My entire life…. I’ve been…….the instigator.

I was the one that wanted to ride horses….. when my friends were all playing with legos.

I was still riding……. when they all discovered boys and quit riding……

I wanted to ride horses…… when they were all making the volleyball team…..(we won’t talk about the fact that I was out at the 1st cut…..maybe I shouldn’t have tried out in my riding clothes)

As an adult, I cannot remember a single trail ride where I wasn’t the person talking everyone else into going……

Because I’ve always been the one with the total and complete obsession, I’ve always been  the one with…… the stuff……

I built my own horse trailer when I was sixteen.

Yes, really. (“How Bad do you want it??”)

And since then, I’ve always had my own pony transportation.

Because of that, I’m actually a bit of a freak about taking my own truck and trailer.

I know where my stuff is. I know that it’s in perfect condition.

I know that I have amazingly heavy duty……… nearly bullet proof….. tires, with an equally amazing spare……… 

I won’t be stranded on the side of the road with some wonderful friend because they have crappy tires and no spare.

How many of you have had that fun?

We might be stranded because I can’t remember the code for my keyless entry.,……. but that’s a whole ‘nother story!

Because I’ve had my own rig for….. cough, cough, sputter…..decades… I am very comfortable living out of it. And I don’t have to even think about packing. Usually I wash a few things, toss them back in and I’m all set.

As a matter of fact, when I moved several years ago I lived in my horsetrailer for 8 months ……….(a bit too long for 65 square feet…………..but it was pretty comfortable all the same).

I found out a few weeks ago that I would be attending a work conference for 6 days before a show I had planned to compete in.

These work conferences are ………….Intense.

6:30AM breakfast meetings, followed by ropes courses leadership training, followed by working lunches, followed by brain storming sessions, followed by working dinners, followed by mandatory evening activities that usually are scheduled until midnight, but rarely end then……….

and Repeat……. for 6 days.

And we all still show up at the hotel gym at 5:00AM to prove we really are Rambo after staying up waaay too late, and drinking waaaaay too much.

I couldn’t fathom having enough adrenaline to jump around an Intermediate cross country course after a week like that.

The Wonder Pony wasn’t quite up for the trip so I thought I’d just go and……

you know…….

watch.

But on closing day…… I just….. couldn’t…… stand it………

I asked my coach if she had room to take my other horse. After all, it would ONLY be Prelim!!

It was pretty funny…. she said I have a certain look, when I’m “up to something.”

The instigator……that’s me.

After a brief conversation I found myself entering the show….which is at the end of that CRAZY work week, sending my horse with someone else, and then realizing that I was going to have to……..

PACK.

This realization was followed by a complete and total nervous breakdown.

Bad Eventer

does

not

know

how to pack…….

I lost sleep.

I got sick.

I spent a whole day on the couch.

And then the day I was supposed to take my pony to my coach I just couldn’t get packed, I had to delay an entire day.

But after 3 glasses of wine, I finally got the courage to put everything I would need into

one

trunk.

And for the record.

I don’t ever want to do that again.

Instigator.

Yep.