This is the week of lessons ramping up to the horse show. Usually I do one group lesson and one training ride for Simon per week, but on a horse show week I’ll swap a training ride for a lesson. That combined with my usual weekend lesson means a group jumping lesson every other day until we go to the show to school on Friday. That much instruction means we have to improve… right? Right?!? Heading to Sunday’s lesson I…
My horse has put me on the equine sex offenders list, and I’m not very sure I can argue with him. Here’s my confession… in 18 years of riding horses I have never cleaned a sheath. I know, I know… you may cast your stones at me. You may call me an awful horse owner…. but it’s true. See, the place I learned to ride taught me excellent horse care. I could muck a stall and cold hose a leg before…
We are now 9 days out from my next show, and I am doing a stellar job preparing… NOT (You have to read that ‘not’ in a Borat voice or it loses all effect). Let me share with you some of my plan, so you can duplicate before your next big shindig. Stress eat because work is so… stressful. Added bonus for trying on your show clothes and having the buttons on your show shirt laugh at your attempts to…
It’s hard not to want to “supplement all the things” when you go to a supplement manufacturer’s website and they have all these amazing claims about different ways to fix your horse. I recently cancelled my SmartPak and decided to switch strategies a bit, only to find myself back again to SmartPak… but let me back up and go to the beginning. When Simon came up lame in January 2013, I decided a joint supplement was in order. I knew…
It’s been about a month since I formally declared 2013 goals, so you’re probably wondering why I’m writing a progress post so soon. Well summer is winding down, and my last three horse shows of the year will be here and over before I know it. Recently I had a revelation that if I didn’t actually work at attaining these goals, then they would never happen. Well duh, right? So I have been working. Here’s the progress so far. Get a…
Last week in part one, choosing a camera, my photography advice was pretty limited to those who were willing to shell out big bucks for a semi-pro or pro camera and lens. Don’t worry, I realize that not everyone wants to throw a few thousand dollars at a set-up. Today I will be going over general settings information that anyone with a camera can benefit from (at least I hope so)! ISO (International Standards Organization) Settings Confession – I had…
Today I have a guest post discussing the benefits of supplementing. This is something I struggle with, because my tendency is to want to SUPPLEMENT ALL THE THINGS but I am both a) poor b) not very knowledgeable when it comes to supplements. The Benefits of Supplements for the Health of your Horse In an ideal world your horse would probably spend most of his time grazing and wandering, with a few short breaks for sleeping. He would travel great…
Even though you can’t be a great rider without lots of practice and being in decent shape, I still claim that over 50% of the sport is mental. That being said, I had a good ‘reset’ lesson on Tuesday night to address some of the communication issues with my horse. I won’t bore you with the tiny details of the lesson, because it wasn’t that exciting, but I will share some of my take aways. I do group lessons weekly,…