Yesterday I bragged profusely about my great horse show. Sorry about that, but today I’ll get into the more nitty gritty detail for those of you that like those kind of posts. As previously discussed, I decided to enter the 2’3″ and 2’6″ jumpers instead of the 2’6″ and 2’9″ heights we had been previously showing at. I stepped back because it’d been almost a year since I showed at all (April 2016), and it had been a year and…
Something very weird happened to me at the show this weekend. I’ve been showing for over 15 years, and the following has never happened: I signed up classes appropriate for my horse and my riding level. I brought a well trained, seasoned horse to the horse show. I listened to what my trainer said, didn’t go off course and rode competitively… and I pinned well in every class. Not only did I pin well, but I picked one of my two divisions…
A lot of stuff happened this weekend. First, there was the show of course. It was fantastic. I’ll tell you all about it with pictures and video tomorrow, but that’s not the topic of my post today. Then on Sunday evening, a tornado ripped through the barn where Simon and Roman live. All the horses, people and even the barn cats got through the storm in one piece. We had a few of the pasture board horses with some scrapes, but…
I used to be so type A when it came to horses, and followed through on everything as text book as I possibly could. In this new phase of my life, that person has been locked in a basement or something. I don’t know what’s happened to me, but I’m heading to San Antonio this afternoon the least prepared I’ve ever been for a horse show in my entire life. Here’s a synposis: How to Prep for a Horse Show…
I’m not one of those crazy natural horsemanship bloggers that will stalk people’s blogs and write scathing comments the minute they pick up a martingale. YOU’RE CREATING A FALSE FRAME! YOU’RE RUINING YOUR HORSE! YOU’RE NOT RIDING LEG TO HAND AND YOU SUCK AND YOU’RE PROBABLY GOING TO DIE ALONE WITHOUT ANY PONIES THAT CAN GO PROPERLY ON THE CONTACT! I don’t like those people, and neither do others. Those people don’t typically get invited to parties, and I like…
It’s been sort of a long drudge from one of the big low points I was experiencing last November, but I can finally say that I’m really feeling better these days. I can’t pin point exact reasons to why I’m feeling better. There are still a lot of stresses and unknowns, but I’m not crumbling to them as easily. My guess is that the improvement in mental health is a combination of a lot of small changes. I’m paying better attention to…
For the past several months, horses have taken a huge backseat in my life. This was due to a variety of factors including traveling, weather, and working hard on my grad school applications. If I’m being honest, it’s also due to me needing a break. Buying Roman, although a huge learning experience, wasn’t what I thought it would be. Horses began to be a stress instead of a relief, so I got my trainer and my great barn friends to…
I spent the majority of my work day yesterday (don’t tell my boss!) responding to comments via email. There were so many sincere, thoughtful and amazing offers of help and support that I didn’t think a “Thanks!” comment left in response on the blog was enough. I’m still not done sending my replies, but am getting there. After work I went home to let the dogs out. I didn’t feel like riding, but pushed myself out to the barn anyway….