Sending off 2014 and Not Glancing Back

Well, what a year this has been.  I don't even know where to start.  So many changes, some that I thought would be bad but turned out good, some that have been good from the beginning.  I can honestly say that this has been the best year of my life this far, and I cannot wait to see what the next year has in store for me.

I began the year in a pretty low place.  For those who are close to me know that I was quite depressed at the beginning of the year.  I was living in St. Louis and was incredibly unhappy, with my job, my relationship, where I was in my life, and with myself. So I quickly made the decision that led to some major changes.  I quit my job, moved back home, and ultimately it ended the relationship that I was in.  I made the decision to loose the weight I had gained in the last couple of years, and it led to a much more disciplined and healthy lifestyle.

When my relationship ended I was fairly crushed.  This was over 2 years of my life spent with a guy who I actually thought I would spend the rest of my life with.  I believed that he was in love with me and everything would work out.  Life has a way of working out though, and with every day that passed after our parting I began to see how unhappy I was with the relationship as well as other elements of my life.  I learned to love myself again and to be completely satisfied with standing on my own two feet.  I have a wonderful set of friends who have stood behind me and helped me to move forward with my life, and thankfully supported the silly decisions I have made in the months following! Haha

 



Goose and I had a wonderful year.  We completed the Training level 3 day, jumped several clear show jumping rounds, and successfully moved up to the Preliminary level.  We are qualified for the CIC* and are hopefully headed to Chatt Hills in May to contest the 1* there in preparation of the CCI* in the fall.  We picked up a partial sponsorship from the wonderful company, Voltaire Design, and our new custom dressage saddle is on the way. We finished off the year with 3 clear rounds and 3 blues at a local jumper show, giving us both a lot of confidence heading into the off season.  I cannot wait for the spring season to begin because he is feeling stronger than ever and is ready to get out and gallop at some big jumps!

 

I had a wonderful year with the young horses as well with Louis and Cullen both contesting their first event at Dunnabeck horse trials. Both had done well at jumper shows this summer and stepped up to the plate at the event.  It was the first time I had tried 3 horses at an event, and it ran smoothly thanks to some wonderful help.

 

2014 also brought me into the world of Tinder and actually going on dates.  I have some wonderful stories that have been shared, made some good realizations with what I do and do not want in a boyfriend, and made some other realizations about myself.  I talked to a nudist who really creeped me out, several boys who apparently failed 8th grade English, went on a date with a boy that I could not get away from fast enough, and most recently become acquainted with a real life Christian Grey (hey hey hey).  Even if they have all ended without a second date, an ignored text, or me blocking a number I have made some great memories and had some wonderful stories to tell.  I am not in any hurry, as the last one left a bit of a hole in my life, but I am stronger because of these experiences.

 

2014 brought me back to school with lots of awards, recognition, and opportunities.  I will be finished before the end of 2015, which is very exciting.  It brought new friends into my life, made old friends stronger, and got rid of others.  I was able to begin writing for Eventing Nation, which is helping me reach my long term goal.  I have set some pretty high goals for 2015, but I am confident that I am going to do the best I can to reach each and every one of them.  We can either grow from each experience we are presented with, or we can let it bring us down.  I am choosing to remain positive and know that life is like a roller coaster, you have to have to take the highs with the lows.  So thank you all for being a part of this crazy ride!

 

Have a safe night tonight everyone!

Happy New Year!

 

Thanksgiving and some other quick muising

Wow- it has been a long time since I have sat down and written a blog post, I feel like it has been years.

Since my last post quite a bit has happened, nothing too exciting other than work drama, mostly just riding and lots of school work.  I went to a bachelorette party- that was quite fun.  But nothing date-wise, other than getting semi-stood up for a coffee date, which led to me going to dinner and drinking a pitcher of beer with one of my girl friends.  So unfortunately no fun stories there, maybe next time!

Today is an interesting day for me.  Obviously it is Thanksgiving, so I am not in school, nor am I working.  This year is very different for me though.  Usually we go fox hunting on Thanksgiving, as it is considered a high holy hunting day.  (Un)luckily for those of us who hunt with Bridlespur though, it is rifle/shotgun season in Missouri, so holy or not we stay home.

As weird as it is for me to not have gotten up at o'dark-thirty this morning to load the horses, I'm totally OK with that, because we will be right back at it Saturday morning to go hunt as well.  I just have to take a moment to say how THANKFUL I am that my mom and I made the decision to move to Bridlespur.  I could not have asked for a more professional, fun hunt to be a part of now.  Every time we go out everyone is smiling, the hounds work well, everyone is turned out well, the runs are great, the country is well-maintained, and we just have fun.  I was to a point where I thought my desire to hunt had burned out, but now I want to go again and I have having such a wonderful time.

It is very refreshing for me to be around a group of people who take just as much pride in their appearance and their turnout as I am.  There is not a lot you can control in this world- especially being around horses- but you can control that your horse has its mane pulled, whiskers clipped, and that it is free of poop-stains.  I have always held my head high when my horses get off of the trailer, and now I feel like I am a part of a big, lovely group who does the same.  So here I am saying "Thank you" to all of the wonderful horsemen and women of this hunt!

We have also picked up 2 new dogs since my last post.  Max and Mabel are two boxer siblings who were up at the restaurant I was working at.  When the weather dropped down to below 20* at night and no one was going to be there to take care of them, my mom and I loaded them up in the car and brought them home.  They have since worked their ways into our hearts and are here to stay.  I am very thankful that we are in a position where we can take animals in need into our homes and give them the life they deserve, especially for these two who are the coolest and sweetest dogs.  They have fit right into our crazy, dysfunctional farm life.

As always I am thankful for my wonderful friends and family.  I have been able to do a lot of really cool things with my life, and 90% of them would not be possible without this awesome support team that I have standing with, in front, and behind me.  They are amazing.

I am thankful for my health, for all of the small things that I overlook in my day-to-day life, and for my good spirits.  I am thankful that I have learned to let-go and forgive in this last year, and that I have learned to love myself and be happy within my own life.  I have a wonderful string of happy and healthy horses who come running to the gate and nicker when I walk in the barn.  They all give me 100% every day, and not a lot of people can say that.  I am thankful that I made the decision to go back to school, and for all of the opportunities that have presented themselves to me and will continue to open up and I continue forward.

I am thankful for so many things that I could continue on for days.  At this moment I am very thankful that I can begin Christmas shopping for the great people in my life, and that I will get to spend today with family and friends.  I pray for those who are not this fortunate, and I especially pray for my home-town of St. Louis that is fighting to stay afloat right now.  I pray for Michael Brown's family, who is spending this holiday for the first time without their son, and I pray for Officer Wilson and his friends/family who are under such scrutiny from the media and community.  I am thinking of my wonderful friend, Kelty, who is spending her first Thanksgiving away from home in Virginia, and we miss her a bunch, along with her four-legged kiddos.

I am hopping off of here so I can check on my ponies, who I am sure are sleeping on this overcast, cold day, and then I am settling in to watch some football.  I never thought I would say this, but I am cheering for the bears today, ONLY so that they beat Detroit and give us some breathing room at the top of the NFC North- GO PACK GO!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and remember to be thankful every day, and for every day spent on this earth.

Turning Over the Reins

My little red horse that could.  Sunny was never supposed to do anything other than sit in a field for the remainder of his life, and he turned out to be a powerhouse Ferrari who tried his heart out for me.  After his injury I made the decision to hand the reins off to someone who would enjoy him, and learn from him at the lower levels, and it has proved to be a struggle for me!

