♣Ambitious♣

Favorite show picture Favorite non-show picture Favorite thing you bought Breastplate! Favorite moment on horseback No picture, but Liberty giving me a nice canter always makes me feel like I'm on the top of the world. Favorite moment out of the saddle Look at this moth I found. Favorite “between the ears” picture I'm about to take this one out of these annual posts because I just do not take between the ears photos anymore, lol. Here's a favorite from several years ago. Favorite horse book or article I have a couple enjoyable ones. Horse people had a lot to learn this year. 8 Ways to Lose Money Fast in Your Horse Business So You Want To Be An Ally How to Handle Mistakes In Riding Favorite horse ridden (or groomed/cared for) aside from your own Favorite funny picture of your horse Fun Fact: Blackjack had his jaw broken when he was a youngster, and now he drools profusely. Favorite fence that you successfully jumped or movement that you conquered Haven't really jumped or...

There's a lot I could say about 2020. There's a lot everyone could say about 2020. We're in the middle of interesting times (or "trying times" as every sappy Hulu advertisement likes to say). This year has been different for me, in good ways and bad ways. I'm still adjusting to being on my own for the first time. I miss Maryland probably every other day at this point. I got through my first year of grad school without any complications. Although, the second year might not progress the same. I lost my horse. It's the first time I've been through something like that, and it hurt in ways that I don't want to repeat. If I'm being totally honest, my life had a consistent downward spiral after losing Lucie. I couldn't get back on a roll with blogging, despite having so many things I wanted to pursue. I was super excited to start my thesis, but then the semester became incredibly overwhelming and left my research under developed. A lot of my work...

Two thumbs up for anyone who read the title and didn't think this was going to be another political post. Several months ago (like over the summer, that's how long ago), I took a lesson on one of Trainer G's lesson horses, Liberty. It was a jumping lesson, and boy oh boy was it exciting. Starting off, it was an accidental semi-private because the other adult amateur who was supposed to have a lesson right before me ended up pulling in at the same time as me. Whoops, no biggie though, we both know how to keep our space. I walked and trot Liberty around no biggie. She's actually very fun to flat because she's so straightforward. Notice how I said we walked and trot around. No mention of canter. Remember that. Rare photo of Liberty standing straight on the crossties . . . When it got to jumping, the crazy came out. Liberty is bred for performance. In her spare time, she teaches little kids how to post and also barrel races like an absolute beast. Naturally, jumping her...

Hey, hi, hello, it's me, crawling out of my grad school dungeon for a moment before my thesis has me back in its icy grip. It's been an interesting semester to say the least. The thing that disappointed me the most was honestly not being able to put as much time into my thesis as desired. Fortunately, I have been able to somewhat keep up with riding. I'm probably averaging every other week, but now that my classes are done, I'll be back up to twice a week sometime soon. Because Trainer G is still down one lesson horse and often uses Blackjack for the beginners, I'm allowed to ride Liberty whenever the big man isn't available. I've still yet to formally introduce her here, and at this point it's just gonna be a chronical post. Bear with me. In the mean time, I did make some Black Friday purchases. Fun fact about me: I hate spending money. I have bad anxiety about finances and was having a very hard time up until recently. I've never been a big spender...

This was supposed to be posted a while ago when I got my new Horze riser half pad, but I guess I forgot to ever hit publish . . . oh well, better late than never. I've had my Padded Ponies correction half pad for over four years now, so it's safe to say this is a well informed review. Padded Ponies Half Pad with Shims My saddle was purchased while I was still in undergrad and riding with the IHSA team. I knew that I wanted to get an adjustable half pad to have more flexibility. At the time, I was just getting into  Etsy  and the growing number of small equestrian businesses that rely on the platform. My stirrup irons are also from an Etsy shop as well as my half chap monograms . Many shops sell Ogilvy dupes, but I've never been a fan of memory foam nor do I aesthetically like the pads. Padded Ponies was the only shop at the time that had a traditional looking half pad with pockets for shims. Match made in heaven! After three and a half years of service, this pad has ...

Now that Blackjack has a respectable level of fitness, Trainer G is getting him going again over fences. Like I said before, things have been a little on and off due to the weather and with both lessors being back in school. That being said, Blackjack has really enjoyed doing up downer lessons. I was supposed to have this lesson on September 26, but a full torrential downpour left the ride cancelled. Okay, I need to digress for a moment. Weather on the East Coast is far from tolerable; I've lived here my entire life. I know the drill. Florida, however? Batshit. Fully insane. At least in Maryland when we get the regular 2pm, out of nowhere thunder storm, it happens, then it's over, and it drains in a reasonable amount of time. When I tell you, if it is damn near a hurricane in Miami, it is fully a completely different weather situation once you go 10 miles in any direction. Not to mention, when it rains, it pours . And this year is even more inconvenient then last year. Long sto...

