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.

December 10 Questions

Thanks again as always L for the great questions!

Does your horse need shoes? Nope. I have never had a shod horse.

What do you think of the barefoot vs shoes debate? I have my beliefs and refuse to get in a debate over it and it's ridiculous how bent out of shape people can get between the two. Doing what's best for the horse is paramount.

A Misty hoof

 
Favorite season for riding? Late spring or fall. Perfect trail riding weather! Not too hot, not too cold, beautiful foliage, what's not to like?

 
How many shows do you think you’ve gone to? I have no idea... too many to count over the years. I started with 4-H and Open shows, then dressage league shows and High School Equestrian team. I've done a couple recognized USEA events and one recognized USDF show, mostly just little dressage or derby shows! I don't get to do as many shows as I would like any more, but I went to at least 5 this year.

My first recognized HT

 
Do you consider yourself a good rider? Yeah, I think I'm a good rider. Not particularly great, but I've got the basics down and can get on unfamiliar or green horses and put in a semblance of some good work.
 
How experienced do you think someone needs to be to own a horse? I don't necessarily think you need a lot of experience as long as you have someone who IS experienced to help you along the way. Working at a feed store and even at my barn I see people who are absolutely clueless in every single way about horses, yet they buy one and have no one helping them. They don't know what to feed, what tack to buy, how to measure them for any of that tack, how to know if their horse is colicking, how to clip, etc.  When I got my first horse my family was fairly clueless, but we had a great trainer that literally taught me everything from the ground up.

So long ago, so clueless

 
Have you ever gotten into a fight with your trainer? Yes, that first trainer on my first horse... She was an incredible trainer who I owe everything to. But my first horse was 16 years old, he was a ranch horse before I got him. We turned him into a great horse, but he was never going to be a show horse. It just didn't click in his brain how to do precise movements, etc. But she kept pushing me to show him in pattern classes when it just didn't work for us and I got into a screaming match with her over it at one point. Definitely regret it, but it's never happened again. I respect my trainers and the trainers I choose for myself now know what to push for and I have the appropriate horse to push in that way!
 
Describe your dream horse? I love horses with a little chrome, especially a soft spot for blaze faces. I like a horse with correct conformation, uphill and more short-backed horses. Personable and sweet on the ground, with a good work ethic in the saddle. Nothing fancy with gaits, though I wouldn't mind a horse with a little bit better gaits than Jetta. Not spooky. I like horses that are more than one-trick ponies since I love to trail ride, jump and do dressage.

Does anyone in your family ride? Not anymore. My dad grew up on a ranch so he rode a little when he was young and my mom loved horses when she was younger and actually bought herself a horse when she was in her late 20's. They tried to ride a little when I first got into horses and my brother actually took some riding lessons and went to horse camp with me, but no one besides me was really into it.

If you could ride any horse in the world, which one would it be and why? Probably Snowman. He just sounds like such a cool horse, I would love to have been able to ride him. 

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! 

 

10 Questions

Because why not. Saw this over on L's blog Viva Carlos. 

1. Is your horse spooky or bombproof? Misty - definitely bombproof. Jetta... it depends on her mood. Based off all the work I've done with her she should be bombproof, but some days she decides that everything is scary and nothing is safe. Sigh.

2. Does your horse have a long or short stride? Misty has a short stride, Jetta has a loooong stride.

3. Describe your current barn in 3 words? Crazy, busy, cheap.

4. If you could switch barns, would you? Yep. If I could find something as cheap and closer that didn't have as many boarders/drama, more turnout, I would so be there.

5. Favorite brand of breeches? I don't have one favorite... I love my Irideon and Smartpak Piper's for schooling, TS and Ariat for H/J shows, Tropical Rider and FITS for dressage shows.

6. How many blue ribbons do you have? I have no idea. Lots from showing Jazz. Not so many new ones though.

7. How many saddle pads do you own? I'm afraid to count. 3 white dressage, 1 blue dressage, 6 AP pads, two western pads and 4 western saddle blankets? Scary.

8. Is your horse your phone background/lock screen? Nope

9. Do you go trail riding often? I try. I love trail riding and while it would be my ideal to go at least once a week, I probably go more like once or twice a month now.

