Believer

First show of the year is in the books for us, and it was somewhat strange to be back out again after a

hiatus from essentially last June. Normally our kickoff is SpyCoast in May, but with it arriving early this year, we decided to start out with something a bit sooner on the calendar.

Local schooling shows for me, are approached with a somewhat split feeling of happy anticipation and dread.

Anticipation for getting out and seeing new people, showing the kids what life can be, seeing them on their maiden voyages in a situation that in all respects, doesn't make or break a career, meeting new people and catching up with the old groups.

Then there's the dread.

The dread of people in your space, navigating a warm up that is, at best uncontrolled chaos, arenas that aren't set up as professionally as they should, making sure that no one dies/cries/embarrasses themselves too badly and above all making sure that said kids have a good time.

I knew walking in what the comments would be, and what approximate scores he would get- and we got them from the judge and the rail birds.

Al's first show was successful in many ways, and shows room for improvement in others.

What I, and Mike weren't prepared for was the amount of people who came by and followed us to and from the arenas. Part of it was I think the idea of a stallion of that quality at a show, but the other part I think people were genuinely curious. Either way, it was something new for us, and felt a bit odd. Al just accepted the accolades graciously via carrots, admiring glances and the occasional insistence on a butt scratch.

We came home and addressed what few issues he showed us, and already I feel he's ready to go back out. I was for the most part, pleased about how he behaved in the wake of a Spring outdoor show and how he went to work despite the looney environment that he woke up to.

It was quiet on Friday, with the arenas basically with four or five people total in them. He schooled in and around the arenas fine, we rolled through the test and called it a day. Our class was put in the early afternoon, so we were literally sitting around doing nothing for the morning and afternoon (one horse at a show is boring nowadays).

Next day, everyone arrived. It was pure madness in the barns, and the arenas exploded with people and activity.  Ponies, kids, riders who got a little too close while walking near us with their horses, traffic, trailers coming in and out fast, people who lingered at his stall trying to pet him (which he was confused about as to why they weren't scratching his bum).

I wanted him exposed to all of this because it's only going to get busier from here on out. We went on a few long hand walks which helped. Hindsight I should have lunged him, but the available lunging area was a pitched surface and not dragged. So, I put him under his Back on Track sheet to keep him limber and made miles under our feet.

To his credit, Al held himself together.

We were concerned about the warmup, where it wasn't as regulated and my concerns were realized  when he was t-boned by a junior rider on her horse (everyone was fine). Even though he was sore he still put in a good, focused test. It wasn't a winning test, but that's what you get with young horses going against horses that have done more than a few seasons at training level.

Overall, we have a better idea going forward what to do with him, and how to prep out. He's back at the farm working towards SpyCoast and the May series.

Nothing ever lasts even a cold November rain

It's taken me a while to write this post.

My Fall was already packed and going strong but around the end of October, things took a quick turn south and then proceeded to turn more south.

Between William's accident, scrambling unsuccessfully for Mary King to come over, coordinating Fahrenheit's delayed arrival and keeping Flair going I was overwhelmed and very much running on empty.

Then came the series of minor little incidents. The time switch and I lost hours of daylight alongside the reminder that I'm not heading South for winter, not being in control of my own schedule, odd bills showing up, some random theft, some untimely deaths and a few other situations that just knocked me off my flow. I felt like I lost ground and whatever momentum I gained from the summer.

All of it happened within a span of two weeks, whatever motivation I had pretty much went out the window. It wasn't anyone's fault.

Things are slowly returning to a proverbial normal thanks to going and teaching, gaining a few new sponsors, some new clients, and planning 2016. It's still a long way off of wherever I feel like I need to be, and somedays are still tough.

The horses are thankfully, going right along. 

Flair continues to develop with me. She's solidly riding five days with me and going out and doing sets as long as the footing remains consistent.

Her personality has really come out, she, like Sinari, is the queen bee of the barn, you know exactly where you stand with her. She's more sensitive than the pony- both in personality and in physical nature.

There are days that her gut bothers her (rapid weather change isn't helping), or that she doesn't feel quite up to the task. Sometimes her personality is easily offended, which is to be expected, but for the most part she likes to work.

She has found more of her gaits, but the canter remains a tad overwhelmingly powerful. She's also starting to turn heads. She is also still playing catch up. The idea is to keep her developing throughout 2016 with minimal show obligations, going back to keuring and maybe going out to the shows as an HC. 

Fahrenheit has begun work. He's everything I remembered when I first saw him, incredible rideable
personality and three good gaits.

He's gone from unbroke to lunging in a matter of a week without so much as a hitch.

I have a few thoughts for his schedule but until he's actively under tack I'm holding off anything. He's set up to be backed next weekend by my usual guy. It was supposed to be this weekend, but I was feeling not so prudent about starting a horse in 30mph winds and a 30 degree temperature drop.

His focus is on the next 90 or so days, and developing condition to do the work for 2016. 

Joining the herd in the next few weeks are two more mares in for winter training (and one for sale). I'm really pleased to see the quality grow.

Europe has also been on my mind lately.

Not just for the attacks in Paris and abroad but the big question on everyone's mind is if I'll go back for an extended stay.

The short answer is no.

With horses actively developing under tack, coming in to ride, the most I can get away with is two weeks. So I'm trying to condense four countries, all the shopping, looking at horses, awards, and business meetings within those 14 days.

