Losing Weight is NOT Your Life's Purpose

I've been thinking a lot about weight loss lately. I've been feeling worse about myself then usual and I'm not sure why. I've actually lost weight recently, and I've definitely been taking small steps to eating and being healthier. But... I had a realization this weekend. I went on a Hunter Pace, it was 10 miles long and the first one I've done (at a steady trot/canter pace the whole way) since I was 18 and that was 13 years ago. I was in much better shape then. The hunter pace was 2 days ago and I can still barely move. Every part of my body hurts. That pain has made be realize that, sure, losing weight is great but being in proper physical shape is far more important.

I want to be an eventer. I don't care if thats crazy, I don't care if I'm too old and too fat to pursue that dream... I'm going to anyway. I don't care if I don't have perfect horses or expensive training, I know I can do it. In order to accomplish that goal though I need to be stronger. I need to be able to canter/gallop over a cross country course with jumps accurately and effectively and right now I can't even canter in a field for 2 minutes straight without my legs cramping. From now on I'm not going to worry about the number on the scale, I'm going to focus on getting stronger for my horses and being a more effective and capable rider.

It doesn't matter if you're a size 2 or a size 22. If you're 130 or 300 pounds, as long as you love horses and you're committed to being the best rider that you can be for them, that's all that matters. Below is a photo of Albus and I at the hunter pace! I think we're starting to look the part of a real team, I think he's going to love eventing as much as I do!