Getting Stuck

 I haven't been posting because I've been stuck. No, not like the horse in this picture, though this is exactly how I feel. (Photo from here.)

Let me first explain what "stuck" is. It's not getting your head stuck in a chair, no matter how coy and attention getting that might be.

Stuck is much less dramatic and possibly even less useful. A local riding school has some very reliable school horses. They can be relied upon to do what you ask, or perhaps not. But they won't do anything stupid or dangerous.

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, they get stuck. Maybe they will have been standing in a group while their riders jump individually, or while their riders were getting instruction on what to do next. At any rate, when the group of horses moves off, one (or more) might decide not to. Their riders will flail away with their legs banging the horses' sides in an effort to move the horse forward, but the school horse (or horses) don't budge. They are stuck.

You've seen it. You may have experienced it. The horse is stuck, all four feet planted on the ground. It's not going anywhere. It is stuck.

The instructor has to intervene. She pulls them forward. They come unstuck and it's like it never happened. "Sometimes they just get stuck," she tells the rider.

I've got something that I just have to write and don't want to. It's not hard, but there's a lot of it. I've done all the pre-work, the research and interviews. And try as I might, I can't make myself move forward. I am as stuck as one of those school horses, and there is no one but me to get me unstuck. I'm not doing a good job of urging me forward, but I am doing a good job of at least limiting fun distractions, like blogging.

I came a little unstuck this morning, since the deadline was last week (oops!). I'm a third of the way through. So long as I don't get stuck again (this is not writer's block -- this is an inner protest) I should be finished by Wednesday.

And that will unstick the rest of my life.

I need to post about riding horses in the ocean in the Bahamas last month. I need to blog about the Pony Club Quiz Rally, and especially tell you about the shoe table. But for now, I just need to stay unstuck. Be back soon.

Comments

[greyhorsematters]

Once you get unstuck, we'll be glad to have you back blogging away.

[GP]

as one of my mentors once said (and this is ahard one for me too!) :) sometimes you gotta slow down to go faster... or it's easier to ride the horse the direction it's going in (philosophically)

gp

[Horseypants]

Hiya, just wanted to pop over and say thanks for your insight on my situation with my daughter's 4-H horse. I emailed the owner to say we'd like to switch to another horse. You're right, it's not her job to figure out what's going on with this horse. Even if she was gung-ho about it (NOT the case) that is inevitably the position she'd be in, and it's not worth the risk at her age and level of experience.

BTW, we recently had an elk get her head stuck in a bar stool here in Colo...

I have enjoyed reading about your daughter and her horse...even though he's been a butthead at times, the fact that she's learned to ride through the bucks is still pretty worthwhile vs. having perfect position (which we know you can work on for the rest of your LIFE). She's got his number now, so good for her.

[photogchic]

Well be here when you become "mobile" again. Can't wait to hear about that Bahamas trip? Have you heard of the Abaco Barbs..the most endangered breed on the planet? I did a movie about them last time I was in the Bahamas...the trailer is on youtube if you type in Abaco Barbs.