I first met the 16hh gelding when I went to look at a couple of other big bay thoroughbreds.  I had owned the mare he was out of, and we had lost her the winter before due to unknown causes.  I had always owned bay horses (minus the evil white pony) and was looking to stay with those handsome features I was comfortable with.  Sunny was there, just back from his first stint at the track, and was rotten as ever.  He would double barrel the stall wall behind him, pin his ears, and rake his teeth down the wall if I was looking at either of the horses I was to try instead of him.  At one point in time he even reached into the aisle and grabbed the back of my coat as if to say "HEY!  Look at me!"

Cathy wanted to keep racing him, so I purchased the other two geldings and told her to keep me in mind when he was finished.  Little did I know that fate would bring us back together much sooner than anticipated.  Sunny chipped his knee shortly after than and came back to rehab at Cathy's farm.  While they thought he would run again, unfortunately he chipped the knee again while in turnout, most likely from a friendly fire incident.  The vets said he would never do anything again and to find him a retirement home asap.  It had been a horrific year for hay, and since we had the means to keep him on stall rest and then he could live in the field.

Stall rest lasted all of two days before he began trying to tear the barn down.  We ended up putting him in turnout four months early per the vets orders, and he stayed quiet and happy.  After about two years he was galloping around one day, so I began riding him.  He went to his first event and was a professional, so I immediately thought of selling him. Sunny turned into a jack of all trades then, doing a lot of fox hunting, some hunter/jumper shows, a little team roping, etc.  I took him to his first novice the next spring where he won the flat, jumped double clear in the show jumping, and I missed the 3rd fence from home on the cross country- denying him the win.  Whoops.  Sunny continued to put up with my mistakes for three more seasons of work.

He went with me to college, dealt with me while I cried when Bubba died freshmen year, and then subjected himself to my decision to sell him once again.  I took the crazy little horse down to Sam's with me and told her he was for sale, to which she promptly replied that I was crazy.  I continued to stay and work for her for 6/7 months, learning a lot about myself and him.  He turned out to be even more quirky than I originally thought, and despite the pain we finally figured out was in his knee he kept on jumping for me.  I graduated from Sam to Jan Byyny, and he went right along with me.  We hit a snag in our consistency, but became masters on the flat and I finally started to have some success in the show jumping.

Sunny and I moved home, back under the watchful eye of Jill, and I began to dream of running the Intermediate.  We worked hard, knowing that I would not have the opportunity to bridge the gap with a CIC* or CCI*.  We dove headfirst into a hell of a first run, and came out stronger, and with more trust in each other than I ever imagined was possible.

I cried harder than I ever thought was possible after we knew he was hurt at Richland.  I was afraid that he would never be ridden again.  Yet he continued to behave in rehab, and the tendon came back stronger than ever.

Long story short- Sunny has now ended up in the wonderful hands on Geri, an adult amateur who had a great horse that went lame and she was in the market.  I didn't want, and never will again, to sell Sunny- so I suggested that she ride him for awhile until she found something that she wanted to purchase.  Come to find out they get along fabulously and it has worked out very well.

I found out that it is hard for me to not see him every day.  I have a  control issue, and I want to know what is going on with him all the time.  It is also difficult for me because he is 3 hours away, not just thirty minutes.  But when I do see him, his ears are pricked, Geri is smiling, and they look fantastic.  I could not be happier for the two of them.

This past weekend Geri and Sunny took on their first recognized event and finished on their dressage score for a 3rd place!  They also won the adult team challenge for the beginner novice level with their team, and they were the lowest score on the team!  My heart is still bursting with pride at how far they have come in the last few months, and I would have given just about anything to have been there.  I assume this is how parents feel when their children grow up and leave for college.  I want to continue controlling what is going on with him, but Geri is making all of the correct choices, and it is working out in their favor.

I am doing my best to let them do their thing, and only be neurotic about certain things.  I am already waiting for the 2015 season because I want to be able to attend events that they are at.  I could not have hand picked a better home for Sunny to be in right now, and knowing that when he says he is finished that he comes home to me is just as good.  Keep kicking on Geri! And best of luck with the red monster!!!

Now to figure out how to get to StL faster!

All Hope is Lost (until my friends come to the rescue!)

Once again I decided to venture into the wonderful world of Tinder, because I sit in class on Tuesdays for 1 hour listening to some woman who hardly speaks English rant over personal nutrition, tell us how fat we all are, when she herself isn't the ideal of health.

So I sit there and flip through this wonderful little application after I exhaust my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (can you tell that I'm bored yet?)

I have come across two guys who seemed to be decent and so we began chatting.  This is where everything went wrong- no nudists this time, I promise!

The first one seemed ok- good job working for the state, likes to hunt, grill out, and be outside.  Works hard, and apparently didn't finish middle school.  It quickly became apparent that he did not know the difference between two, to, and too; your and you're; etc.  The grammatical errors I can sometimes overlook since I understand that not everyone writes correctly in text messages, but the glaringly obvious spelling errors and misused words instantly got to me.

Then, bless this poor kids heart, he really let me see that he has no common sense.  First he called Olive Garden authentic food.  I don't know about the rest of you, but when the cooks are of Hispanic descent, I don't consider what they are fixing authentic Italian!  After pointing that out to him he said about how good their breadsticks are (which I can agree, as I'm sure can anyone who has eaten at an OG).  I made the comment in passing that they are laced with crack- hence why they are addictive- and it went WAYYYYY over his head.  I'm talking into outer space over his head.  Que palm to face.  I've talked to some very unintelligent people in my lifetime, but I have yet to find someone who really believes that there are drugs in Olive Garden's breadsticks.

Bless.

If only this ended there- but I have a hard time being mean to stupid people, so I continued talking to him in hopes that it was just a bad day.  The next morning he sent me a text that said he was multitasking- driving, eating breakfast, drinking coffee, and texting.  I replied that it wasn't a good tactic for survival and this is the response I got:

"well you half to be smarter than the average bear"

........................................................ Fail.

Rule #1 of calling yourself smarter than anything- use the correct words.  Did you even attend grade school?  Last time I checked half did not have anything to do with requirements, demands, or anything other than measurement.  Maybe I have been out of grade school for too long, someone please help me out here.

Needless to say after this comment and then having to stick to a coffee date, because heaven forbid we meet at a bar and watch part of a sporting event so there is something to talk about other than ducks..... (and I thought I was bad when it came to talking about horses).... I politely declined a second date- did I mention he thought a good place to get coffee was a Huddle House?- I ran off to have a wonderful night out with my barn girls.

Let me just tell you that I have the best friends in the entire world.  We were all a full hour late to see this band, because we were in the barn and smelt like horses and sweat, and the band didn't even begin until 10:30.  We all had to be back up around 6 the next morning, and we proceeded to stay until after close (that's what happens when you know the band!), and have a wonderful time.  These girls will pull out all of the stops and go to the mat for me, each other, and I for them.  They are the sisters I never had, and I could not be more thankful for them (I know I talk about this a lot in my blog- but they really deserve a ton of credit!)

I don't think I have ever gone out with this group and not had a smile on my face the entire time.  Not to mention they are all absolutely beautiful and it makes me feel awesome to be out with them.  Andrew is pretty cool too- and he does a great job of putting up with our wild, crazy selves.  They all inspire me to continue working my butt off for the things I want, and I always have someone to go to when things are rough- not to mention someone to cheer on the Cards with!! WOOOOO POST SEASON BASEBALL TONIGHT!!!

