Hey... what are you doing later?

The Fall season is on us.  Seriously? Did I just type that? Not really sure how I missed January-August, but now it's September and I'm ignoring the fact that it's still brutally hot, and trying to map out where we will be going when the leaves are beautiful and the breeze is cool. 

And yes, there it is, the slight pang of anxiety... that familiar flutter of acid against fragile stomach lining, better known as butterflies. We start to plan where we are going, and how we are getting their in the most successful way possible. It's easy to get tunnel vision, to get caught up in the process and put 100% of our focus and pressure on those few days on the calendar.  And why wouldn't we.... we spend ungodly amounts of time, money, bloodsweatandtears getting there. So what I understand what I'm about to say is going to sound like pishposh funny business.

But... What are you doing after the show? 

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Just oblige me and come on a bit of a mind journey.... you've sent in your entry (and your bank account cried), you planned your rides and lessons and farrier visits, and truck/trailer maintenance backwards from the show to make sure everything will be perfect. You've stared at your horse until you can swear he looks lame (he isn't moving while you make this decision, he just is standing eating hay.. but standing funny). He is not, in fact, lame, and you make it to the show. You get on your noble steed and he just isn't feeling it, or your not feeling it. Or a dog barks by the rail causing a runout, or you slip in the footing. Or he steps on a rock on the way to warm-up, or you twist your ankle walking down the stairs at the hotel in the morning and can't seem to use your right leg properly. 

And, for a moment, it feels like everything worked for in your whole entire life has just gone down the crapper.

And now for a moment, imagine that you are driving home, and rather than wallowing in a pool of self-pity, and doubt and misery, you realize that you have something else to look forward to -- something that doesn't rely on your horse putting on their fancy pants appropriately. 

Or maybe your competition did go perfectly, the stars aligned an you are grinning in the shadow of a pretty ribbon hanging from your rear view mirror, But what are you going to do on the backside of the horse show hangover? 

And my fellow horse-crazy-12-year-olds-stuck-in-an-adult-body, let's make this activity non-horse related, and make it someone exciting. 

Maybe you can pamper yourself.  Schedule a massage or a pedicure and don't even feel bad about the amount of dirt that comes from under your nails.... Take yourself for a glass of wine and dessert at that awesome rooftop restaurant that actually requires you to put on clothes that you wouldn't wear into the barn.... Maybe you can plan a friend get-together. Go to that work-out class you've all said you've wanted to try but haven't gotten around to it.  Plan a visit to your local paint-and-sip night (or better yet, throw a shoe party). 

Whatever you do, do something.  Your horse will appreciate the reduced amount of undo pressure, and you will appreciate the light at the end of the horse-show-hangover. 

​Cheers! ​