♣Ambitious♣

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