Bloghop: Favorites of 2018

I haven't had time yet to go through my normal year end update with lots of pictures, so I thought Amanda's blog hop idea was perfect!

Favorite show picture

I will keep reposting this photo forever, especially as it's from my favorite show this year - our first recognized dressage show!


Favorite non-show picture



I am ecstatic over how these pictures turned out. I could not have asked for better!

Favorite thing you bought

I don't think I ever blogged about it, but I got this helmet on super clearance this year and I LOVE it. I have never had such a nice helmet!!

Favorite moment on horseback

First time out with both my girls - puppy and horse went for a perfect walk around the field.

Favorite moment out of the saddle

Seeing how well Maisie handled things on her excursion to the barn, how she didn't even care about walking over poles or investigating the sprinkler and fan. She is such a great baby horse!

Favorite "between the ears" photo

I think this was my favorite trail ride all year - on my birthday even!

Favorite horse book or article

Sadly, this was not a year for reading. So unless study material for the NAVLE counts...

Favorite horse ridden or cared for besides your own

I have quite a few horses that I loved caring for at the vet school during my rotation on large animal medicine. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to post pictures without client consent and I never really took any anyways! I got to interact with some really great owners who loved their horses and it made me fall in love even more with my chosen career path. I was so glad we got to have lots of happy endings for horses that were really sick and made good recoveries.

Favorite funny picture of your horse

I had way too much fun with Maisie's birthday party this year

Favorite fence that you successfully jumped or movement that you conquered

I was so proud of Jetta at this show for being able to transition from a lengthened canter back to a regular canter without throwing a fit or trying to yank me out of the saddle. It was definitely one of the things we struggled with the most this year.

Favorite horse meme or funny picture

I don't know why I find this so funny, but it's hilarious

30 Facts About Me

I thought this was a great idea that I saw over at $900 Facebook Pony. I love learning more about other bloggers, especially non-horse related stuff so I thought I'd participate and I hope others do too!

1. I used to want to be a marine biologist and do field research, then I did dive certification and discovered that I am super claustrophobic underwater so... that didn't work out

2. Other than briefly wanting to be a marine biologist (or a horse trainer) I have pretty much always known that I wanted to be a veterinarian. I love science, I love the human-animal bond, I love education, and obviously love animals.

3. I have two tattoos currently and want more! One is a dolphin on my ankle and the other is Grady's hoof print on my wrist

4. I got my dolphin tattoo in Costa Rica. I did a 5-week volunteer trip to the Golfo Dulce to work with a cetacean conservation group. There are Pantropical Spotted dolphins there and they are THE cutest things ever. I absolutely adore dolphins.

THE CUTEST - look at it's little freckles!!

5. I have been to 10 different countries so far and if I could just spend my life traveling, I would. Costa Rica, Nicaragua, India, Bhutan, France, Spain, Italy, England, Germany, Canada. The more culturally different it is, the more I love it.

6. I love reading and I read really quickly. My favorite genre is fantasy or historical fiction. I always need good book recommendations. The longer the better! (I seriously read about 100 pages/hour. If it's not at least 600 pages, it's too short). I cannot pick a favorite book or author, but my current favorite that I've been reading (when I have time, hah) is Brandon Sanderson.

7. I could live off Mexican food. Or even just tacos.

8. I took 6 years of French through high school and college and got a minor in it. I wish I had more opportunities to use it!

9. I am extremely un-athletic. If I ride a bike I WILL fall off of it. I like going skiing but I have to stick to the easy slopes while my friends go down the black diamond slopes. I once went night skiing and got stuck in a snow bank. The only "athletic" things I really enjoy completely are yoga and rock climbing.

10. I have never broken a bone

11. My worst horse accident is when Jetta flipped over on me and rolled all the way over top of me. I sprained both my MCL's in my knees and still have issues and soreness due to it.

12. Someday I'll have a reining/cow horse just for fun. I miss playing with cows!

13. I LOVE food for the most part and don't consider myself a picky eater, but there's a fair amount of food I don't like. Olives, raw tomatoes, blue cheese, and shellfish top the list.

14. I currently work for a research company and I love it. I wish I had done more research before vet school and maybe I would have gotten my PhD instead. I also did an undergrad research project and presented my research at a national conference.

15. I like all alcohol. Wine? Yes. Beer? Yes, I'm all about IPAs. Tequila? Yes. All the margaritas. Cider? Definitely. I am not picky. If you need to get me to do something, bribe me with alcohol.