10. Favorite horsey movie? The Black Stallion, Hildalgo, National Velvet, then Seabiscuit.

Big or Small?

I just had my last day at work today before starting a new job and I'm quite sad over it. I've worked at a little feed store for almost a year and they just sold it to a big feed/hardware company so it will be closing its doors after 84 years...

I'm surprised I'm so put out about it, but I guess it's because of several reasons. First of all, I absolutely loved my job there. I loved the store, my coworkers, the customers. Loved it. Secondly, while all of the employees will now be working at the big store that bought us out, the manager will be retiring. He was planning on retiring anyways next year, but it's just really sad that it's so sudden and early! I'll miss him the most. He is hilarious and always made work fun. He knew basically everything there was to know about everything we sold and was our go-to for any questions. Thirdly, I grew up in a small family-owned feed store. Literally. My parents are feed store owners in our home town. So it's really sad to see a similar store to my parents' closing down.

Being dorks with my favorite coworkers

All day today customers were telling us how disappointed they were that we were closing. And it's weird to think that there's not going to be a small feed store in town any more, there will only be the big chains left. I've never done any of my feed shopping at a big store before. I'll go into some for random little things that I can't find at the small businesses, but I'd much rather support the little guys. They have much better customer service, I love how "homey" the small stores feel to me and all of their history. I love hearing the stories of customers who used to come to the store with their parents when they were kids and are now bringing their children with them. A lot of times they're cheaper than the big guys or carry things I can't find elsewhere. At the very least they could special order things for me.

It made me think, where do you guys shop? Why? Better selection, prices, customer service? More convenient, better atmosphere or is it the only option? I'm curious to see if most people shop at the big chains or the little guys, though I have the feeling that there are very few of the little stores around any more.

It's definitely the closing of a chapter and opening of a new one. I have my first training day at the new store tomorrow. I'm already overwhelmed by the amount of products that they stock! It will be different for sure. Especially because I'll be working full time this summer so it'll be fun juggling work and the horses!

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

Equestrian Un-Bucket List

I think this was a great idea that I saw on She Moved to Texas' Blog. I think we all too often focus on what we haven't done and I know my bucket list is a mile long and oftentimes I'm afraid I won't ever get to do half the things I hope to do!

Lauren did 30 things because of her previous post on 30 things to do before she turns 30. First of all I wasn't sure I could come up with 30 things, plus I'm 21 so I bring to you,

21 Thing I've Already Done

1. Ride on the beach and go a full out gallop

2. Win a belt buckle (or 5)

3. Compete in a ranch sorting competition and win

4. Owned a Gypsy Drum horse (or two)

Miss this big guy a lot.

5. Ride in a recognized horse trial and not get eliminated

6. Ride in a double bridle

Jazzy and I in a lesson

Preparing to execute a very sassy flying change

7. Start a horse (well, several) from the ground up


8. Ride bareback and bridleless on a horse I trained to do so

9. Go to OHSET (High School Equestrian Team) State meet in reining, dressage and jumping on the same horse

10. Show at 3'

11. Ride outside on a summer night

12. Do an endurance ride

First 25 mile LD ride!

13. Go to the 2010 World Equestrian Games

14. Have owned two amazing heart horses, each for 10+ years

I will forever miss this view on Grady

15. See a horse being born


16. Have a professional trainer offer you a partnership as co-trainer in their barn

17. Ride a finished cow horse

18. Show at an A rated show

19. Ride a stallion

20. Ride in a parade

21. Ride a horse in Costa Rica

My pony for the ride

When I started this list I had trouble thinking of things to put, but as I got rolling I found I'd actually done a lot more than I thought I had! It'll be good to look back at this when I feel like I haven't accomplished anything.

27 Questions for Winter

Ok, so it's not really that cold here at the moment so I can't name this like Tracy or Carly. We had our one week of 0 degree and below weather and now are back up to "normal" cold weather temps. But I have no interesting things to blog about, so questions! You'll probably see a lot of these posts coming up in the next week. Officially set a day for the 19th to move the girls to the new barn. So excited!

1. Favorite thing about riding? The challenge. The feeling of working with a horse when everything (or at least most everything) is going well.

