1. Above all else, know this: we want you to be successful. We want this for you because that's our job, of course—to produce successful students, at whatever "success" means to you. Whether winning the Olympics or just cantering two circles around without being afraid, we want you to Win at It. And if you doubt that we want you to win simply because its in our natures, consider this: happy clients are more likely to keep paying us, and more likely to tell others they should pay us. Happy clients = good business.

We're about three weeks in, everyone has settled, and a plan is falling into place.

TUESDAY:
All: We have arrived! We will all settle in and be incredibly mature. Don't look so shocked, lady.

WEDNESDAY:
Fender: Whee! Florida! I'm going to try and buck you off.

Danny: Me too! In between, I will give you about the most amazing feeling you've ever gotten from a horse in your life. This means that someday, you'll be able to control me when I'm this up, and it will be the kind of thing that will get you HUGE scores at CDI Grand Prix. But that day is not today. WHAT WAS THAT OVER THERE?!

I had a lovely Christmas with my family, and a lovely New Year's with friends. It got cold for a few days, during which everyone tried to buck me off, and then it got warm and beautiful, during which I wondered why I was leaving. And then it was Jan. 2, and it was time to go.

It's the end of the year, a time for cheer and fuzzy scarves and family and, between bites of baked goods (in spite of my annual plea to our clients to not bring us the stuff, which always goes ignored), reflection on the year's events.

Back in February, I had a great chat with a friend who's also a sports psychologist. She encouraged me to write my goals for the year down, rather than just thinking them, because a) there are studies that show that those who write their goals down are more likely to achieve them, and b) it makes reflecting on them a lot easier.