16. Coffee hates me, I cannot drink it. Thus I am addicted to energy drinks. I blame vet school.

17. I have a younger brother.

18. I love dogs and cats equally, I could never choose between the two!

19. I love hiking, especially if it involves waterfalls. I am so lucky to live in an area with a multitude of wonderful hikes within easy driving distance!

One of my favorite hikes

20. I am painfully shy and have a really hard time getting to know people/make friends. I prefer listening to talking for the most part. But once I get comfortable around someone, I don't really shut up.

21. I love riding western just as much as I love english. I really miss it and the wonderful, supportive people I grew up riding and competing with in the western world.

22. I used to do competitive trail riding (not endurance, but more obstacle courses) and I have a bunch of belt buckles I won from it.

23. My favorite TV shows are probably Doctor Who and Supernatural. Favorite movies are Lord of the Rings, Phantom of the Opera, Lagaan, and Mulan.

24. I am deathly afraid of needles and receiving injections. However, I have no problem giving them to animals.

25. My dream is to someday be able to afford to build my dream house/barn. It will be a barn with living quarters in the loft!

*Swoon*

26. I'm not much of a candy person, but I love dark chocolate. And I have a soft spot for cupcakes and german chocolate cake.

27. The first horses I can remember riding was my cousin's draft horses and my neighbor's horse. I remember being led around bareback on a giant Clydesdale named Cody that they used for their driving business. My neighbor's horse was an old QH named Ruby and my dad used to take me to their barn and we'd lunge her and she'd try to buck me off all the time but I absolutely LOVED it.

28. I love flowers but I seriously have a black thumb. I think the longest a plant has lasted around me is 8 months. So I settle for cut flowers!

29. I played flute for 8+ years and did competitions and elite bands and such. My poor flute has been untouched for 5 years now though.

30. I consider myself an amateur photographer and I really love it. I love taking pictures of landscapes and horses. I used to photograph at shows and I miss doing that. I also love taking pictures of friends with their horses. I don't think I'll ever turn it into a business, but I just love taking pictures and I love having pictures of my own horses so I like to do it for free for my horse friends.

November's 10 Questions

Thanks again L for the blog content!

How old is the youngest/greenest horse you’ve ridden? 3 years old since that is the youngest I would ride, I usually lightly start them towards the end of their 3 year old year, and then have them going well once they are 4. And the greenest they've been is with no training at all, my favorite - a nice fresh, blank slate!

How old is the oldest horse you’ve ridden? I think the oldest would be 26. I rode Grady around the pasture bareback and bridleless a couple weeks before he died. He was retired, but we both still loved the opportunity to go for a spin around the pasture.

My favorite pair of ears

Were you scared of horses when you first started riding? Nope. I was the most absolutely fearless little kid around horses ever... Grady used to buck me off regularly, he reared, tried to scrape me off repeatedly on fences and trees, and when I was determined to learn to ride bareback I fell more times than I could count... I'd just chase after him and hop right back on!

Would you say you’re a more nervous rider or a confident rider? I would say I'm a confident rider for the most part. I don't care if a horse is going to buck, rear or take off with me, I will get on any poorly behaved horse. Cross country has started to make me a little more nervous with Jetta ever since she dumped me on a fence, but other than that I'm fairly confident.

Biggest pet peeve about non-horse people around horses? It's not necessarily around horses, but when people find out I have horses and say either "How can you possibly afford to have horses?!" or my favorite, "You must be rich!" (I wish). 

A time you’ve been scared for your life? (horse related) When Jetta slipped and fell and rolled over on top of me. She had just barely been started undersaddle and I was home at my parents' alone, they were out of the state for a week, I didn't have my cell phone on me and I had to untack Jetta and walk from a mile away to the house and call for someone to come get me. I thought I was going to faint on the walk back I hurt so bad and I was scared that no one would find me for a week. Luckily I didn't break anything but I severely sprained both of the MCL's on my knees so I couldn't bend my knees for a while and had to be on crutches for over a month.

Have you ever fallen off at show? What happened? Yep. A couple times - once I was warming up Jazz at a High School Equestrian Team meet and she saw that the gate was open while we were cantering past it - she went left and I went right and I lawndarted into the fence. Thank goodness for helmets! The other time was on Tux. We went to his first dressage show and were just walking out of the ring after winning a Dressage Equitation class. He was the chillest horse so we were just strolling along on a loose rein when a train blew its horn right next to the arena and he spooked, gave a little buck and trotted away and I just rolled right off.

