Personally, 2025 is starting of pretty dang ok, minus the immediate and biggest bummer being my friend and amazing riding partner breaking her arm and needed both a pin and a plate to set them. Ugh. She’s doing okay, but understandably not the most fun. Kade has been able to step up and keep Cody in riding work for her, which works out as he’s training to ride endurance with me this year as his sport (OHSET was a big no go for him, for various reasons). Between getting saddle miles in for him, the Northwoods Challenge (40 rides/30 horsemanship hours before the end of March), and the Sweaty Equestrian’s fitness group, I’m at the highest point of motivation and follow through right now.

I’m fitting in the three strength workouts and yoga sessions each week, and finally encouraged my husband to engage in physical activity with me (one yoga session, but it still counts!) I’m riding three times a week, two solid arena rides where we’ve made huge strides in our trot work and bending and I no longer cry when contemplating a canter. We have a ton of refinement to do of course, I wouldn’t even call us walk/trot class ready, but we’ve made the kind of steady, building progress I can be proud of. I’m training Tarma myself, with a few rides from friends here and there (and Kade of course) but all her responses and knowledge I’m instilling in her, piece by piece.

Our trail rides are mostly just fun, we totally understand each other out there. We are refining some things, she still struggles to gear down mentally when we switch speeds from fast to slow (until mile…28 or so). Today’s ride was perfect for working on this, we visited my favorite section of some private timberlands we’re allowed to ride on. They are mix of safe gravel roads and mostly solid single tracks, so we put on some speed on the gravel where we wouldn’t slip and then geared down to find our careful way through the single tracks. I also clear trail with clippers as we go, constantly shifting my weight and asking for half halts as I cut blackberry vines out of the way.

There is active logging going on, though thankfully the equipment was off for the weekend we did have to pass some. Tarma was mad (not scared or spooky) to see a big loader where there never had been one before. Kade got the full “trail riding is an experience” version today, as we had to backtrack when the trail we were on disappeared under the fresh logging, and hop off at one point to navigate under a solid downed log that was too high to walk over, too low to ride under, too brushy to ride around, then find a place to hop back on. While we’re with the horses, I have the best version of my son along, never complaining, always taking care of himself and his horse, asking what the game plan is and his place in it, and always keeps me laughing and learning new things. I miss my friend and can’t wait til she’s back in the saddle, but her stand in is pretty cool and finally catching the endurance bug!