Holy tolito. It has officially been exactly ONE YEAR since Dayton moved to Colorado!! And what a year it has been! We have been through so much; some good, some not so good, some great and some really special things together. I never thought that I would be able to make this all happen and when he first moved out here. I thought maybe I was way in over my head and “omg what am I thinking?!”
That first week starting with him being hauled half way across the country, then he was here and our first place didn’t work out, having to move him again so soon, school starting, all of it was the most stressful week of my life. I was second guessing myself and what I was doing and if I was doing the right thing and if he was going to be ok after all that I had put him through and just overthinking every. single. thing. I was now 100% responsible for the most important thing in my life. Welcome to horse ownership/motherhood! 
I learned a lot from that first week. I learned that horses are so resilient and so am I. I learned that my relationship/bond with Dayton is no joke and is very real. We were both pretty stressed but we helped each other calm down and figure things out. He had to trust me 100% because he just moved halfway across the country into completely uncharted territory, with new people and horses and everything. I was the only thing he knew and the only thing he could rely on at that point. I learned to trust not only my knowledge and what I knew, but to trust my gut as well. Throughout this year, I have listened to my gut and had to go with what I felt to be right for a few different situations. The first being when our first place didn’t work out and having to move him again. Then with choosing a farrier and a vet. I think I always knew I would be the over-protective, kind of crazy, stressed-about-every-little-detail-concerning-my-horse kind of horse owner but I have learned that is more than ok and if people ever give you a hard time about it, or look at you like your’e crazy, you know that you are doing the very best that you can for your horse and that is what is truly important. Not what other people think of you. 
The same goes for what you decide to do with your horse! I have all these big plans and goals for Dayton and I that I thought we would accomplish fairly quickly…but I have found that there is no set timeline for which things need to be done by. These goals are for us to learn and accomplish together. They are there to bring us closer and to grow as horse and rider. It doesn’t matter when we accomplish them. We go at our own pace and I believe that creates a better understanding and a stronger relationship between us. There is no rush. We have so much time! So we take it day by day. Some days we will work, whether that is just exercising work or working on a specific task, other days we will just hang out and relax, and then some days we will play and have fun together.
I never want Dayton to become bored and mindless in our time together. I don’t want him to ‘obey’ and be this well-oiled machine. I want his energy and his big reactions and his emotions. That open communication between us is SO important and one of the things I love and value so much. I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish this next year and the year after and the year after that. I have never been a big risk taker, I usually stick to playing it safe, going with the flow, and not really changing much in my life. Moving Dayton out here was a big risk. But it has been the best risk worth taking.
