♣Ambitious♣

At that point last summer somewhere between losing Music and right before I tried out Max, I decided that I knew exactly what I wanted to do this summer: I wanted to lease. I was also being delusional. Remember this? Still applies. Leasing in itself wouldn't have been too much of a financial strain, but I'd decided that anything I picked out would be living at my trainer's farm, and I also wanted to lesson twice a week, and I also wanted to show every other week in both equitation and Dressage. A bit much for someone who only has a steady income for three months out of the year. Then of course, there was my list of criteria: jumps 3'0", schools First Level, at least some show experience, over 15hh, preferably a mare, sound, beginner friendly (y'all, I was pushing it), and an owner willing to do an off site lease for $250 or less. Believe it or not, there were plenty of horses that hit most of the bullet points. All were passed on because of f...

Last horse to try was mister Hanz. He's a plain bay gelding whose ad I came across randomly in one of my Facebook groups. I want to take a moment to commend his owner for being a very kind, patient, and overall laid back person because 1) I'm a tough person to talk to and 2) her demeanor is reflected in her horse's demeanor. We spoke for about an hour after I rode because we're both nervous riders, and it's soooo nice to speak with someone who deals with the same issues but was still able to develop the right skills and be competitive. Very eq horse Anyways, back to the horse. Hanz is small, uncomplicated, and more or less safe on the flat. I used the provided tack, which didn't fit me too well. That combined with my relatively short stirrups and lack of muscle meant that it wasn't the prettiest ride. His owner used to teach, so she helped me throughout most of the ride, which I appreciated. He's definitely a leg ride. He also does know how to soft...

On the same day I rode Roman, I also rode Vodka. Yup, two green horses in one day after not riding for six weeks. I have 0 regard for mine own well being. I made a mistake in my earlier post: Vodka is actually a gelding, and he is SUPER CUTE. He is legit small horse goals. His owner is also a college student who just doesn't have a lot of time to ride (#relatable). He was pretty straightforward. He has his basic leg to go and canter cues and pull left to go left and pull right to go right but he needs to take the next step in order to be show ready. Inside hind not looking too shabby I was actually surprised by how nicely he moves. He felt a lot like a pony when I was on him, but I wouldn't doubt that he was a bit antsy with someone new who probably felt like a large sack of melons on his back. Jumping him was a bit uncertain as we had no idea if he was ever jumped. I doubt it'd be a wild accusation to say that my time on him was his first jump ever.

Tuesday was my trial on Roman and also my first time riding in a month and a half. I guess it technically wasn't a "trial" but more just me seeing how he is over fences. The horse has been doing very little over the past couple of months besides being lightly hacked a couple times a week. I think he was popped over fences another time or two, but he's still a green bean. I have no fresh media, so you'll have to enjoy the same screen shots from the same video that I've been posting since December. Just take my word for it: he's quite tubby and very not down for work. Nice to ride when you've just worked off a semester's worth of stress eating and have 0 leg muscle. Large bean got even larger He was fine just lazy and not really wanting to soften. Eventually he just went "Meh" and hacked around nicely. We got some really good canter, especially to the left. He jumped the way one expects a green horse to jump. Very wiggly and uneven ...

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So I got to thinking the other day that I haven't tasted dirt in a while. I checked my posts and checked my memory as thoroughly as possible, and Guys I haven't fallen off in over a year. Not since the last time I rode Pixel. Granted, I really haven't ridden that much in the last 12 months, but who cares! This has been one of my joke goals for a while now. Let's see how long I can keep it up. Let's also see if I can stick the landing again

I feel like I tend to write a lot of depressing posts on this blog about how horse related things never really go the way that I want them to, starting as far back as my 2014 show season. And, to be quite honest, a lot of things over the past three years have really not gone the way I wanted them to, even when I lowered my standards. That aside, I'd like to not let this blog become a depressing, woe is me corner of the internet, at least for today. I'll pass on assorted details from the past couple months because I want to do a comprehensive post (or series of posts) on leasing and instead catch y'all up on what the next few weeks will look like. And maybe one day I can make a horse look as good as Tec General things: I have a summer internship, I got my driver's license, and I started a blog for my architecture stuff (though it's quiet because designing things takes an effort, lol). Alrighty, so, still trying lease horses. I really wanted this to be done a...