Needless to say I gave a presentation at class on about 2 hours of sleep, and then came home and spent a ton of time in the barn last night, and I wouldn't have changed it for the world.  Horses are on the trailer to Nashville today, someone is coming to try Louis today, and finally the rain stopped- so it is a good Saturday so far!  Fingers cross for good things for me, please!

Oh- and on the second boy.  Well he continues to tell me that "I need a man in my life"- well whoops you definitely screwed up there buddy.  Not only was I raised by my mother, who definitely did not need a man in her life and lives a pretty bad-ass one, but I went to an all female school where they drilled it into my head that I was fine on my own, and I have lived my entire life happier by myself than with a man who thinks like you (you all are welcome to go check my terrible date post again if you need a reminder of how I respond to gender assigning comments haha).  People like you are the reason we are still fighting the feminist war- and I've spend too much time in sociology classes this semester- thank you Amanda....- and I am back off of my soapbox.

Off to ride ponies! Then watch the game tonight- have a good weekend everyone!!!!

Oh and check out the page for my farm on Facebook- Lone Creek Ranch (I had to set up a professional page for school!)- please!

Forgive me for my moments of Weakness

Today started off with someone banging on my door a little after 6am, yelling that I had horses out on the road.  After running to put on proper clothing, and seeing that the majority of my horses were visible in my field, I returned to the door and insisted that they did not belong to me.  After a few minutes of arguing with the woman, and directing her to the correct owner, I still went up to verify that I did not need to bring horses home (pretty easy considering one was a paint and I do not own any paint horses).

This then led me up to the barn for some early morning stall cleaning, bucket filling, and jamming out to old music.  My wonderful friend Deb sent me a pretty badass playlist on Spotify (if anyone wants it just follow me and I'll forward it to you!) full of songs that we all love and sing at the top of our lungs when they come on the radio.  Most of them are from the 90's, with some older and a few from more recent years.  Long story short, I'm in the barn before I've had any coffee, running on little to no sleep, and Cher's "Life after Love" comes on.

I have probably not heard this song in years, and I just had to chuckle to myself.  It is no secret that I am single, and that I was fairly crushed by my breakup this past spring.  Even though I had some fabulous girlfriends, and half a brain in my head, that told me while I had very strong feelings for Oran I know it is best that we parted ways (huge shoutout to all of my wonderful friends who helped me!)  Come on though- let's be honest here- and it still fucking hurt.  My heart was pretty much crushed, especially when I remembered that I live an amazing life and have a lot going for me, while he has kind of fizzled out and sputtered to a stall.  Like Cher pointed out though, "you're gonna be the lonely one" (meaning him), made me feel a bit better.

The funny thing about dating in our generation is this lovely thing we call social media.  When Oran and I first broke up I deleted him as a friend on Facebook, but still had his number in my phone, and we could still message on Facebook.  I could still see everything on his profile, and he on mine.  We ended up in that whole "we can be friends on Facebook" stage, where he liked all of my stuff, and we made passive-aggressive comments on each other's posts.  It finally clicked that I need to cut all strings (haha take your own advice woman!) and I blocked him on Facebook, deleted his number out of my phone, and ta-da I felt like a million bucks.

Now, when I got a new phone and had all of my data restored I ended up with his number back in my phone.  And long story short I had to send him a text laughing about how our text message thread was now back in my phone and from when we were together.  Fine?  I guess, as long as the texting was kept to a minimum and there was no talk of seeing each other.  This has been fine, we talk a little bit of shit about football- GO PACK GO!- and I actually had a technology crisis about a week ago that he helped me fix without me feeling like a dumbass.  We don't talk about anything serious, or even ask how the other person is doing.  Yet, I know it is still wrong.  I know that this is just keeping the connection alive, even if it is miniscule.

I then crossed a line yesterday, and I wish I could take it back, because it sparked feelings I should not be having.  I am still blocked from his Facebook page, he is still blocked from mine, but he has not blocked my mom from his page.  I had to sign into her page yesterday to get an address for her, and while I was on there thought it would be harmless to check out his page.  I was immediately irritated at some of the posts on his wall, and also smiled because I noticed he has put on weight and still has a nasty beard.  I didn't stay on there long, but it was just long enough for me to realized that I jacked up, and need to cut all ties again.  Hence, his number is not blocked back out of my phone.

Dating in our generation is trashed by the social media.  He lives 4.5 hours away from me now, there is no chance that we are running into each other until maybe at a mutual friend's wedding in January.  I shouldn't even be thinking about that though- I should be focusing on myself and not worried that I will see him then.  I shouldn't care.  But because we can still have this connection through the internet, I remember that he exists.  One of my other ex's got married a couple of weekends ago, and I found myself going through the pictures that his mom shared on Facebook, and then clicking on his page to see if there were some more.  This is WRONG!!  Do all of you hear me?  It does not matter that he and I have been separated for almost 7 years, the fact that I still went and looked shows that I have not 110% let go.  Would I ever get back together with him? Hell to the mother-effing no!  But had it not been for social media I would probably have never known he was getting married, hence I wouldn't have a care in the world about it.

A good friend of mine told me the other day that she went and looked for her ex on Facebook, despite them being separated for over a year.  She laughed at the fact that he didn't have a job, was 3x the size he had been when they were together, etc. etc.  It is still wrong though!  We shouldn't be able to do this!  I wish that when we broke up with someone there was an option on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. that allowed you to click "I cannot search for this person, because I am better off without them, and I don't give a damn!"  Then, when we began to type their name into a search bar a message popped up and said "Hey! You're fabulous and he/she is gone, go do something for yourself!"

I cannot stop myself from thinking about him when things come up that we did together, or when I see something that reminds me of him.  But I should be able to just believe that he is happy (or miserable, whichever you want to think about your ex!) and not have to go looking for proof or evidence of the opposite every time I am bored.  Maybe this is a part of the reason I am still single 6 months after ending the relationship?  Because I cannot let go of these little lingering curiosities?  Maybe it is because I am hardly busy enough to sleep, let alone look for someone.  Who knows.  I know that I will find someone eventually, even if it is for a short period of time and he breaks my heart as well.  I am, however, finished with the searching through Facebook.  I am making a promise to myself to be stronger, and maybe when I want to search for him I will instead get away from the computer and reward myself with a piece of chocolate, or a shot of tequila?, either one sounds better than seeing what he is up to!

We got this girls!  And when this life continues to make things difficult, we will come out stronger.  Let them look at us and know that we are living life fine without them, and honestly we shouldn't give them the time of day.  Cut the ties- hell if anyone feels the need to look up an ex just shoot me a message.  I'll do my best to have some witty line to tell you why it is a bad idea!  And now I am off to jam to some old music and enjoy my day on the farm with the best men in my life, my horses!

Still Riding the High- Dunnabeck 2014

Wow- I still cannot believe that Dunnabeck has come and gone.  It feels like ages since I have sat down to write here, and while the event was just a couple of days ago, real life kicked my butt from the get-go and I feel like it was weeks ago.  This thought makes me very sad, but then I reflect on what an awesome week/month/weekend it was and I am already pumped up for next year and coming up with huge plans!

This year at Dunnabeck was by far the best one yet that I have attended- which is fortunately all buut 2(?) or maybe 3.  Dunnabeck is home to me.  I remember years ago, when I was a little kid, thinking that all of my eventing goals were wrapped up into running the recognized horse trials at Queeny Park.  While I adore Queeny, it makes me laugh a bit to see how sheltered I was in my vision.  I have been fortunate enough to compete my horses at some pretty prestigious events/venues; the Kentucky Horse Park, the Virginia Horse Center, Chattahoochee Hills, Wayne/Maui Jim, Southern Pines/Carolina Horse Park, etc.  But nothing gives me butterflies like competing here at Dunnabeck, with all of my friends and family.

