♣Ambitious♣

Step aside, Seth. I'm who the people want to see. fight me, seth It was a full weekend to say the least starting with a very cold and windy Saturday. The pasture didn't take too long due to the rain we received last week, but it was so cold that the horses didn't get turned out until right before I was done. When we did get them out, it was a bunch of running and bucking and carrying on as horses like to do. As much as I really didn't want to deal with a fresh horse, I sucked it up and did a short ride on Baby. Fortunately, she was a steady Eddy, easy off the aids, forward, relaxed. These are really the best rides. Quarter sheet??? In spring?? When will the lies end??? I took my double lessons today with Miss J. First was Leo at noon, then Corbin at 3:30. I'd like to joke that Leo was being a speedy little lion today, but a lion can't compare to what he was doing. It wasn't too great from the start. He went to a show last weekend, but hadn...

And only one video because I'm lazy. Not gonna lie, Wednesday was a super lazy day for me. I was in two-point for two laps at the walk, didn't bother to stretch at the trot, did a little bit of canter work. I really have been pushing myself to canter, though. I go into most rides only wanting to walk and trot, and then I get to a point where I'm trotting and feel like I've done a lot of work, but I know I haven't, so I throw in the canter, likely with transitions. I considered doing limited two-point work today as well, but then I thought "What would Beezie do?" and, in reality, Beezie probably doesn't two-point at the start of every ride 'cause she knows what she's doing. However, if we consider "What would Miss J do?", then there is an incentive to two-point for the fear of having to run laps on Sunday. I've been trying Carolyn's old saddle instead of the old Stubben (because another girl who will be in my lesson uses...

The dress isn't even caramel, but okay. I guess I can excuse it cause that's a cute dress. This is basically the outfit that I want to wear to the MHSA banquet next year (gotta be prepared). Unfortunately, the dress isn't available to be shipped to the USA, so I'll just cry about that and try to find something similar. 1. Toast Faust Heel     www.toast.co.uk 2. Lesebi Horseshoe Carval Bracelet     www.lesebi.com 3. Lesebi Gold Strand Necklace     www.lesebi.com 4. Chotronette Dulce de Leche Dress     www.chotronette.com 5. Lesebi Citrine Silver Talons     www.lesebi.com

That's probably due to the fact that I'd rather set up a jumper style course when everyone at my barn does hunters or equitation. In my defense, equitation is just jumpers but slower. Same techniques, right? Corbinator could do the jumpers, puddle jumpers that is, I'm fragile With the warmer weather finally showing up, both outdoor rings have been plowed and drug, and the big outdoor needs a new course for this year. Other than two outside lines of some sort, we don't follow any patterns in set up. I think we should get a little bit more unorthodox with it this year. um, no Better Even better omg, yes, rollback central I'm 'bout that bending line life Please let the equitation gods bless me for I am ready And, of course, my ideal set up with some changes to make the two outside lines. All I need in life . . . well, this plus a soft leg But then comes to task of convincing Miss S to let me go about my shenanigans. We might be...

Well, bridleless then bareback. Zoey & I got in a short and relaxed ride today. It was a struggle to pull her from the pasture; Piper and Nik would've rather gone in (for some strange reason), but their owner was there to help me out. She was laid back, so I rode her in the halter. We just did walk and trot, and I was done in 15 minutes or so. I've been debating taking the halter off completely and going sans head gear. Yeah, I trust that pony enough. She pays attention, but the leg cues aren't all there, and I usually ride her on lesson days and would rather not run over a child. Ponies = large toddlers  I had a half hour private around 2:30, and Miss S made it a bareback lesson. We did a small figure 8 at the trot, which was good. It was moderately successful at the canter. The main focus was getting me to loosen up my shoulders, but today literally everything else felt stiffer than usual. Stiffness didn't help when three poles and a crossbar were intro...

They are calling for more snow tomorrow morning. I am done. 1. Ariat Monaco Field Boot     www.doversaddlery.com 2. Lilly Pulitzer Quarter Zip     currently unavailable , but a similar shirt can be found here 3. SSG Lyrochet Horseshoe Glove     www.doversaddlery.com 4. Ariat Heritage Knee Patch Front Zip Breech     www.smartpakequine.com 5. Hermes Logo Belt     www.h-fans.com 6. HKM Seaside Function Saddlepad     www.hkm-sportsequipment.com

I videod some of my recent rides for a critique on the forum, and wow. Saying that I was surprised would be an understatement; I'm flabbergasted, to the point where I've had an epiphany about the vertical balance related to riding. I've worked and worked and worked on my leg for about a year now. I'm sure I had something about it in every post. But it seems that my base isn't as stable as I thought it was. I have a stiff ankle, yes, a stiff ankle of all things. Plus, the saddle that I'm borrowing isn't helping me out because it's too narrow for Baby. The stiff ankle is stiffening my leg, which causes both the knee to pinch and my leg to move forward, which then moves to a seat too far back in the saddle, which forces my shoulders forward so that I can actually stay on the horse. Stiff back, stiff shoulders, stiff leg; as above, so below. And while this is a type of horror movie for me, I am determined to have a happy ending. I'm switching bac...

