I have some more complex, kind of dark, and meaningful thoughts spinning in my head right now. But they’re not ready for public consumption. So let’s talk about something else–tucking your shirt in. And if your first question is, “Um… why?” know that this isn’t really about shirts. It’s about bellies. For years, I would never ride without my shirt tucked in and a belt. It was part of my “If I don’t look the part I am not enough”…
Last week, I went to check my blogroll of equestrian bloggers like I’ve started to do again in the past month. This was my routine daily for many, many years. At the peak of horse blogdom, I had 200+ blogs on my feed. Most days there were between 30-50 updates of new posts, and I did my best to try and read/skim all of them. If I had something to say, I’d leave a comment. Sometimes a quick “good job!”…
The good news? The baby horse blues is over for the time being. Po has been a fantastic citizen so far this week. I hacked on my own Monday, and he gave me a really consistent, solid effort. On Tuesday I had a lesson, and again he showed up to try (although he told us he was vewy, vewy tired and a little butt sore from all the trying). His good behavior on Tuesday was extra special because I pulled…
First off, I appreciate all the support from my baby horse blues last week. Even though I know it’s my blog and I’m technically allowed to whine, it feels pretty ridiculous to be all, Woe is me! My horse that I am fortunate to have and even more fortunate to have in a training program isn’t progressing as fast as I want him to! Wah wah wah. But you know, that’s how it goes sometimes. At least I’m honest? We…
Green horses are not for the faint of heart. Often, my heart is faint. So, is the joke on me? Tuesday I went out to hack, and my horse was just in a god awful mood. He was bad for the farrier. I pulled him out before feeding time (when I get there after work happens to always be feeding time), and gave him a snack of his dinner in the crossties. Usually that makes him happy because he feels…
A few months ago, I wrote a post for The Plaid Horse, called “I Am a Fat Equestrian and I’m Never Dieting Again.” This is not required reading, but gives a lot of background and context to what I’m about to write. The short version is that somewhere along the way, the idea that plus size equestrians could never be as good as thin (I won’t even say street or midsize because body shaming is very intense in the hunter/jumper…
Every time I change trainers, which admittedly isn’t often, I realize how little I know about riding horses. When I moved to California, I had the (oh so silly) impression that I kind of knew my stuff. I mean, Simon and I had shown in all 3 rings, and I’d been riding a long time. I figured our limitations were more about finances, talent, and soundness (for both of us) than anything else. Well, that was a pretty stupid belief…
No matter how old you get, you won’t forget the afternoons you spent alone at that first barn. You won’t forget the way the grass ring felt with its slope on the left side, and how you always had to collect a little at the trot to not go racing away. It wasn’t fancy, but it didn’t have to be. Those four stalls, the wood worn smooth by generations of family horses, were your foundation. And it carries you a…