So in my prep for POSSIBLY entering a schooling show at 1st, I reacquainted myself with the current tests. And remembered that many moons ago when I DIY'd my existing arena letters, I only did ones for a short court (because at the time I was happily bopping around intro/training on the first of several green horses I started from scratch, sigh). And I wanted them easy to move and store, because at the time I didn't have an arena at home, and then boarded somewhere where I couldn't leave a court set up all the time. FB searching for this photo tells me I made these in 2013 ? A few ye ..read more

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After an awesome (but tiring!) lesson Friday, I was super stoked to ride all weekend! And then..... It rained. A lot. Womp womp. We needed the rain, so I wasn't complaining, but I was a little disappointed to not be working on my lesson homework. And then Saturday afternoon the rain briefly cleared!  #ROOTD on point yo Love these new color block tights from Dover - I ordered them while I was in FL, and then the NEXT DAY they went on sale even cheaper, so I emailed Dover and they refunded me the difference. Point to Dover!  DH is helping me desensitize Ruby b ..read more

 ....it is not a brilliant plan to schedule a lesson the morning after you get back from a weeklong vacation where not only did you not ride at all, but also you did basically ZERO physical activity. Oh and your horse had a week off and spent it stuffing her face in a round bale the whole time. Yeah. I make poor life choices, haha. However, there's a local schooling show at the end of the month I'm considering sending off an entry for, and I didn't want to let the weekend pass without scheduling a lesson -- and new trainer was going to be gone at a clinic Saturday/Sunday, so a Friday less ..read more

Blogger put vacation pictures in backwards, whatever ? Manatee! (Worst photo ever I know) 15" keeper trout that he ate for dinner that evening Blue crab Teamwork makes the dream work.  More crabbing St. Petersburg beach Exploring Florida rums Clearwater pier ..read more

I got up the day after the lesson determined to work on the canter departs some more (and just overall work on schooling at home without her losing her marbles and turning in to freight train Ruby), and was successful at both! I easily replicated all of the feelings I was getting in the lesson (which is sometimes a struggle), and all of the departs were great! Because she was so good I didn't ride long, and quit on a high note. Then we spent the rest of the day on the lake, since it looked like the last weekend of summer temps for our area (well, it's supposed to get hot again this weekend but ..read more

I did really good writing about the lesson two weekends ago while it was fresh in my brain, but once I let a day or two elapse things get fuzzy, sigh. I really did want to write about the one last weekend as soon as I got home home, but we ended up having to go pick up our last 100 bales of hay and that wiped me out.   Ruby's blue steel I was trying to half-ass set her up for a conformation shot and she decided to poop instead lol. So I gave up ?‍♀️ DH didn't come with me (he was driving his department's float in our state's bicentennial parade), so again, no medi ..read more

 My friends are weirdos ..read more

Sunday was a very not-horsey river day, as is the pattern when it's hot and I spend Saturday doing horse things :) balance! But of interest to note, I was doomscrolling FB on the sandbar when I saw a post from a rider at the new barn I'm taking lessons at posting about a Dressage Foundation grant she received for essentially a "dressage boot camp", allowing her a concentrated time period to work with her trainer without the distractions of work and home life (lol sounds great, RIGHT?!). I'm familiar with TDF grants after helping my GMO get one a few years back for a Centered Riding clinic (and ..read more

Last Saturday, I had another lesson -- I am totally digging the weekly eyes on me and homework, and I hope I can keep it up throughout at least some of the winter! Obviously a lot will be at the mercy of the weather, but I have high hopes. DH couldn't come with me, he needed to return the trailer we had borrowed the night before to do hay, and also our grass was a bit out of control. I don't mind hauling there solo, but it is nice to have a captive audience to take photos, lol. Lucky for me, some of the super nice ladies I met at the show a few weeks back were there, and one of them took video ..read more