I have been having a blast with The Chief. We have been doing mostly dressage rides and/or hacks. It’s been wonderful, and I have had some personal dressage riding breakthroughs that are super exciting! But that’s not what this is about. Sometimes, a girl just needs to go for a good gallop. So, I went … More Sometimes You Just Need a Gallop
Riding at the Area IV championships at Novice was a huge goal for me in 2018, and it is really fun to watch the helmet cam video back! Even though I know the weekend ended in a minor disaster. But XC day was so fun and felt like the culmination of a wonderful season. I … More Flashback Friday: Area IV Champs Helmet Cam
This is the time of year around here when we are breaking free of the icy grip of winter and finally – FINALLY! – getting to think about cross country schooling and riding outside consistently. Not this year. It’s a bummer. To make myself feel better, I’ve been watching some of my old helmet cam … More Flashback Friday: Catalpa XC
I had a super awesome lesson last week. I mean, any lesson on Duke is a super awesome lesson by default. But on top of that, I felt I rode effectively and Duke was ready to party. … More Withers Up
The horse show hangover is real, my friends. They call the Kentucky 5* the #bestweekendallyear for a reason. This year I got to go with three barn friends and it was awesome. We drove down late on Thursday night, getting in around 3:30 am. We were up mid-morning to head to the Horse Park! We … More The Best Dang Weekend All Year
Yesterday, a brewery nearby posted that they were selling their old barrels for cheap. They are bourbon barrels that had been reused to make craft beer. My first thought was, obviously, “must get some to build cool jumps!” Maybe a cross country jump, or at the very least, some cool looking jump standards. And then … More Roll Out the Barrels
I hate writing “hi everyone, it’s been quiet over here for awhile but now I’m back” posts. But that’s basically what this is. I’ve been wanting to get back to writing here for awhile but have been unsure how to start. So I’m just going to start. A lot has happened since I last wrote. … More Limbo, Schmimbo
Our last lesson of 2018 was a doozy in the best way. It was a sort of year-end celebration/day to mark the end of my lease on Duke. Trainer B put the jumps up and pulled out the scary skinny so we could do some XC-style practice in our indoor. We started out with something … More Indoor XC Practice
I blinked, and it’s suddenly the end of November. Which means I have just one more month left in my lease with Duke. Which sucks a lot. It was always the plan to lease for one year, and do as many events as I could. And it was an awesome year. Combined with getting married, … More Beginning of the End
Sundance has the most beautiful cross country courses, and it’s nice because we can go school there throughout the summer. It’s familiar but they make the courses challenging. Duke was a super star! He needed some encouragement to get going, and until he made it over fence 5 – a gray ramp with feed bags … More Sundance HT: Cross Country
Centered in the Saddle 