Successful Failure!

This January I signed up for a Facebook group challenge... you were to complete 30 rides and a total of 40 hours (the time riding counted toward hours) with one horse.  That was the big catch for me, ONE horse.  If I had been able to add together the time and rides on multiple horses I probably would have completed it, as it was I chose Odin and we didn't make it.
In hindsight if I had chosen Lefta or Voodoo I probably would have been able to complete, but with Odin I just didn't feel safe riding alone so we didn't get enough rides in for the challenge. 
However I chose Odin so I'd stay motivated to keep him working throughout the winter.  I knew with how green he was that if I let him sit over winter I'd be mighty hesitant to get on him in the spring without someone else taking him for a few rides first.
BUT I did keep riding him this winter!  And we've made so much progress together.  He's FAR from broke but I have confidence in him and feel like I know how he'll react to a lot of stuff that I would have been worried about before.  And at our last lesson while we were warming up Coach said "Stop!  Now pat yourself on the back!"  so I did, and looked at her with I'm sure the dumbest look on my face.  Then she said "You're riding him like a broke horse!  Not babysitting him like a colt, good job!" :D
So, we may not have gotten 30 rides, but we HAVE been riding and making progress.  I'll take that fail!