I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit down in the dumps this past week or so. The new puppy was a bright spot for sure, but now she’s sick and I’m worried and mopey about it this morning. A friend also has really sad news about their animal, and all in all I just want animals to stop getting sick or trying to kill themselves in a variety of unusual and expensive ways. Is that too much…
I talk a lot on this blog about Elvis, because more than any other horse he has shaped how I am as a rider and a person today. I owned him from high school through graduating from college, and sold him to a friend in a semi-retirement situation after college to pursue a nicer show horse… a nicer show horse that I ended up hating. Parts of me still regret selling Elvis, but in the end I do think it…
I believe I’ve mentioned before, but I ride at a pretty no thrills kind of barn. Meaning, we see a lot of white plastic schooling helmets, nylon halters decorated with glitter puff paint, and my personal favorite – a fitted zebra fleece english pad. Fitted zebra people… fitted! Really I’m fine with all this, because the ugly white helmets are safe and the tye dye polka dot polo wraps are done correctly… so who cares? I don’t care but I guess my…
Had a good lesson last night. I rode Winston again, the small but angry OTTB. My trainer gave me some more insight to his extreme head tossing and aversion to contact, so we worked on him moving just off my leg and keeping my hands low and quiet. Once he trusts his rider to not rip his face off, he actually settles down quite nicely for cross rails and 2′ type stuff. I had an enjoyable ride, and want to…
I never see any video of me riding and think “Wow, I look so good! I should definitely become a professional.” One might classify me as overly critical. This probably contributes to the fact that I have virtually 0 video of me riding. These videos are super old, so this is a combo “bad riding” and “blast from the past” video post. This is probably the worst video, and you’ll quickly see why. Ok, to be fair I don’t really consider this that…
I’m kind of a complete sucker for any horse with any color at all. If I see a big chromey bay I go, “Oooo pretty.” A fancy jumping pinto will make me swoon, and even a tasteful appy that isn’t built like a donkey (fear not appy lovers, I know that not all Apps are created equal and that they are lovely horses) will make my heart go pitter patter. Nothing makes me warm and mushy like a Palomino though,…
Overall I’ve been really lucky on the riding front. No broken bones, no significant time off, etc. I cracked a few ribs once and hurt my hip in the process, but after about two weeks I was back to normal. There is one fall that has scarred me forever and gave me what I like to affectionately call my ass tumor. See that kind of pointed part of my ass? I hope the cellulite doesn’t leave you blind, but I…
It took me a long, long time to get somewhat good at horse showing. Going to a show and getting no satin pretty ribbons (oh ribbons, how I love you… let me count the ways) these days isn’t a huge shocker, because there were many, many shows in my past where I would be happy to come home with one 6th place. Eventually, I did start doing better than 6th and then I won some. There are 3 ribbons in…