Paddling Along…

Social media is a funny thing. I was shocked and surprised a few months ago when one of Barry’s lovely shoeing clients, who has been having a tough time, told us how perfect our lives appeared online. I was pretty speechless. In case you were wondering, it is really not!

Earlier on in the year we visited Belton House and swimming across one of the lakes in the grounds was a little lady mallard duck. She came with her mate, gliding across the water. Little ripples spanning out behind her and she looked utterly effortless. As she grew closer I saw her little webbed feet paddling like hell underneath the water.

It occurred to me that more apt a metaphor for the whole social media thing I could not have dreamt up! That duck paddling like mad underneath is the reality of it. For every post you may see of people having fun, achieving, selling, buying, smiling, laughing… underneath all that is someone paddling hard just like that duck. For every win that is shared on social media there will also have been determination, drive, tears, falls, confusion, and down days. None of us have a perfect life. I promise you.

Don’t compare your difficult days to someone else’s best moments!

Along the lines of paddling hard I figured that, as many of us have horses, I can’t be the only one that finds it difficult to keep up? Horses are hard work! We all know that! Combine that with children, a household, earning a living and all the other things life tends to throw at us it can all get pretty exhausting. Yet sharing my rust and metal dust smeared face, in filthy clothes, in one of Barry’s coats that I probably grabbed to take the dogs on a walk that evening after Little Miss HH has settled to bed isn’t really insta-worthy is it?

One of my biggest struggles is to make time to spend with my horses and work on my riding wobbles. When you’re feeling nervy about something and you’re super busy it can be hard to find time to make yourself do what essentially is the best thing for you. I’m forever looking to find a balance with this but honestly most days are completely unbalanced! Truth is, if we don’t put our foot down and make time to take care of ourselves and our needs we can’t expect others to. Self care really does start with ourselves. This is something I am really trying hard to work on!

Haha! I truly kid you not as I’m writing this Mr HH is forging and I’ve just had a text from Miss HH asking where I am as I should have been picking her up from school after a maths GCSE!! Whoops!!  Back in a mo! She graciously reassured me it was fine and requested a Mc Donalds trip for lunch. Given I’d left her standing outside school for half an hour I couldn’t really refuse.. kids are such good opportunists at making a situation work for them! Juggling too many balls anyone?! lol

One of the things I’ve done for me this week is to book myself onto the Rider Confidence Course at the Centre Of Horseback Combat. I have wanted to do this for such a long while! Perculiarly, it will be like moving forwards but also stepping back into time as the location for this course, is the same place and yard where I had my very first riding lesson at the age of 7 many years ago on a pony called Little Merlin. How crazy is that?!

I must finish up this little ramble with a mention of a giveaway that is coming up on the 1^st of June! Super excited about this one as we have teamed up with the absolutely lovely Emma from Hooves & Love who offers the most gorgeous Equestrian themed Gift Boxes. Emma runs this fantastic business alongside raising a family and horse ownership – she’s also out competing at affiliated dressage! We thought we’d get together to give a gift that will both remind you to follow you dreams and give yourself a little ‘me’ time! I received one of the Hooves & Love boxes for Mother’s Day this year and the items and attention to detail in them are out of this world. A perfect gift for someone who needs a treat! Keep an eye out on the page for more details of this fantastic giveaway coming up!