy New Year!

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    1. thanks! i'm not sure i have enough material to do a full comparison, but i'd say that if you had to choose between them, go for DOC. his lectures were some of the best i've ever heard, and i'm still referring back to my notes to this day. Boyd was fabulous too tho, and i got some *great* nuggets from him (esp with specific exercises to try), so really you can't lose with either one.

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  18. Love the recap! What a full year!

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  19. I'm always blown away by how much stuff you manage to get done in a year, between shows, clinics, lessons, schoolings, whatever!

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  20. Wow, what a fantastic year! You started with 3' being out of your comfort zone and then by August you are jumping 3' jumper rounds! Plus all that awesome XC and Dressage improvement. Give your self a pat on the back! And a high five!

    Can't wait to see where you go in 2016!

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  21. I think this was my first full year of following your blog and what a year it has been! Always makes me so happy to read your posts and living vicariously though your eventing journey haha Have a wonderful start to 2016 (:

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  22. I almost forgot about the quarantine fiasco - you guys still managed to get up to quite a bit of stuff considering the break!

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  23. You kicked @$$ in 2015! 2016 is going to be awesome too :)

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  24. Such a fun post. Here's to a GREAT 2016!

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  25. dang you overachiever. Thanks for making the rest of us look like sloths! (I kid, I kid).
    Seriously though, nicely done. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do next year!! I hope that leg is 100% quickly!!
    (is that a blue saddle?)

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    1. lol thanks! and no that saddle isn't actually blue (maybe i would have bought it if it was haha), just strange shadows ;)

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  26. i liked this post - sounds like a really exciting year!!

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  27. quite the year! looking forward to your adventures in 2016.

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