I am obsessed with Icelandic horses. I am also learning obsessed. Right now I want to learn as much as I can about their care, feeding, and behavior. I am also interested in learning as much as I can about equitation – this is the more kinesthetic aspect of the equation.

My obsession with learning reminds me of being in graduate school. There I was most happy when I was learning about cognition in relation to the writing process. I did not then put a label on what it was I wanting to learn because I did not know that this was it for me. So I put my shoulder to the wheel and learned as much as I could about rhetorical theory. This was like eating Brussel sprouts and liver. I did this because I was told that it was good for me. And, what I then learned served me in good stead although I will always wonder if I would have done better had I been able to instead focus on my self-interests.

It's late. Again. I’m exhausted. I’m also happy. As clinics go, this one did not run as smoothly as some of the others, but I don’t think that anyone noticed. The two clinics were not full. And two riders did not show. So the Western Dressage class, taught by Susan Harris, was a bit of a bust. I had told Brit, the clinic organizer, that it would not fill and that we should give it another name, but she remained attached to her original idea.

One of the out-of-state riders, Saundra, rode Hrimmi, who was balky and at times refused to move. And Raudi, who I rode in the jumping clinic, made a fuss and got away from me and ran to Hrimmi’s side. I put her in the round pen and she ran around like a chicken with its head chopped off.

I ignored her and she finally did settle. And once we got into the arena we had our lesson. This went fairly well. This class was also quite small with just five riders. So Peggy made it a class in which we worked over poles, on this, the first day. I had enough poles, and they were painted, so kudos for me.

Peggy Brown (the instructor) had this brilliant idea – she told me to focus on my own self-awareness and that of the horse. Little did I know but she instructed Pete to gradually take Hrimmi off into the distance. And so Raudi chose to listen to me rather than bolt in the direction of the other horse. A valuable life-lesson for me here.

Those in charge of the speaker system had a hard time getting it to work. I could only wring my hands because I have not invested the time in learning about such things. My rationalization – can’t be all things to all people.

Coffee was late. There was just a pot on hand, not a coffee maker. Tomorrow will be a better day, for sure.

Next: 158. 6/10/17: Groundhog Day, Again, Again, Again