Easy Money Ranch

A month or so ago I posted about my daughter the perfectionist, Libby.  I vented about how helpless I felt in guiding her through the stress she was putting on herself and her pony to be perfect.  I asked friends and family how to help her deal and got a lot of good suggestions.  We tried a new technique of having her focus on a goal instead of on a placing and that helped quite a bit.  She might set a goal of getting her diagonals in an English class for example.  But she was still frustrated with herself too much of the time.  Enter a sweet little bay mare named Lady.  Lady is a game horse.  On a whim the Jackels had Libby ride Lady at a game show in mid July.   Libby was hooked.  Since that day the Jackels have hauled that little bay mare for Libby to ride at every show.   Even to a mid week fair show last Wednesday where Lady and Libby qualified for Champ Show in jump figure 8 and key.  As pleasure people we know nothing of games, but Lady was a great tutor.   Lady took excellent care of Libby and Libby has had a blast riding Lady.  She hasn't always placed in her classes, she knocks a lot, but it doesn't matter.  She is having fun.  She doesn't stop smiling at shows now.  And not just during the games.  She smiles all day long.  There are no more tears when she forgets something or misses something.  She just shrugs and goes, "oops - I will have to work on that".  No more pressure on Giggles to be perfect.  She either comes out of the ring saying, "wow - she was so good today" or "ha - did you see her head!  We have work to do".   This has been a great opportunity for Libby.  Lady won't be available for her next year as the owners have other plans for her, so we are so thankful for every run that the two of them get to make for the rest of the season.  Thank you so much to Lady's owner, the Jackels family AND Lady for giving Libby back the joy she should feel with her horses and peace of mind!  She will always remember the summer of 2010!