♣Ambitious♣

It was a very rough winter for the Eq Team. Bad, rainy weather led to several horses abscessing. The ones who didn't abscess came up with random lameness, some short term, some long term. Penny was one of the long term ones. She came back into work as spring moved rather aggressively into summer. My second lesson in June was on her, and it was time to start working again. To put it simply, Penny knows her shit. From what I've been told, she used to do the pony jumpers. I've only ridden her a handful of times over the past four years, but many people in the barn are vocal about how much they love her. Honestly, she is always a fun ride, but . . . she's hot. Makes sense since she's a jumper, but she's a micromanage type of ride. My last IHSA show and also my second time ever riding Penny She was easy to soften on the flat though we lacked forward motion. In her defense, it was pretty hot outside, and she's still working her way from tubby to trim. It...

So, true to her nature, Fate had a different plan for me this summer than intended. Since my last post, I have ridden four times. Two of those rides happened yesterday. While I am disappointed, it's also worth noting that moving over a thousand miles to a different city took most of my attention over the past two months. I had two lessons in June. The first was on Dori where Coach S threatened to fix my wrists if I didn't fix them myself. My wrists have been a problem since I started riding Molly, but my trainers have yet to use threats as a solution. I'm embarrassed to say it worked. Makes me think about my hand position with more consistency. No media from this lesson, so please enjoy me embarrassing this horse because we have the same name For the first time in a while, Coach was having us try some lateral work, which I am all for. After dealing with Roman's need for a slower paced canter set up, I started to use a basic leg yield more and more in my warm ups...

Last summer, I came across a short press release about the Gay Polo League, an organization that uses the sport of polo as a means to promote inclusion and support for those in the LGBT+ community. The League’s established team of polo players leverage their visibility in the name of acceptance. I was instantly intrigued, and when the stars aligned, I reached out to GPL's founder, Chip McKenney, for an interview. It actually took another two articles before I decided to jump on this topic. In September, The Plaid Horse published Making the Horse World a Safe Space for LGBTQ Equestrians where Jess Clawson elaborates on their experience being queer in the sport. Not too soon after, I had the pleasure of reading L Williams' article Dear USEF: You Have a Representation Problem . I've griped about representation previously, but this was my first time seeing the topic discussed on such a popular platform. Both articles gave me a sense of pride, but, more importantly, th...

Prior to starting this blog, I didn't set many goals related to horses. I always had a general idea of what I wanted to accomplish, mainly relating to shows, but it was always vague. As I was scrolling through older posts, I realized that I've wanted to show at 3' for over four years now, and that stung a little. As a matter of fact, most of my competitive goals have remained unaccomplished after ending on a high in 2014. Regular breaks in my riding have also made it more difficult to progress, both physically and mentally. I still have dreams about this horse With this in mind, I'm treading lightly with goals at the moment. As a matter of fact, these goals are just for the next two months during which I'm almost certain that I'll be in regular lessons (key word is almost). Go to a show Literally any show. My preferences are limited. I would like to jump mainly because I can't justify spending money on the Dressage tests when I'm not seriously ...

All things come to an end at some point. This isn't quite the end, but it feels like I've turned to the first page of the last chapter. Last week was my final lesson with the IHSA team. It came after three days of final assignments and exams. On top of that, the past few weeks have been emotionally exhausting. It sucks to say that I was feeling empty when I got picked up and didn't really want to ride at all. We're always given the option to pick the horse for our last ride of the semester. It doesn't always work out how we want, but our Coach does her best to accommodate our desires. Most people had their last lesson on the horse they rode for their first lesson. Y'all know who I rode for my first lesson? Twinkles. No shade to my team's blonde haired beauty, but I still wanted a challenge for my last ride, so I chose Twister. He's the only horse that I had yet to ride for a full lesson, so it felt like a fitting way to close things out. ...

Photo by T Weyant

Something new that I'm trying to do is make my love of fashion more sustainable. I made a resolution this year to thrift all of my clothing with the exception of items that I need for a specific occasion. So far, it's worked out. I've bought one dress, and that's it. Not bad. For this set, I used a shirt from CHNGE, a brand that takes pride in its stance on sustainability and philanthropy. They donate 50% of their net profits to many vetted NGOs and stand behind providing ethical working conditions for employees. Plus, the stuff is cute, so I'm down. 1. CHNGE Girl's Globe Tee 2. Kerrits Ladie's GripTek Breeches 3. Harry's Horse Duo Riding Boots 4. Chetaime Half Pad