♣Ambitious♣

I initially wasn't going to do this because I didn't even start riding until 2011, but I'm much younger than many of the other blogs I read. My experience of the 2010s was incredibly different because it encompasses my journey to adulthood as well as the entirety of my horse journey thus far. 2010 I was 12, in middle school, having the worst time of my life. I was into art, dragons, horses, singing, origami, and was insecure about all of it. At this point, I'd been begging my dad for over a year to let me start riding. He almost let me volunteer at a local horse rescue. He almost let me adopt a horse. My best friend at the time told me about her trainer who was 10 minutes down the street from me. We visited on Halloween. I met Todd and didn't know how to use a cross tie. 2011 I took my first lesson on April 13 on a horse named April. Posting sucked. Circles sucked. I got to jump (i.e. trot over a very low cross rail) and I sucked. But I was happy. My co...

I did this last year and had fun so here we are again :) Favorite show picture Cheating because I finally got my photographer game together and have two favorite show photos. Also peep the new watermark! Favorite non-show picture She's LITERALLY the cutest horse I've ever seen Favorite thing you bought I actually . . . didn't buy anything horse related this year. There are things that I WANT to buy (and probably need to buy . . .) but, yeah, I went a full year not doing that. Favorite moment on horseback I'm trying really really really really hard to get better at this. Favorite moment out of the saddle Miami Beach actually isn't that bad. The city of Miami? Much to work on. Favorite “between the ears” picture I actually don't have any "between the ears" shots from this year :/ Favorite horse book or article Your Favorite Horse Breed Based on Your Zodiac Sign Was looking for my favorite article and found this ...

It's nearly impossible for me to not compare Lucie to Summer. They're both mares. They're both gray. Both did A circuit shenanigans. They both tend to not really give a shit about anything happening around them. And they both canter like they have 12 legs. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but when I ride Lucie, I repeat what Coach S told me about Summer: "She's big, and she's long, and she's just a lot of horse." The intensity of the semester has kept me from being super consistent, but I try to leg her up once per week. Because she's large, out of shape, and generally sluggish, our warmup has become much more structured to get her loose and moving off my aids. One of the most useful things has actually been starting my ride in two point. I think she appreciates having me off her back and with no contact to just do whatever she wants for the first bit of our ride. Even when I stop two pointing and go to rising trot, I keep the reins l...

We're coming up to two months with Miss Lucie, so I figured it was time to actually delve in and share more about her. The obvious: she's a mare, she's gray, and she's huge. Basically Summer with tinier legs. She also rides pretty similar to Summer as well despite being a touch dead to my leg. Her walk and trot are pretty consistent. I could definitely get a bigger step out of her at both gaits, but she's starting to get a lot softer in her mouth. The BO also mentioned that she tends to get stiff behind, but the more consistently she's taken out, the better she gets. I've introduced polework and a lot of direction changes as well, and that seems to have her moving more energetically with a lot less influence from me. Her canter is . . . a trip. She hasn't been consistent, although part of that is likely due to stiffness, being out of shape, and getting kicked the second week I went out to ride her. Her canter is where she gets more like Summer ...

Cheers to a year of monthly videos! I actually like this format and will likely continue with it for as long as its remains convenient. September was my first month with Lucie, but I didn't get a lot of our rides on video, so this month you get to meet her neighbor, Molly.

The first horse I tried was the hunter mare. She's a gray, 10 year old OTTB. Pretty much a horse that I would expect to see in Coach S's barn. The BO said that the mare is typically a hunter but gets into a jumper mindset once you put spurs on. This wasn't an issue for me at all until I got on her and realized that she is slow . Like takes a serious effort kind of slow. She's also not been worked regularly in a while outside of another lessor riding her sometimes. Trying her basically turned into a 30 minute lesson in the evening sun. Fun Fact: it's still hot as hell down here at 5pm. This will be a fun adjustment. We did a lot of trot work to get her moving and then moved into the canter. She has smooth smooth gaits, which kinda makes up for how pokey she is. One drawback for me is that she has auto changes (hunter children, calm down). I genuinely prefer to have control over the flying change. Since she isn't super fit, going over fences was kept super si...

Yeah. We're doing this again. One of the dilemmas for me as the move approached was trying to figure out what I wanted to do horse wise. It was a minor dilemma until all the big dilemmas were settled, and then it became the only thing on my mind. Unfortunately, I became so overwhelmed with the thought of driving to a new place that I sat around for days and refused to contact anyone. I'm a real, grown, well adjusted, adult human woman. I promise. On the bright side, I came into this leasing adventure with a more solid idea about my budget, both time and money wise. I posted in some FB groups and straight up asked for a not fancy cheap or free lease because I have no intentions of showing or doing anything too serious while I'm still in school. Of course, I did get people recommending show stables . . . and an offer that was almost the cost of my rent . . . and another one that was well beyond my rent . . . but that's life, eh? After many PMs, comments, searc...

What I've learned in my first month of Miami life: 1. Everything is expensive 2. There are more lizards here than people 3. It's always hot 4. It's always humid 5. If it not hot and humid, it's rainy and humid 6. If it's not hot and humid OR rainy and humid, then there is probably a dark cloud off in the distance that's about to make things rainy and humid 7. All of those weather situations happen at least three times per day One of the very rare times that it didn't rain on my walk home 8. It is impossible to dress for the weather. You will always be drenched in sweat or rain. 9. If you hear a faint scratching in the middle of the night, it could be a roach 10. Sometimes the scratching is actually a lizard 11. For anyone who cares to know, the urban fabric is horrendous 12. Taking pictures of Orb Weavers is somewhat therapeutic 13. The human knee is an absolute disaster of a joint 14. I-95 is an absolute disaster of a road 15. Matter of fact,...

It was much harder to close this chapter of my life than I thought it would be. I cried at formal, and it was a drunken cry, so you know it was real. I don't wanna make myself sob while writing this post, so here's a four year highlight reel. September 2015 I had my very first lesson with the team on the infamous Twinkles. I remember trying very hard to impress Coach S, and she simply told me, "It doesn't bend." It still does not bend, but there is no other Haflinger that will be as iconic as Twinkie. October 2015 I had my first full lesson on Vic. Fun fact, the first time I ever saw Vic in person was when I confused Jacob Pope for a 30 year old man . Of course, I really wanted to ride him. Honestly, I hate how I initially wrote about that lesson because I only remember it fondly. Yeah, Vic is a difficult horse for me, and we never clicked, but that was a damn good ride. He will never not be an absolute beast November 2015 I went to WIHS for the...