♣Ambitious♣

I am thoroughly convinced that no matter how experienced a rider is, there will always be certain horses in existence whose trot physically cannot be sat. In my short time with horses, I have encountered not one but two of those horses: Vic & Louie. I went to my first IHSA show today, and it's just like IEA, except, in general, the crowd is different. College equestrians are way different from middle and high school equestrians. American University, our barnmates I qualified to show in advanced w/t/c, so it was only one class. I spent the rest of the day playing dog sitter and photographer until my camera died and Coach took her dog back. *insert sad face* We got our draws in the morning, and I watched Louie go in one or two classes. My main goal was to keep him quiet because he is large and quite buggy but, fortunately, not spooky (HARDY HAR HAR THAT'S FUNNY CAUSE IT'S HALLOWEEN AND NO ONE LAUGHED WHEN I MADE THAT JOKE TODAY, SO NOW YOU GUYS GET TO ENJOY IT HAH...

Gosh dangit I am so darn diddly done with ponies. Chestnut gentleman on the cross ties So calm, so easy to tack up, so friendly until you get on, and then they're quick footed demons. Funny enough, Cooler is an ex-WP horse. Funny thing life is. We did our normal warm-up, this time with even more no-stirrup work. The posting felt better, and my seated canter is feeling a lot better as well. Just trying to be less stiff and just go with the flow, if ya know what I mean. Cooler was forgiving to a point, and that point was my hands. We had a couple of just gross moments with each other, but we worked through them (kinda). Part-time sweetheart We did quite a few jumping exercises, even with only three jumps in the ring. The turns were super tight, and I did struggle, but Coach was very encouraging, and they did get better as I went along. I've noticed that I come up too soon over smaller jumps because I'm so game for the next fence (I'm a jumper on the inside, ...

It sounds so official, but fall & winter sweaters are now available for purchase in my store . I don't think I mentioned it on here, but due to the reaction to the World's Okayest Eq t-shirt , I decided to open up a store on Customized Girl. I've been adding designs since about mid-June (yeah, you guys got notified of this pretty late). They've been incorporated into some of my recent Fashion Thursday sets, so if you see anything you like, go ahead and click on the link. Here are the winter sweaters in both adult and youth sizes: SwigSwooty Booty // Adult SwigSwooty Booty // Youth SwigSweg Leg // Adult SwigSweg Leg // Youth And the two that are only in adult sizes (for now): Let It Snow Hoodie Mother Beezie Sweater If you haven't figured it out by now, Beezie Madden is my idol (and my mother in an ideal world). If you like a design, but you want it put on another item, feel free to let me know by email: theambitiousequestrian@gmai...

On the rare (and I mean rare) occasion that I go to watch an A/AA show, I like to remind myself that no matter how expensive and talented those horses are and no matter how much precise care they receive because of that cost and skill, there is still a small number of them that poop in their water bucket. Or, as I saw last night, there's a small number who fart over every fence in the Grand Prix. Yes, that actually happened. One of the horses in the Presiden't Cup farted over every single fence except one, and the one fence that it didn't fart over was the one where it had a rail. Callan Solem had the best ride out there and came very close to the win. Only .11 seconds separated her and the winner. Pretty amazing if you ask me. And it all would have been just a little bit more amazing had the girls behind me kept their commentary at a lower decibel. Not only were they loud, but they were constantly complaining about the equitation (read: LOWER LEGS) of ...

Well, to be more specific, school ponies who are ridden by many tiny children and develop bad habits as a result. Yeah, those are the bane of my existence. I took a step back when I saw "spurs" written next to my name on the assignments list. The two horses that I've used spurs on were Twister and Corbin, and those were always an adventure. Of course those dang spurs made me late to mount up because finding them was an adventure. The reason as to why I needed spurs ( and a stick for some) is because Sammy, the pony, has a habit of just stopping randomly. Yes, I'm talking about on the flat. She just stops, no warning at all. Of course, since I think I know everything, I concluded that establishing a forward moving pace from the beginning would discourage stopping. Coach wasn't quite ready when we I got on, so I did a couple of laps in a nice, marching walk to get started. She complied after some persuasion and maintained it for a while. When Coach S made it...

I'm honestly in love with this set. 1. Posh Pony Tee     customizedgirl.com/theambitiousequestrian 2. MANGO Wide Leather Belt     mango.com 3. Wilker's Hunter/Jumper Baby Pad     wilkers.com 4. De Niro Ottaviano Brushed Jachtkap      kooleruitersport.nl 5. Lesebi Carval Bracelet     lesebi.com 6. Horze Grand Prix Self Patch Breeches     horze.com 7. HKM Roma Open Front Boots     hkm-sportsequipment.eu

Just over a month into school, and I'm already missing the mare. I can't tell you the number of times I've dozed off thinking of all the wonderful things I want to do when I get back home, including multiple, specific plans for next show season that I keep jumping between. But, I'm more focused on what I want to do at home in our own arena. I'm a huge proponent of Classical Dressage, and while I may not end up being entirely classical depending on whether I do a dressage show or not, the fundamentals and their theories are still important to me. I've figured that in order to learn more, I might as well start where I can: on the ground. photo from Diane Followell I'm starting with classical in hand training. Of course, we won't look like that cause 1) I'm not braiding her twice a week, and 2) we have a ways to go until side reins come in. But she will definitely be that shiny. The beast keeps herself quite clean. I would've asked about lon...