 

 

This year I got really ambitious and decided to compete 3 horses, something I have only attempted once and it nearly killed me.  But I figured that I was close enough to home and there were enough barn friends floating around that I could snag some help if I needed it. Thankfully my wonderful friend Maggie and my fantastic mom showed up ready to rock n' roll, and knocked out 6 rides between dressage and cross country like a NASCAR pit crew.  I cannot thank them enough for all of their hard work and (thanks again mother) people wrangling so I could stay focused all weekend.

 

 

A huge shoutout to everyone who helped make this event possible- there are too many names for me to list because I'm trying to crank this out before I head to class.  But big ones go to Mark and Jill- who always run such a wonderful event and who I cannot thank enough for letting me be a part of this wonderful barn family.  Colleen Mills who ran around like a crazy person trying to get things organized while also handling a kid/pony combination, Amelia Stratman who stepped up once again and filled a huge hole in order to get things done (the best sass in the world!), Latisha and Kenny- they just rock!, and all of the other parents who ran around and did little things.  Thank you!

 

 





I have to add a quick reflection of my weekend and then tell everyone why this is the best barn family in the world and you all should be jealous.  While my weekend was great- all three horses stayed in the Dressage ring and the scores were not terrible, they all cantered clear around the cross country, I remembered where I was going, and they all gave me good rounds in the show jumping.  I was unhappy with myself at first, I could have easily made time on Goose on the cross country, and then ridden him more forward in the show jumping, fixed my mistake and not had the rail, and probably could have won (Even though I am SO THRILLED for Lacey, her story is incredible and I could not have been happier for her to get the blue- sorry to everyone else in the division, I am just still smiling from ear to ear for her) and I was disappointed about not winning at first.  Everyone wants to win.  Then I thought about how easy Goose made everything feel, from the flat work that is still coming, to the cross country where he skipped around, and how much jump he still had on Sunday, and I realized that I did win.  I got enough entries for us to make running the Preliminary a success, and my horse made it feel like cake.  I will be better for him next time.

And while I was very disappointed in myself for my rails on the young horses, they both finished their first events ever much more confident than they went in.  And while I would have loved to have brought home ribbons on both of them as well, this is part of the game.  It is all a learning experience, and I came away from the weekend much happier than I went into it.  I feel like I won!

Now- there are too many people for me to give shoutouts to, and too many people rocked this weekend.  But my barn family is better than your barn family for so many reasons, but the main one being all the smiles we had all weekend.  No matter what was going on for one specific combination, they still showed up to cheer on everyone else.  There were tons of hugs, smiles, cheers, and tears to go around.  I'm pretty sure they could hear us yelling at Flying Cross when someone did well.  We had people conquer the water, their first event, their show jumping nerves, and much much more.  Some people realized that they need to take a deep breath, others that they need to go to the stick sometimes.  But all in all, everyone supported everyone else, and we ran around all 2 full barns helping one another.  This really is the best sport in the world, and my friends are the best ones anyone could ask for.

I am so bummed that I have to wait another year for Dunnabeck to come around again, but I'm ready to begin planning now!  Who is with me.  Congrats to all of our winners, of the million awards we gave out :-) , and I hope everyone had as good of a time as I did.

Some quick shoutouts! Because I have to.

Deb- for kicking ass at her first Preliminary back in 2 years! I love you and that little red horse.
Amelia- for running herself into the ground, defying a difficult summer, and letting it all go in the ring for an awesome win in a huge division.  You've earned it girl!
Emily- for taming the wild man and finishing in style, with a pretty pink ribbon. I hope we have you hooked!
And Amberlyn for taking names in the starter and adding a blue to your collection

Last but not least- our fearless leader Jill.  Who puts up with all of our crazy antics, manages to be there for everyone on this insane weekend, and always makes me feel better after I ride like crap.  We love you and could not do this without you!

Until next year my friends

My Date Nightmare

Oh lord- so now that I have some time to sit back and reflect on how my life has been crazy for the last week, I can finally tell the story several people have asked for.

I mentioned last week in a quick post that I had a date.  Mind you this is the first date I have gone on in two and a half years.  It is also probably the first real date I've gone on in almost 5 years- one of those where you meet someone and he asks you to lunch or dinner, not one where you've been talking for weeks and hanging out in groups then you grab a meal just the two of you.  To say I didn't know what to expect was a bit of an understatement.

For starters- I met this one in person!  Kudos to me for being at work and not looking so homely that I scared off every guy in my plain black button down, hair in pony tail, and black slacks.  Now, if I knew what kind of person he was maybe I would have hoped I had scared him off- kidding it wasn't quite that bad....  Anywho, I met him in person and he very discretely obviously asked for my phone number before he and his buddy departed for the evening.  Approximately 24 hours later I had a lovely little text message from the handsome blond at the casino.

We flirted a bit through texts for a couple of days when he dropped the question that had been hanging above both our heads- would I like to get together sometime?  Gulp.  Now I immediately blew him off for that day, my only day off for the week, because I really did have stuff to get done.  It is also kind of fun to see if they are interested enough to wait a few extra days, or just looking to get something quick (which clearly comes from all of my dating experience, right?).  He was just as happy to wait until Monday as I was, so it was set.  We were hanging out Monday night.  This is where everything began to go wrong.

I agreed to meet him in Cape, which was wrong on my part because by golly he should have come to me, but there really is nothing to do in Anna, and with it being a small town I didn't want a useless date being seen with me.  Monday rolls around and it gets to about 3 in the afternoon and I have to ask him what time we are meeting- now I don't know about you but if I wanted to go on a date with someone, and I was the one who had asked, I would probably be the one making the plans, no?  Apparently he had other things on his mind because not only did he end up having to work late-which I can deal with, it gave me more time in the barn- he didn't plan anything for us to do.  So at 6:45 I am leaving my house, not sure if I need to stop and grab dinner on my way, and headed to Cape.  I get about halfway there when he finally answers my question about food by responding "well I could cook you dinner so I don't have to finish my food before you get here."  Hold  the phone!  You are telling me to come to your house?!?  But, it is free food and I am starving, plus I can beat a dude down if I need to, so why not?

I show up to this little house that sits in the middle of nowhere, where I have zero cell signal, and get out to be greeted by this adorable 6 week old puppy.  I immediately hit the ground and get myself covered in puppy kisses, which I'm sure was really attractive, but I don't really give a care, because its a puppy!  After pulling myself off the ground I make my way into his house and he has not even began cooking yet, ummm dude?  Some people enjoy eating their dinner before breakfast the next morning.  He then wants me to pick out a movie, and after I make him give me 3 choices I settle on James Bond.  Just enough action without being scary at all, so no reason to cuddle, and nothing romantic, so one again no reason to cuddle.  We get all set up for dinner and a show, when he looks at me and says "I have to ask you if I can do something before we eat."

I, the good little Christian that I am, (actually I'm laughing on the inside at another friend's past date experience) think that he is asking about praying.  "Yes?" I respond.  He leans forward and puts a hand on my knee.  "I have to kiss you."  HOLD THE PHONE!!! WHAT?!  Now, I have been out of this scene for awhile, but since when is kissing before dinner protocol?  I thought this was like, let me walk you to your door/car/buggy/whatever and tell you goodnight.  Well, better before the garlic bread breath than after, right?  It wouldn't have been so bad if this poor fellow was not the worst kisser in the history of kissers.  I'm not even joking when I say that I think my teeth got knocked back into my head and it was like an urchin trying to latch onto a rock.  I pull back, grimace smile a little and quickly pick up my fork.  Thankfully the rest of dinner went without him trying anything.

