Wrapping up 2008

Yes, I haven't done a post since October 2008. Pathetic!
While I haven't been writing, a lot has happened!!!

Here are some brief updates:

October -
We went to the state championships and had a blast!!!! We had a week of training at Ellen's house before venturing down to LA, which really helped to prepare us for the show. We had a whole crew showing - myself, Katey A., Susan, and Eva. We all had a great time showing together and all the horses were really good. Willoughby surpassed all expectations. Our warm-up class went extremely well and he won the class. Overall he came out champion in the 1st level adult amateur USDF class and reserve champion in the CDS 1st level adult amateur class. I was really pleased with all my tests. The only thing we messed up on was our shallow loops in the canter - he broke once in them on both 1-4 tests. But oh well! He tried so hard and I was so proud of him! After the show I left him at Ellen's for 4 weeks becuase I was traveling a lot for work. Ellen worked hard on getting his canter really strong in preparations for changes.
November-
I got my horse back! Yeah! We mainly worked on getting his canter nice and strong. Thanksgiving, family, ect.
December-
More work on the changes! I went to clinic in Davis with Ellen and we worked more on the changes and his canter. So exciting! I admit, I've been a bit of a slacker this month with all the holidays. But I've been productive in other areas like wedding planning (must do now so I don't have to worry about this summer when I'm showing) and being social! I had a life for a couple of weeks!

And now we're in 2009! Hard to believe. I'm starting off the year with a big bang. I'm visiting Ellen this weekend for some intensive lessons to work on our changes. My goal is to show 3rd level this year so we have a lot of work in order to be prepared for our first show in the spring. It will be a very busy year and it will be a juggling act trying to balance it all! But with a little planning and an early start, I think we can do it!