I waited my whole life to buy my first horse. Earlier this year, when I made my dream a reality, I never imagined that just 1.5 months later, my new boy would be on stall rest with a collateral ligament lameness. I thought JJ and I would continue as we had during the two years […]
JJ has been on stall rest since he came up lame at our last event. We had the vet out to check him several times. She X-rayed, she ultrasounded, and she gave an unconfirmed diagnosis: lateral collateral ligament damage in his front right. Several weeks of stall rest later and JJ showed only mild improvement. […]
When I was little, I spent countless hours parked in front of the TV watching any and all equestrian-related coverage I could find. My best friend, Alana, and I would sit on the floor just inches from the screen and dream of someday riding with the greats like Ian Millar, Hap Hansen, Bruce Davidson, and […]
It’s never fun when your horse goes lame, but it’s especially not fun when your horse goes lame right before a big event that just so happens to also be on your birthday. :-\ Fortunately, JJ wasn’t *bad* lame, and some rest and several days off fixed him up in time for us to still […]
Poplar Place Farm and I have recently become frienemies. I love the facility itself, head trainer Werner Geven and his wife Marjolein are amazing people, and Kris the Sugar Cube Lady is wonderful. However, I’ve had not one but two falls in stadium there (and one near miss) recently, and I’ve definitely got some residual […]
Try, try again. That’s my motto for eventing. At both of the USEA recognized horse trials I had ridden in previously, I fell off – once on XC, and once in stadium. I figured if I kept at it, eventually I’d exhaust my falling off possibilities and make it through one. So, I put on […]
After more than thirty years of waiting, the day I’d been dreaming of for my entire life finally came true – I bought my first horse. I’ve wanted my own horse ever since I can remember, and I still ask Santa for “a pony” every year. (Yes, even as an adult. Don’t judge me!) Amazingly […]
My already fragile confidence had taken a hit after I fell off during stadium last week at the USEA-recognized event at Poplar Place Farm. I had planned on showing Novice 3-phase at this past weekend’s schooling show, but thought it would be wise to back down to Beginner Novice just to make sure we didn’t […]
Yeah yeah, I know that’s a pretty Negative Nancy blog title, but don’t give up hope for happiness just yet! This past weekend was our second-ever USEA recognized 3-phase event, and just like the first time around, we were disqualified due to me falling off. So, yeah – I’ve now fallen off at 100% of […]
What a roller coaster of a year 2015 has been! JJ and I completed our first full year of eventing together, and we had some amazingly wonderful moments as well as some epic fails. Through it all, though, we both learned a ton, and were rewarded by the Georgia Dressage & Combined Training Association (GDCTA) […]