Overall, I'm already looking forward to spring. 

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down

I go to yoga a few times per week.

We're not talking about the gentle yoga either, the type where you spent 20 minutes meditating and reflecting on life, then maybe get to a downward dog or twist while sipping tea du jour. 

I go to the Ashtanga type. A quick series flow that frowns on props in addition to making you groan for about an hour and makes you question your sanity of: 'why did I sign up for this torture?', and 'why can't I bend like that girl on the next mat'?

I started going last year at the suggestion of a client who actively goes herself (she's actually my accountabilabuddy for this). The teacher, probably upon seeing my hand-me-down mat from my mother, the barn shoes which I left outside, plus the non-lulu clothing with lumpy body with tight hips/shoulders in my first Ashtanga class probably thought I was a nutter who would quit after three sessions. 

I struggled through the primary series. I couldn't hold positions, I was out of alignment, couldn't get into peak poses, I needed blocks, bolsters, straps, mats, and a crane and/or forklift to keep it together for the first three months.

When I told the teacher what I do (I ride horses), alongside my goals (large scale stuff), she probably thought I was really off my rocker. 

It was my first time, in a long time, being a beginner, and being viewed as one- at anything. It sucked.   But unlike equestrian disciplines, there was no judging. Only understanding that you are going through a process and we all started somewhere. 

I survived that first class, and kept on coming back. I still leave my shoes outside and try to keep the lessons I learn on my mat in perspective as I teach and train. 

The surprising thing, among many things, I learned from yoga is the idea of deserving.

The idea that you deserve to be a better you is a very fleshed-out concept within the studio.

The idea of deserving something to me was not only taboo, but borderline selfish, rude and egotistical. Especially after being raised with the thought of give to others first, then yourself.  It was like getting the first slice of cake at a party or opening the door for someone else and getting to walk through it first. Deserving something was an earned luxury. It simply just didn't happen, and not to anyone under the age of 30.

Preparing to leave for three months, there's been a lot of fanfare surrounding the departure. Between teaching the last lessons, the breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinners, trying to get a calendar organized for when I get back, trying to keep healthy in sub zero temps, preparing and seeing horses off (then checking in when I can), there's the questions.

Everything from: What are you doing over there? to Is this a buying trip, are you going to buy something? to Why you?, Why are you even going? Can't you make your own opportunities here?, Why didn't [insert other professional's name] get this opportunity?, How did you get the connections to go? and my personal favorite: What does your significant other think about this?.

Aside from the obvious answers of no it's not an active buying trip, and frankly since we've gone through suffrage my other's opinion has very little bearing on my career path (he actually wanted to visit, but couldn't this time around).

But other questions are more complicated to respond to.

I can't answer why one person gets an opportunity or how each individual's connections develop on a broader scale. I'm sure there's a university study for that somewhere. However, what I can say, and have said, is that I've put in the equity to be able to do this, and while I don't know where or how I'll end up, I deserve the opportunity to expand.

Some people take it well, some people take it as an affront that I'm stepping out of their perception, or progressing past the point of who they are.

The point is this, we all deserve things, sometimes, you just have to have gumption enough to take them. 

Never change my pants Equissentials

People who know me best know that my clothes in general take a hard core beating day in and day
out. When I love an item, I really love it to death. It doesn't matter what it is, if it's good, I tend to take it to the limit.

I notoriously go through breeches.

In the beginning of my career, my mother had the forethought to buy things that last. This was true of anything we bought for the sport, it just had to last. My then coach, had introduced us to Equissentials, a unique clothing brand that makes breeches that utilizes doeskin leather and terrycloth. It was love at first sit. Forget your stick on spray, each pair locked me into position, they didn't grab or chafe and as someone who does have a figure, these were really flattering. They also offered free custom work on every pair, run regular specials and put their seconds on sale regularly for a fraction of the cost.

But where a lot of higher-end breeches failed at the end-life of their product, Equissentials succeeded.

They were definitely were into up cycling prior to it becoming on the rage in main stream culture. Instead of tossing away breeches, the company salvages them, putting old seats on new cloth (the leather is sewn on to instead of in to the cloth) to extend the lifetime use of the breech. For someone who can't justify dropping $200 plus on a new pair every time a hole appears, this is a definite blessing on my finances, plus makes my favorite hard-wearing pair last that much longer.

My oldest pair- my winter weight full seats- are now 12 plus years old and still going strong, my youngest pair is about six years old and were in regular daily rotation on four plus horses a day until recently.

In 2013, I was convinced by a good fashion friend to try a few different brands to supplement the slowly dying pairs that are still in rotation.

Minus a pair of Pikeurs, it was mostly a failure. At the end of the year there were holes in the nubuck/cloth. But everything from zippers, to buttons breaking down or falling off occurred. I couldn't interchange the cloth and leather, and what's worse it took awhile to feel secure in my seat again- the synthetic full seat material was very slippery. By the end, I had one standing pair left and it bore the brunt of my undying affections until it was cold enough to switch to my stand-by winter weight full seats.

That's when you go back to your first love, and what your mom taught you.

Flash forward to February 2014, I'm proud to announce sponsorship from Equissentials, the line of breeches that has been with me since I got on my first dressage horse and has outlasted many things since.

I'm proud to be apart of a company that not only stands behind the brand but is also innovative in the way they treat their products and people.