Learning When Not to Push It It has been 6 days since my tumble off of Joe. The first three days, I was so sore that I was taking at least 3 Advil every promptly every 4 hours, taking extra vitamin C, and alternating heat and ice on my back, neck and shoulders. At one … More Learning When to Push It
You know that old wise saying, “when you fall, you have to get right back on?” Yeah, well, I think there’s something missing. When you fall, you get right back in the saddle. And then you go home, take a hot bath and eat Advil like it’s candy. I fell off Joe last night. Hard. … More Oh Hi, Dirt. Nice to See You.
I spent the day at the farm on Saturday. It was wonderful. I met Lizzie up there to ride Lydia and start getting to know her. I’m going to be riding Lydia for awhile, and I’m really excited! She’s a sweet girl with some fun challenges. It’s going to be great! After that I took … More It’s a Wonderful Life
Joe and I continue working together on accepting the bit and being balanced. It’s amazing to me how this horse runs through his inside shoulder. It has become clear that he is extremely unbalanced and maybe more than a little willing to let me prop him up rather than balancing himself. Naughty me. I have … More Your Horse Is Not Being Rude. Except When He Is.
This week I had another lesson on Little Joe (21 degrees this week – positively balmy!). It felt like our best ride so far, in terms of making a connection and building our relationship. Joe is really starting to accept the bit, and will even soften and bend through the corners…sometimes. He is still lacking … More Things That Look Easy, But Aren’t
There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse. Robert Smith Surtees, “Chapter XXX: Bolting the Badger,” Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour, 1853
I had a lesson on Joe this week. It feels like it’s been weeks since it’s been warm enough for lessons. (That is because it has been.) But, at 12 whole degrees, we had a night that was “warm” enough for a ride. Joe and I are both out of shape, and we huffed and … More Why Snowboarding is Kinda, Sorta Like Jumping Horses
After weeks of temperatures in the single digits or low teens, we were plunged into the Polar Vortex. The thermometer in my car only showed double-digit negatives for about four days…and that was without the -47 degree wind chills. Talk about bad weather for riding. So you can imagine how it felt when suddenly we … More The 30-Degree Heat Wave
Over the past month or so, every blog post I started began with something like, “I’ve still just been working a bajillion hours…” so I didn’t complete them. There wasn’t much to say beyond the fact that I was working, riding occasionally and sleeping. That was my life, and it was necessary for awhile, but … More Goodbye, 2013. It’s been real.
Stirrup irons. They’re not the most glamorous part of the saddle; they’re just sort of there. You put your foot in them, they support your weight and you go on about your life. They’re pretty unassuming, overall. But what if they’re more to them than I realized?
Centered in the Saddle 