Our haul from the show where he dumped me (albeit he didn't mean to!)

What’s a breed of horse you’ve never ridden but would like to ride? Hmm, probably an Akhal-Teke. I think they are fascinating horses, I would love to someday ride one!

Describe the worst behaved horse you’ve ridden? Grady was definitely the worst - when I got him he didn't turn, he didn't stop, didn't go, reared, bucked, tried to scrape you off, etc. It all ended well but I can't imagine what my trainer was thinking when she picked him for me!

The most frustrating ride you’ve ever had? Anytime Jetta decides that she's not going to show up to play and spends the ride spooking at everything, pulling every evasion out of the book, and just generally being a pill. It happens less and less as she gets older, but she's still pretty good at pushing my buttons!

October 10 Questions

From Viva Carlos! I've been sitting on this for a while and it's almost not October any more!

What do you consider “jumping high” for yourself?
I've been pretty consistently competing at 2'6" to 2'9" so that height feels comfortable and "small" to me. I've started jumping more consistently at 3' and while it seems big, it's not too scary. So anything over 3' I definitely consider "high".

What are your short term goals for riding? Do you think you’ll reach them? 
Short term goals are just to stick with riding during vet school even if it's just a couple days a week. I want to make it to a couple small shows a year, raise my baby horse and balance it all with school!

Cannot wait for my own baby horse!

Long term goals for riding? Do you think you’ll reach them?
Long term goals include getting my bronze medal in dressage and getting a ribbon at a recognized Horse Trial. And I'd love to someday compete comfortably at Training Level eventing, but that may be very far off!


How many barns have you been at in your riding career?
Oh dear. A lot. I boarded between 2 places when I was younger, but mainly kept the horses at home. Then when college came, I switched a lot. It's hard to find a good barn! I think 4 different barns so far, so 6 total!

How many different trainers have you been with in your riding career? 
Hard to answer since I haven't really been consistently in a program since I was little. I started out with one trainer when I first started riding who was really the best trainer I could have asked for, but unfortunately we had a falling out. I started riding with a different trainer who was also amazing and I still keep in touch with now. When I got interested in dressage and jumping, I started taking lessons concurrently with another trainer. Then once I moved away to college I haven't consistently taken many lessons, though I guess I consider KO my eventing trainer and KB my dressage trainer though it's been over a year since I've seen either of them!

If we could only get this trot in the dressage ring!

Ever worked at a barn? What did you do?
Yes, a lot. I have cleaned stalls, brought horses in, blanketed, fed, exercised and started babies, etc. A lot. I think I've done this at at least three or four barns. I did it in exchange for board a lot, especially when I was boarding 2+ horses. It worked out really great and I really did enjoy it. I kinda miss it!

Scariest thing that has happened at your barn?
I really haven't had too many scary things happen. Grady's colic and having to be euthanized was terrifying and awful, definitely the worst thing I've ever been through. He actually got stuck in the fence because he was rolling close to it and got tangled in it and luckily our neighbor freed him and called my parents.

Will never not miss this guy

Have you ever given a lesson? What level was the rider?
Yes, I gave a lot of lessons on my trusty steed Jazz for 4-H'ers. I used to lead a 4-H group. It was all very basic beginner lessons, a lot of brand new riders.  

What is your opinion on the accuracy of critiquing riders online?
They may be accurate, but most of the judging is done off a snapshot in time without actually knowing the horse and rider. Basically, my philosophy is if I'm not paying for it, I don't want to hear it. That's what professional trainers are for.


What is the ideal height of a horse for you?
16-16.3 hands. Jetta's 16.2 hh so she's the absolute perfect height! 

 

Blog Hop: The little things

Blog hop from the $900 Facebook Pony!

It's been pretty crazy with school right now so I haven't been riding much or blogging obviously. But a blog hop is a pretty good excuse!

What are the “little things” about your horse that you’re so fond of?

Cuddles. My all time favorite pony torture is giving my girls a face hug or kissing them on the nose. Both are very patient about it (Jetta gets a little impatient after a while, but I can always count on a minute or two of snuggles). Misty hates nose kisses, but I do it to her anyways and she doesn't hold it against me. Jetta will stick her nose through the stall bars and let me kiss her muzzle with no fuss.

Kisses go here

I love their easy-going personalities. Yes, Jetta can be difficult, but when I step back and look at it, she is not super complicated. She is easy to trailer, I can ride her out on the trails alone, she will stand tied at a horse show all day long, I can clip her all over. Misty is obviously the most easy going horse of all time. Ground tying? Done. Wash rack? No problem. Trailer loading? She loads herself. Trails? We can do some scary competitive trail stuff even!

