PonyUP 100

If one riding challenge is good, two must be better, right?

Apparently I think so, because, in addition to the Equisarte Winter Warm-Up Challenge, I also committed to PonyUp 100.

PonyUP 100 - formerly "100 horseback rides" in a year - is another inclusive, online community for equestrians of all abilities who want to reap the rewards of consistent horsemanship by setting and achieving longterm goals. Riders are asked to commit to riding their horse one hundred times over the course of the year. Barring injuries, I don't expect that to be a challenge. The bigger test will be keeping track of all those rides.

I used to follow the blog of someone who wrote a post about every single ride. She knew exactly how many times she sat on her horse. It was as impressive as it was obsessive.

Breathe easy. I'm not going to do that here. Instead, I've set up a private blog for that purpose.

Of course, that doesn't mean I won't publish some posts in both places. Here's what I wrote about the first trail ride of 2023/PonyUP 100 ride 3/100: Today Therese and I planned to meet up and work in the indoor arena, but we decided to go trail riding instead.

Therese suggested we go down the Sports Park side since it's usually plowed. Olive has never been that way, and she was definitely surprised when we turned north. For a couple moments, the wheels came off the bus. Then she got over her surprise, and the ride resumed as normal.

You can always tell when she's feeling more confident. She'll go from dragging along in back...

to boldly leading the charge in front.

Good pony!

Before we turned around, I let her get a good long look at the soccer fields, which are blessedly deserted this time of year.

I also rode up to the junkyard fence and let her ponder that for a few minutes.

She looked left.

She looked right.

And then we headed back down the road. No fuss. No drama.

That wasn't just low standards perfect. It was actually perfect. 

I love my pony, and I am excited to be a part of the PonyUp 100 challenge.