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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Another "Un-Bucket" List

1/3/2015

 
Picture
Today is my birthday. Funny how they keep happening. As my mom would say, better than the alternative!

Last year, I shared my "Un-Bucket" list, a list of things that I had already done. You know how it's really hard to buy gifts for your parents (they have everything!), I find that I am getting to that place myself. As I get older, there is less and less that I want or need, but there is more and more that I hope to see and do. 

I managed to add quite a few things to my Un-Bucket list this year. I am not sure that they were things I had necessarily dreamed of doing, but that's the magic of emptying a bucket - you never know what you're going to pull out!

Here are 20 Equestrian things that I am grateful to have experienced this year.

1. I bought a warmblood cross.
2. I scored over 70% at a USDF show, twice!
3. I won my class at a regional show (RAAC).
4. I competed at the California Dressage Society Championship show.
5. I gave away a horse instead of selling him so that he might have a job that made him happier.
6. I went to the Breeders' Cup with my husband.
7. I rode in a horse drawn wagon at Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home.
8. I watched Rafalca's farewell performance (probably one of many).
9. I rode a 17 hand plus horse (thanks, C).
10. I earned the adult amateur high score at a show.
11. I monogrammed some stuff and even bought some bling. 
12. I was chosen to participate in the CDS AA Clinic.
13. I finally showed at First Level.
14. I chatted with Hilda Gurney (again).
15. Speedy and I had our picture in Dressage Today. 
16. I saw California Chrome in person.
17. I sold my last endurance saddle (kind of bittersweet).
18. I rode with the German trainer, Christian Schacht, again (three times!).
19. I sent a horse to a trainer.
20. I won another neck ribbon (that makes three!) and a cooler (which also makes three!). 
I don't have a plan or specific goals for my 45th year, but I am certainly looking forward to all of the many exciting things that might happen. Who knows what I'll be pulling out of that bucket this year! 
Austen link
1/3/2015 12:19:43 am

What a crazy great year! You certainly pushed some limits!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/3/2015 01:22:42 am

It certainly didn't start off like I had planned (Speedy was lame for several months), but it ended up being much better than I could have hoped for. I had really written off the showing year. I just assumed Speedy's lameness would preclude any big shows, so competing at the CDS Championship came as a huge surprise. Had I planned the year, that wouldn't have even made the cut.

I like planning, but I am always careful to allow a lot of flexibility because you never know what might happen. :0)

Tracy link
1/3/2015 07:27:53 am

i love your un-bucket list. This year, my favorite is #5 -- you made the beat of a really tough decision and handled yourself with such grace throughout the process

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/3/2015 08:01:49 am

Thank you, Tracy. I try not to go bat-shit crazy in public too often. It happens, but we try and sweep it under the rug. :0)

Lauren link
1/3/2015 09:54:28 am

What a great list to celebrate your birthday!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/3/2015 10:06:08 am

I can't wait to see what happens to me this year. :0) They just get better and better (you have TONS to look forward to, Lauren!).

martina peterson
1/3/2015 11:19:31 am

wow what great accomplishments for you. This year will prove to be just as rewarding.

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/3/2015 11:36:48 pm

I sure hope so, Mom. :0)

jenj
1/3/2015 11:19:33 am

What a great year you had, despite the rocky start!

Bakersfield Dressage link
1/3/2015 11:41:00 pm

Thanks, jenj. I am a firm believer in the make lemonade thing. Somewhere in my 20s while in college, I realized that things always work out. No matter how bad they seem at the moment, things always right themselves. I just found I had to be open to a different outcome than I was first expecting.

That's the reason I don't have an actual "Bucket List." I find that the harder I try to make things go my way, the less it happens that way. When I let things unfold however they will, I find that I am always pleasantly surprised.

So for this year, no big "Must Dos" - just an outline of a plan, and we'll see what happens. :0)

emma link
1/5/2015 10:12:03 pm

nice perspective on the year - and congrats on a year that may have exceeded your expectations!


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
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    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
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    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
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Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
    • Shopping List
  • Home