Plus, adorable-ness

Curious. I love both of their curious natures. One of the first things I loved when I met Jetta was her curious nature as a baby. She licked my shoes when I first met her and I fell in love, lol. Introducing new things can be scary, but I love the pricked ears and tentative sniffs when I introduce something new. Extra adorable when it happens to be a yoga ball and they trot after it and nose it around.

And lastly, playful. Nothing brings a smile to my face more than seeing them run and buck and just generally be ridiculous when I turn them out to free lunge. Even on my bad days, just watching them prance around like idiots cheers me up.

I have no idea what is happening here

My prancy little unicorn - her horn is blinding ;)

TOA Blog Hop: History of the Horse

Blog hop from The Owls Approve! We're quite a bit behind the ball on this one, but I still wanted to participate anyways.

Before you met, where was your horse?  Who bred him/her?  What do you know about his sire and his dam?  What do you know about where (s)he came from?  Tell me about the time before (s)he had a trainer.

Before I met Jetta, she was living at a Thoroughbred breeding farm. I met her as an unraced two-year old.

She was bred by Dr. Rodney Orr. I did some stalking and found this article about one of his broodmares, which also talks a little about his farm and breeding program.

Her sire is Private Gold, whose sire line is Seeking the Gold, Mr. Prospector, Raise a Native and Native Dancer. He's a pretty popular stallion here in the NW as far as I understand and have seen in many pedigrees of local TB's as he stands in Washington.

One random thing that I think is interesting is that I heard fairly often about what a bad personality/unpredictable nature that Seeking the Gold had. I am a huge advocate of breeding to stallions with good personalities because I think it is somewhat of a heritable trait, so it's funny that I own one of his offspring now. I think some of Jetta's attitude must come from her grandsire! Even though she can also be a total sweetheart most of the time.

Her dam is Step Away. I remember that she was a gorgeous mare when I met her. I actually had a reader reach out to me when I posted about Jetta's family tree that she had bought Step Away and that was so awesome to hear!

What to say about the time before she had a trainer... Well she was a brat, but then again she still is. She was unnamed, but the Barn Manager called her "Punky" which totally fit. I think it was in reference to a TV character that was before my time, but to me, Jetta was definitely a punk. She knew how to lead adequately and lunge, had worn a bareback pad before, but other than that, she had mostly been handled with a stud chain, she kicked, didn't allow her feet to be handled and didn't trailer.

When I got her, we worked for the first year on ground manners. I can't tell you how many times she took me "mud skiing" in the pasture before she learned to respect pressure without a stud chain. And teaching her not to kick and let her feet be done was a nightmare. 

The day I met Jetta

But it turned out well for the most part, I absolutely adore my stubborn monster child now.

Blog Hop: Riding Socks

Ok, I know there's other blog hops going on right now, but I thought I'd try my hand at one. Just one for the time being, I'm not going to try and do a "series" of them. I don't *think* this one has been done before, but I can't quite remember... So it's possible this might be a redo. It feels like it's a redo, but I can't find any proof of that lol. 

I found the motherload of all sock stores. I've been in this store a few times but somehow managed to completely miss their ginormous awesome sock collection. Never have a seen so many socks that I wanted. I ended up buying some Starry Night socks (my FAV Van Gogh painting) but I was eyeballing some corgi, multicolored zebra, and some I ♥ oregon socks.

 

So, my blog hop topic is: What riding socks do you use and which ones are your favorite?

My sock collection

 The socks I use (as pictured above, left to right): Kerrits socks that I got for competing at Inavale HT. Do not like. They're a neat material that doesn't hold moisture but they are so. tight. My poor calves get suffocated in these. Then I have three pairs that my mom got me. We don't have similar styles... I don't like the patterns except the watermelon stripe one is okay. Then a cute horse-y pair I got as a gift, my most favorite SmartWool socks that I'm wearing to death. Two pairs of Zocks. These are ok. I usually wear another pair of short socks over them for the padding since these are so thin. But they don't make my legs sweat so that's nice. Then the new socks!

Love 'em

Informal Blog Hop: Transformation

I loved Niamh's (of Life of Riley) idea for a blog hop showing the transformation your horse has gone through. I wish I had better transformation pictures! I have a pretty good one of Jetta, but not that great at all of Misty.