Until I grab the dishes and head to the kitchen to wash them off, because I am not a rude houseguest.  He follows me in there then walks up behind me, wraps his arms around my waste, and whispers in my ear "There is just something so sexy and sensual about a woman in the kitchen."  Hold on Mother F****r- why don't you just say 'I want you to make me a sandwich' while you're at it?!  I duck out of his arms and make a joke like "Well too bad this is the longest I've been in the kitchen in a long time!" and run back to the couch.  I proceed to sit down against one arm of the couch, inviting him to sit at the other end, well clearly he did not learn about couch spacing etiquette becaiiuse he hits right down next to me.

After a few minutes and a couple of gay Daniel Craig jokes (ok the man is a sexy Britt, what can I say) he leans over and tries climbing on top of me and kissing me again.  I wish I could say it got better from the first attempt, but no such luck.  Shortly, as in before I can put a stop to just the kissing, he is grabbing things that are definitely permission only things to be grabbing and I throw him off of me, fuming and about to storm out.  I glare at him and he, I kid you not, says:

"Why don't we make a deal?  I will respect this (motions to my chest), and this (tries to put a finger in the waistband of my jeans) and you can do whatever you want to me."  Ha, HA!  Do people really think that this kind of thing works?  I don't remember having 'EASY' or "Totally desperate" tatt'ed anywhere on my body, nice try bud.

"You're going to respect all of this even if I don't want to do anything to you," I reply coldly.  Before he can respond his cell phone rings and I felt a little bad because his grandpa had a heart attack, not bad enough to sleep with him, mind you, but a little bad.  In the meantime I am forming an excuse to have to leave, and thankfully when he comes back I can play right into his hand and leave without being a total bitch, since I was incapable of sending a 9-1-1 text to my escape unit.

He walks me to my car and I just know another terrible kiss is going to be coming, and sure enough he wraps his arms around me and knocks my teeth back into my head again.  I pull back, smile and say I must get going, and duck into my car, slamming the door into his face.  I did feel a bit bad that I was sending a text and laughing before I ever backed up out of the driveway, but I am 115% sure that I won't be seeing him again, so I'm not too worried about it.

Needless to say, this was enough to send me back into my little hole of focus, only now instead of it being horses and work it is horses and school.  Not to say I won't try again, but getting focused for Richland has helped to keep my mind off of being alone in this crazy world.  Hopefully the next time I try this it is with more of a traditional soul, because the whole grouping thing on the first date was a bit too much,

The best quote of this entire experience though came from my wonderful coach and second mother:  She said that sometimes it is like horse shopping, you have to look at a couple in depth before the right one happens.

I love this advice, but to which I replied that this one wanted a test ride and I could tell from the jog that is was lame!

Gotta love horse humor :-)  Until next time- I am currently all stocked up on energy drinks, a pot of coffee set to begin at 1:45am, and FEItv purchased so that I can blog on Eventing Nation in the morning while watching WEG dressage.  Go USA!!!

3rd times (not) the Charm

Well, this year was once again not my year at Richland.  After all of the drama before we ever even left I was beginning to have some hope, just for the curse to come back and slam me in the face.  I once again had to Withdraw, which I guess in the end is a much better letter than an E, MR, or RF.  It is still a letter nonetheless and I am still disappointed.  My horse is home, sound, and happy though so I cannot be all but so disappointed.

We started the weekend off with a BEAUTIFUL dressage test, scoring a 32.3 from the famous Marilyn Payne, who does not give out points for the fun of it.  I was so thrilled with my little thoroughbred who tried his little heart out in the sandbox.  This score tied his best score ever, which we received at Dunnabeck last year, and was easily my best score ever at the Preliminary level.  I was all smiles as I walked around the cross country, which looked very tough and technical.  I thankfully got some fabulous help from Jessica (Hampf) Payne, and I could not have done it without you!  She had some wonderful things to say that I took to heart, and when I took off around it myself I kept those in mind.

The cross country had several things my horse had never seen before; canter across the water, up a mound to a log, down the mound back into the water.  A sunken road, big rails into a coffin, a Normandy bank.  All of the questions were set to height, but rewarded a nice forward ride.  I absolutely love Ian Stark's cross country courses, even if they are filled with ditches- que Intermediate trekhaner and ditch/brush on the preliminary course!  Goose came out on Saturday, after waiting all day, and rocked around the first 3/4 of the course.  He never waivered when we came to the big water by vendors row, and when I went to my stick at both the sunken road and coffin he just jumped bigger, proving to me that now I can hopefully just close my leg and trust him a bit more (although NEVER at the water!).  I unfortunately let my bay horse down though by not giving him the best line to the huge corner coming out of the second water, and his greenness caught up with us, resulting in a glance off.  But he came right back around and jumped it once he saw it, so I am not worried about it.  We are going to set some big corners at home later this week and make sure we know to jump all things.

Goose also pulled a shoe on the cross country and galloped at least 1/2 of it missing the shoe.  We went through our ice, found the shoe, and I packed the foot.  He was still a little bit sore on it Sunday morning, but I had the shoe put back on hoping that it would fix the problem.  It was still pretty clear that he was a bit sore, so I figured I'd get on a just see how he felt in warm-up, fully prepared to withdraw if he did not feel 100%.  Almost thankfully I did not have to make that decision, as we took a funny step headed to warm up and re-pulled the shoe.  I immediately got off and walked him back to his stall, not wanting to risk him hurting himself or pulling the same shoe 3 times in a weekend.  We came home, and although he was confused as to why we weren't jumping, he is a fantastic show jumper and I am not worried about it.

Even though the curse is determined to run me away from the event, I cannot say enough good things about Richland.  All of the volunteers always have smiles on their faces, the organization is on top of everything, the courses are beautifully constructed and run, and everyone is in a good mood all weekend.  They run 500 horses with the ease of 50, and I would tell everyone to go if they have the chance.  You have the added bonus of great shopping, watching the upper level horses run, among a great competitor party.

While the curse tried to claim all of our group I must say that Deb and Jester are freaking rock stars and I could not be more happy for them and how their weekend went!  They brought home a fourth place with some of the best work I've ever seen out of them, and I cannot wait to have her beat me at Dunnabeck in a couple of weeks!  Haha, well, I hope that I win, but if I don't I want it to be her that does!  It has been so great to watch them develop over the last six months and I cannot wait to see what the future has for them.

I am back to school this week, and hopefully running, all while the heat is killing us here in southern Illinois.  I am actually hiding in the ac right now, trying to prolong heading to the barn to ride all three.  I may not update for awhile, as I will be busy getting 3 horses ready for Dunnabeck and organizing the TB awards.  But I hope to see everyone there!

Kick on!

It's Richland Week! and some other horse-related updates

AHHHHH!!!!!  This time last year I was sitting around, packing my trailer, but I still couldn't ride my horse.  The little turd ran through a fence and I hauled him down on Monday to the vet to see if we could still head up to Michigan and compete on the weekend.  While we got the go-ahead for that, when I got on him Wednesday we had a freak accident where he caught his girth with a shoe and ripped the saddle out from underneath me.  Goose then proceeded to panic and gallop all over the place, including 3 miles down the asphalt road, with my saddle between his hind legs, while I chased him, unable to move my left arm.  Needless to say I ended up in a sling and had to vetwrap my shoulder in order to compete a couple of weeks later, and no Richland for us.

