We had our first lesson of our Horse Book Club series! The book is Modern Gymnastics by Jim Wofford. We had prepared by reading the first several chapters and dove right in. We began with basic ground poles, trotting straight over four poles placed 4’6″ apart, then continuing to four more poles on a bend, … More Look, Ma! No Hands!
Winter in the Upper Midwest sucks. There’s really no other way about it. Sure, the snow is sparkling and magical and whatever. It also gets dark by 4pm, temperatures often stay near zero for weeks on end, and the whole season is about four months too long. Really, if we could have a white Christmas … More Goals for the Winter
I had my second dressage lesson recently and it went really well! For the second half, at least. For the first half, I just wasn’t riding great or asking too much. This was how I rode the first part of the lesson: Straight arms. Why? At least I was sitting up straight though. We were … More Maybe We Can Dressage
You guys. I am so excited about this. Recently, my new trainer texted me and a group of girls who lesson and/or own horses out at the barn. “You guys want to do a book club? We’d get this book and do different exercises each week.” And I was like, hell yes I would! Combining my two … More Horse Book Club
I have to take a moment – cheesy as it is, being Thanksgiving – to express how thankful I am. It has been two months almost to the day since I found out that Drifter would be sold. The next weeks – even a month – was really hard. I cried a lot. I was really … More Things I’m Thankful For, Things I Want & Things For Sale
I knew it was going to be an interesting lesson when I got the following text from Trainer B: You’ll be on Prada Thursday night. She’s a bitch to tack up so please be careful. I felt I should clarify what that meant for my own personal safety. Apparently I could expect Prada to both … More Just Call Me “The Spider Monkey”
The title of this post may be a tad dramatic. The gymnastic exercise we did was a ton of fun, but it was deceptively tricky. However, no one died. I was riding Artie again, and he is just a gem! Here is the general, not-to-scale, quick PowerPoint edition of the jumps: It doesn’t look so hard, right? … More The Grid of Death
I feel like I’m getting more fully immersed in the world of eventing because, guys: I had my first dressage lesson! (I may never feel so excited about a flat lesson again.) This was my third lesson at the new barn – and the third horse I rode. First week was Stryder, second was a sweet paint … More Baby’s First Dressage Lesson
I have officially begun my foray into the world of eventing. That’s right: I took my first riding lesson at the new barn. I rode a lovely, massive draft-cross named Stryder. He is a gray Percheron crossed with…something. No one is quite sure, apparently. But he is a sweetheart and just goes right along. The … More First Lessons in Eventing
Since the announcement that Drifter would be sold, I have been doing a lot of thinking. And all that thinking has led me to a decision that I’m very excited about. I’ll be saying goodbye to the hunters and hello to… EVENTING. That’s right, people. I’m swapping the sedate world of hunters and going to … More A New Adventure
Centered in the Saddle 