I'm writing this entry on March 3rd and using a February winter photo of Hailee's firstborn colt, Renny to make my point. As I was writing that previous entry, Hailee was not having a good time. She had fallen through the safety net and I had put her in the hands of two people who would do her harm. In February, my brother-in-law tried to joke with me about this horrible event, saying that he couldn't believe the odds that I would find the two people who would so violate my beliefs about how to be honest and true and caring. He was impressed with how spectacularly I failed in my care of Hailee. And I had to agree, though I wasn't laughing. I was not laughing. Today I have problems -- I'm worried about Renny's training and finding him a home and Violet has a coronary band injury which she reopened a bit earlier this week. I have my trials, but I have such good wonderful blessings. Renny is an absolute joy to ride and willing and kind and quiet. And he works hard on his groundwork lessons and giving his feet, so he is always fun to share time with. And Violet just cracks me up with her desire to learn and please and do good work -- after a princess fashion. She was just super duper at a long-lining lesson this Tuesday and then jumped a course which was set higher then normal for me with interesting turns, varied distances in the combinations, and an unusual oxer! We had fun.
So, this past year, I have had spectacular failures at living my core values, but then some routine small mundane victories. Each day is a blessed grind.