This year my wonderful princess decided to pull a shoe on his final gallop, which actually did not set us back at all.  It has just locked him in a stall for three days, and he walked for about 20 minutes with it heavily wrapped yesterday.  Today and tomorrow we are taking lessons, so that will hopefully eliminate any chance of shenanigans.  I am making it to Michigan this year!  And then once I get there I am finishing with a number!  This event also marks the 2-year anniversary of Sunny's injury, when I had to withdraw before the show jumping on Sunday and thought I'd never compete the horse again.  I am putting all that taboo behind me this year and am going to go rock it!

Deb is coming with me- so she and Jest can kick some major butt in the Training.  Maddie is out and about with her main man Milo again, hoping to knock some rust off and beast around that Novice course before Dunnabeck.  Miss Faith is bringing Kip so they can be fancy-pants all weekend.  Liz from Indiana is bringing her stunning grey Apollo and I cannot wait to actually get to watch them and not have her beating the pants off of Goose on the flat :-).  I am also thrilled to have Cheryl and Sunny back with us at another event! I had such a blast running the preliminary with this chick at River Glen, I know this weekend will be even more fun!  Hello getting to play with the big kids!

Unfortunately St. Louis is in a state of emergency- and I wasn't even talking riots.  The mini event I was going to take the boys to got over 3in of rain in 12 hours and so they cancelled.  While I was extremely bummer, it did mean that I got to sleep a little (6 hours) longer than originally planned on Sunday morning.  I then loaded Cullen up and took him over to the River to River hunter pace to get him out again.  He was a perfect gentleman for his first trip off the farm alone!  I could not have been more proud of him, and as a result he is now going to Dunnabeck, and in the NOVICE!  I must have fallen and hit my head somewhere along the line because I also sent in an entry for Louis!  Haha.  I now have 3 horses entered for Dunnabeck, but thankfully there will be about a million people running around, so I'm hoping I can recruit help if I need it :-)

I also got everything approved and all of the money raised for our Thoroughbred awards!  I am so excited.  I am working on another $120 to get some really nice overall awards, so anyone who could even give $10 or $20 I would appreciate it!  This is a chance to win back something really cool!  You all know that you want Dunnabeck to have the reputation as a kick-a event with bad-a prizes, so lets get on it!  And hopefully someone from our barn wins the cash and the overall prize!

My last little bit of news is that I went on a date last night, and all I'm saying is that I do not think there will be a second one.  He is nice and all but ummm yeah.  I'm just leaving it at that for now.

Until next time!  Send us good vibes for the weekend!  I'll try and have a quick post or two up throughout the weekend

Courtney

Lots to be Happy for on this Friday!

Ahhhhh!  Friday.  Finally I can say that and it not be the beginning of my work week, as today is my last day of work at the Casino.  I am- for the first time in 9 years, going to have a normal Mon-Friday life.  I start school on Monday, holy shit I start school on Monday!- and with that my wonderful mom is helping me out some so that I am not obligated to work and can focus on school.  I am still planning on working one or two nights a week just to help myself out some, and to have some extra cash, but as far as bartending or serving every single Friday and Saturday night, no more!!!

While I am going to miss being around people all the time, I think having a real life and getting to do things with friends occasionally is going to be healthier for me.  Also, not having the stress of working on top of school and riding, yeah I'm digging that too.

So wow, I start school on Monday.  That is something to be quite excited about as well.  I am finally going back for what I want to do, and I went yesterday to get all of my books (not so happy about that bill), my student ID, and some cool SIU gear.  I am excited for fall now that I have a super soft SIU hoodie to wear, football games (yay finally a school with a football team), and having a nice, set schedule.  I think all I have left to grab is a parking pass, find my classes, and a new camera for my photo journalism class (which I will get to play with at Richland next weekend!).

Haha, and oh geeze I just realized that I went 3 entire paragraphs without writing about horses!  I believe this is a new personal record.  To begin my happiness of the horse I must mention that the USA WEG squad flew out last night/early this am!  My best friend, Meghan O'D is headed to France!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!  Go team Meg/Pie, Go USA, and I am anxiously awaiting pictures that all of the horses and riders have landed safely.  I wish I could be a part of this experience, but I will be writing all about it from the nervous perspective of best friend- lets go team!

My second bout of good news is for our horse trials, Dunnabeck.  I have gotten together and become a very determined little worker ant, and I have raised $500(+)  to get enough money for Thoroughbred sponsored awards at Dunnabeck.  I am waiting on the final approval from the organization before we can order the ribbons, and I am hoping to raise another $100 to get overall awards made up as well, but how exciting is this?  We love our thoroughbreds and I love being able to give back to the breed, and the riders, who work so hard and possibly get beat out by the bigger moving breeds.  Go OTTB's!

One more horse-related news and then I will get to the juicy stuff.  My horses all jumped yesterday, and they were fabulous!  Goose felt great in a small jump school that consisted of some angles, a one-stride, and a couple related distances.  Then Louis and Cullen were both champs just schooling some questions before the event this weekend.  Cullen really had a breakthrough on the flat and warmed up better than he ever has at home.  I am keeping everything crossed that he can keep a lid on it in the dressage warm up on Sunday because I have lots of hope for this little dude!

Alright- my juicy news that has me nervous/excited/I don't even know what.  I have a date next week.  Yes, a real date with a real man.  One who has a college degree, a real job, and doesn't have a 2nd nose, or RED HAIR!!! (Everyone who knows me well knows what an accomplishment this is in itself).  I also met this one in person and he asked for my phone number- holy cow that still happens?  So we shall see what happens from here!  If I am not too exhausted on Sunday I will get a recap of Nancy's show up and hopefully have the verdict from the THT group.  Fingers crossed for all these good things!!!

Courtney

Hey West Virginia, hey Oklahoma, I think I love ya

Wow- this last week and essentially flown by.  I came home from River Glen to go back to 5 straight days of work, which isn't terrible until you have to drive 40 minutes one way, stay until 11 pm or later, and then drive 40-45 minutes home.  On top of that I have all the horses in work right now, so 5 horses a day along with barn chores and trying to get ready for school.

But despite being completely exhausted and wanting to do nothing but crawl up and sleep for a couple of days, I plugged along and turned my lemons into lemonade, making it a hell of a week!

Saturday was the benefit show for Meghan and Pirate to help get them to Burghley, which went over superbly and was a smashing success.  I show both of the "young" horses and had a great time.  Cullen- who had been a bit of a shit head earlier in the week- showed up and was a total professional.  There were no crazy antics in the warm up, and he went into the ring like a champ and came home with two red ribbons and the reserve champion for the division!  Louis was another story and the success of this ride was that we survived.  He was just in a bit of a mood after standing on the trailer all alone, and then not having jumped in 4 weeks or so, and I moved him up to the 3' class without anything to warm him up.  We had a drive by and a couple of really ugly fences, but both rounds got better as they went and I have a couple of things to work on this week before they both go to the mini event this coming Sunday.

Sunday then was the benefit show for a kid who I went to high school with.  He recently passed away, and thankfully I had the day off so I could go to that.  I missed his visitation and funeral due to work, and I felt like I needed to go do something.  So I hung out and saw some people I haven't seen in awhile, then came back home.

I decided to take my horse for a run with me Sunday evening and what a funny fail that was!  He either went way too fast or stopped to try and eat, essentially jerking my arm out of socket no matter which option he chose.  Then of course the flies were eating us both alive, which led to his aggravation and my discomfort.  So I called it quits at just under a mile and laughed at my failed effort to be creative.  He was a very good sport for heading out there with me to begin with, and I am thankful that my fit thoroughbred would rather act like a lab!

