The Suburban Horsewife

The Suburban Horsewife may be one of the more appropriate terms for what to call me. I was thinking about this the other day while driving and seeing all of the stickers that people put on their cars to identify themselves. I began to ponder what a sticker would like like that would define me...the next image that popped into my mind made me smile at its ridiculousness. Just imaging one of those female stick figures with a ponytail sitting on a horse with a Clemson tattoo on its but, while I'm hugging a tree in one hand, frying pan in the other, broom and cleaning products strapped to the saddle, with laboratory gloves and goggles on, two dogs and husband in the mix, and a large cross cascading over the outline of Africa surrounding this whole mess. Ha! Defined! Now let's put it in a box and then all the Americans can attempt to be abated while still terribly confused. This is my life and I have chosen every bit of it. So often I see people who just trade in one thing for the other...ex- horses are traded for children, job, age, education or boyfriend/husband. And yet if there is one thing that I have learned that seems universal, it is that if it matters to you, truly matters, then you will find a way to make it happen. That's why people's excuses seem so frail to me. Now reasons are one thing, but excuses are another...and they're a cop-out. Reasons and circumstances may explain you, but they don't have to define you. I think of this constantly as I want so badly to take Gabe to our first competition. And we're ready. We've been ready. We may not win, but we are ready to test ourselves and to try. I told David the other day, "I have been talking about competing for almost 8 years now. I am tired of talking about it. I want to actually do it. And if I'm not going to do it then I just need to give up and shut up about it". There was a pause and then I said, "But we both know I'm not very good at giving up" and he smiled at me.
So now that we've finished building our house and moved in, all I need to do is get a truck and trailer, dressage saddle, a few more show clothes, pants that fit(because I've lost 25lbs) and the best 1st timers show situation planned out with trainer on hand. Just maybe this will all happen before 2014, but if not then I guess you won't hear about it...