2. Green horse or trained horse? Green horse. The less training the better. Then you don't have to fix anything and it's easier to install the "buttons" the way you like them. But it's still really nice to get on a well trained horse from time to time.

3. Have you ever wanted to quit riding? No. I couldn't ever imagine not riding. Frustrated and wonder why I do this? Yes but never wanted to quit.

4. Do you prefer to ride inside or outside? Outside! But I don't like riding in the rain. And it's nice to have a cover when it's super hot out. If I had to choose one to ride in for the rest of my life though, it would be outdoors though since I could never give up my trail rides!

5. How many times a week do you ride? Right now nada. Well, maybe one at most. Usually, around four or five.

6. Have you ever fallen off at a show? How? Oh yes. Let's see... once I was cantering around the warm up ring and Jazz decided to duck out the open gate. I went one way, while she went the other. This is why helmets are amazing, I went head first through the fence! Then I got right back on. And then there was the time with Tux we just were leaving the dressage ring on a loose rein after winning our dressage equitation class and he bucked, I went flying.

7. Do you have a private or group lesson? Both. Jumping lessons are group, dressage lessons are private.

8. In your opinion does it make you less of a rider if you don't own a horse? No. Like what Carly from Poor Woman Showing said, I think it makes you less of a rider if you only show up to ride and don't do any of the hard work "behind the scenes" that goes into horses.

9. Do you plan on having horses in your life, for the rest of your life? Definitely!

10. If you could ride any famous horse (dead or alive) who would it be? Why? Snowman. He just sounds like an awesome horse. I love horses with quirks like his only jumping on a loose rein. He just sounds like an all around great guy, I loved hearing about him with his owner's kids all riding him bareback and going swimming.

11. Does winning ribbons matter to you? Yes. I love winning ribbons. I'm super competitive. But I try to compete against myself and I don't get too upset about losing (or at least I try not to).

12. Worst riding experience? I haven't really had too many bad riding experience. Probably the worst was falling out with my first riding trainer. Huge blow up and that was the end of our relationship. It was sad.

13. Describe a time when you wanted another equestrian to fail at something – Uhh, I can't remember a specific time, but there's always those one or two people who are super snooty you always compete with and they're not all that great of riders and you just want them to fail to take them down a notch. This sounds bad and I think I'm normally a nice person, just sometimes there's those people who get under your skin.

14. Describe the proudest or happiest moment you can think of in your riding career – Geez, I feel like I haven't had any super amazing moments, but so far I think winning my class at a dressage league show at First level this summer with a competitive class was super great. Also, completing Jetta's first recognized horse trial without getting eliminated was awesome.

15. Do you think any disciplines are cruel? Which one(s) and why? No, no discipline is. But certain methods that are prevalent in those disciplines or circuits can be.

16. Your worst riding habit? On Jetta, I lean forward. Only on her and it makes me seem like I can't ride. I have no idea why and it irritates me and all the trainers I work with to death.

17. When you’re in the show ring, what’s going through your mind? My test or course. And I'm trying to remember to breathe, though that doesn't always work out so well. And usually if I'm jumping I'm also mentally cussing when we chip in or refuse or I forget my course lol.

18. If you owned a barn, would you try for a laid back casual atmosphere, or a professional fast paced one? A combination of both. I would want it to be very welcoming and comfortable, but also very professional and clean and well run.

19. I give you a $2,000 gift card to your favorite tack store/online retailer, what do you buy? I would put it towards a CWD jumping saddle! I could probably buy one used online somewhere...

20. You’re riding in an arena at home with several other riders, and one of them obviously doesn’t know the rules of the ring, even though they’re posted. The others are clearly annoyed, would you do anything? I wouldn't say anything. Because I'm super quiet and non-confrontational and I wouldn't want them to hate me lol. I would just hope someone else would say something!

21. Worst fear riding? That I'll look like I don't know what I'm doing or that I'll embarrass myself. I'm not afraid of much, just self conscious.

22. How old do you imagine you’ll be when you stop riding, and what’s the cause? Hopefully I'll be super old and when I stop riding I'll probably be dead. 

23. If you could own any number of horses, would they all be the same discipline or a mix? Mix. Obviously based on this blog, I could never just choose one discipline!

24. Favorite colors for your horse? Aqua blue and navy blue. Though currently I'm also obsessed with how plum and gray look on Jetta.