I have made some great developments in my life as well.  I sat down and read the wonderful blog from Meredith Halas about her being reinstated into the dating world, and laughed my head off.  But of course this led me to talking to one of my friends who is just as busy as I am and has no time to meet anyone.  So she suggested we get Tinder accounts together and we can talk about the creepy people we meet and laugh!  I mean, what harm could come of this, right?  We set up accounts together and immediately began swiping left and right to find a couple of matches that may work.

I have split my results- some good and some creepy.  One guy sounded promising, he plays music, teaches 8th grade, and coaches football.  Has his life together, right?  Well, come to find out he is a part-time nudist and I had already let him get my snapchat handle, because phone numbers just weren't in the cards yet, I started getting naked pictures.  Ummmm hello?  I have never sent a naked photo in my life!  Not even when I was in serious relationships- I don't trust phones or the internet, let alone what an angry ex could do!  Goodbye dude!

I did have a bit of good luck though and have started talking to a couple of guys who seem nice, even to the point of where I have given out my phone number so as not to run up my data charges while talking to them.  One guy lives really close and has had me laughing and smiling so much I actually would meet him in person.  The other two are ok, one lives in St. Louis and I just don't know if I could go back to that situation-after the whole long distance with Oran and all.  But he is pretty cool and I told him if I make it up that way I'll let him know.  So fingers crossed something happens here!  I begin school on Monday too and then hopefully I'll have other things to keep my mind busy.  But I'm good- I feel good, I love the way things are going right now in my life, and I have a lot of other really good things happening!

Maggie and I even got up and ran this morning.  Well- we kind of died while trying to run, but hey we logged almost 3 miles before 7am!  That is some progress.

My last thing that  I have is a song I am absolutely in love with- "Best I Ever Had" by Gavin Degraw.  It has a wonderful beat, and a good message if you listen to it.  It helps me to know that Oran was good for me in many, many ways.  And so far in  my life he is the best thing I've ever had, but there is something better there for me, yet I will never be the same and I can't get stuck on him and what we were.  I love it- if you have 4 minutes check it out.  And it's fun to dance to!

That's all for now- I'll have a weekend wrap up and a Richland preview next week!

Courtney

A Weekend of (Move) Ups!

Hello!  I feel like I have not written in forever and I apologize for that.  This past weekend we took a small (only 10 horses) group to River Glen horse trials in Knoxville, TN for what we hoped would be a confidence building weekend.  I have to say that minus a couple of blips here and there the horse show was a huge success- with our group coming home sporting huge smiles.

I don't even know where to begin because I am still smiling and so proud of everyone.  I am trying to get videos uploaded of everything- so hopefully I can attach the link to them at the end of this page.  I guess first and foremost I have to once again congratulate Sunny Greene and Charli.  This duo has been working so hard for the last year, and especially hard this summer, to make great things happen.  I don't think she could have complained about anything all weekend, and in true Sunny fashion she continued to say that she had room to improve.  This amazing young lady went out and won the dressage in a huge division with a butt-kicking 23!  She then continued her quest for world domination by jumping a beautiful double clear around a big, tough show jumping track, and finished off her weekend just adding some time to her dressage score on the cross country.  She looked nothing short of professional all weekend, and Charli looks like a million bucks.  I was honored to be beaten by her this weekend, and I cannot wait to have her at Richland in a couple of weeks with us.

Just going down the line I can now brag on my horse.  I brought Goose into this weekend with the hope of just finishing his first Preliminary.  Of course, being competitive I wanted to do well, but I just wanted a number at the end of the weekend.  We were very fortunate to have Keri from Voltaire Saddles at the event and she let me borrow a wonderful Dressage saddle for Saturday morning, which was like riding in an easy chair and I did not want to give it back!  Goose tried his little heart out in the ring, and once we get rid of some tension I think he will really be able to be in the top 1/4 after the dressage at this level.  He still managed to pull a 39 out and lay it on the table, which had me smiling from ear to ear.  I then began to panic and my heart began to thump out of my chest as the show jumping approached.  I am utterly terrified of the show jumping ring, and I don't have much success at River Glen.  But my horse is a jumping machine, and even when I went in and made a couple of mistakes he jumped out of his skin and pulled out a clear round.  I took some wide turns to calm myself down and reorganize, and the time is always tight here, so we came out with 7 time penalties.  I was so thrilled though that I could of had 30 time faults and still been smiling- I may have even been crying.

 

It was so great to have the barn family there to cheer us on all weekend.  That is one great thing about this event- everything is quite close and everyone can come and watch.  We also had some long lost friends from St. Louis who live in the area now, and they got to come over and watch.  It was wonderful to see them.  Sunday morning came after some long grazing sessions and four leaf clover hunting with the other girls, and I have to say I was actually nervous!  I don't know the last time I was nervous for the cross country, but I wanted to give my horse a good ride and do right by him, and for some reason I was worried about that.  No reason to though, as he went out and rocked his handsome butt around it like he was made for the job.  I went very slow as the ground was hard and I wanted him to understand all of the questions, so hopefully now we can put on the gas some at Richland.  I accomplished all of my goals for the weekend, however- and exceeded all expectations for my baby horse.  Not only did he come home with a number instead of a letter, but there were 0's all the way across the board in the jump columns!  I honestly don't know if I have ever even done that at the Preliminary level- maybe one time with Bubba.  While we were just shy of bringing home a ribbon, I feel like I have won the AEC's with this kid, and now I am looking forward to bettering myself for the next one!

 

 

Now I have to brag on our other rider's.  Miss Amanda has learned how to tame the wild beast that is Van and put in (what I am guessing, sorry I missed it) a lovely dressage test to sit on a 31, which I believe is their personal best Dressage score.  They had a rocking weekend in the jump phases to come home all smiles, double clear on Sunday, and add a yellow ribbon to their collection.  Amanda's good mood is always contagious, and it is impossible to not root for this pair every time they come to an event with us.  I am so thrilled with their success, and I hope they continue to kick some butt and have a great time at the 3-day in October.  Molly took Trevor out and had a good weekend, unfortunately I did not get to see much of them due to our times being close, but they looked awesome through the water jump- this horse is such a cool horse on the cross country, I have enjoyed watching them throughout the years.

 

 

I have too many people who I am thrilled for from this weekend!  I wish that I had more pictures, and while it is a little late I am sorry with how long this post is.  Birdi is probably my hero of the weekend- she came and tackled her first training with a determination I have never seen from her before.  She and Lucky looked really good in the dressage warm-up, to fall victims of an error and a stiff judge in the ring.  She dusted herself off though and prepared for the show jumping with a smile, to go in and have the ring kind of get the better of her.  I have to say though, even when things looked dark she found the light at the end of the tunnel and she kept on kicking until she was through the flags after the dreaded triple combination.  It was a night and day difference from watching her in the show jumping ring to seeing her on the cross country.  She sat up, kept her leg on, and looked like she had been running the training level her entire life.  Even at the big water jump when Lucky wanted to get a bit squirrely, she just went to her whip and kept thinking forward, so he jumped right off the bank and they finished up with all smiles.  I wish I had more pictures of this, but I have video of her ass-kicking performance, so I will share that!  Lucky and Birdi are pretty much soul mates, and I love watching them have so much success.

