♣Ambitious♣

So, I went for a run last night, and my phone was near dead, so I opted to use my iPod instead for music. One thing led to another, and I started looking through my gallery, digging up some old photos and videos (some of which I posted early on with this blog), including some from my first show season. Let's just say I've always been bitter about having to ride a horse before noon. Short, cold, tired, AND bitter Twix w/ her old owner Baby in her short stirrup mode Still short stirrup, but looking real good Sometimes Duke went fast I also used to take pictures during lesson weekends, too. Two full days at the barn every other week (sometimes  every  week) from 10am to 4pm on Saturdays and noon to 4pm on Sundays. I'm a barn rat at heart, and I hate being an adult and having to do adult things because I get minimal barn time. Chess/Chester/Chesapeake Fish/Fisher/Fish Face Splash (he had no nicknames :/) Todd/Toddy/Toddster/Mr Todd Th...

I really hate the word "Auguts's" 1. What is your biggest source of caffeine that gets you through the day? (drink, not just brand) TEA! SO MUCH TEA! SO MUCH CHAI! 3 CUPS A DAY! PREFERRABLY TAZO (although I have tried Twinings, and it wasn't half bad)!   image from Oregon Chai 2. Do you honestly think your trainer is the best trainer for you? For my current situation, yes. Of course, that doesn't mean that my emotional brain tells me otherwise every so often, but I just tell it to shut up. 3. One token of advice a fellow rider/trainer/horse person told you that you still remember to this day. You'll never be perfect. 4. If riding meant costing your family so much money that they’d be basically on poverty line, or making your family terribly unhappy (if they were not supportive or understanding, etc.) would you still do it? To the first part, absolutely not. To the second part, my parents don't really want me riding and would rather I do som...

So after yesterday's disgustingly-sad-with-cliché-inspiring-last-paragraph post, it's time to pat myself on the back for the times that I've managed to kick ass and take names. Beckz from I Will Jump Sweet Jumps (arguably the sickest blog title) came up with this awesome blog hop. In chronological order . . . The start of my 2013 show season, when I showed Duke in long stirrup and pleasure pony. He was losing it, but guess 👏 who 👏 kept 👏 it 👏 together 👏. Course when I thought he was finally chilled out during the combination hack, he ended up booking it through the line and took a daring distance to the second fence. I stayed on, though. Props to Duke for his athleticism. There was also that time I bombed my way through the o/f classes only to win the flat because you can't have a refusal when there are no fences to jump. After a rough season, Baby & I finally qualified for the medal final and made it over everything, then switched...

So far, I've had two "show seasons" where the goal was to do a lot, but then that just didn't happen. The first was the same year that I started this blog. I had planned to do another full summer on my local circuit, but I think that was the year Miss S's daughter got married or something like that. Whatever happened, she was out of  town during most of the shows, so I only went to two rated shows and one schooling show. It was a solid year. That was the summer I switched off of Duke, did my first course at a show, last year of long stirrup, and (point wise) got champion at that one schooling show . . . but they weren't giving out champion/reserve ribbons for each division. Blame Dinkleberg for all your problems Anyway, so why am I talking about this? Well, I found some new pictures from this show . I used to think this was the epitome of high fashion: graphic tees & skinny jeans. Also, those are rain boots. For a while I refused to get rea...

Note To Self: Do not let barn children set up the entire jump course. Yes, they may get the striding perfect, but you're going to see some weird combinations. I am still technically a barn child, and I did help set up that course, and I was the one to walk all the strides off (because the measuring wheel decided to just break, like, how rude can you be?). I will admit that, while I had intended on walking off horse strides, I got the pony strides. Oh well, Baby makes pony strides anyway. There was also one fence that was completely natural. The "standards" were logs sitting vertically, and then we used a plain wooden pole and added sticks as a filler. We were going to add pine needles, but, alas, everything on the outskirts of the woods is covered in poison ivy. Talk about an inconvenience. I've ridden Chess the past two days because Baby was being used in lessons, so I was relieved to be back on her. I checked her mouth for ulcers or sharp points: zip, nothing, n...

I have a full show recap ahead with a handful of pictures too. I woke up late on Sunday, and I forgot to dry my show pants, but Annie's came to the rescue. They had a flash sale on their show pants a couple weeks ago, and I went for it, and I have to say it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I will gladly show with little silicone horse heads on my knee patches. Fun Fact: Miss S was picking me up that morning, and she also woke up late. Horse people, everyone. Of course Saturday and Sunday were polar opposites. The barn owners and staff were frantically trying to clear the water from the outdoor ring and move the dirt around to fill spots in. The effort started on Saturday evening and didn't finish until right before the 9am ring start. Even with their work, the lower spots still had puddles that needed to be maneuvered around; there just wasn't enough sun in the morning to dry the whole thing out. Needless to say, we had a couple water jumps. We didn...