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Showing posts from March, 2017

Q1 Goal Review

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At Emma's recommendation, I've opted to do quarterly reviews this year in order to keep myself on track. Improving Equitation : It comes and goes with my confidence. I started out nice over winter since my last IHSA lesson of the semester was really good, and then jumping Silver was a fun time as well. Carlos' antics caused a bit of back track where I was jumping super defensively. Fortunately, I tend to get it together easily on a horse that I'm more comfortable on. In terms of confidence and skill, I'm super happy about this. Opening Hip Joint : Actually fixing my physiology has been difficult for a number of reasons. Coach S is a very get on and get trotting type of person, so once it hits 11am, I'm in rising trot. Oh, but why don't I just get on early and do my hip stretches then? Well, as I've mentioned before, my Fridays are quite tight, and the earliest I get on is 10:58. I think from now on, I'll just take advantage of our breaks in

Fashion Thursday: Spring Cleaning

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1. WithChic Tie Front Top      withchic.com 2. Covalliero Charlize Bomber Jacket      divoza.com 3. Horze Grand Prix Self Patch Breeches      horze.com

Thoughtful Equestrian Blog Hop: What makes you, you?

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In the spirit of actually having interesting content, here's a blog hop brought to us by Catie of Thoughtful Equestrian . What makes someone at the barn (or your trainer) think of you immediately? Frankly, Catie, I think we're quite similar. I, too, wear things that make my trainer want to kick me out of the ring. The difference: a good 90% of the time, it is completely unintentional . I'm just that ghastly looking when I show up to the barn. C O M P L E T E L Y    U I N T E N T I O N A L I'd say my Tiffany Blue breeches are my worst "offense," but I've received bug eyes for my purple pair, too, which I considered pretty conservative. That's mainly the reason why they didn't travel with me to school this year, but dag nabbit, I will be a grape if I want to. Just call me Gilbert My second unique aspect: photography. Yah, I jumped right on the bangwagon of equine photographers under 18 years old. I was pretty into it, but I n

The Regionals Swing

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Yup, that time of year again. I still didn't qualify for regionals, but after seeing how last year went, I didn't even put it down as a goal. Eh, I might try senior year. I don't feel too pressured about it. Reaching (in vain) for my taco My parents and I made the 2.5 hour drive on Saturday morning. We actually arrived early, so I started helping bring horses in and unblanket them. Everything ran smoothly during set up. I was only schooling Leia, which went fine except her being super slow. Over the past year and a half, Leia has gone from being super strong and forward to fences to being a leg ride the whole time. We started with some trash distances but got it together for a good school. Unfortunately, so was just as slow and chippy with most of the people who rode her. Eh. Horses are kind annoying anyway. Looking for free tacos I spent a decent amount of time cuddling with Carlos in the morning before helping tack up Murry for the flat classes. I also finally

I.S.O.

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ISO horse for melodramatic, washed up ex-junior adult amateur*. *who used to have talent Must be alive and have at least three legs. No kangaroos. No sleipners. Looking for something with more whoa than go, but if it has more go than whoa, I won't mind. As long as it moves. That's the bare minimum here. Ideally a mare or really annoying gelding. Can be lame, but lameness must be subtle enough that my trainer doesn't notice and ask, "Why'd you pick this horse?" Bonus points if it comes with a Wintec. I must satisfy the tiny vegan who lives in my brain. Example of an acceptable gelding. Check the tail flick. So sass. In a best case scenario, it should be able to jump 2'6", but frankly, I don't care how it jumps. As long as it jumps, I'm happy. "What if it only jumps 2'0"?" That's fine. "What if it jumps like a deer running late to work?" Also fine. "What if it only jumps when it hears the scr

Fashion Thursday: A Page in a New Book

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1. Ladies Moisture Wicking Athletic shirt      amazon.com 2. Le Fash Gramercy w Grey City Breech      lefashny.com 3. Charlotte Russe Plus Size 3 Pack Belts      charlotterusse.com 4. Equestrian Home Accessories Traditional Floral Saddle Pad     no longer available 5. Horze Elisa Tallboot with Zipper      horze.com

Rose Gold

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My obsession with rose gold is pretty intense. Rose gold earrings, rose gold septum rings, rose gold regular rings, rose gold watches, and even a rose gold headband . . . or two. Honestly, rose gold is the best and most versatile color for accessories, so it's no surprise that I was stopped in my tracks when I saw ROSE GOLD STIRRUPS on my Instagram feed. Can anyone guess what we've got on the way? 📦 #excited #newproducts #comingsoon #rose #rosegold #eclatequestrian #equestrianstyle #equestrianaccessories A photo posted by EclatEquestrian (@eclatequestrian) on Dec 14, 2016 at 2:08pm PST Y'all know 2017 is gonna be lit when new companies are already producing excellence. Eclat Equestrian is a Scotland based brand that's bringing a new look to the equestrian aesthetic. I place them into the same category as brands like Le Fash, Ghodo, and Spooks; they stray from traditional styles to create something that is both modern and professional while still ma

