♣Ambitious♣

Fuego and I's first attempts at cantering a course. I did a voiceover to explain my thoughts and where I want to change things moving forward. He's a great, honest jumper. Excited to see where things go from here!

Image by Rhys Holland , via Casey Brown Architecture One thing I've learned through the Horse Barns: Plans, Designs, & Ideas Facebook group is that, in the United States, it can be difficult to obtain a permit for apartments in barns due to fire concerns. Of course, I don't have the tools to verify if this is true, but I have pulled many building permits. Even in a place like Florida where civil liberties are valued above all else, permitting is a pain in the butt. Additionally, fire concerns are very real, and many in that group advocate for hay storage in a completely separate facility from stables just to be safe. Fire, from both internal and external sources, was one of the main design constraints for the project I'm sharing today: Crackenback Stables . The structure, designed by Casey Brown Architecture , includes stabling for five horses, support spaces, a warehouse, carport, and two apartments, all of which is spread between two buildings. Brown's portfolio ...

 

He's all shoulder and nothing else. Is it just me, or is having a lesson at 10am too early?? I can barely get up for brunch at 10am, let alone adult Saddle Club. The weather in Florida (and pretty much the whole East Coast) has been wild as of late. Winter is typically very dry, but this year has been unseasonably cold and damp. And I don't even mean just heavy rain here or there, I mean raining for a full week at a time without enough sun to dry everything out. Fuego's turnout bell boots are fully waterlogged. Because of this weather, some lessons had to be rescheduled to avoid literal tornado warnings. This meant that the ring was a bit crowded on Saturday with four different lessons going on. Two were in the jump ring and two in the Dressage ring. It made for an audience. And I do not like an audience. We started the lesson with a different approach to Fuego's trot. The new idea was that he has to actually trot and not do his Western Pleasure best. Off we went with m...

The weekend came, and with it another schedule change. Trainer T was heading out of town on Sunday and needed to do some reorganizing. My lesson was pushed back to 10am, and I was riding with another adult. I was super excited for this. I like semi-private lessons because you still get a lot of attention without all the focus being on you for 100% of the ride. Riding with someone else also means that I get to take more breaks. It was a win/win. While we were waiting for the lesson before us to end, I asked a little bit about her horse. She rides a lovely, young Thoroughbred mare that did a little race training, had a baby, then sat for a while. They've only been together for a few months, but even in that time, the mare has also become a cross tie breaker. We laughed at being the only two to get cross ties for Trainer T for Christmas. I also found it kind of funny to put the two crazy OTTBs in a lesson together. Much to my shock and dismay, both of them were stellar. In fact, the o...

 

Wrapped up 2021 the best way possible. Thanks for sticking around! Song: "Let Me In" by Snowmine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q586jen-K40 http://snowmine.bandcamp.com/merch

Once Fuego turned up lame, I was unsure who I'd be riding (or if I could even ride) for my lesson. By chance, one of Trainer T's long-time boarders decided that she wanted her horse used in lessons again. She doesn't ride or handle him much, so it'd be a win/win for everyone. The horse was actually boarded at my old barn for a couple of months. According to my trainer, the owner left because the care was terrible. Gunner is a stout Quarter Horse gelding. His manners on the ground aren't that great, but that probably has to do with limited handling beyond going to and from the pasture. He was used in lessons in the past before the owner changed her mind. The lesson went pretty well, and I'm considering leasing him. The only drawback is that I can truly only afford to ride once per week in addition to lessons, so I'd have to stop riding Fuego weekly. Just something I'm thinking about and not a commitment at this point. I brought my saddle with me this time...

Fun Fact: my saddle is not made for landsharks

Okay, I'm being dramatic, but my first ride of the New Year left me a bit miffed. Trainer T was away at a show this past weekend, so my 11am Saturday lesson got moved to 8am on Sunday. I figured I would just ride Fuego at my usual 11am time. Then I woke up on Saturday and stayed lounging in bed until about noon. And then I had other things to take care of during the afternoon, so I hurried through those and dragged my feet to the barn around 4pm. I actually don't mind riding later in the day, especially if I can hit "golden hour" as it makes my content just a little more dreamy. When I pulled Fuego out of his stall, I quickly noticed that he ripped off his shoe (again) and was a little touchy. Last time this happened, he was fine, so my radar went off, and I checked his leg for any heat or swelling. No heat, so I told Trainer T's kid about it, and she said he'd be ridden earlier in the day and would be okay on the arena footing. I shrugged it off and opted for...

via my favorite artist/comedian Liz Climo I've wanted a saddle rack pretty much since I moved to Florida. Something about being here made me feel like my saddle was meant to stay at home. For a while, all of my equipment lived in my trunk, but that became a slight inconvenience for my mechanic who was checking my battery for codes every other month. Yes, the brilliant engineers in Germany put the battery in my trunk. Don't ask me why. I've also accumulated a very hefty amount of dirt in my trunk's lining. The tight space also meant my flaps were being squished. All in all, the trunk situation wasn't doing it. I needed a solution. Prior to moving into the new place, I set up several Pinterest boards to collect items that I wanted to purchase or just liked the vibe of. I found this sleek metal sawhorse that was cheap but stylish and available for curbside pickup. It also matched the specific shelf that I intended to purchase from Ikea. I was set to buy everything dire...

This was my first turn :/

Finally got around to editing all of the photos from this show . It was a super limited set because I was only there for a few hours, but I'm happy with them! After my second lesson on Fuego, I received a surprising text from my trainer. She asked if I wanted to hack Fuego once a week on my own since we've been doing pretty well together. Of course, I gleefully said yes, even though my new work schedule is somewhat nightmarish. I don't get off until 6pm most days, and if I want to get up earlier, then I need to show up earlier, which is just blegh. Couple that with the commute being an hour between the office and the barn . . . yeah, it takes some convincing to get me out there on a weekday. So now my weekends have been reconfigured slightly. If I have a lesson on Fuego on a Saturday, then I'll ride him again on Sunday. If I have a lesson on Destello, then I'll ride them both on the same day to save gas and time. Sunday's are typically my clean your house for th...

I'm not making goals this year. This shouldn't come as a huge surprise. It's not that I don't have things that I want to do, but it seems that putting those goals explicitly on paper keeps jinxing me. Horses will probably continue to take a back seat in 2022 just because of time and financial reasons. I really really want to show, but it's just not feasible at the moment. On the flip side, now that I'm riding with a trainer that actually follows through on going to shows, it'll mean more blog fodder and a chance to be more engrossed in my local equestrian community. There's only one regular photographer at the local shows, and her business model prefers people who book their photos ahead of time. I'd still like to have a conversation with her to ensure there's no competition, but I doubt snapping photos of maybe 10-15 riders total over the course of an entire weekend will be an issue. A couple years ago, I did have a goal to write something for a...