Jetta's first show, Intro A just recently started under saddle

A couple months after bringing Misty home, still trying to put more weight/muscle on her

Viva Carlos Blog Hop: Makin' Babies

Love this blog hop topic! So fun to see all the imaginary crosses out there :)

This is perfect because I already have Jetta's baby daddies all worked out!

First is Mirabeau. My dream is to have a buckskin warmblood some day so breeding her to a cremello would guarantee that (unless they have a smoky black gene which I'm not sure if he does or not).

I like his conformation and bone. Things I'd like to improve in Jetta are her neck and length of pastern. I'd also love a nicer trot and canter. He's got a lovely trot, not too sure about his canter but he's got an awesome jump. Plus I adore every single baby that he's produced. I just want a baby I can bring up to do eventing/dressage/jumpers whatever they are best at, I don't care.

If I was breeding for a more dressage only baby I would breed her to Diamond Hit. Lovely stallion, he's got the neck I want and his movement is great. Love his breeding.

Now if I was interested in breeding Misty, I would either find a thoroughbred to add some height and athleticism, or if I was sticking with paint, I would definitely choose this guy, Forest Midnight Comet. They would produce adorable roan paint babies! He'd improve her cowiness a bit and athleticism in reining and cowhorse, maybe add a little height since he's 16hh. There's not too much conformationally I'd change about Misty. I'd just make sure that if I was breeding to a stockhorse that they had good bone and feet, and none of that ridiculous exaggerated rump high/weak loin.

 

Not too completely awful conformationally

Blog Hop: Our Commercial Moment

Blog hop from L over at Viva Carlos!

"So fellow bloggers, What are you buying next? Not your "Wish I could" list but your actual practical pony shopping list. And if its a high ticket item you are saving for what is it and when do you expect to order/get it?"

So, I have pretty much just recently (as in the last couple days) bought everything that would go on this list, so I'm just going to put that:

• Canter Mane & Tail Detangler Spray
• Rubber Bands for braiding
• Short Sleeve show shirt
• Smartpak Piper full seat breeches

I'm trying to decide what my next big purchase is going to be. Saving for at least one, maybe two out of these three items:

• Set of portable corral panels
• La Mundial boots
• Oglivy pad

Blog Hop: Seven Deadly Sins

  Loved this blog hop from L at Viva Carlos!

 Pride

Seven great things/strengths in your riding life

1. Confidence in myself
2. Learn quickly from a variety of media (lessons, auditing, videos, books, etc)
3. Somewhat of a good balance, almost always can make time in my life for horses
4. Love to learn
5. Willing to work hard and get dirty
6. No fear, willing to work with the naughty horses
7. Two awesome horses

Envy

Seven things you lack or covet for you or your horse

1. Money to go towards lessons and showing
2. Custom CWD Jumping Saddle
3. Brown Mundial tall boots
4. More time to spend on the horses
5. All the Antares things
6. A fancy show barn to keep my horse at
7. Consistent training schedule

Wrath

Seven things that make you angry

1. People who have the time/money to go far in horses, but don't appreciate it
2. When boarding barns don't take good care of my horses
3. My posture
4. Horses with poor ground manners
5. Rude people
6. When I have time to ride, but then my ponies magically go lame
7. People that don't take adequate care of their horses

Sloth

Seven things you neglect to do or cut corners on 

1. Mane pulling
2. Cleaning my tack - I do it about once a month or before shows
3. Doing no stirrups work
4. Exercising myself and not just my horses
5. Dry cleaning show clothes - because of this all my show clothing is machine washable!
6. Picking hooves every day or at least every couple of days
7. Daily grooming

Greed

Seven most expensive things you own for your horse/riding

1. My Deniro tall boots
2. Misty - most expensive horse I've owned yet!
3. My Grand Prix Rylie show coat
4. My english saddles, a Pessoa and a Duett
5. My Smartpak Wellfleet Bridle
6. A pair of FITS breeches
7. My IRH Elite Ultra helmet

Gluttony

 Seven guilty pleasures or favorite items

1. Spending most of the day at the barn even when I should be doing homework
2. Splurging for nice quality leather
3. Tack sales
4. Going for a gallop
5. Saddle pads
6. Trail rides
7. My belt buckles I've won

Lust

Seven things you love about horses and riding

1. Therapy/stress relief
2. Getting outside - on the trails and the beach
3. The competition
4. My relationship with my horses
5. The adrenaline
6. Horse smell
7. What amazing athletes horses are