So I had my first real "bonding" event with the team. I'm still figuring out how to be social, so most of what I did was people watching. At least they know who I am. It was a massive property tucked at the end of a road that winded like like a child's toy. We gathered at the market then made our way to the pumpkin patch. It was originally supposed to be apple picking, but at some point that changed. I just rolled with it. Pumpkins are cool, too. I played photographer for the day because that's what I like to do, but the president's BF was also there snapping some shots. I personally didn't want anything large, and I was actually hell bent on finding a white pumpkin. Unfortunately, all the white ones were rotting. When we got back to the market, they had some in a bin, but it just didn't feel quite as authentic. Besides, I couldn't decide between white and cheese. I made away with a giant peanut butter cup and a slice of pumpk...

As much as I love #tbt, Thursdays are for fashion, and the day that I'm flashing back to is a Friday. Just over a year ago, I joined an IEA team, and I will always consider it one of the best decisions of my riding career. I was super hesitant at first. I had only ever ridden at one barn. I knew of people on the team already who were much better and much younger than me. I wondered how I was going to balance it with my regular lessons. Plus, the cost, the location of the barn, and the location of the shows didn't make it an easy decision. Willow, my o/f draw from the first IEA show I eventually caved to Miss S's persuasion, took a break from lessons with her, and joined the team. Even after the first lesson, I was still unsure, but I kept up with it, and I'm glad I did. Within the first month, I had a major turning point in my riding (and I remember that exact moment clearly). I became stronger, both physically and mentally. And I had an awesome, energetic, su...

Left: 1. FixDesign Men's Breeches     fixdesignhorses.it 2. Men's Ariat Heritage Select Zip Field Boot     doversaddlery.com 3. Crocodile Textured Patent Leather Belt     luxurydivas.com 4. Pony Prince Tee     customizedgirl.com/ambitiousequestrian 5. Grey and White Arrows Saddle Pad     luckypony.com 6. GPA Speed Air Evolution     saddlesource.com Right: 1. Mondoni Kendal Riding Boot     divoza.com 2. Cole Haan Classic Fabric Belt     discontinued 3. FixDesign Lady's Breeches     fixdesignhorses.it 4. Pony Princess Tee     customizedgirl.com/ambitiousequestrian 5. Equine Couture Fleur De Lis AP Saddle Pad     discontinued 6. Samshield Helmet Alcantara Center     equiporium.co.uk

Ah, yes, Mark (or Marcus, whatever boats your float), the first horse who was genuinely a joy to tack up. Tacking down was not as fun. I got a couple of threats for trying to curry his stomach, but I'd go ahead and make the observation that a bad attitude makes for a fun ride. Low quality ROOTD shot The otherwise curious and in your pocket pon managed to highlight my short comings: stiffness and heavy handing here and there. I was warned to stay quite soft, and I completely understood why. I had too much hand to even get an inside bend. Downward transitions on him are apparently never timely, so I just tried my best. I was also dealing with a saddle that was too curvy and too wide for Mark (couldn't find a better one to switch it out with), and I probably could have gone up another hole for a bit more comfort. We did our usual flatwork then move on to some combinations, including a line which I haven't done in some time. I managed to both chip and fly at the second ...

Because it is Victor's world and we are all living on it at his will. "Fear me" Remember what I said earlier? About being excited to try riding Victor again? No? Good. Neither do I. My stomach dropped when I read the horse assignments for this week. The tack up process wasn't made any easier by the fact that his bucket of grain was sitting in the aisle right next to the cross ties. The ding bat decided that putting on the bridle and running martingale should be as tedious as possible. Such a lovely animal. Disagreements continued on the walk to the ring because God forbid he not get to graze while I'm attempting to mount up. His trot is still an up and down stride that his hard to post and nearly impossible to sit. After half a lap of useless half halts and trying really hard to relax my hips, Coach S just apologized for his gait and said that his canter makes up for it (tbh, it does). We had a couple of moments of complete separation. I still d...

It would be great if I had access to Cartoon Network in college, but stupid me forgot to bring the cable hookup for the TV. Add that to the list of things that I need to pick up over Thanksgiving Break. 1. Jake The Dog Sweater     amazon.com 2. Aéropostale Long Sleeve Top     aeropostale.com 3. FixDesign Breeches     fixdesignhorses.it 4. Ariat Heritage Contour Riding Boot     victorycanter.com 5. Barneys New York Leather Belt     barneys.com 6. Ovation® Sync Helmet     doversaddlery.com