Why Maryland is the BEST State to Own Horses In

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1. We have every discipline you can think of You name it, we have it. Hunters, jumpers, eventing, Dressage, barrel racing, western pleasure, bronc riding, Thoroughbred racing, Standardbred racing, fox hunting, crabbing (but on horseback) . . . We have everything, and that's my favorite part. You'll meet so many different riders from vastly different backgrounds. What's not to love? Concept: Ride two different disciplines and be kinda bad at both 2. We have every type of weather you can think of Whether you like piaffeing through ice and snow or jumping fences in a heat wave with 200% humidity, Maryland will service your weather wants. If you don't like either of those choices, you better get used to it because there is no inbetween, and we also don't experience normal seasonal patterns. Good luck! This ain't even a joke - image from Eye On Annapolis 3. Chincoteague Ponies! Probably our best quality. The ponies and the annual pony swim are a gr

Strong Starts

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Mid term season is always 10000x worse than finals. Typically, once finals roll around, whatever project I'm doing is something I've been working on for a while, I have a long break to look forward to, and, in general, I am better prepared to turn in/present whatever I'm supposed to turn in/present. Mid terms, tho . . . I'm a Jabberwock with 3% of my usual amount of patience. No matter how well I tried to manage my time this past week, I still ended up in the architecture building for the whole night finishing my midterm. I haven't pulled an all nighter since last year, and my overall average for all nighters is pretty low for someone in studio. @Carlos, stop eating everything So yah after getting no sleep and running on none calories, I reluctantly went to my lesson on Friday morning. I tried to nap in the car, but I get pretty jittery when I don't sleep, so I'd just knock out for five minutes then jump awake when someone spoke too loud. It ended up b

Fashion Thursday: Works, Rides, Fries, Cries

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1. Commencer Ladies Sleeveless Body Suit      amazon.com 2. J Crew Campbell Linen Blazer     shop.nordstrom.com 3. J.Crew Cigarette Pant      jcrew.com 4. Soffe Big Girls' New Short      amazon.com 5. Live for Fries Shirt      funnyshirts.org 6. HKM Roma Knee Patch Breeches      hkm-sportsequipment.eu

Some things never change

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First show in 15 months, and I still didn't clean my boots until 11pm the night before. I also spilled needsfoot oil on my carpet. In general, the week leading up to our last home show was painful, and the week following was only slightly better. To summarize, we had our first, actual final review in studio for Project 1. As stated early, it was amazing, but while everyone got their reviews back this past Friday, I have nothing. My TA is about to get annoyed by me all weekend. Despite the awesome review, I only got (at max) 3 hours of sleep on Thursday night, then I had a 9am class, which was followed directly by my lesson, which was also followed directly by studio. This past Wednesday was also the due date for applications to the B.S. program at my school for which I spent Sunday morning in D.C. I basically crashed on Sunday evening after chapter meeting, and it's been a slow rebound to today. This nation's capitol is only useful for artsy photos But, anyways, sho

Vlog #11: First Show in 15 Months

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It's been a while, but I finally competed in my first horse show since I started college! The past two years have been difficult with showing, and I didn't even expect to show at all this school year, so it definitely came as a welcome surprise. Can't wait to see what happens with the rest of my 2017 season! Song: "Wanderlust" by Blackbear (WILDLYF Remix) (I made a typo in the video, whoops) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO2Bf9nqGdk Filmed 2/25/17

Actually kind of getting it right?

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Emphasis on the kind of. The whole "massage the inside rein" thing was such a wild concept to me before Max. Even Music didn't need it, she was ready for contact. It's an automatic action whenever I get on a horse she's trained. I've been bold enough to try it even on Carlos, and he reacted fairly well. Clearly ready for his nap But Blake has responded by far the best, and our lesson was quite the opposite of what our rides usually are. I pretty much never get along with Blake. Like, every ride has its fair share of drama, and I always dread having to swap onto him. At the end of the long and stressful time that last week was, I wanted a simple ride like Boomer or something. But nope, 3 hours of sleep and a 9am later, I was on Blake and ready to collapse from exhaustion. I've been in the habit lately on using the children's saddle pads to brighten things up. Perhaps that's why we had such a successful ride. Nothing says pro trainer like