At the start of the New Year I chose a word for my “word of the year”. I chose the word resilience. I had no clue then how appropriate that word would be for 2020.
Resilience: 1.the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. 2. the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape.
To be honest the difficulties I have had to face in the Pandemic have been nothing compared to what some people have had to face. I am retired so I had no job to loose. I have a roof over my head and plenty to eat. I live in the country so I am not claustrophobically closeted in a small apartment with only the bricks and mortar of other apartment buildings to view around me. Still it has had an impact that has called upon my ability to be resilient.
March 2020. I was competing in a horse show at White Fences, Loxahatchee, Florida when we got word that the USEF ( US Equestrian Federation) had cancelled ALL horse shows in the US. This caused quite a stir. This Pandemic thing was being taken seriously. Then watching the CBC ( Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Prime Minister Trudeau asked all Canadians abroad to come home. A few days after the horse show my husband and I hit the road north. En route we did not stop at any restaurants as we had brought food for all our meals for the three day drive. This was just the start of a new way of living. When we got home we had a fourteen day isolation quarantine.
April 2020 All of the barns and riding facilities in Ontario were closed to the public. Only staff could be in to look after the horses. I had left Biasini behind with my Florida coach for a couple of weeks and then arranged to have him transported home.
I was not able to go to the barn to see him or to ride him. Since a large part of my life is riding and my horse I felt quite at sea. But …resilience…… I walked with my husband and our little dog on the trails in our neighbourhood and we started to do the Eldergym online program. I also did a lot of blogging.
May 2020 The weather was not very springlike but we still walked. We still did the Eldergym and toward the end of the month I could go and watch my coach Belinda Trussell ride Biasini. I could not tack him up or groom him or go into the barn but I could watch at the outdoor arena, It was wonderful.
June 2020 By June it was beginning to seem like the longest year ever. But the Provincial government started a slow and careful process of opening things up. I could ride and got back into training with Belinda. This was me springing back into my proper shape again. That kind of resilience! Just like a piece of squashed plastic I was bouncing back !
Opportunities There will be some shows in Canada later this summer but I have decided not to show. I have an excellent opportunity to work with Belinda on improving some of my weak points. Now that I have the time to shape new patterns and muscle memories it is a good idea to take that opportunity.
July 2020 It was clear by now that we would not be going to Florida for the winter. This was disappointing for me as I love the warm weather and horse shows there. I wondered it if it would be one year I would miss or several. We cannot get travel medical insurance for Covid from any of the Canadian insurance companies. With the escalating situation in the US I wonder how long it will take before the Pandemic is under some sort of control. Will I be too old once I finally get back to Florida? But ….resilience…. if other riders compete into their 80s and 90s I can do it!
So the Covid thump had given me a small dent but now I can not only spring back into shape, but spring into a better shape. So resilience has turned out to be the perfect word for 2020.
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