♣Ambitious♣

Favorite show picture Favorite non-show picture Favorite thing you bought Referring to my saddle rack here Favorite moment on horseback No images, but galloping Duke along the grassy trails was really fun. Favorite moment out of the saddle Favorite “between the ears” picture Favorite horse book or article Do Boots and Wraps Overheat Horses’ Legs? Favorite horse ridden (or groomed/cared for) aside from your own Favorite funny picture of your horse No funny pics this year :( Favorite fence that you successfully jumped or movement that you conquered No pics of fences either because that video is on my trainer's phone :/ Favorite horse meme or funny picture So funny I keep a tab open on my phone with this image so I can show it to people. Created by artist  Sean Kirkpatrick .

2021 was the year that horses took a back seat to, well, everything else. It started with potential horse shows and ended with timidly cruising around 2'-0" courses. Eh, such is life. I finally said screw it with Blackjack and started having fun. At first, I committed to riding more bareback because it became a necessity if I ever wanted to have a decent enough relationship with him to go to a show. As time progressed, and I absorbed more hearsay, it coupled with my own observations, and I made the decision that I wasn't going to put Blackjack through the rigors of being a show horse. It wasn't fair, and even if I was underscoring his abilities, the horse is just as happy being stuffed with treats as he is jumping around at a horse show. There was a question of whether Liberty would be a potential show horse for me, and she could have been had she not been injured during her prison break attempt. Oh well, she too became a fun and exciting challenge this year. I'm p...

So, where do I begin . . . Life updates: I'm still depressed. Not as bad as a few months ago, but I'm, like, genuinely having a quarter-life crisis, and I wish I was joking. I moved to my very first apartment on my own to be closer to my job. I'm trying to find a new job. I'm applying to Ph.D. programs, and Los Angeles is at the top of my list. My sister made me install Grammarly and suddenly I feel a lot less confident about all 500+ ramblings that I have forced y'all to read over the last several years. I left my barn. After my last welcome back post, I did end up having a conversation with my trainer. It only made things worse. I got caught between my trainer and Satin's owner, and at first, it seemed that they just did not understand each other and could not get on the same page. Which is fair, and makes sense due to the emotional weight of the vet findings. As things unraveled, it became clear that my trainer was not honest about her knowledge of the situat...

In writing the post about my last lesson, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to talk about the actual lesson in addition to my current frustrations because the post would have been an even longer novel than it turned out to be. So, here we are. Definitely going to milk these photos for a while lol As I said before, the warmup started very nice with minimal arguments. He was fiery but manageable. Frankly, my type of horse. It felt good to have him come off my leg and be alert but still willing to trust my aids and channel that energy into a high quality trot with good self carriage. Whenever a horse is like this, I tend to soften my corners and turn the short sides of the arena into a semi circle. I've noticed that if I push too hard into a corner, they tend to compress on the turn then shoot out on the straight away. The bigger arc helps to keep the pace consistent and gives me more room to push with the inside leg, correct with the outside leg, and slowly fill the outsi...

After my last lesson on Liberty , Trainer G and I made a plan to do a similar jump lesson on Blackjack. It was clear that I knew how to work through the exercises. The next logical step was to do them on the horse that I'm, ya know, actually paying to lease. Long story short, it did not go well. Blackjack came out pretty amped. He was injected, did a beginner lesson a couple of days later, then my jump lesson maybe a day or two after that. Between the newfound joint mobility and the lack of undersaddle time, he came out pretty fresh and ready. He was very looky, and there were enough things happening outside the arena to hold his attention. It's not a big deal; Liberty was literally the exact same at my last lesson. We worked through it without an issue. What bothers me is that it feels like every time I get on Blackjack, he's amped. It genuinely feels like the horse straight up does not like me or my energy. As much as I try to remain calm, it's getting disheartening t...

When I was in the process of moving to Florida, I told myself that I wasn't going to do any horse shows. I Was so certain about it that I left all of my show gear in Maryland and didn't think twice about it. Now . . . here we are. Shout out to my girlfriend for the wonderful pictures <3 I haven't quite started a "show season" yet. And, honestly, the one or two shows I do this year can't qualify as an actual show season. What I have done is 1) buy an entire show outfit and 2) go schooling at the show grounds. This has been a long time coming for me. I was actually supposed to go schooling last fall with Lucie, but Trainer G got tied up and had to cancel. After that, we just never really got around to it, even though I did genuinely want to take Lucie to a show. For now, I'm interested in showing for myself. Getting back into the equitation ring has been a goal for several years now, and I'm itching to finally go around a 2'6" course like it...

  My trials and tribulations of fall semester. Song: "Doses & Mimosas" by Cherub

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...

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...

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...