 

 

 

Our beginner novice crew is who I am blaming for my lack of voice these last two days though.  Molly had Ritter out, and she continues to improve this little horse every time they go somewhere, Maddie had to switch from Milo to her young horse Beau (and come to her first event of the year!) this weekend, and then Shalen brought out the wonder pony- Cracken!- to kick around for the weekend.  I stood on the hill and watched show jumping while glancing over the trees to the dressage ring, and wanted to scream and shout for all of them while they were in the ring.  Then we all hung out in the sun and I worked on tanning my pasty legs to watch their show jumping.  All three of our girls were professionals- with Shalen even going to the whip to get The Cracken to behave his sassy little self.  We have a very talented group of young riders in the barn right now and to see them conquer their goals is great.  Shalen moved this horse up to Beginner Novice this weekend and went out to rock around the cross country like a legit bad-ass, Maddie gave Beau a very confident ride around the entire weekend to get him through his first event, and Miss Molly got Ritter right in the water only to have missed a fence and picked up the dreaded TE.  But thankfully she was close enough to the end that they got to finish and Ritter gets to think he is the man- so all in all it just happens to everyone (I've definitely missed a fence or two!)  I hope that everyone had as much fun this weekend as I did, and I cannot thank everyone enough for the help, cheers, and support for myself and my horse.

 

I wish everyone was coming to Richland with us, but Dunnabeck will be here before we know it and the barn family will be out in full force for that weekend.  I wish I had more pictures from the weekend (thanks Colleen for the picture below, I had to be able to post our lovely YR's!)- but alas I have videos that maybe will be uploaded before the next Ice Age.

 

 

Congrats to everyone on their weekends- including friends that I got to see from afar!- and glad to know everyone got home safe.  We have the benefit show to help send Meghan to Burghley so I will have my camera charged and ready to go for that- and I will have a recap!  Getting down to my last few days of work so hopefully I will have a normal sleep schedule soon.

 

Until then!

Courtney





Longest Day Ever- great schooling!

Whew!  Yesterday my alarm went off at the insane hour of 4:15am and I loaded my horse up to go cross country school.  We stopped at the barn and grabbed some friends, then made our way to Queeny Park to knock off some rust and jump a few fences before our group heads to River Glen Horse Trials next weekend.

It was a beautiful day, with the scorching July heat leaving us alone for most of the ride, and 12 horses made the trek from So. Ill to St. Louis (well, Deb cheated and just came from 20 minutes away, but I'll let that one slide!).  Deb and I started off with a quick 12 minute trot to let some steam off from our two, then we just popped over a couple of small things and scoped out some of the stuff that was mowed and had good footing.

I would have to say that the day was a success.  The group ended up splitting into 2 smaller groups- we took the Novice/Training group and found some bigger stuff while Kelty wrangled the starter/Beginner Novice/moving up to Novice group.  It made the schooling go much faster, and we were out of there in a timely manner for once.  But from what I saw everyone had very educational and confidence building days.  The group I was in ROCKED their schooling, with riders jumping fences at the Training level quite confidently, including Birdie rocking her first proper corner!

We finished up as a group down at the bottom of the hill where the water box sits.  Even though there was not any water in it, I was glad to jump in and answer all of the questions that we could possibly see next weekend.  I was very proud of Goose, as he jumped everything without asking once, including a very big, very narrow mushroom looking jump.  He also jumped into the water box from every angle like a champ, now just to add the water!

I finished off the day by swapping vehicles with my mom so I could run off to work, and somehow made it through a 6 hour shift before crawling home and into bed around 11 last night.  I spent most of my shift with poultice on my hands (oops!) but I wouldn't trade anything from yesterday for all the tea in China.

I am off this morning to ride Goose and then he will see the Chiropractor so he feels in tip top shape for next weekend.  I also am working my life away for the next 5 days, so wish me luck!  We are supposed to do a dinner for Kelty next week since she is leaving us, and word is Deb is coming down for some lessons and shenanigans, so fingers crossed I get a bit of a break before the weekend!

See you later guys!

A little Monday catch up

 

Ok, so who turned Monday on so soon?  My weekend was just rocking along and then BAM! here comes Monday just to dampen my mood.  Life has just been great though, and I have been almost coasting along in my little cloud of happiness and enjoying the ride for a few days.  Although I am sitting here on my deck, enjoying my view, the stillness of the morning, and my coffee.  It is going to get hot today so for the time being I am relaxing and doing what I love (and will hopefully get paid for some day!)

I got my butt out and ran a bunch last week!  Well, I say a bunch but really only 2 times, but hey I ran 2 days in a row and set some person records.  I have not been fit to run since I was a sophomore, maybe a junior in high school- so we are looking at 6 years ago.  I love running with Maggie because she is in awesome shape and she pushes me to want to chase her.  Sometimes I have to give up and walk for a spell, but the fact that she is still running makes me angry and so I continue to crawl along after her.  The first day we ran at my house, which has a TON of terrain!- and I started out by running the first stretch and going even further than I've ever gone when running from here.  Then I took a quick, aprx. 1/4 mile walk break, and turned around to run all the way back to my driveway without stopping.  I had yelled ahead to Maggie that I was going to start walking at the last bridge, then I got there and still felt good so I just kept on running!  Almost 2 whole miles of running total, and the last 11 minutes I ran non-stop.

We then got our butts out of bed early the next morning and I went to run with her at the golf course where she lives.  They have more hills than I do, but not as steep, so it was a good change.  I made myself even more proud by coming out and running almost a mile and a half to begin with without stopping!  I then walked a bit while Maggie ran, and then I got angry and ran down a big hill and around a big turn.  We had another walk break and then I ran about a half mile to finish up the morning and we enjoyed the long 1 1/2 mile walk back to her house.  But almost 5 miles total and I didn't want to die!  I am slowly making progress- and that is what matters!

As far as my riding goes- things have been swell.  I had a good flat lesson last week and then I spent part of Thursday and Friday helping to set up for the combined test this weekend.  I entered Goose in the Preliminary division in preparation for River Glen in a couple of weeks.  To say I was nervous to compete in front of the home crowd is an understatement.  I almost slept through my alarm because of work the night before, left the shirt I wanted to show in hanging on the door, but we made it with all of our tack and my horse in the trailer.  Goose was a star- I cannot say how proud I am of this horse and what he is turning into.  He has given me several firsts, and this weekend he did not disappoint- by scoring my first ever score in the 20's!  Yes, I know it was a generous score, and I am not headed to the event next weekend thinking it will happen again.  But I am riding my high for right now, and probably framing the test!  Not only was it in the 20's but it was a stinking 23!!!  Whoop whoop- my little does-not-trot-well OTTB turned into a DQ for the day!  He then came out and jumped a great clear round for me- securing the blue ribbon and tons of treats for himself.  If I can take deep breaths and keep my leg on, I feel good about the show jumping at River Glen!

Deb also had a rocking weekend in her return to the Preliminary level, scoring a 27.7 on the flat and having a very controlled and poised show jumping round.  I love that she came out and kicked her demons in the ass and that things are on the right track for her.  As you can see Goose and Jester are best friends, and I am hoping for some 1-2 finishes from these two kids over the next couple of months!

I then finally had a day off yesterday, which resulted in lounging around for awhile before a fitness day on my horse and some cleaning up in the barn.  Maggie and I went down and met my mom and some friends for a late lunch and hung out on the patio for a few hours, which was a nice change for me.  I almost never get days off on the weekend when others can do stuff, so it was a good time.  I got to hang out with some old friends I haven't seen in awhile, and when we grabbed dinner I had to snap a picture of the menu that I cannot get to load :-( But for the chicken section the header is "Bird" is the Word.  I am thinking it is fate that I could end up working a couple of days a week at this restaurant! Haha

Until next time- hopefully sooner than later!