I would make a legitimate goals post, but considering the circumstances, it's kind of not worth it lol. I've just started coming out of a sudden slump that was more frustrating than expected. It wasn't until a couple days ago that I remembered it's Virgo season. I'm always on a high during Leo season, but once August starts to fade away, my mood takes a sharp dip and is very slow to recover. Out of all of my annual mood fluctuations, this one has been the most consistent . . . and somehow, I still forgot after this many years, ha! Safe to say I'm feeling a lot less frustrated and a whole lot more motivated than I was even a week ago. And do you know what more motivation means??? More time for questionable graphic design! I had a lesson on Blackjack a couple days ago, which I promise to write about. It gave me a lot more clarity and focus moving forward with him. The last month has been a little on and off for everyone, so his fitness isn't 100% yet. The rai...

Awe geez; I'm genuinely trying to post fun, happy, pony things on here, but some people are just making that difficult. Boyd Martin recently posted a response to the Plantation Field controversy . In case he suddenly deletes it, here's what it says: First and foremost, I want to be absolutely clear that I am one hundred per cent for diversity and equality in equestrian sports. At our farm here at Windurra I employ people from all different countries, cultures and religions. I have enjoyed training and competing horses with people from all over the world. The issue of race has nothing to do with my problem with EventingNation.com. Being on the board of Plantation Field International, it is my opinion that EN handled their questioning of the name “Plantation Field” terribly. They knew exactly what was going to happen when they pushed for the change just before our premier event, and I have emails to prove it. I am absolutely open to a discussion about changing the events name, bu...

 Y'all . . . half a year. We've been in this since March. Maybe for some non-Americans, things are going alright, but the threat of Covid-19 is still very real here. It's impossible to ignore the clear mental impact that this pandemic has had both on those with and without pre-existing mental health afflictions. Oh well, nothing that a little retail therapy can't cure! To be less facetious, the pandemic has pushed me to reconsider my shopping habits and lean harder towards supporting small/local businesses. Even when ordering food via Grubhub or UberEats, I've made an effort to avoid chains and try food from local places, which basically ended up with me eating too many burritos and drinking way too much bubble tea. I also turned to Etsy not only for cool masks but also some things to spruce up my at home work space and even my anniversary gifts. I recently got an email about the  Etsy Design Awards  and figured this is the perfect way to help promote small business...

I was going to wait to make this next D&I check in until the end of this quarter, but some things have happened lately that I feel are worth talking about. First, in good news, Eventing Nation published the winners of their essay contest . Apparently everyone got a whopping $200 for sharing their stories. To the disappointment of my den mothers , I didn't end up entering because college has warped how I understand deadlines, but I've been scrolling through the 27 essays with both hesitation and glee. After harsh but fair criticism, it does seem like Eventing Nation/Nation Media is taking conversations about diversity seriously. From what I've been reading, there is a genuine effort to understand racism at more than a surface level. It's exciting to see the conversation shift from "We need diversity. Here's a Black person next to a horse," to a discussion about why existing socioeconomic systems factor into the lack of diversity and quite blatantly exp...

Classes started up again almost a month ago at this point. Long story short, it's been a  looong  month. I went to the barn a couple weeks ago and just cried for the last portion of my drive because I felt so overwhelmed by work and school and life. It seems like everything is starting to hit now. Memories are starting to actually feel like memories. Lucie isn't coming back. Blackjack and I are still getting to know each other, but it feels like an okay fit for now. I did have a conversation with my co-leasee and her mother, and Trainer G is open to finding a new horse, especially if both of us are still all in to lease. Both of us are genuinely struggling to feel attached to Blackjack. For me, it feels like more of an obligation and getting my money's worth. Even with another horse, it would likely be the same, but I do want to see this kid happy again. I also found out recently that she's very popular on Instagram, and a new horse would be a nice boost to her stats. T...

A general recap of the past few months is in order here. My trainer does mostly private lessons, and the school horses include some of her own along with some that are boarded. Sometime right at the start of the summer, one of her backup school horses left to join his owner out of state. Then her barrel mare got a suspensory injury. And then days before losing Lucie, Molly's owner decided to send her back to the rescue. That left one horse for lessons, which obviously was not sustainable. I literally cannot believe this beast packed around 5 year olds When Lucie was still actively for sale, I was offered to ride my trainer's old horse, Blackjack, if Lucie ever sold. He was a lesson horse at some point, but he lived with my trainer's mom and was her part-time trail horse. One thing led to another, and he basically ended up sitting in a field, getting fat for a good while. With many sudden changes in the schoolie line up, it was a no brainer to bring him back into work. I hem...

Some more thoughts on Miami and adulthood. featuring a set of rodeo photos that I edited poorly Growing up is a whole lot of "You don't know until you know." There's no worth in beating yourself up for not understanding something that you haven't done before. I've never been 22 prior to being 22, therefore I can't possibly know what it's like to be 22. I miss Maryland. I miss D.C. I miss walkable communities, and free museums, and seasons, and gay bars that I can metro to. When I leave Florida, I'm going to miss Cuban food, and iguanas, and people who seem genuinely interested in creating a variety of affordable housing options that don't enhance racial divides. There's a piece of me everywhere I go. Equestrians are corny. Y'all know which meme I'm referring to I'm making more money that I ever have, and I have more bills than I've ever had. Some day, I hope to not be rent burdened. While we're on money, there's abso...