Speaking of Rico, he's doing great! That's the update. He's doing wonderfully on TC's fitness plan, which is basically just that Rico follows TC around and TC moves around a TON. I need to grab updated photos of him, his topline looks really good, his legs are cool and tight, and he doesn't have the ventral edema he used to have. Thank you, TC! I love their relationship so much, Rico is very attached to TC and apparently has looked for him when TC is off the property for shows or clinics. TC loves Rico but in a little brother type way, where he wants to harass him a bit. But TC is honestly re ..read more

I gave the pony the winter off, which TC also had off, because of the crazy weather. In the spring when I started bringing TC back, my work schedule was a bit much to have two horses going. Sunny's feet had also taken a turn for the worse and I expressed that I wanted to yank his shoes and get him more comfortable over the course of a couple of trimming cycles. I didn't know if this was just due to the winter or something else, but he's looking WAY better.  The many different things I've seen behind these fluffy yellow ears And so with that and work calming down a bit, I'm star ..read more

Way back in March 2005, Rico and I did our first ever show together and I have found video of it! This is a bit of the 2003 Training Level Test 3 test.  It was a cool test, you came up centerline, turned left, and then the video picks up from there - you turned left at E, then at X did a figure 8. Then you picked up canter in the corner, rode a circle at A, then rode a half circle and trotted after crossing centerline at E. I assume after that there was some walk work and then cantering the other way. I don't think you did all that much more trotting.  Anyway, enjoy! While resting ..read more

I've been introducing TC to mounted archery and it's been great! I mean, I expected nothing less, but he was actually kind of reactive to the thwap of the arrow hitting the target at first. Luckily for him, I rarely hit it.  I started with a couple of ground work sessions where I just had TC in hand and clicked after every arrow I shot. I also rode around with the arrows and did things like shuffling them around, running them all over his body, and throwing them off of his back. But I hadn't yet shot off of him.  Over the weekend, I got my field target out and decided to try it out ..read more

Now that I'm coming up on a year and a half of working in tech in the heart of Silicon Valley, I figured I'd post a day in the life. Maybe it'd be interesting if you're not from around here? Growing up here, I got used to a lot of what Silicon Valley had to offer, but I was never actually inside one of those big tech companies. I was mostly pummeled by the impact of those companies on the surrounding area: the insane traffic, the unattainable housing prices, and logos on the sides of buildings that people outside the area only see on their computers.  It was all still foreign for me pe ..read more

May has turned into quite the month for TC and I. The first two weekends of the month were spent doing obstacles and then this third weekend was working equitation! He's going to be disappointed when this coming weekend is a dressage clinic (biomechanics for me because I am ~crooked~ as per usual).  I was wondering if TC was going to be excited about another outing or annoyed about it. He nickered at me when I went to get him and happily loaded into the trailer, so that was good! We used to haul out all the time for trail rides and clinics and lessons at our old barn. When he moved to th ..read more

I decided to write another post about Rico! All of these I think I've shared on the blog before, but they're still fun  Very early 2000s moment: my mom accidentally turning the camera to sepia tone LOL Rico the Combined Driving Horse I bought Rico in 2005 when he was just turning 9 years old. He'd been at the dressage barn for training/sale for a couple of months and had probably 60 days of actual dressage training on him. Before that, he *was* ridden, but not as his primary career, because he was a Combined Driving horse!  His previous owners imported him from Germany a ..read more

TC and I took it easy on Sunday and I just brushed him and did some light stretching/bodywork for him out in his pasture. Then on Monday, I decided to take him on an easy trail ride to just get a leg stretcher in.  He handled the hauling well, but he was definitely worn out and a little body sore in weird places. Poor guy! It was 6.5 hours of hauling total that day with not a huge amount of time between the drive up (3 hours) and the drive back (3.5 hours). I decided that less time in between was better than hauling in 100 degree heat, and I'm glad I did it, even if it was a lot of hauli ..read more

TC takes a few trail rides at home in the first part of the year to remember that trail riding is about relaxing and taking in nature, not snatching at grass and spooking at nature. And finally we have hit our stride where I can go out on the trails bareback and be on a loose rein the entire time.  Already, the hills are turning brown from the lack of rain this spring. Oh well, it's still beautiful!  Looking down on the ranch We call this the "bowl"  TC says "I can see my house from here" We finally got the trails mowed so that TC can't s ..read more

This last weekend, TC and I competed in our very first ETS!  ETS stands for Equine Trail Sports and it's basically a way more formal version of the ranch competitions we did last year that TC loved so much.  We ended up just going up for the in hand class on Saturday, it was super hot and staying overnight ended up being a bit too much to deal with given how my work schedule has been. But it was super worth a long day trip (and TC and I have recovered from it)!  Hanging with friends! Peep Peony's adorable baby horse Goose on the end Since I assume a lot of people wh ..read more