OTTB Charm

I'm definitely still in a bit of a weird headspace, and obviously still not getting back to real consistency on the blog just yet, but hey, some posts are better than none, right? I'm not exaggerating when I say this canter is an actual dream to ride. All 3 ponies got chiropractic work from my vet a week and a half ago, and she confirmed a fear for me regarding Banner - his lovely Devoucoux saddle doesn't fit. Awesome. Its hitting his scapula, and even with quite a few weeks out of the saddle recently, he still had a lot of residual soreness along his scapula. Luckily I haven't been able to ride 3 ponies lately anyways, so he was on the backburner regardless so it doesn't change much in our immediate plans, but its never fun to know you have to sell a saddle/change plans.  My CWD on V (usually using a half pad, but was testing the fit without) I've got a few different ideas on what I plan to do with selling his current saddle/what I plan to replace it with. I...

It was really cool to see on my last post that some people do in fact still tune into this blog, despite my extra long hiatus. I did not really intend to take a 3 week break following that post as well, but here we are. Unfortunately the reason for this break in schedule was that my mom passed away on the morning of August 17th, just a few days after I made that "I'm back" post. Thankfully, she passed very peacefully and my dad and I were able to be with her.  The last few weeks have been filled with a lot of preparation for her memorial service (tomorrow) and figuring out what my new normal looks like. It is a strange shift of life when you are caring for someone on a daily basis to no longer having them in your life anymore. It can be hard to remember how to do the things you love, and we got into a routine where I basically needed 7-10 business days to try and make plans (although as an introvert, I still naturally prefer 3-5 business days to prepare for plans haha) bu...

I'm not sure many people followed this blog before, and I'm sure after a year+ hiatus, there is almost no one who will be reading it now. But I've always enjoyed keeping up on Instagram or blogging as my own personal diary to look back on over time anyways, and I think now is a good time to get back into it. That being said, who knows if I'll be able to keep up on it this time, but I really hope I do. Things are different in almost every possible way since I last wrote on this blog.  In early 2020, Banner was still my main mount, Charmer was just barely coming back into work, and covid was just beginning. Early that year, I lost my long time trainer and good friend when she moved back home to Oregon. I still am lucky enough to see her intermittently since then, but seeing her once every few months is definitely vastly different than weekly lessons.  An early XC school in 2021 with Charmer (Training Rolltop) I'm a little mad at myself for not blogging the last half o...

On top of the incredible turmoil of the world in general right now, I am heartbroken to learn that my trainer is moving away at the end of the month. She is moving back to her hometown to be closer to her family, as her young son grows up. And I absolutely understand her reasoning and it makes sense, but I am quite saddened by the news. Photos are from the last lesson I had with Trainer C I've had a relationship with her as a Trainer for nearly 3 years now, and she has inside knowledge of Banner (as she rode him weekly for months before I owned him). She has always been patient and kind with Charmer as well, and keeps a good sense of humor about his antics. Lately, Banner has really been kind of a pill and I was definitely planning to lean heavily on Trainer C to try to get us back to "normal", but now this has rocked my world just a bit. There's another trainer at the barn that I train at that I am also familiar with & who I love, but she is more expensi...

What a cool BlogHop idea from May As Well Event ! I've really enjoyed reading through everyone's blogs of this particular subject because it's so cool to see how much has changed in 10 years for everyone! 2010 I'd only been riding for about 3 years by this time. I was absolutely loving it, even though I pretty much only rode once a week in my lessons, or over the summer I would hitch rides out the barn as often as I could. I was the definition of a barn rat, climbing on anything they'd let me, or working all day for a 10 minute trail ride! The pony in the photo, Steel, taught me to have a sticky seat because he was a dirty stopper, and especially hated oxers. Despite the fact he was a bit of a brat, I loved him to death & appreciate all the lessons he taught me when I was young. 2011 2011 brought the coolest little pony into my life. He was a lesson horse that had carried many, many people through their C-3 Pony Club Ratings, first events, and just a...

Yesterday, I said goodbye to Wonder. I haven't had enough time for 3 horses, and something had to give. I had been toying with the idea of selling him for a little while, but hadn't really fully committed. I lightly marketed him on ISO Facebook posts, but didn't really expect much, if anything, to come out of it. Luckily, I was wrong! The perfect home just happened to come up within a week of me beginning to market him. My all-time favorite photo with him A family reached out to me, interested in him for their 15yo daughter. She loves thoroughbreds, but their current horse is needing to be retired. She can get anxious over fences, so she needs a horse that doesn't feed off of her anxiety. I was happy to have them out to see Wonder, but I really wasn't sure how he would be with someone that young, and with some anxiety when jumping. It turns out that he is a perfect  match for her. He is steady and quiet in all the ways she needs him to be, but he listens and ...