♣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