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!!
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.
OMG. You all I love you so much. Thank you for the kind words--I truly forgot how lovely people CAN be < 3
If it weren't essentially negative degrees out with the windchill, I would say it feels so good to be riding again....but in reality, you cannot wear enough clothing to make riding sub 20* comfortable.
But I really wanted to and had time, so I did.
Will not be doing that again, ha.
Generally, for everyone's sake, I try to keep mounted activities secluded to days above 25*, as a general rule. Its no fun under that, and really kind of a waste of energy because not much gets done anyways. PLUS, I know it sucks to breathe that cold ass air and I don't like forcing my horses to work in those temps.
Random too, it will be 55* tomorrow, even though its 12* today. Then sleet, then plummet back down to 20*. In 48 hours. LIKE WAT.
That being said, I will take sub zero temps over 100+ temps ANY DAY. I hate summer and hope to never live in the south. Ya'll can KEEP IT.
That also being said, I actually had a good time the other night hopping on B for a bit while V jumped a little.
B was WORLDs different than this time last year. If you've been following me long enough, you might remember how god awful he was in the winter months those first two winters. Moving to EME helped drastically last winter...but the first...I try to not remember the disaster that was trying to ride him.
My big man is all growed up. Kind of.
(TBs never really grow up :P)
I actually forced bribed a male human that I've been canoodling to come out to the barn with me in freezing temps to video for me, since V was also riding and he fuckn did it. wat. (disclosure; he actually offered before I bribed him with food, which is unbelievable).
So I actually got video of both myself and V! SCORE.
I actually find this video super entertaining all the way through. In the beginning he's a bit cold and hype and the flying change exuberance is just, on point. Then he settles and the trot work looks fantastic and the canter improves. Good boy! (don't mind the last 55 SECONDS of man friend filming the cat)
He was a titch exuberant about the flying changes, which I find endearing and hilarious, but overall he remained rather soft and lovely. We are both wicked out of shape so the left lead felt and looked like trash, but overall it was a good refresher ride. We will be working on that canter in the next few weeks for sure. I was rather pleased with the trot work though. In the past that been his most difficult gait and I was pleasantly surprised to come back after like a month and find it still installed and rather lovely.
Also here's the video of V and Yanks trying their hand at some distance work. I am SO proud of how far they've come together as a team. V has kicked some major ass in the lat 1/3 of this year and I can't wait to see where she goes next season :)
Such a good boy he is. Love that horse to death!
So, myself and my young child are a bit out of shape, but we are back in the game now. We both need to work on some strength, which might be challenging in the winter months but I am up for it as long as the weather cooperates. My core is literally garbage at the moment and today my inner thighs are screaming. Insane how you lose everything in such a short period.
Also, kind of shitty to list him for sale then take a month break...but thats why I have yet to actually put ads out online; mostly word of mouth at the moment. Kind of asinine to sell an out of shape beasty as a jumper who hasn't jumped in about 6 weeks+ LOL
Save for the clinic I STUPIDLY took part in and failed miserably. This is a backtrack/slight recap.
In case you were wondering how it goes to not jump in like 4-ish weeks, be on your deathbed and have it be a 30* day and partake in a jumping clinic, the answer is FUCKING TERRIBLE.
A collection of fails actually captured (there were so many more).
Please note B refusing BOTH elements of the line. I can't. I rode like shit.
It was mostly me--my body literally forgot how to ride and B got sick of it and flat out quit. I do not blame him TBH. Thats about all the recap you get because it was a disaster and not worth talking about. Total waste of my money. I don't know what I was thinking, ha.
Me: I've forgotten how to ride
Me to Me: sit there and do nothing and also haul on his face
At one point B had had enough of my flopping and jabbing him in the face he LITERALLY tried to get me off of him, with gusto. Think, crow hopping in anger. Again, I don't blame him. When he couldn't shake me he just stopped, lol. Like wouldn't move. The clinician was like, "well, he's done with you" and laughed. I was like, yeah, FML. We had a few good moments mixed in, but not really, HAHA.
Exibit A on how to duck over fences
So. Here we go on operation "rebuild" as I like to call it. Get back to healthy eating, healthy sleeping. lifting and RIDING properly!
Without trying to sound all woe is me (but it will probably happen anyways)...2016 decided to go out with a bang and I spent the majority of the last month sick as fuck, drowning in grad school finals, loathing the haters online who can't grasp that selling a horse is an actual thing, car problems, work problems, dealing with some insane vertigo that rendered me incapacitated and mentally trying to cope with selling off one of the few things I love in this life after ALSO splitting with my longtime boyfriend and coming to grips with the single life...
I literally rode twice. TWICE. And one of those times was an absolute disaster. I don't even know if I can recap it, it was so bad. I cried in my car for like half an hour afterwards. It was one of those rides..
It truly seemed like life was just like, here ya go
And I just conceded and was like, okay, gimme your worst, lets just make these next 4 weeks completely miserable and then we will be good for another year.
Luckily, I have amazing friends that kept B in work while I delt with life rather poorly (aka binge drinking a decent amount, sleeping a lot and rewatching Greys Anatomy--there are like 11 seasons, in case you didn't know.)
So now that I have fully recovered from that load of SHIT, I can say that I am ready to tackle the last two weeks in this year (L-oh-fucking-L), I'm in great spirits (honestly), and gracefully dip into 2017.
I have come to grips with the reality of losing my sweet B, and the reasons why it has to be done. I Am fine with this, and I am ready to move on now. Life is grand, and there are WAY worse things.
I love christmas, and I LOVE all of you who were so supportive on my announcement post a month ago. I'm sorry I haven't really kept up on reading blogs, but you all are awesome.
So, despite the freezing fucking cold, I am ready to ride again. Mentally and physically.
V & Yanks yesterday
Hopefully we can hit up a few jumpers shows this winter and possibly get him to a recognized show, because apparently people give two shits about your horse if you never had to money to showcase him at a rated show. LOLZ. But until someone comes along, I am not letting him go.