25. Favorite tack brand? Don't have a favorite at the moment, but anything high quality pretty much!

26. If given the opportunity would you breeze a race horse? YES. I really hope someday someone will give me the opportunity since it's a dream of mine and it's on my bucket list. Really want to!

27. Three ‘You know you’re an equestrian when…’

You know you're an equestrian when your most expensive clothing items are all for riding. 

You know you're an equestrian when your home and/or car is also used for storing tack. 

You know you're an equestrian (and also not a morning person) when getting up for work or class early is a major struggle but you have no problem popping out of bed at 3am to get ready for a horse show.

5 Day Challenge - Day 5

21. Favorite classes to watch

Hmmm, I don't know if I have a favorite! I love to watch it all. I guess eventing is my favorite thing to watch, with cross country being first and dressage being second. I also love watching upper level dressage and jumping too... Really, if it has horses in it, I like watching it.

22. What’s in your cooler at horse shows?

Cheesesticks, applesauce, water, gatorade and probably a Subway sandwich. And if it's a show I'm staying at overnight, perhaps a few adult beverages :)

Hanging out at the endurance ride camp

23. One thing about showing (or riding in general) you wish you could change?

It's hard when you have a horse that you've trained yourself and you're competing against people on push button horses. I remember distinctly going to my first jumping show with Jetta and there was a girl on an absolutely stunning dark dapple gray 10k plus horse that was trained to the 9's. I was talking with the girl's father since he asked about my horse and commented that he wished his daughter was as driven as I was with horses... I guess he bought this horse for her and she didn't like it. I think I would have died if I was given a horse like that.

Really though, I don't mind too bad. Of course I'm super competitive and want to do well, so it's hard when someone has a horse that's ridden full time by a trainer and the rider only gets on it to win at shows, whereas my horse has never had a trainer ride in her life and I'm working really hard to get where I want her to be. But, it makes success all that more sweet when you do well on your own horse that you've done all the work on. So far one of my greatest successes was at the last dressage show of the summer when Jetta got first place in one of our first level classes. Watching all of these horses go, I was convinced that we weren't going to place high. There were some really nice movers (much nicer than Jetta), one of my dressage instructors rode her horse in a really great test and some fancy warmbloods were even thrown in. So to not only get our personal best score and have a great ride, but to be competitive and place above all these other great riders, was a great feeling because I know I can say that I did that with my horse.

24. Your ringside crew

Me, myself and I. But recently, I've be able to convince my mom to come along to a bunch of my shows this year, which I really appreciate, though honestly she's not that much of a horse show mom. She tries. Sort of. I think she's finally realized that this is one of her few chances to hang out with me since I've been going to shows alone since I was about 16. As soon as I could drive the truck and trailer I was on my own!

25. Best prizes

Belt buckles. OMG I love them. I have 5 horse ones that I've won doing mountain/cowboy/timed/etc competitive trail  with Jazz (and I have 4 non-horse riding ones that I've won too from showing rabbits and 4-H and hippology). 

But I also really love saddle pads, coolers and big rosettes or neck ribbons. I LOVE ALL THE PRIZES. I've never won a cooler or a saddle pad so those are on my to-do list. I did get a turnout sheet from doing High School Equestrian Team, but I don't consider that too prestigious... And I do have one neck ribbon that I got at a tiny little show with Jazz, they had the most awesome prizes there - I also got a portable saddle rack that I use at every show and a little crystal trophy for winning overall high point. 

5 Day Challenge - Day 4

Ok, first off I want to say that it snowed! It usually snows here once a year, if that (last year the snow never stuck). So I'm super excited. Except for the fact that my horses are an hour away and I don't have a snow-worthy car to go drive there, so I can't go gallivanting through the snow on my ponies which makes me really sad :(

view from my window

 

16. One thing you’d like to change about your horse

How argumentative she is. She's always been like that. I mean literally, her first ride in the round pen, she would twist her head around and bite my feet WHILE WE WERE CANTERING. She's just stubborn and she likes to do what she wants to do. Honestly, she's lazy, which is part of it. It's too much hard work to carry yourself properly apparently. So if I could change one thing, I'd make her less stubborn/argumentative and have a better work ethic.
 
