This month’s blog is about everyday happiness. What is it? Well for me, it’s a yellow rock. Also, first event of the season done and dusted and I am preparing Sizzle for Lakes… it’s all happening!
Everyday happiness is something totally different to life happiness. Life happiness is when you look back over the weeks, months and even years, and remember them with contentment and fondness. You are happy with the way they progressed and the way you grew, even if it wasn’t in the way you originally planned. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about everyday happiness.
Everyday happiness is when you look back on your DAY and find something that makes you happy. We all have bad days and bad weeks, bad years and if you are especially unlucky… bad decades. This kind of thing is often sudden, unavoidable and sometimes quite brutal. So how do you stop yourself falling into the depths of the bad feeling that comes out of looking back at those bad days? For me, it is a big, ugly, yellow rock.
I live in a rural area of Tasmania, but we tend to get a lot of large trucks that use the road that our property sits beside. As a result, there is a 24 hour truck fuel stop (one of those card operated ones) to cater for them. This fuel stop was renovated a few years ago, and at the entrance and exit there are two large metal poles as guides for the trucks to go around. The poles sat there untouched for a few weeks, until inevitably, one was pushed over by a especially large truck. A week or so later it was pulled back upright by the fuel stop maintenance crew (I assume) and all was well. Until it happened again. And again. And again.
In fact this poor pole was pushed over and re painted so many times that it was hard to keep count! Eventually the maintenance crew had had enough. How on earth where they going to stop these damn truckies from pushing their pole over? My thought was to make the exit a bit larger so that the trucks didn’t need to push the pole over in order to exit the stop… but oh no. They dropped a great big boulder in front of the pole. Then they painted the WHOLE THING BRIGHT YELLOW! I may be reading too much into it but I can just imaging the maintenance crew dropping that great big rock there and then furiously covering it with bright yellow paint and saying “There! Run over that you buggers!!”
That is my little bit of everyday happiness. Every time I drive past that truck stop, my mouth curves up at the side and I shake my head and giggle a little. That is the key. In order to have everyday happiness you must find something that makes you laugh, giggle or even just smile. Then bottle it up and save it in your mind so that you have a little bit of reserve happiness for those gloomy sad days that you just can’t see the end of. I have a few bottles of happy memories and moments stored away.
From last weekend when Poppy jumped a spooky ditch to complete her first ODE, Sizzle jumping that oxer especially well, to even that feeling when my new horse Smash truly relaxed over his back for the first time and gave me the most incredible feeling in the walk, trot and canter. Everyday happiness doesn’t mean you are euphoric all day, every day… it is just those little moments that make you feel good. Then eventually, even if your life isn’t turning out the way you want it, you still have life happiness. Life happiness isn’t won, it is built. And the bricks are those little moments of everyday happiness.
Siz at Monmouth ODE Photo: Jessica Newell
There is a bit of my life philosophy and words I live by! Now for the good stuff… Eventing! The first event of the season is done and I am feeling so lucky with the team of horses that I am lucky enough to ride. I took three horses down and Bethany (sister) and Jules (student) also bought their ponies down to a little Pony Club run event in Hobart. Due to the small numbers, events are typically run in the true ODE format which means that all three phases are run in the single day. Being as crazy as we are, we decided to do the whole thing in the one day… so we were up at four, left by four thirty (actually a bit later… oops) to make the three and a half hour trip down to the event ready for the eight o’clock start. Sizzle had his first event back and was off at 8.00! Due to us arriving AT eight because we were late leaving the poor little man was thrown right into the arena with little to no warm up! He did a pretty shocking test (was a bit of a bronco in the canter) but we got through with some nice movements. He then zoomed around XC with an easy clear (as he should at PN!) and then a lovely SJ with one unfortunate rail in deep sand. Over all I was pretty happy with that! He is on track for Lakes - FINALLY!
Chunky at Monmouth ODE over the big ditch Photo: Laura White
Chunky (a client’s horse) had his first eventing start with me and surpassed all expectations! He did a ripper test for over 71%, which is a beyond amazing result considering the trouble I have had trying to convince him to do dressage in the beginning! He was very bold around his first ever prelim XC with an unfortunate rider error causing a 20p… but then jumped a super SJ, adding only another 4 penalties to his score. Despite his 20 we still achieved a second place due to being quick around XC and having such a brilliant dressage! Go Chunky!
Poppy had her first start back in Tassie and was a very good girl. She did a super sweet dressage, a very brave XC incurring a 20 due to a shuffle at the bank (which is her nemesis… look at last year’s November blog!!) but was otherwise great around a very spooky course! Then jumped a relaxed clear SJ so onwards and upwards for this one
Bethany and Jules did well. They both had some issues but in the end, were both happy and looking forward to the next one. So after riding nine times, we trundled out the gate with our two floats and five horses in tow. We got home at nine and were in bed by ten. So not a bad effort I think! All in all it was a successful event mostly due to the help from Aleisha (another student of mine) who was a superstar and came down to help me out as my super groom (Mum) was away
Smashy at a little show jumping outing Photo: Sarah Walker Photography
New horse Smash (CT Aurenda) has also been pottering about doing various little things and is progressing very, VERY nicely. Exciting!
Tasmania’s Show Jumping Season has just begun so I will use some of those events a preparation for lakes with Sizzle and hopefully get one more ODE in before I leave on the 10th of November! Bring it on!!!
Until next time,
Alice 
