Simon had his teefs done yesterday. I was told he had a lovely mouth, and typically only needs routine stuff done. This is great, because there are many other parts of his body that aren’t quite so lovely. The dentist said that some of the head flipping I’ve seen during my recent rides could be attributed to his teeth. It had been 13 months, so they weren’t terrible by any means but he had some irritating rubbing on his tongue on…
I needed a calm, quiet weekend that was relatively drama free and that’s exactly what I got on my Easter three day weekend. Years past I would get super into every holiday and make festive Easter baskets for just Tim and myself, but that got exhausting after a while. Though I still put a lot into Christmas, most holidays I just enjoy an extra day off work and try to get something productive done. Thursday evening I was really looking…
2006 16.2hh Thoroughbred Gelding. Can play in all three rings. Lots of miles in the local hunter/jumper circuits in 2’6″ hunters and jumpers. Schools 3′ at home when owner is not terrified. Cute jump. Very expressive hunter on course. Lots of brilliance. Auto half changes. Clips/loads/excellent ground manners. Ties occasionally. Hunter derby scores in the low 60’s. As honest as the day is long. Can take a joke. Excellent flat work foundation. Schooling second level dressage movements at home. Has yet to…
Last Sunday for my lesson, my horse was “wild.” Believe me, I am just as shocked as you. Now don’t get me wrong… Simon is still my wonder horse. In fact, his wildness makes me laugh more than makes me annoyed. I’ll try to give you a play by play of the lesson as best I can, since there’s no media proof that any of these events happened. You’ll just have to trust me. He warmed up like a Grand…
I’m a bad horse mom. Usually every year I think about Simon’s birthday in advance, write a post here on the exact date and plan a little horsey birthday party for him. This year I knew it was approaching but totally slipped and I realized after the fact as we walked around the farm to cool out after our lesson. So without any pomp and circumstance, my buddy is nine years old. I remember the first time I saw him…
Who’d have thought I’d have more than one post to write on this blog about bell boots? Back in 2013, bell boots caused Simon to sit on the ground like a dog. At the show this past weekend, we had another incident with bell boots but this time it wasn’t nearly as visual. Since Simon has pretty severe hock arthritis, I take a lot of (USEF legal) measures to make sure that he’s comfortable at shows and doesn’t get stiff…
Some weekends are super refreshing, filled with lots of downtime and moments that say “Ahh, I feel so lucky to be alive and I’m so relaxed and recharged!” This was not one of those weekends for me. The bright side was the barn. I got to ride in the sun for three days in a row, and my horse was really well behaved. We even got to model some of our new stuff, and despite my riding flaws… I feel…
When my husband took riding lesson (oh so briefly), he got very frustrated that riding wasn’t a linear progression sport. I basically said “duh!” and expressed that it’s often one step forward two steps back… or at least feels that way. Yet, I forgot my own advice recently. This winter has been rough on us for riding consistency. Not many barns in Texas have an indoor, and that includes us. We’ve had tons of rain lately, and I’ve been lucky…