Blog Birthday -1 year

Today marks the one year anniversary of my blog! I can hardly believe I've been blogging that long. I've never thought of myself as a writer, but now it's become one of the true joys in my life, right up there with fiddling, horses, and running.

I tried to find some statistics about the average length of a blog and when a blog typically gets abonandoned. I couldn't find any hard information, but got the impression that the majority of blogs have the lifespan of a fruit fly. One of the articles mentioned that that although the majority of blogs are "abonaded" early on, they found some that were a couple years old that appeared to be abondaned. I can't imagine stopping blogging without saying good bye. If I die a tragic death I really hope a family member comes on and tells you what happened!

But I digress.

At the beginning of January 2009 I discovered blogs - that is other people's blogs. After reading blogs for a month, I decided to start my own. Here is my original blog list - the blogs that inspired me to blog:

• Endurance Granny
• Karen's Musing's and Endurance Ride Stuff
• Go Pony
• Cake Wrecks
• Fugly Horse of the Day

Once I started blogging I quickly started adding to my reading list. Some early additions and "blogging friends" were:

• Adventures on Arabee
• Living in a Zoo
• A Horse and a Half
• mugwump chronicles

Of course, now my reading list is much longer and I even have MORE blogs to add as people comment and I check out their blogs.

Each blog I read, I analyze - what do I like and what annoys me? I loved Nat the Fat Rat technique of using different font sizes. Citizen Horse and Behind the Bit taught me the importance of formatting. Mugwump and Glenshee Equestrian Center showed me different techniques to tell a story. Busy blogs and busy backgrounds and colors annoy me, which is why my blog page is so simplistic.

And then I met even more friends! AareneX from Haiku Farms and Funder from "it seemed like a good idea at the time..." and the many more regular commenters here (Heather, Zach, JB, etc etc!)

By the way - all the blogs I mention here are on my side bar - please check them out!

A lot has happened in a year. A LOT. If you are a new reader, here's a link to my 200th post that describes part of the "happenings". Already in 2010 I've done something completely new (worked a cow) and I'm looking forward to my first recognized dressage show in 2 weeks, and my first 100 mile completion (crossed fingers) in 4 weeks.

I chose my title "Boots and Saddles" because it meant so much - a bugle call, a link to history, a link to music, horses, riding - everything I thought my blog would be about. I thought I was going to be so clever - each post would represent the name of a bugle call - "first call" etc.

I was determined NOT to do a personal, diary type blog. It was going to be full of information and useful facts.....but after reading more and more blogs I started to understand that I could have an entertaining and informative blog that also was personal.

I begin to regret I didn't have an "Etc." in my title....

Of course, 6 months after my blog started I thought of the perfect title: A Horse Off Course. Oh well. I replaced my first tag line "so much more than a bugle call", with "a horse off course".

My philosophy of blogging is to keep very focused. This blog is not the story of my life. It is focused on a very small section of my life, and then only those things that make a good story (most of the time).

I think the biggest compliment I get on my blog is when non-horsey people tell me how much they enjoy reading the posts. It's one thing to appeal to the rest of the crazy, insane horsey world, but entertaining the non-horsey population, using horses as my vessel is very flattering.

Off to write real posts instead of ego serving, self satisfactory one!