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Thursday, December 22, 2016

YER: Photo Style




No offense to everyone making laborious, lovely year in review posts, but I can barely read through my own once I write it (which takes HOURS) by the way...so this year I am going a new route. In pics!

Choosing just a few of my fav photos per month was insanely difficult, but fun, and better than recapping this shitty year in a totally redundant, wordy and boring way.

Here's to 2016 LEAVING US alone forever. GOOD RIDDANCE. YOU SUCKED. I'll try to keep the highlights positive. Except February, August and October, damn those were bad months. And November. And December. OKAY THEY ALL SUCKED for the most part....

JANUARY: Jumper show fun

FEBRUARY: Acting grown up on the flat

FEBRUARY: Worst day of my life; Yankee has colic surgery in Kansas and I'm in OH 

MARCH: Blooming into a fit and lovely OTTB

APRIL: Learning about XC and jumping all the jumps with enthusiasm

APRIL: Yankee comes home, is ALIVE AND comes back to work!
APRIL: super trainer schools XC in prep for his 1st and only USEA show.  It went well, until they want off course, lol

MAY: B kicks ass at a jumper show
MAY: Yankee Progresses & is allowed to start under saddle

JUNE: We focus on a ton of jump schooling and grillwork
We take Pro pics

JUNE: Yanks 1st dressage show with V
JUNE: Yanks gets to jump lightly for the 1st time since surgery!
JULY: We XC school again!

JULY: V jumps Yanks XC for the 1st time, she does a jump clinic and goes to a few schooling dressage shows

JULY: B tries the hackamore for the 1st time and shortly after I get seriously injured


AUGUST: Bad month for B and myself. Shoes prove to be an issue with B and he is on and off, and I am still quite inured. L rides B when he's not dead lame from yanking shoes off. I end up transitioning him to barefoot.

AUGUST: V & Yankee get better together, he's back in full strength almost
AUGUST: Last weekend in Aug, I try to show which is REALLY dumb. I fall off and we get caught in terrible storm
SEPTEMBER: Still weak, but B is killing the game, he is barefoot
SEPTEMEBER: I jump B 3'9 for the first time and its cake


SEPTEMBER: CRUSHED  3ft jumper show

SEPT: Might be one of my fav pics ever....

SEPTEMEBER:.... Hock cut, spends a few days laid up with swelling,  tear duct blockage then.....

SEPTEMEBER: V &Yanks prepping for fall events
SEPTEMBER: Doing well at Fall events

OCTOBER: I school Yanks a TON in dressage, V moves up to Novice. I have no pics :(

OCTOBER: .....B spends most of this month broken, with a stone bruise

NOVEMEBER: B is loads better, but I announce I have to list him for sale. Heartbreak and depression ensue
NOVEMER: V & Yanks ending the eventing season on their personal best !

DECEMEBER: I barely ride due to health issues, but bounce back nicely near the end and work on getting B in shape for sale
DECEMEBER: Yanks get a very chill December before Jan jumper season begins!

Overall, I really hated this year. It was as struggle in numerous ways, but I am GRATEFUL myself, Bacardi and Yankee persevered and pulled through to come out better and healthier in the end. Despite some shitty things like injuries and a breakup, I got to do some pretty cool things, like run two Tough Mudders, I got injured severely and came back from it, I went to Rolex and met some badass riders. I got a new job and my friendships deepened. I am halfway towards two master degrees and I learned a few things along the way. Yeah, 216 sucked for most of us, but it wasn't all bad! Here's to 2017 and kicking its ass!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

December Questions

Oh HAI.. Remember when  said I was super excited to get back to lifting and riding?? HAHA. More on that in a second.

Before I start December questions because I have no content, WE GOT OUR FALL PICS BACK!!!

LIKE. I am actually DED.
I have like 300 of them. I cried actual tears when I went through them all. Like, TEARS.


 So those were lovely, not sorry you'll be seeing them forever,  and I was super extra motivated  to get back in the swing of things. My days were planned, my meals were prepped, my gym bag was packed. Then, I lifted on lunch once, then promptly fucked my ankle by falling outside on ice after work, heading to the barn...


This is today
LOL @ my life. Whatever, I hope it gets better quick. I'm nowhere near my deductible so I'm not stepping foot in the ER. I can still walk, sort of.

So, December questions:

1. Does your horse need shoes?
Yankee does if he’s expected to be ridden. If I were to retire him I would yank them off and toss him in a field and he would be fine. If he’s being ridden & shown though, absolutely. He has the actual worst feet in the world.  B does not need them, but I will admit he trots bigger with them. I’ve never known a TB to be OK barefoot though, so I consider that a win, regardless.

2. What do you think of the barefoot vs shoes debate?
I think its asinine. Domesticated horses generally require shoes, it’s the nature of owning and showing them and keeping them confined. If your horse can go without, more power to ya! Horse people will literally tear each other apart over everything, for real, and this is one of them

3. Favorite season for riding?
Easily fall. I loathe summer; so sweaty, bugs, storms, sunburn etc. UGH. And spring is just wet. So soggy. And it starts to get humid and reminds me of summer. Winter isn’t horrible unless you like your toes freezing off. So absolutely fall. SO. PRETTY.



4. How many shows do you think you’ve gone to? Too many to count?
Oh my god, too many to count. Before I went to college and became broke, I showed almost every weekend. The amount of ribbons I have is insane and needs to be made into a quilt.

5. Do you consider yourself a good rider? 
Define good.
By my own and maybe several others standards, I would say yes.
 Recently, not really—considering I have yet again lost most muscle tone and riding strength, lmao. #ForeverStruggs

6. How experienced do you think someone needs to be to own a horse? 
This is such an open ended and difficult question to answer because of all the variables. For example, I was 10 years old when I owned my first horse. My parents bought her for me and I literally did all the work. They did nothing. However, we boarded her for 6 months with my trainer while she taught me the ins-and-outs of horse ownership and what was considered normal and not normal. She was also only 4 minutes from my house, so if I had question, we would call her. Essentially, my hand was held because I knew nothing.
If someone who knows nothing about horses just buys a horse and thinks they can handle it, I would laugh in their face and hope the poor horse doesn’t die of colic. That being said, there are very experienced horse folks that shouldn’t own horses either. Such a fine and precarious line.

7. Have you ever gotten in a fight with your trainer?
No, but for some reason when I left for college she (not current trainer, old eventing trainer) stopped talking to me and refuses to acknowledge my existence when I see her at shows. OKAY?

8. Describe your dream horse?

No but literally, he is. Which making listing him for sale even more difficult. 

9. Does anyone in your family ride?
My dad actually rode a lot with me. He ADORED Spirit, the Wonder Pony and loved to gallop him. I always said dad had two speeds with that horse- walk and gallop. He also rode Lily (my old sassy black QH I used to have) quite often as well. Mom actually was a HJ growing up and showed a bit. She rode with me a few times throughout the years, but I think she prefers to pet them and stuff their faces with treats.

10. If you could ride any horse in the world, which one would it be and why?
Do they have to be alive? Because I would give my left tit to gallop Man O War. He is everything.