17. Your horse’s future

I don't plan to sell Jetta. I hope she stays with me forever.

I hope to breed her someday. I have narrowed down the stallions to 2 or 3 but haven't decided when I'll actually breed her, but I really want to raise a foal from start to finish, I'm really into learning about reproduction, and I'd love a mini Jetta so this would be an awesome opportunity.

I hope to event Jetta up to Training Level for sure, but I'm secretly hoping we could do Preliminary together. I really have no desire to go beyond Intermediate level, ever. I hope to get her to at least 3rd level dressage, but maybe with the help of TS we'll go farther since she loves Jetta and believes that she could make an FEI level horse and I trust her thoughts because she has trained a TB stallion to go Grand Prix. So it could be a possibility.

I think there might be some fanciness locked away in there

With Misty, I haven't really applied these challenge questions to her, but I figure it's a good a time as ever to talk about my plans with her. I decided that she is a resale project horse. I toyed around with the idea of having two permanent horses that weren't for resale, but as much as I would love to have a western pony and an english pony, ultimately I am planning on finding her a new home in the spring once I've finished training her. I'm having so much fun with her and I'm going to miss doing western and cow events immensely, but I think she could make someone else an amazing all around horse or youth horse.

I'll really miss doing stuff like this though:





18. Your worst show ever

Gah, I don't even want to talk about it.

But, I guess I will. It wasn't anything to do with a bad ride or anything. Rather, it was to do with my job.

I asked for the weekend off. I didn't get it. I literally never got any weekend off that I asked for, even if it was one that I normally wouldn't work. I'm convinced that they purposely would schedule me on the days I asked for off, especially because I could ALWAYS find someone to work in my place (keep in mind that I was a lab tech/vet tech assistant so I wasn't a super integral part of the team like a vet or vet tech would be and there were plenty of other lab techs to go around).

Anyways. I asked another girl to cover for me and she said she would. I was confident in my trade off, especially because they had double scheduled people for that Saturday, which is never done and the number of pets coming in wasn't out of the ordinary.

So I signed up for the show and on the day of, drove the hour and a half up there. It was a dressage sport horse breeding show, so I was riding in a Materiale class then doing a couple of conformation classes. I was really excited about it, especially because it was my last chance to do a Materiale since Jetta was 5 that year.

I did my Materiale and it was fine. There was one other horse in the class. Jetta was okay. We were still in the very baby stage of riding. But we pulled off a 78% and a blue ribbon which was awesome. What was not so awesome was that I got a very nasty message left on my phone by the practice manager. I guess the girl I asked to cover my shift decided that she "didn't want to" though she was in town and had no other plans for the day. That wouldn't have been a huge problem except for the guy that was also scheduled was sick and couldn't come in. So therefore it was all my fault and I was an awful person and I better come in right now.

I was terrified of losing my job and I felt super awful and I was so upset about getting yelled at that I bawled the whole way down to the clinic. I was so lucky that my mom was at that show with me because she drove me there and then took Jetta home so I could go into work. 

So yeah. That was the worst show ever. I had to forfeit almost all the money I spent on the show, not complete the classes I was really excited about and I still feel bad about it and get upset thinking about it, so I don't. I don't even have the ribbon Jetta won there hanging on my ribbon wall. It's just in the tack room at home. I can't look at it without remembering what a bad show it was.


19. Favorite horse show venue

Inavale Farms has to be my current favorite as a venue that I've showed at. I really haven't been to a lot of places so I don't have a whole lot of venues to draw from, but I really enjoy Inavale because it's close to me, so it doesn't require a lot of driving time and because they are the one place basically that has eventing opportunities in my state. There are several other small places that have clinics or one day HT, but mostly you have to go out of state for eventing, which I've never been able to do because of time and money. Plus, the dressage team works with them to host our shows there and the owners are super nice to work with, especially when we first started out and had no idea how to properly set up a dressage arena!

20. Your show day routine

Wake up ridiculously early. Double check that I have everything (trailer should be loaded night before). Put horse on the trailer. Drive to show, hope I don't get lost. Arrive at show, check in, groom horse, tack up, get dressed, memorize test/courses, warm up and then show! That's it in a nutshell.