OTTB Charm

Approximately a year and a half ago, I broke my pelvis. I was at a horse show, riding a horse for a local lady. There were a lot of various mistakes made by several parties (myself included) and long story short, it ended up with the horse falling down at a warmup fence. She took the pole down and all would have been fine if she was more experienced, but she was too green. She lost her footing, I jumped off, and she ended up crashing down on top of me with her left shoulder on my left hip. After being carted off in an ambulance, getting x-rays, and a whole lot of waiting, I found out I had broken my pelvis in two places. Luckily the breaks were fairly stable so I didn't need a full body cast or surgery, but it still meant I couldn't ride for a while. The fear, anger and depression that followed consumed me almost entirely. Even when I could walk and ride again, I was depressed and frustrated that I just couldn't ride the same - and maybe I never would. I was angry about t...

After having such a fabulous lesson last weekend, I was quick to set up another one for this weekend. True to form, Pancho and Charmer loaded up like champs. The drive over was quiet and calm, and everyone unloaded quietly and happily when we arrived. After tacking up, I had to make the decision of whether I lunge or just get on and see what happens. Due to a busy schedule this week, I hadn't been able to ride since our last lesson, so it was probably the smart decision to lunge. Which of course means that I did not make the smart decision and ended up just getting on. There was a lesson going on before ours, so we went onto one side of the arena to work on our warmup. Something just seemed to be in the air, because both of the other horses in the ring were definitely excited and looking around, and Trainer S said that someone had fallen off earlier that day (because ghosts in the field next to the arena). Pancho and Charmer were both a little up, and so Jayne and I...

On my "Facebook Memories", it showed that, two years ago today, I bought Pancho. I can hardly believe it has been two years. It both feels like it was yesterday, but also like it was an eternity ago. At the time when I was offered to buy Pancho, I had been exercise riding him for about two and a half months, and had fallen in love with him. I loved his crooked blaze, and cheek "dimples", even his little white sock and stripey hoof. I loved his funny quirks, like always having to show off his teeth, needing a routine (down to the point of even being tied in the same spot), preferring to do some canter work before real trot work, and  always  taking the long spot. I fell in love with everything about Pancho. So I jumped at the opportunity when he was offered to me. So on January 4th, 2015, I bought my very first horse. Pancho was a dream come true for me. In his younger days, he had been a Prelim event horse, and regularly competitive in 3'6" show jump...

A few weeks ago, I sat down and analyzed my goals for Charmer and I, and concluded with twelve goals for us for this upcoming year. These goals will be on their very own page for the entirety of the year, but I figured, as my first post of 2017, I might as well make a post about what I want our upcoming year to look like. 1.    Start being competitive (bringing home ribbons) at the 2'3" and 2'6" levels locally because I want a picture like this with Charmer The point of this goal is mostly for me to really take 2'3" and 2'6" classes seriously this year. I used to be serious/competitive at that height, and I would like to get that way again, and Charmer is the kind of horse that can make those heights look and feel completely insignificant.  2. Begin to play in the 2'9" and 3' classes locally I would love to get some killer pictures of just one or two rounds at 2'9"+ this year with Charmer. Even if I honestly ju...

So many things to be grateful for. Its hard to even know where to begin. Last year, the biggest thing I was thankful for was walking, being alive, and being back on a horse. After not being able to walk for a while and the knowledge that had one little thing been different in my accident, I wouldn't be alive right now, the little things that you take for granted start becoming the big things very quickly. The first day I was back on a horse was one of the best days of my life. I cried at how happy I was. I was incredibly thankful for the best baby horse around and the ability of my body to heal itself so I could be riding again. But aside from that, I was so so thankful for all of the little things in my life, like walking and breathing. This year with the memory of not being able to walk being a little more in the back of my mind, I am able to broaden a bit of the things I am thankful for: My Family My family is incredibly supportive of what I do and they have been f...