Riding into the New Year, hitting pylons, and looking ahead.

Look up! Every riding coach’s reflexive reaction to the novice rider’s inclination to look down at the pylon they’re about to hit… and keep looking at it when they do. You’ve seen the cracked cones, stacked in riding arena corners, to confirm what I’m saying!

In the horse show world, knocking over a pylon in a pattern class is grounds for disqualification or “Off Pattern.” But not in life.
I’m convinced the best way to stand at the in-gate of the New Year is a mix of LOOKING BACK and LOOKING FORWARD.

LOOKING BACK. Lament and grief is a healthy part of moving forward. Swallowing hurts without digesting them will cause upset later.

A wise pastor said, “What I’ve learned is, the body keeps score…hurt doesn’t just go away somehow…”   
For me, in a year of grief, I’m taking stock of both the warm and the hard memories; thanking God for the sweet and lamenting the bitter.
Looking back at failures is acknowledging and owning the mistake vs blaming and making excuses. In the show ring: Oops, I hit the cone. I was late to straighten my horse with my inside leg vs The markers are set too tight. The footing is deep. The warmup ring too crowded.
Looking back DOESN’T mean framing the failure, hanging it in my hall, revisiting it, and even defining myself by it.

LOOKING AHEAD. In riding and life, keeping your eyes on the destination determines the next steps.
In 2026 we’ll bump into some cones and suffer some losses. Hope means having a “nevertheless” to stand on when life’s footing is deep.

As Jesus said, “In the world you WILL have trouble.” He also said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

So may we enter the in-gate to the new year with sober acknowledgement of our own fallibility and hopeful expectation of what’s to come.