♣Ambitious♣

Am I nearly half a month late on this? Absolutely. Are we gonna talk about that? Absolutely not.

Eventing Nation has established a new diversity scholarship in efforts to continue conversations about diversity and inclusion in the equestrian sport. Here's what they had to say: Today we are excited to announce Nation Media’s 1st Annual $1,000 Diversity Scholarship, with the funds to be divided between the top three winners: 1st – $500, 2nd – $300, 3rd – $200.  All minority equestrians are invited to apply. The Scholarship may be used any in way that the recipient desires to further their riding career, be it educational opportunities, competition entry fees or equipment/tack.  Applicants should submit an essay and/or video sharing their experience as a minority equestrian and ideas for how we can increase diversity and inclusion in our sport. Possible topics:  Write an action plan for encouraging diversity at the local, regional or national level in equestrian sport. Where do you envision diversity and inclusion going in the near and long-term future for...

In a strange twist of events, spending more days at work did eventually lead to more barn time. I'm still putting in more hours in order to get a project to the next level, it's no more than nine in one day (as opposed to, like, 12 several days in a row). My free time got extended even more due to the fact that it's now too damn hot to ride (seriously Florida??? It's hurricane season! Give me a threatening cloud and a nice breeze!). To be quite honest, I haven't ridden that much this month at all, so June's vlog is going to be a lot of talking heads. Big mare says "Leave me alone" Yesterday, I decided to try for my first ride in a while. When I got there, the weather wasn't bad, and there was a slight breeze, so I started to tack up. I had a plan to do real work, and considered doing some low cross rails but nixed the idea because my muscle tone likely isn't there right now. As I was tacking up, one of the younger boarders was out and me...

A couple posts ago, I mentioned how happy I was that hurricane season finally started since Lucie's feet will now get more regular contact with moisture. Then it rained for, like, two weeks straight. I mean hard, intense rain. Like there was a tropical storm both of those weeks. I see now why Florida makes people crazy. It makes mares crazy, too I went out to the barn a couple times during the downpours. It sucks because the barn is kind of far from home but so close to my office. I try to go right after work, but I only work three days out of the week, so if the weather is bad I just go straight home. The handful of times that I did visit, I gave Lucie some much needed attention and offered my trainer some help. Fun Fact: I'm the best damn water bucket filler in all of the South. Unfortunately, I did get caught in the storm while bringing horses in. Second Fun Fact: my paddock boots are very not waterproof. After the bad weather, we had a tight deadline at work and my...

Detroit Horse Power, Summer Camp 2019 When I first started therapy, one of the things that I was very vocal about is that I didn't like certain emotions. Anger especially was something that I hated to experience. I saw getting upset as a form of weakness and tried to remain calm no matter what. That same therapist made a comment that I tend to give a lot to other people, far more than what I ask in return. Initially, I saw no issue. What's wrong with being empathetic? What's wrong with being compassionate? What's wrong with devoting yourself to the well being of others, even if it destroys you in the process? Love and hate - or compassion and anger - have become opposing narratives when talking about racial tensions, mostly because everyone likes to post the same quote from Martin Luther King Jr. What my first therapist taught me is that you cannot put a value on emotions, especially in a world that values placidity over justified rage. There is strength in com...

Now that I have your attention, here are some ways that equestrians can actually respond to the racist nature of the sport and the United States. Reason I'm focusing on horse people specifically is because 1) the majority of people in my life who are staying silent on this issue are horse people and 2) there are suddenly so many brands saying that they're "listening" and "dedicated to making the industry more diverse". I'm glad Janet in marketing knows how to post a black square on Instagram. Next, let's try actually doing something. 1. Accept that your lack of action up until this point is appalling and damn near unforgivable. This post isn't meant to be a 10 step program in how not to be racist, but accountability needs to happen before anything else. I can count on my hands the number of times I've seen a non-White model in an equestrian catalog. It's four. That's how many times I've seen it. Brown skin did not just appear y...

Ya know, I expected to get this post out sooner because I expected these boots to be out of commission much sooner. They're still going. Valiantly. Seriously, these boots have genuinely surprised me. They're not perfect by any means, but they've been very reliable for the past several months. If you want my first impressions, they're at 1:50 in my September vlog from last year. Let's start from the beginning. I purchased these boots from Wish sometime in August and they came within a month. Obviously, the picture on the advertisement wasn't going to match the physical product. If you are unaware, Wish.com is basically Amazon without the nationwide warehouse employee strike. The products are cheaper to buy and even cheaper to make. Often times, the picture used to sell an item is taken from a more popular brand (Meshki, girl, I am so sorry). The product that you receive is usually a poor man's dupe of the original. Sometimes the product is still good...