January has spun by in a stream of wintery weather, heavy rain, freezing cold and then the tantalising warm days that lure you into thinking Spring might have arrived. I've even noticed the birds in full song, a sure sign of Spring? I love Spring with the flowers starting to pop up, the promise of four-legged babies, and the longer days. Oh, how we all long for those longer days! I feel it more this year than ever. Trying to cram so many things into a day and then to top it off your day runs short and it is dark before you know it.
January is always thought of as a time to make new goals etc. For us those new goals and new plans actually started earlier in December, and January has been a month of planning, consolidating and researching. More will be revealed over the coming months, but suffice to say that we are very excited about our new plans!
I have been thinking about the goals that we make. Our goals with our horses have such an impact on our general lives. It is quite amazing how much influence a four-legged creature can have on our lives. I know people who are not "horsey" don't understand this, but in my eyes anyway, they are totally missing the point. It's not about "playing" with your pony (there may be an element of this but it is so much more). It's about being in nature, connecting to nature and to our horse. What we achieve in these quiet moments give us pleasure, a sense of belonging of connecting. It's quite a powerful and beautiful thing.
One of my horses is a very intense, sensitive creature with a brilliance that shines. However, when training much tact and psychology is required so as to not upset but engage the brain and body. One must be entirely present in the moment and awake in the head! Not in a bad way but each training session requires total focus as this intelligent, four-legged personality totally focusses. I love that we know this, that we know enough of each other to train in this way. And I love that this is a part of what we do. We take the time with each and every horse/pony to create a connection and from that connection we can then achieve fantastic, amazing things. I love to find out more about each horses' personality, their preferred way of learning, and who they really are entirely. Again, it creates such an amazing connection to nature, to the self, to earth that is hard to achieve in many settings or instances. How many people do we really connect to in this way? Not so many...
I do have one exciting announcement to make...we are launching a new aspect to our business. Classical Dressage Holidays are coming to County Waterford! We look forward to welcoming people from all over the world to come and enjoy an immersive experience into Classical Dressage Training at Toorala with our wonderful schoolmasters! This has been a few years in the making but we are so excited to be able to offer this service. We are well placed in such a beautiful spot to offer clients the chance to combine classical training with tourism. There are many local historical landmarks such as the Greenway, Dungarvan Castle, Cahir Castle and Swiss Cottage or enjoy a tour of the famous Coolmore Stud (dependant on the time of year), the Fethard Horse Museum and even Spa Days at Sólas Na Mara. We can cater each holiday to suit you.
That is our January review of life at Toorala Equine! If you've made it to the end of this blog post I think you are doing well! My rambling's haven't bored you too much I hope! I am genuinely excited about the coming year and all that we have planned and I hope that whatever plans that you have, you too are excited and empowered to achieve your dreams!
January, over and out!