10 Characteristics of a Perfect Ride: -Relaxed pon -Sunshine -Arena sans jumps -Your fav pair of breeches -Pole work that takes almost no effort to set up -Minimal tail swishing -Mild aggression towards exercise ball during cool out -0 arguments -That perfect breeze going right through the center of the indoor plus open windows for a nice view -On fleek footing Maybe it's spring fever, but I'll take calm and slightly lethargic Baby over about to run the Kentucky Derby Baby any day. The temperatures are rising fairly quickly, and Baby is still a mammoth, so rides over the next couple of weeks just either be short or not very strenuous. She always seems to do best with shorter, straight work out rides. I am a master of the 20 minute ride. My right side is still collapsing, more so than usual, and it's the main cause for issues when going to the right. I barely have use of my right side from the hip down. So much for leg yielding. I ...

This was supposed to fit under the category of "Edgy Equestrian", but, considering the fact that I didn't place in the contest, I think I missed the mark. With that to consider, I guess that means that this outfit is normal and therefore completely acceptable for general riding situations including show schooling and clinics. Miss J would say otherwise. 1. Roeckl Sports 2-Tone Chester Glove     www.equestriancollections.com 2. Secret PonPon Leather Belt     www.yoox.com 3. Rayban Mirror Aviator Sunglasses     www.liberty.co.uk 4. The Tailored Sportsman Trophy Hunter Front Zip     www.smartpakequine.com 5. Professionals Choice English Crown Spurs     www.shop.com 6. Horse & Style I Heart T.K. Scoop Neck Tee     www.shophorseandstyle.com 7. GPA Speed Air Riding Helmet     www.hold-your-horses.com 8. Busse Glitter Grip Dressage Whip     www.eur...

I would've given a little update on Saturday night, but I was too busy laying on the floor of a hotel hallway and telling people that they aren't as punk rock as they think. I saw the face of J² for the first time in three weeks. I was sitting down for most of Saturday, only getting up to let Buster relieve himself. It was nice. Eq Kid's Best Friend Sunday started out great. I actually ate that morning, and the nerves didn't get bad, so I just kind of kept eating. By the time they called me to draw, I was shaking, and we had to wait around for a while because the steward was preoccupied. I drew Cassie, a 14.1 pony. Getting tired of these ponies. I did like that the saddle was a plain flap, even if it was so small that my leg was going past the flap. She's kind of like Christopher Robin, but more forward. Warm-up was okay, bombed a turn, but it was warm-up. My course wasn't up to par. I picked up the wrong lead from the start, which pretty much gu...

Weebe, Weebe, Weebe, she's a funny one if you ask me. I had a quick ride on her today before leaving with Miss Sue and Izzy for regionals. Weebe is western pleasure bred, but we needed a walk/trot pony for kids (i.e. something to do what Zoey was supposed to do), and she fits the bill . I messed around on her for about 20 mins. She was quite spooky today, but she hasn't been in an indoor arena that much, and ages young. She's not exactly my cup of tea, but her stride is smooth. Can't strike down a smooth ride too much.

I finally managed to get in that private lesson on Molly so I could work on not panicking. The teaching part of the ride got held up because another trainer had to talk to Miss S about renting the indoor during the week, so I spent 30 minutes walking and trotting on my own. It allowed me to get a little bit calm and keep myself together, and Miss S said that I looked calm. At the trot, we did trotting on a regular rein, a dropped rein, a long rein, without hands, and with my eyes closed—which required long, deep breaths to accomplish. Once we started cantering, things just went downhill. That's where I stopped with Molly; I wasn't able to canter her because we were both green, and I had 0 body control, and I was starting to get nervous. The walk and the trot are there, for the most part. It's much easier for me to calm myself down and move forward, but, at the canter, all I do is brace. I thought that maybe no stirrup work would help me because it's either relax or ...

The majority of the team hasn't had a lesson in two weeks due to the weather. We can only ride on weekends because Miss J works late on the weekdays. I don't know whether to be worried or excited for the challenge. Perhaps I'll benefit from some independence, kind of like how I did during the summer . I do actually have a lesson on Thursday with Miss S, but it's on Molly, so it's likely going to be her trying to get me to do something productive and me imploding mentally. basically I have ridden a handful of times, as my posts show, and last night was basically approaching the final stretch (unless Cas wants to ride on Friday before we head out). What sucks is that, while I thought that I had adjusted my camera correctly to film continuously, I didn't, so I got 24 seconds of film this time. I've been putting a lot of work into my canter to try and loosen up my arms and quiet my upper body, and I was planning on sending the video to Miss J for critique....