When we last left off, I had completed the hunter derby successfully but hadn’t yet fallen off. When do I bust my bum? Stay tuned! After the hunter derby we had what was supposed to be a brief break before the jumpers start, but it ended up being much longer. The 2’0″ jumper division had a decent amount of riders, and they decided to let people take a break before their jump off… which made things take a lot longer….
There is too much to tell about my fun day at the LOPE Benefit show! Instead of writing a novel, I’ll break it up into chunks. For those of you who like the cliff notes, here they are: I was ridiculously over dressed and wore a shadbelly Had some of my personal best riding over fences (in my opinion) NECK RIBBONS I fell off! Now, the nitty gritty details! 7:45am was the first posted ride time for our hunter/jumper gals…
Amy gave me very good advice pre-Simon getting sick. She said to ride even if I didn’t feel like it, because it would probably make me feel better. I took it to heart, because honestly I don’t feel like riding. Things I feel like doing instead of riding include… Eating froyo Watching reality TV Pretending to clean my house But alas, my trainer and friends are nice enough to offer me rides and I believe that if you say “No” to…
I’m not a special snowflake, but I do think I have a slightly unique edge to my experience with the horse world. When I was riding as a kid, I primarily fox hunted before doing any serious showing. It seems most kids grow up in the show ring on ponies or school masters, but I grew up on hunter paces and eventually fox hunting. When I finally did start showing, there was so much to learn. I didn’t know anything about…
In certain open shows in North Carolina (and probably elsewhere), there is such a thing as a Versatility Class… and it is awesome. Rules vary per show, but the format is always as follows: One horse & rider combination for roughly four classes with major tack changes back and forth. The horse & rider must stay in the ring for tack changes, and can have 1-2 helpers. The helpers stand at the edge of the ring while the classes are…
I really wanted to title this post “Baby’s First Bounce” but since no one will believe me when I call my eight year old pretty damn broke horse a “baby”, let’s just simply say we did our first bounce in our Sunday lesson. First, we did trot poles. Simon started out very tense and a bit worked up about them. He wanted to be very forward and rushing going into the gymnastic. With his shorter stride we had a hard time balancing…
Feeling a little nostalgic for the little old red horse lately. Elvis is also probably the most photographed horse I’ve ever owned. A few months after I got him, my beloved childhood horsie best friend colicked and was put down. I took that as a lesson that there was no such thing as too many pictures, because I only have a small handful of Doodles. Anyway, here are some of my favorites from all facets of Elvis. Keep in mind…
I said a few weeks ago that I was taking a break from showing for sure in June, and most likely July… and I may just get crazy and add August to that list. This probably sounds crazy from the “Goals! Show! Derby!” personality I had earlier this year… but I’m seriously happy right now enjoying my horse in a leisurely way. My lesson on Sunday was super fun. Sure, we got changes late, but I didn’t beat myself up…