Half-baked

“A half-baked idea is okay as long as it’s in the oven.” - Unknown

Several times since January 1^st, I’ve sat down to write.  I wonder if we’ve lost something in this digital age.  No longer can you crumple a wasted sheet and toss it across the room to the waste basket.  Sure, the computer’s recycling bin makes a satisfactory whoosh when you empty it, but I miss that primal crushing of a stalled out idea.  My brain seems to miss it as well.  Most of my thoughts this year have only been half cooked. 

Here are some slightly soggy, half-baked happenings so far this year:

We brought home a new horse for New Year’s Day.  She had an independent attitude that I thought would translate well to eventing and I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for grey mares.  Plus, she was the perfect giant twin to our little pony.  Unfortunately, she really missed her heard mates and never really settled into the routine at our house.  Worried that she would start losing weight, we took her home again.  She was very happy to be back with her friends.  I have no doubt she’ll be happier living out her days there.  Somewhere in that experience were posts about fresh starts and knowing when you were in over your head.

Try two is a Connemara cross gelding.  He is very much still a baby in personality, but all business when you get on and go to work.  So far we are really having fun and I am looking forward to sharing our adventures this year.  We’re working on our dressage and learning to use our whole bodies.  We’ve hopped over some little bitty cross rails and we have tackled the big wide world with trips down the road.  He is quite the character.  Time will tell whether that character will lend itself well to competition.  I could already fill a book describing his quirks, but more on that later I’m sure.

Otherwise we are staying very busy.  The weather has been blessedly uncomplicated.  The horses are spending more time out then in, which means better attitudes and less work.  I had the privilege of giving a couple of Pony Club rating tests.  I haven’t gushed about the value of Pony Club recently so let me take a moment to say that it is a truly wonderful program that helps create responsible horsemen and women.  Those kids often go on to do wonderful things thanks in no small part to the organization that gave them a real leg up in the real world.  So many skills I use daily are skills I learned in Pony Club.  There is probably a club near you.  You can learn more at ponyclub.org.

It has taken me five days to get even these scattered thoughts down on paper or into binary code as the case may be.  I should really take some time to polish, flush out and perfect these fleeting thoughts, but then I ran across this quote:

“My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.”  - Anais Nin

That settles it.  I have horses to ride and sunshine to enjoy.  Sometimes a Fresh Perspective is just a brief glance in a new direction.