I’m still here.  I mean, not really, inasmuch as I’ve mostly adapted to short form social media and instead of chronicling the very-personal-to-me horse things, I do some content creation for other outlets and let my relationship with my horse be mine to own.  I’m forever awed by the friendships I made through blogging and the people I still trek across the country to see. There is so much value I think in taking the time to reflect and write and grow as a person and a trainer and let that growth inform our steps.  The TL; DR of life since I was here last is I did ..read more

I found myself off my usual path the other day. And 3 minutes from a cowboy tack store I'd never been to. I thought I'd pop in and see if they had the teal boots I so desperately need to complete ZB's western outfit game. i really love this picture sure could use teal boots They did not. Which is fine. But since I was already so far off the beaten path, it made sense to go just a little farther to see if the next tack store had said dream boots.  And.  They did not.  But what they did have was the purple version of my beloved teal reins.  You see these reins? Th ..read more

I don't have a lot of cool things to say right now. Some parts of life are very good and some parts are very stressful. The ZB parts are very good. My little lady is probably mumbleover16handsmumble, is like sitting on my favorite couch, and is constantly getting compliments from other boarders for her gung-ho attitude and general perfection.  when you hit the sunset light just right My current focus is trying to break in my western saddle properly. Kinda. I can't really claim to be super focused. Due to not-ZB things, I'm trying to keep hobby stress low right now so messing aro ..read more

When new people at the barn meet Zoebird, they tend to ask the same question: What does she do?  Really not sure why "wear cute outfits and have lots of fun" isn't considered a polite answer.  We have this stupidly cute pink outfit for dressage that we put together. LACE ACCENTS. Yes. I need a shirt to match I think.  it's ok i'd be jealous of me too Then we took another ride on the western train and are building this awesome teal outfit. I KNOW SHE NEEDS BOOTS Plus there's this I-need-to-decide-if-i'm-going-purple-or-teal bareback outfit can you even w ..read more

I love to do an orderly, month-by-month year end wrap up post highlighting our big adventures for each year.  Buuuuuuut this is probably the least orderly year I've ever had.  We kinda did everything. But also nothing.  I didn't take a single lesson, haul off site once, go trail riding in a substantive way, or make it to a clinic of any kind.  We did, however, cross off a bucket list item for me: canter my horse bareback through a field We also did the didn't-know-it-was-a-bucketlist-item: jump bareback in a halter We ticked off 2021 goals: lope i ..read more

this lady <3  A little over four years ago, I was in a bad place. I'd never met Roxie's mom, but we chatted online occasionally. She invited me up to trail ride her big, gorgeous Roxie horse.  (If you don't remember Roxiecorn the Horse Princess and her awesome mom, well, read this and follow their adventures here.) ROXIECORN <3 I remember cantering through the mountains, giggling like a kid on a pony. Safe. Happy.  I came home and made changes.  I lost a lot, but I gained far more.  horse pirates! I made plans to mee ..read more

aim high One of my goals from when I first brought ZB home was to canter bareback through the pasture with flowers braided in her mane.  Which probably doesn't sound that hard.  But.  To make that happen, these things had to come together: Let baby zb grow up with enough proprioception to move across uneven ground safely Develop her canter to something balanced enough to do on uneven ground safely Learn to feel confident and relaxed enough riding bareback that I don't just slide off Show up to the barn when the sun is up And maybe to most people, those things aren't ..read more

Photo edit by Beka When you have a Zoebird, there are certain things you can do that normal horses really can't.  One of those things is throw a little girl a unicorn birthday party.  (Note: none of the children are mine to share so I'm not showing faces/action shots, EVEN IF THEY HAVE REALLY CUTE SMILES.)  We started mid-week with a quick dress rehearsal.  Well no. It started with me saying "I'm throwing a unicorn birthday party" in front of a friend and she immediately volunteered to bring her sister and help.  Then we did a quick dress rehearsal. Turns ..read more

There are some animals that you look at.  There are others that look back at you.  Lewis was one of those. From the time he came home at 11 weeks old, he was a force to be reckoned with. Intelligent. In charge. Determined.  When men sat down on the couch, Lewis would walk up and stick his nose directly in their crotch. To see who backed up.  wasn't usually him When I wouldn't let him outside, he'd bark at an imaginary squirrel to rile up the other dogs, then casually stroll out the now-open door while they lost their minds on a wild goose chase through the back y ..read more

I'm re-teaching myself how to train right now, and it is so much fun.  I've spent a long time in the same rut. The english sport horse world is cool and challenging and diverse and allllllll my bad habits are formed around a couple decades of experience doing the same thing.  Meaning.  If say, I'm trying to bend around a turn and I'm not quite getting the response I want, I have this muscle memory that goes INDIRECT INSIDE REIN (terrible idea, 0/10 recommend) that makes the shape of the horse look the way I want it to look while the horse goes crooked and I continue my bad ..read more