Happy Friday, everybody! It's promising to possibly be a busy weekend around these parts so I'm trying to clear the backlog off my phone while there's still time... another day, another trial saddle. this is a county solution. wool flocked, stamped narrow, monoflap.  Plus, ya know, we're still in the thick of saddle trials. Basically the same day I put the Custom in a box to return to the seller, another possible candidate got ready for shipping -- this time a County Solution.  looks worthy of a proper test! So naturally, I was eager to put the saddle immediately ..read more

At long last, Doozy met long time dressage trainer C!!!! Longtime readers will remember :D virtual cookies to folks who immediately know where we are! One of the hardest things about being basically a "privateer" (ie, a rider independent from any established program) is building up the team, developing the tribe necessary to be successful in any meaningful way.  And not just because it's hard to find coaching that "meshes," but bc of all the other details... The scheduling, the logistics, the reality that right now my horse is a two-person load job so I can only really ship out ..read more

Days go by and I continue to dink around with various trial saddles. Tho, sadly, we've kinda exhausted the available stock within driving distance... and are now tiptoeing into the painful territory of paying shipping for each trial. oh that innocent (but ultimately naïve) feeling when you first unbox a beautiful saddle! It's pretty far from ideal, but... eh, so is the current selection of saddles in my tack locker. Charlie's fancy french monoflap helps me feel super secure and up for any dance move Doozy might be inclined to pull.... But it's just all wrong for her and she's making ..read more

Happy Friday, guys! I gotta say.... Something has changed in me and my horsey habit over the last few years of Charlie's diminishing soundness and all my related anxieties....  she was a little sad about traveling solo after so many rides with buddies I used to be such a planner, ya know? I used to obsess over constructing these lengthy imaginary chains of dominoes, where each individual ride was interrelated or interdependent with those that came before, and every step built logically into the next...  but stayed sensible while everybody got ready all the same! O ..read more

Another day, another grainy video of bopping around cross rails with Mondeuse! I'm trying to make jumping, even just a little bit!, part of our standard weekly lexicon. And I think it's paying off! for once there are more jumping efforts in the video than are captured here in screenshots lol Mostly I just need it to feel "normal" for me, ya know? Consistent routine practice, and what have you. Doesn't need to be "exciting." Just needs to happen.  And I was a big girl for this ride too --- actually dismounted and set a few fences intentionally. Some stuff in the ring had shifted ..read more

This 'new horse' journey with Doozy has honestly been full of surprises. It's not at all what I expected, and at times it's still really really hard. But she's also been an incredibly rewarding horse to work with, and consistently steps up to the plate -- seems to want to step up.  farm walkies with Mondeuse! We are 8 months into this journey together now, believe it or not. And it's interesting to compare with the first 8 months with Charlie. He was farther along at this point, but the contours of our early days also looked a LOT different.  Recall, Charlie came ..read more

I think, in the grand scheme of things, I'm grateful for the drenched and rainy spring. Sure sure, it seems like just when one stint of inches upon inches of rain finishes up, the wind rips through, sucking out all the moisture with it... But then, it rains again. And so it goes, I guess (for now).  doozy's first time up the old driveway trail! The horses really don't love the wet days, tho --- standing out in their muddy sacrifice paddocks while an inch or two of rain dumps on them... not to mention that wind blowing straight up their butts.... Ain't no amount of waterproofing ..read more

Happy Friday, y'all! It's been a week around here, not gonna lie. At least from a horsey perspective, it wasn't the worst time to kinda take it easy tho. golden child Recall Doozy had that nasty kick / puncture wound on her forearm that was pretty swollen and ouchy for a few days. Then she got all her spring shots and was just kinda overall being a bit of a hot house flower. "My hair hurts!" vibes, if you know what I mean lol. pics don't do the sky justice --- it was cream colored and glowing But she's a resilient sort of mare, and the wounds are healing just fine. So ..read more

Happy weekend, y'all!! It's been pretty low key around these parts for the last week, after what felt like a bit of a sprint all month getting Doozy ready for her two big back to back outings! sweet mares basking in their post-show glows the day after Hunt Club Horse training is such a giant topic, there are so many different methods and priorities and approaches... But as far as I'm concerned, basically all roads lead to Rome (eventually lol). For an OTTB like Doozy, there's literally a grab bag of subjects that need attention -- to the point that just about any time spent with the ..read more

Doozy and I had a somewhat rare opportunity to fill an open trailer spot to Hunt Club Farm's spring starter trials this weekend!!  cute mare is getting out there and learning how to cart around her adult ammy owner!! On one hand, we are obviously not really ready for primetime -- just like last weekend at the schooling dressage show haha. Not exactly a whole heckuva lot of training you can do in the span of one week, right?  we learned a lot of life lessons and soft skills throughout the day lol On the other hand, tho, we'd be traveling with very capable and ..read more