Well hello 2017!
I still can’t quite believe that it is already the 3rd of January 2017. I am still in California but getting ready to pack my bags and head back to cold and wet England. Being home has been amazing but I do miss the team a lot. I can’t wait to get started in 2017 and see what’s in store. I feel that January is always the time of year where reflection is most prominent. You look back at your previous year and examine all of the successes and failures. You review what made you better and what made you fail. Then you think about how to avoid the failures and get to more success. Although I believe that even though it is extremely hard to fail, you learn more and gain more. Yes the highs are amazing and of course we all live for the highs of our sport and life. But what makes us stronger are the lows. We learn far more from our failures than we do our successes. But our success drives us to keep pushing through the failures and be better. So at this time of year I like to look back at all my failures and see what I learned, even though I grimace and probably don’t want to think on them… It helps me look at the new year and decide what to do differently. Then after I have done that I enjoy the successes and celebrate them. The successes are what I strive for and the only way I will be able to do it again is from learning from my mistakes and getting better. So I find that January is a great time to do this as its after the old year but before the new one has really started.

Anyways looking back I want to say thank you 2016. It was definitely a year of ups and downs. It was a year of many firsts and new experiences. I did my first ever event in the UK, first intermediate, first two star, I traveled to Ireland and Poland, got a new team member, and Ainle arrived. I also teamed up with some amazing companies along the way as well. Multi Radiance Medical, Finishline Horse Products UK, Auburn Laboratories inc., and HRP Equestrian. I became a student rep for my Equine Science year as well as a Hartpury Ambassador. So 2016 was full of exciting things. I also had the not so fun time of when I injured my hip and had to deal with doctors but that was a time that even though was frustrating and hard it made me stronger and reaffirmed that I want to ride and study and I am in the perfect place to do just that.

I know that sometimes I can be very pessimistic but for the most part I try to be optimistic. I try to not let myself fall into the never ending cycle of being upset and mad about everything that doesn’t go my way, because at the end of the day what good will it do? Apart from make you angrier and more upset it won’t change anything… so I have always tried to make mysel focus on the good, even though at times that can be extremely hard. I have a rule with myself, that if I have a bad round, test, ride or anything like that, I can be mad and upset for 30 minutes but after that 30 minutes is up I have to suck it up and move on. Because moping about it won’t get me anywhere and it may in fact hold me back. So during that 30 minute time period I can cry, scream, yell be angry or whatever I need to be about what happened. I get it all out of my system. So that when those 30 minutes are up I can move on, and hold my head up high. Everyone
is going to get upset and want to cry and scream at some point, after all we didn’t choose an easy sport to pursue. What defines us as individuals and people is how we handle those failures, so that is why I set myself that rule so that I can always continue to improve and move forward.

Now what awaits me in England is an exam, assignment and prepping for the upcoming season with the team. Then it will be starting the new semester as well as starting our season a little after. So lots to plan for and look forward too. I can’t wait to see my four sets of ears over their doors! Onwards and upwards! Thank you 2016 now onto 2017!